By Tom Johnson, Chapter President

Greetings, fellow Chapter members!

I think we got off to a pretty good start for 2014 with our January meeting.  We had sixteen members present, which is a decent turn-out for us.  Everyone seemed to enjoy the video that was shown, Santa Fe 3751 Return to Steam, and those egg salad and ham salad sandwiches that the “First Lady” made for our refreshments were a big hit.

It seemed that the idea of having a discussion for each meeting on a previously announced railroad related subject was well received.   It was suggested that we announce the topic in the Pennyrail each month so that members will have a few days to gather some facts to share in the discussion.

The subject for discussion during the February meeting is “foreign power.”  Why do we sometimes see locomotives far from their home tracks in service on another railroad?  What are some of the scenarios that would cause this to happen?  How and when are these locomotives returned to their home tracks?  How is the home railroad compensated when its locomotive is used by another railroad?  I hope all will put some time into researching the answers to these questions and that we can have a good, informative discussion on the subject during the February meeting.

I hope to see all of you at 7:00 PM on Monday night, February 17, 2014, at our next meeting.