Spring 2016 Division meet
When: Saturday March 5, 9am to 12:45pm
Where: The Cottages at Brushy Creek in Greer, SC
We had another excellent meeting at the Cottages on March 5, with 41 members and guests in attendance. The meeting featured great clinics from:
Fall 2015 Division meet
When: Saturday October 31, 9am to 12:45pm, 2015
Where: The Cottages at Brushy Creek in Greer, SC
The Palmetto Division fall meeting was held at The Cottages at Brushy Creek. The meeting began at 9:00am and included two great clinics:
- Steve Todd -- Need More Signs!
- Les Illes -- Scenery Techniques
a convention report,
and a model contest.
After lunch, we toured the interesting home layout of Chuck Heynen in Clinton, SC.
Palmetto Excursion - Destination Greenville 2015
The Convention is complete and was a big success! Thanks to everyone who attended, and everyone who helped to bring it together!
Click [here] for all shared photos from the event!
Palmetto Excursion - 2015 SER-NMRA Convention Summary
After 2 years of planning, the convention was a great success. We had 240 registered attendees plus a few clinicians only and either Op-Sig or Home Layout hosts. The Greenville Marriott was a great venue and provided us great service (although we did have a little problem with hotel reservations as our weekday allotment sold out!)
At the Marriott we conducted 43 clinics out of 45 possible time slots. The Clinics were well attended with standing room only for a few. The topics were diverse and well presented. We received very positive feedback from the attendees. The 15 minutes between the 1 hour clinic time slots proved to be liked by clinicians and attendees both as there was time for questions and for packing up to make way for the next clinician. The Contest Room ran smoothly and there was a need for more judges than we had available! The special convention theme was “heavy loads”. The hospitality room for the non-rail activities was excellent, with separate sitting area and room with a large table for activities. Many of the ladies planned their own outings to the local shopping mall and downtown Greenville activities. All seemed to always have a smile on their faces, so they must have been having fun! The Registration/Company Store/Raffle Room was a busy place. Quite a few members brought “stuff” to sell and we had 51 donated products from various manufactures in our raffle. Many attendees went home happy with their purchases or winnings; but there were a few very disappointed raffle ticket purchasers as their tickets did not match the winning numbers!
The Saturday evening banquet activities consisted of a social hour followed by a Carolina buffet. The banquet program featured recognition of the convention committee, special awards by region president Glen Hall, an entertaining view of life married to a model railroader presented by Lorraine Garner, the presentation of Contest winners by Howard Garner, the keynote address by Mr. Steve Hawkins (owner of 2 area short line railroads), and ending with a preview of the 2016 convention in Huntsville, Alabama by Sandy Warrington. Mr. Hawkins took us on a trip through his life as it centered on railroading and concluded with a powerpoint presentation of his current short line railroads and nicely tied in a bit of humor and “heavy loads” with his presentation. His talk was both informative and entertaining.
Away from the activities at the Marriott were Prototype Tours, Home Layout Tours, and Op-Sig sessions. Home Layouts were open for viewing and operation from Thursday through Sunday. 51 attendees enjoyed up to 9 operating sessions and all ran extremely well. We heard nothing but praise from the attendees. 30 Home Layouts were offered for viewing and the turnout for these was heavy. Again, nothing but positive feedback was received. The two Prototype Tours were also great. Republic Locomotive showed their assembly line and offered all attendees the chance to drive a real locomotive! Also offered there was the opportunity to ride in a motorcar. This tour was a huge success. The Industrial Tour took attendees to the Inland Port (intermodal distribution center) to get an up-close and personal view of the operation. They also toured to the Wye leading to the BMW plant and ended at the Hub City Museum in Spartanburg. Another well planned, informative, and entertaining tour.
--Ron Lown, Division Superintendent
Fall 2014 Division meet
When: Saturday November 15th, 9am to 12:45pm
Where: The Cottages at Brushy Creek in Greer, SC
The Palmetto Division held its Fall 2014 meeting on November 15 with 46 members and visitors in attendance. We had a swap meet, model contest, Tips & Techniques contest, two clinics, and a business meeting.
Spring 2015 Division Meet
When: Saturday March 28th, 9am to 12:45pm
Where: The Cottages at Brushy Creek in Greer, SC
The Palmetto Division spring meeting was held at The Cottages at Brushy Creek. The meeting began at 9:00am and included three great speakers:
Spring 2014 Division Meet
When: Saturday March 15th, 9:00am to 12:45pm
Where: The Cottages at Brushy Creek in Greer, SC
The Palmetto Division held its spring meeting on March 15 with 46 members and visitors in attendance. The meeting consisted of a swap meet, model contest, Tips & Techniques contest, two clinics, and a business meeting. Our afternoon activity was a trip to Miniature World of Trains (MWOT) “sneak preview” and the Piedmont ‘N Southern N-scale modular club layout which was also on display at MWOT, located in downtown Greenville.
Contact Us
Division Superintendent:
Roger Liska, (864) 646-6073, riggor @ clemson.edu
Division Assistant Superintendent:
Chuck Jenkins, (864) 680-4103, cwj577986 @ msn.com
Secretary/Webmaster:
Steve Todd, (864) 423-3671, mstevetodd @ gmail.com
Treasurer:
Myron Pensyl, (518) 878-2503, mypensyl @ hotmail.com
Clinic / Mini-Workshop and Layout Tours Director:
open
Achievement Program (AP) Chairman:
Howard Garner, (864) 878-4705, cascaderail @ bellsouth.net
Board Member At Large:
Dave Winans, (864) 430-6585, dwinans4739 @ charter.net
Columbia Area Program Director:
Rich Lehman, (803) 767-5619, rlehman777 @ yahoo.com