Well, the Spring Meet at PLS is now history. Fun and enjoyment was had by all. Many visitors and members with trains were operating without incident. I received many compliments about the condition of the track and the meet overall. The highlight was the pot luck dinner. What a lot of great food brought in by the members and a lot of the visitors. Anyone who went away hungry must not have gone through the line. Thanks to Steve Leatherman for organizing it and Jay Shupard for helping Steve with the cooking. A special thanks to the PLS work crew for getting the club site ready for the meet.

The next big event will be the club picnic on July 17th. It will start with a work session in the morning, after lunch there is the regular members meeting, a run day and evening with a pot luck dinner tossed in the middle. The club supplies the meat and ice cream. Come out and have a fun time.

Don’t forget the June 27th run day for members and guests.

— Bruce Saylor

We have a run day on Sunday May 23rd. Come on out and have some fun. The following weekend is our Spring Meet spanning Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Steve Leatherman is putting on the fabulous Pot Luck Dinner again on Saturday evening. Contact him for more information. steveleatherman@gmail.com. My how time does fly when you are having fun. Don’t forget the club picnic on July 17 which has turned into a great time had by all. We could still use some help getting the track and property ready for the above dates. Wednesday and Saturdays are work days.

On January 17, 2010, Matt Mason of California, editor of The Home Railway Journal, made a visit to my home and PLS. He takes his little loco carry on, on the plane. He enjoyed his visit here at PLS running in the opposite direction.

And yes, that is smiling Bob Thomas with thumbs up (can you believe it) running my DIESEL and passenger train. Bob Freer and grandson were on the rear.

— Bruce Saylor

Track work has been moving along at a pretty good pace.

This photo shows the work train and the first section of new track in the yard that was causing problems. 285 new ties were needed in this section.

John Bortz hauls away a load of bad ties. About 80% of the 7¼" main line has been reworked. Some yard work is also being done as fast as we can work with the few track workers we have. Now that John is back from Florida, we will pick up the pace.

The one inch main is back in operation between the 2 tunnels. 130 feet of new track was replaced. Ronnie Shupard, Jim Miller, I and a few others got the job done. Ronnie has replaced the upper passing siding switch and it is now back in operation. He and Jim have been working all winter getting the 13 sections of track ready to install when the weather broke.

Ron Henderson and crew have the signals well on the way to completion at the drive crossing. The grounds have been cleaned up and the property is looking pretty darn nice.

— Bruce Saylor

Things are going along swimmingly with the Machine Shop. We now have a functioning large Milling Machine (One of Jet’s Bridgeport look-alikes). This heavy floor machine has a knee, large power feed table (36” or more) and a digital readout for the X and Y dimensions. A number of our members have contributed heavily in both time and donated items in order to bring this all about. I would especially like to thank Bill Manley, James Meadowcroft, Kenneth Evasew, Jim Salmons, Walter Mensch, Lee Nonnemacher, Bruce Saylor, Barry Shapin, and Richard Speak. Others have pitched in as well.

We had another successful workshop on Feb 7th, this one on threading by Lee Nonnemacher which was in my opinion just excellent—I learned a great deal. By the start of the running season this will make 6 workshops. If associate and regular members want to learn more about the skills involved in miniature railroading you definitely should take advantage of these great opportunities. A number of us “apprentices” are doing so and I would like to single out John Kane, a 16 year old minor, member who has been taking these workshops and doing very well at acquiring beginning machinist skills.

In addition to the workshops, the revamped Machine Shop is being used to do work for PLS club projects—most notably metal parts for the new roof over the Steaming Bays. It is definitely turning-out to be an asset to the club.

— Lynn Hammond