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With 50^th Anniversary looming, identifying values
could offers a fresh look at the NJLS

By John Stibravy, Laura Miceli, and Matthew Miceli

Today, the values of courage, selfless service, honor, duty, loyalty, and integrity are taught to US soldiers: These values are so universal that we can apply some of them to live steam organizations in order to enhance the efficiency of such organizations, thereby improving the live steam experience.

Courage. This is the value of facing adversity. Is it raining but something on the mainline needs fixed for a deadline tomorrow? Does finding an electronic part mean facing difficult traffic and hours of driving so a planned event goes as scheduled? Facing adversity and overcoming problems means taking initiative and seeing those things are done on time to meet the goals.

Selfless service. This value asks that the members do what is good for the club, not themselves. One way to apply this value is to ask, “What have I done for the other members’ good this year? Have I done any work, either mental or physical? If I can do neither, what sort of contribution have I made? Have you gone to a Director and said, “What can I do?” When a new member joins, do we present him or her with tasks that need done? New members like to feel useful, and if they do not, they will go elsewhere.

Honor. This value can be applied in a number of ways. Tell the truth. Keep one’s word. Show up on time for meetings. Carry through when in charge of a project. Deal fairly in pricing equipment for sale, and in not bouncing checks. To speak out against wrong and to argue for what is right, regardless of what other people think. Clubs, like sports teams, establish a reputation that lasts for years. A good reputation is as valuable as gold, and a poor reputation is a club killer. Go with what is right, not easy.

Duty. This means to meet one’s obligations to do the job regardless of the time required. Conductor, Libertyville Café, committee work, paperwork, grass cutting in the boiling heat, taking care of the dumpster. How many hours do some members spend doing the paperwork, making phone calls, endless writing, and cleaning the clubhouse so that others can go run the trains? Where would a club be without those key duties being done? Are you carrying a title but are really not on duty? In the military we have a useful, definitive term: ROAD (retired on active duty). It means nothing gets done.

Loyalty. There is loyalty upward and downward. Are you loyal to the Board and your elected leaders, or do you always criticize them while never being willing to run for office? Are you loyal to the new members or junior members? Are they welcomed or ignored until they either tough it out or go away? Do you help train them or let them fall into disaster? Leadership involves both leading and being a good follower.

Respect. People, regardless of their ability, deserve to be treated with respect. If you are a top-notch machinist, do you heap scorn on people who know nothing about a lathe? If you can build a Web page in 10 seconds, do you listen to people who want to discuss building Web pages, but take 4 hours to do one page, or do you ignore their discussion? The person who is ignored today may be the person who has knowledge you will need tomorrow. What’s good for the goose is not always good for the gander, but sometimes it is. You ignore people at your own peril.

Integrity. This one means doing what is right. Are you honest about reimbursements? Do members tell the truth about accidents? If you screwed up a machine in the shop, do you take responsibility? If you do not know how to do something, do you admit it and ask for guidance?

Let’s try to apply some of these values to new members. Consider how new members view the people who have been in the organization for years and years. Is the new member ever included, or left to sit alone at the 4^th of July picnic? Does anyone ask the new member to join a project? Nothing loses new members faster than to have a new member show up to work and not be given anything to do. For example, John quit as a brakeman on the Whitewater Valley RR because he drove 180 miles to work the Christmas train, and was given nothing to do when he arrived. He never went back to work on another train. Are welcome letters sent out to new members inviting them to join a project? What about spouses? If the spouse and the rest of the family appear, are they welcomed or ignored? A measure of a club’s efficiency is to look at who shows up at the club. If new members join and don’t show up to work or socialize or run their trains, why did they join? Or did something happen between joining and work opportunities that caused them to lose interest? Or did something not happen to retain their interest? Has an analysis been done of how long NJLS retains a new member? If the turn-over among new members is high, then some research could be useful to discover why the retention rate for new members is not higher.

All of these values can also be applied to goals for the year. There can be personal goals: paint something at the club that needs painted. There can be club goals: plan criteria for the 50^th Anniversary Celebration coming up. Maybe at the start of every year we should set club goals and post them, and evaluate just how alive and efficient our club is.

Awareness and respect are the keys to a smooth organization. Our 50 Year Meet is only 60 months away. Remove the winter months when we do little, and we’re looking at about 30 months of work. Or, a better way to view the remaining time may be to think that we have, at one work day a month, 30 work days for about 10 people to prepare for a major event. Maybe application of a values system can improve our club - before the Big Event becomes a Big Crisis.

It pays to know symptoms of common spring illness

By Cathy & Gary Madlinger

You know you are a New Jersey Live Steamer when you -

· Can find Liberty Corners, NJ on the map

· Never park to the right after it rains

· Understand it when someone says something needs to be "adjusticated"

· Have personal experience in being railroaded

· Never volunteer first for anything

· Break into a cold sweat if a formal meeting runs more than 25 minutes

· Do work at the club that you pay people to do at home

· Realize the Constitution is still being constituted

· Never leave a meeting until Gordon or Sam makes a motion.

· Expect that absolutely everything costs about $87.50

· Pretend you're retired every Wednesday.

· Know that when it comes to large green machinery, “nothing runs like a Plihcik.”

· Have driven Sam's engine.

· Toast in the New Year with shots of steam.

· Know that Cass has nothing to do with the Mamas and the Papas.

· Know that TMRC really refers to Tech Model RR Club at MIT (not that other place ;)

· Know that McHale, McGrath, Henderson, & Schoenberg means Gauge 1, not a Route 46 law firm.

· Know that at club meets the word “stationery” refers to the steam engines, not the steam engine operators.

· Include a stop at a diner with every "road trip."

· Catch "cabin fever" every January.

· Receive only train related gifts - and you like it that way.

· Understand that even a Haz-Mat mask won't keep cinders out of your eyes.

· Think of kerosene and Boraxo when someone talks about a beauty regimen.

· Put Joe’s Pizzeria as #1 on your speed dial.

· Automatically know the sales tax on a pizza and a cheese steak

· Know that George is Rick, Curt is Bear, Al is Butch, “Herr” goes with Heller, and there is only one Commander.

· Use a C-clamp to stop the bleeding.

· Know that when the clubhouse phone rings it either is Chuck, or is for Chuck.

· Consider Roberta Henderson’s desserts (and all donuts) as an essential part of your food pyramid.

· List Barbara Vaning as your family doctor.

· Know that you have to be 21 to have one of George Parsons’ fudgesicles.

· Know that ¼ inch is the only important difference between the Northeast and Ohio and Maryland.

· List hickory-striped as your favorite color

· Know that, next to the steam engine, WD40 is the world’s greatest invention.

· Never realized how many people are named “Ron.”

· Have a standing invitation for a party every Memorial Day, 4^th of July, and Labor Day.

· Break into a sweat (and hide your favorite mug cozy) when someone says they are going to clean up the place.

· No longer react to the booming sound of the neighbor’s “cannon”

· Know that when there is work to be done it’s great to have a Ballantyne handy.

· Appreciate the importance of always knowing where your coal shovel is.

· Know that worse than losing a shovel is forgetting your seat.

1 ½” spring track report

by John Stibravy with Adam Madlinger

The folks dealing with the 1 ½” mainlines have been busy evaluating how to have the track in good condition for the 50th Anniversary Meet. We are losing the battle against nature’s wrath and normal wear. In 2004 and 2005 we replaced a total of 680 ties, and we are telling you that is not good enough. To stay even with the wear, we would need to replace at least 1,000 ties a year, every year, and that’s not including worn rail. We have formulated some design changes that should help in the long run, because we do not have the manpower to keep replacing ties. We also note that the ties in the car barn yard are in poor shape, and we are ignoring this area.

q Adam at MIT has done an analysis, and information we have gathered indicates that the zinc screws we are using are incompatible with the new tie treatment. We should use the zinc screws with the ties treated the old way, and we have some older treated ties from Peter Anderson on hand. Can’t miss them…they look older.

q We have to make a decision about new screws for the ties treated the new way. The way to go, and it does cost more, is to use stainless steel screws as Harry Kundrat and Bill Musgrave suggested last year. They won’t rust off and they are compatible with the new ties.

q There is evidence that the flat tie plates could be improved upon for the heavy grades, especially on the outer loop and for departing from the passenger loading area for the heavy trains. These are coded as TP-2 from KD and we have some on hand now, but they can only be used for replacing a 10’ section. You can’t intermix the TP-2 style with the flat plates. The TP-2 style will give the heavy locomotives a better grip on the rails, and we can stay with the flat plates for downhill and flat areas.

q We are going to have to start building 10’ sections for section replacement, and the first ones should use the new ties, stainless steel screws, and the TP-2 plates, and these sections are destined for the outer mainline, then the inner line grade especially where the tie base is sitting in water. However, there is no new rail on hand. We believe that these new sections will last at least 10 years.

q At the March workday, bitter cold with the ground frozen, we repaired some of the little buildings and water proofed the ends of the new ties with water sealer. Also, the day is coming when the little buildings are going to have to be replaced, so it would be best if someone started now to build replacements or by the 50^th Meet our little town on the curve will have rotted away.

q If you are a new member, we welcome your help on the railroad. Next up: tie replacement in the passenger loading area which has gotten in bad shape, or helping Paul Kurtz with the new switch and lead installation, and concentrating on section replacement instead of individual tie replacement. But we need new rail for the 10’ section construction.

q Mike Plihcik suggested 3 years ago that individual families take responsibility for sections of the railroad and maintain one section. Nothing happened. The result is that emergency crews dash hither and yon repairing track, but there is no systematic yearly maintenance plan or 5 or 10 -year plan to follow. Everything is a crisis. Track maintenance is a long-term planned event. We have no plan because we cannot be assured of manpower for a specific section of track. This is not a good way to manage a railroad. Remember, the 50^th is only 5 years away.

Ohio Train Festival offers great summer getaway

By John Stibravy

The live steamers at Carillon Historic Park in Dayton, Ohio are planning the first Miami Valley Railfest, so if you plan to be on the road June 24^th you may wish to swing by. In addition to the famous 1835 B&O grasshopper, the park has lots of historic railroad buildings, a one-room school, a Wright B Flyer airplane, and lots of other exhibits. There will be garden railway displays, HO Modular displays, and other operating model RR displays, and an Ohio pig roasted that night. Some NJLS folks are planning on going to display equipment. They will stay at the Dayton Marriott across the street from Carillon Park.

The live steamers have 1,200 ft of 4 rail 7 1/4, 7 1/2, 4 3/4, 3 1/2 multi-gauge on the ground only, and 3,500 ft of 7 1/2 with a tunnel. Sorry - no Gauge 1. They have Elevated steaming bays with lift.

Other live steam clubs in the area (in case you want to visit while you are out there) are Cincinnati, NW Ohio, NE Ohio, and Lake Shore, but they all run 7 1/2. You'll be passing the famous Horseshoe Curve museum, EBT Railroad, and of course Strasburg RR on your trip. You can make this a family trip: Cincinnati Zoo, Cincinnati Art Museum, Kings Island Amusement Park, USAF Airplane Museum and Imax, three malls, and the famous Cincinnati Union Station. The Museum complex and Imax are within an hour's drive of Carillon