Gerry Leone, NMRA Communications Director

Plans for The Gallery Exhibit at the California State Railroad Museum are moving into high gear. To date, organizing and fund-raising actions have raised two pledges of matching funds from anonymous NMRA member donors. One donation was for $50,000 and the other was for $250,000. The exhibit should be open by the end of 2012. More details in the May issue of NMRA Magazine.

A special Carpet Cutting Ceremony (an indoor ground breaking) for the Gallery Exhibit will be held on Thursday evening during the x2011 Convention. All are invited.

Speaking of x2011, if you haven’t yet registered for the X2011 West NMRA Convention in July, register now! If you have registered, sign up for tours and operating sessions before they fill up! More information at x2011west.org.

The Members-Only area of www.nmra.org is currently open to all members. Content is still being added, but now it houses copies of all Region and Division newsletter articles cited within the last year by Jim Zinser in his bi-monthly “Division Business Car / NMRA@Home” column in NMRA Magazine. In addition the “NMRA Magazine Classics” section of the Members-Only Area will contain classic articles from past issues of Scale Rails magazine and The Bulletin. We add new material all the time, so check back often.

The NMRA remains active with the two model railroad podcasts. We sponsor The Model Railway Show podcast produced by well-known modelers Trevor Marshall and Jim Martin at www.themodelrailwayshow.com. And Board Member Clark Kooning, along with other NMRA members, appears as a regular guest on Model Rail Radio podcasts at www.modelrailradio. Both of these podcasts can be downloaded from their websites or via iTunes.

Notice of 2012 Elections. The following NMRA Officers and Board of Directors positions are open for election in 2012: President, Vice President-Administration, Vice President-Special Projects, Eastern District Director, Pacific District Director, and At-Large North America Director. Check the NMRA Executive Handbook located here for the districts affected and qualifications. Submit candidate names for consideration by the Nominations Committee to Didrik Voss, davoss@pvmtengr.com, no later than June 15th.

The Summer Board Meeting will be held prior to the Sacramento x2011 Convention on Friday, July 1, 2011 (not Thursday, June 30 as previously reported). The exact start time and room number will be announced when available.

The NMRA is looking to identify and recognize any model railroad clubs that are still in existence that were formed in 1935 or earlier. We would like the name of the club, when it was founded, and a picture from the early years if possible. Send the information to Dave Thornton – NMRA Vice President of Administration, DThorn5552@aol.com, or 2027 Jeffrey Drive, Troy, MI 48085-3816.