Open Invitation
Anyone is welcome to attend our events. If you are not a member of the NMRA, we invite you to attend up to three of them. We believe that three visits provide the opportunity to evaluate our organization and decide to become a member and enjoy its benefits. You can click on the button to read more about the three visit policy for non-members.
2025 Winter Meet
The Garden State Division winter event will be on Saturday, February 22, 2025 at the Oakland Public Library in Oakland, NJ.
We plan for two clinics in the morning followed by afternoon layout tours.
Date, Time, and Location
February 22, 2025
Oakland Public Library
at 10:00 AM
2 Municipal Plaza
Oakland, NJ 07436
Clinic 1:
My Journey to Chief Dispatcher
By Doug Chadwick
Doug will discuss his journey towards achieving the Chief Dispatcher certificate. He will talk about the NMRA Achievement Program, the MMR title, the challenges of creating an operating session from scratch and of documenting everything strictly electronically. He will relate his experiences with railroading and model railroading and the rewards of seeing his creation come to life.
In addition, Doug will have handouts of his version of the various forms required for this certificate. He will display the items he had to build in order to support this theoretical operating session.
Clinic 2:
Estate Planning for Model Railroaders and Collectors
By Robert McQueen
As model railroaders, we spend years building layouts and collecting models and equipment. Alternatively, you may spend years putting together a collection of model trains. Either way, you end up with an accumulation of stuff and you can't take it with you when you leave this world. No matter what your survivors think of your hobby or the items that you acquired, they will be left to deal with it all.
In this clinic, Robert will discuss assessing and planning to determine the disposition of your collection. He will share his observations and experience in going through this process for himself.
Layout Tours
Following the meeting, we will have the opportunity to visit model railroad layouts in the area.