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From: "Paul R DOT Tupaczewski" paultup AT comcast DOT net
Date: Tue, 14 May 2019 16:38:16 -0400
Subject: ELRRHS Eastern District Spring Meeting report
"Eastern_District_Presenters.jpg" - image/jpeg, 2000x1125 (24bit)

I apologize for being late with this but my new job has me VERY busy! Here's the report (photo details below):

2019 ELRRHS Eastern District Spring Meeting Report
By Paul R. Tupaczewski

The 2019 ELRRHS Eastern District Spring Meeting was held at the well-appointed Embassy Suites in Parsippany, N.J. Jay Held came up
with a fantastic slate of presenters for this year's show, and as a bonus we even got a scheduled lunch break!

Right out of the gate, we had EL veteran Sam Calciotti presented "An Engineer's Reflection," a personal overview of his life on the
EL. As an actual employee, he had to be carefully as to when he could take photos, but when he did he captured many scenes that
"civilians" could not get. His memories of other fellow railroaders and funny anecdotes of his experiences rounded out this
presentation nicely. And better still - Sam has many more slides that he has yet to scan, and he asked if we'd like to see more
material in the future. Yes, please!

Next was Vince Lee, who gave a presentation on the less-than-carload (or LCL) business on the Erie. It was indeed a learning
experience for many of us unfamiliar with that business model (and one that eventually migrated its way to today's major shippers,
like UPS and FedEx). The tailing part of the presentation focused on Erie's LCL terminal on Manhattan Island in New York, a compact
yard that handled a tremendous amount of traffic in its heyday, and how Vince was able to model it in HO scale virtually to the
exact scale of the prototype.

After a satisfying lunch break, the attendees reconvened to see Norm Barrett present his "EL Memories from Scranton," a wonderful
selection of Norm's EL photography in and around Scranton, showing some wonderful views of trains climbing out of Scranton in both
directions as well as activities around the branches and yards in the area. It was obvious by Norm's varied locations that he was a
native who knew where to get unique photos. It was a great way to back from lunch!

Following Norm was Bill Sosnowski, who presented his own personal images of the EL from Hoboken to Buffalo via the "Lackawanna
side." There were several views on board EL passenger trains, and many classic views of scenes that no longer exist today. These
were neat snapshots in time with BIll's own personal experiences adding to the presentation.

The final presenter before the dinner break was Tony Verbyla, with his photography of the Erie Lackawanna in the Wyoming Valley and
Scranton area (seems that the Scranton area was a very popular presentation topic this year, and the membership really seemed to
appreciate that). Tony's images were also of the "not often seen" variety and added yet another layer of knowledge to the history of
the EL in that region. Time constraints of dinnertime prevented Tony from completing the show, but don't you worry. as you'll see!

Prior to dinner we were able to get the EL veterans attending to pose for a group photo, and it was quite a large group that we were
honored to have attending.

A wonderful dinner buffet prepared by the Embassy Suites chefs was followed by some words from Society Chairman Michael Connor, and
then Chris Costello gave a brief overview of the Erie Business Car Society, a non-profit group he founded dedicated to the
restoration and preservation of Erie business car No. 1. The car will be making its way to the railroad museum being formed in
Salamanca, N.Y. where it will be restored, and Chris will keep Society members informed going forward about the status of the car
and the museum.

After dinner, Tony Verbyla was able to complete the second half of his Scranton-area EL presentation, which continued the trend of
"good content," much to the delight of the membership.

Closing out the evening was Mitch Dakelman, who first went "old school" and pulled out a 16mm movie projector. Mitch focused on
capturing the Erie Lackawanna electric MU fleet during their last days before retirement in the early 1980s, thoroughly covering
their operation all across the electrified territory. After the movies, Mitch then showed slides from his collection showing various
EL/DL&W/Erie scenes (as well as some latter-day scenes for comparison) in geographic order, first starting on the Lackawanna side in
the Poconos and proceeding west to Binghamton, then returning to Secaucus, N.J. on the "Erie side" and following that all the way
through to Chicago.

It was a wonderful way for members to spend the day, and attendees left tired but happy at the day's presentations.

Thanks must be given to Jay Held for setting up the meeting venue and programs, as well as for running the Society Store. Rich
Wisneski also deserves thanks for his multiple talents, including coming up with a map of local restaurants for lunch and being our
excellent master of ceremonies this year. Kudos must be given to David Start for manning the check-in table, and to the "Company
Store" crew that included Nick Held, Jim Dent, and Rich Barnett. More great presentations are being planned for the 2020 Spring
Meeting - do not miss it!


Attached photos:
THE DAY'S PRESENTERS (from left to right: Mitch Dakelman, Tony Verbyla, Vince Lee, Sam Calciotti, Bill Sosnowski, and Norm Barrett)

THE VETERANS:
(top row, left to right) Michael Connor, Dave Pauer, Joe Boshek, Dennis Yachechak, Jim Mardiguian, Bob Bahrs, David Egli
(bottom row, left to right) Bill Sheppard, Sam Calciotti, Joe Lombardi, Edgar Bayrami, Pete Hastler, Bill Sosnowski, Cliff Redanz



Eastern_District_Presenters.jpg

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