Grab Iron Posts

Gerry Leone, NMRA Communications Director

The Board of Directors will meet in Grand Rapids Friday–Sunday, July 27–29. While the Friday meeting is a closed caucus, most of the Saturday and Sunday meetings are open to all members. Check at the convention for location.

We hope to announce soon our new Director of Marketing and his team who will meet with the NMRA leadership team inGrand Rapids to formalize the process of developing a program to recruit and retain members.

The Standards & Conformance Department needs an ATA Certified Translator to convert German documents into English. If you have the qualifications and interest, contact Didrik Voss, S&C Department Manager.

Atlantic District Director Nobby Clarke and his team have been invited to bring the NMRA Publicity Booth to the last-ever U.S. Railroad convention in Switzerland this October. This is a huge event, with attendance numbering in the thousands. More info here.

The 2012 Annual Convention begins July 29. Here’s some last-minute information:

• Grand Rails 2012’s former 6-part ticket is now a booklet containing maps, directions, descriptions and schedules for the self-guided layout tours. The booklet is attendees’ single pass to all 70+ layouts on tour.
• Sunset Valley Oregon System passes are also still available. This may be a once-in-a-lifetime chance to see one of the world’s most famous layouts.
• You can put your hand on an SW-9 throttle at the Coopersville & Marne Railroad, beginning Thursday morning, August 2 at 9 a.m. Operate for 15 minutes for $35. Register at the convention tour desk.

Al Carter

Here are the results of the recent 4^th Division election:

Superintendent: Ken Liesse

Director, Position 2: J.J. Johnston

By Laws Revision: Approved, 155 to 4

There were 163 ballots submitted, of which 162 were valid. The numbers do not add up because some voters only voted for one of the two positions open and some chose not to vote on the By Laws. Their ballots were otherwise acceptable for the categories they did vote in, so we counted those votes.

This year’s ballot committee consisted of myself as Chairperson, plus Steve Jaffray and John White (both of Anacortes).

My personal thanks to all four candidates who contended for the two positions. In my long history in the Fourth Division, I can recall several times when there was only one candidate for a given position. Your interest in the Fourth Division’s leadership is appreciated and I hope that you will consider running for office in the future.

Gerry Leone, NMRA Communications Director

The Ballot Committee has issued the official results of the Spring election. 7 ballots were unopened since they were postmarked after the deadline..

President

Ballots received – 1680
Valid ballots cast – 1569
Charlie W. Getz, IV, HLM – 1550

Vice President – Administration

Ballots received – 1680
Valid ballots cast – 1637
Dave Thornton – 723
Clark Kooning, MMR 588
Howard Goodwin 326

Vice President – Special Projects

Ballots received – 1680
Valid ballots cast – 1599
Bill Kaufman – 1104
James “Lumpy” Lupfer – 493
Norman Frowly (Write-in) – 1
Charles W Getz, IV, HLM (Write-in) – 1

Eastern District Director

Ballots received – 523
Valid ballots cast – 472
John Roberts, MMR, HLM – 461
Various individual write-in votes – 9 (on each)

Pacific District Director

Ballots received – 90
Valid ballots cast – 90
Mike Bartlett – 53
Robert Peterson – 25
Kelly Loyd = 12

At-Large North America Director

Ballots Received – 1565
Valid ballots cast – 1477
Miles Hale, MMR – 865
Mike Brestel – 610
Dave Barrow – 1
Whit Johnson – 1

The Board of Directors will meet inGrand Rapids on Friday, July 27, Saturday, July 28, and Sunday, July 29. While the Friday meeting is a closed caucus, most of the Saturday and Sunday meetings are open to all members. At this time the meeting room hasn’t been determined, so check with the convention hotel after you arrive if you’re interested in attending.

The NMRA has incorporated in the State of Missouri. One of the driving factors was to enable the Board to conduct electronic meetings (a practice not allowed inOhio, where we were formerly incorporated). This lets the Board vote on matters of significance in the time between the Winter and Summer meetings. The move also provides the proper opportunity to revisit the regulations (bylaws) as we update them to satisfy the Missouri Corporate requirements.

GrandRails 2012 has just signed up a rep from QSI who will be presenting several clinics about their brand new diesel sound system. The system lets users control sound and light functions to match specific railroad practices. Check the clinic schedule for this addition.

Coming soon: an announcement on the convention website about self-guided tours at GrandRails2012. Watch for it

Grand Rails 2012 is looking for volunteers who’d be willing to donate an hour or two of their time at the convention doing things like contest room security, helping with registration check-in, silent auction set-up and tear-down, and bus loading. If you’re interested and have an hour or two you’d like to donate, contact Mark Baldwin, Vice Chair of Volunteers, at gr2012volunteers@gmail.com for more details.