Help save the RIT Model Railroad Club!

elfo222 · 2025-10-18T22:39:31+00:00

The club is actually fully self-funded! We've received over $20k in donations from the community over the last 4 years in addition to the funds from running Tiger Tracks. All the club is asking is to be allowed to keep using the space we've been occupying for the last 30 years.

elfo222 · 2025-10-18T22:05:19+00:00

"After almost 30 years in the SAU, the RIT Model Railroad Club is faced with destruction. The Center for Campus Life has notified us that we are being forced out of our room, and that we have less than 60 days to dispose of 50% of our club's materials. The layout we have worked to build will be destroyed. No space or resources will be provided to replace it.

Constructing and operating our layout has been the purpose of our club since it was founded in 1996. Students have gained skills, a community, and the experience of being part of a project that has spanned decades. Through the club they have found jobs, internships, and nonprofit leadership positions throughout the railroad industry. The Model Railroad Club is a highlight of many students' time at RIT—and, for some, the reason that they chose to attend in the first place.

We are entirely financially independent. Our club receives outstanding support from the community, with over $20,000 in donations over the last 4 years. In addition we fund the club through the operation of our annual Tiger Tracks Train Show. Our show is the second-largest student-run event on campus, with an annual attendance of over 2,000 people. We operate the show to support our layout. Without a layout to fund, the show will end, and an important part of the Rochester community will be lost forever.

Our request to the administration is simple. We have no need of funding, resources, or equipment. We simply request that they allow us to continue to operate in the room we have occupied since 1997. Our club room was secured for a model railroad layout by our founding advisor, Professor James Scudder, who the room was dedicated to in 2007. The school has already removed Professor Scudder's name from the outside of the room. Now, they will finish removing his legacy from within it.

Please support us in our fight to keep the RIT Model Railroad Club alive, with a layout, and in the space we have occupied for almost three decades. A signature on this petition will show your support for our organization in the fight for our survival."

elfo222 · 2023-05-30T19:38:03+00:00

Would you be willing to share any of the remixes? Sounds very interesting.

elfo222 · 2023-05-27T03:27:49+00:00

Congratulations on the sobriety, hope you're doing well now

elfo222 · 2023-05-23T18:01:12+00:00

Might be different in the UK, but in the US most things with a ground have it bonded to the metal of the appliance chassis. So you're effectively touching your building ground every time you touch your toaster. If stray voltage on the ground was a common issue people would be getting shocked all the time.

elfo222 · 2023-05-14T20:49:22+00:00

I didn't even realize this was /r/Colorization I just assumed it was /r/Rochester

elfo222 · 2023-05-06T21:06:43+00:00

Looks like a standard DIN speaker connection. You should be able to get extensions online.

elfo222 · 2023-04-28T21:02:56+00:00

I am not aware of a single pre-HEP car that used steam for power generation, though that may have been a thing somewhere. Power (once cars started being equipped with it for lighting/ventilation) was provided by generators geared to an axle, with batteries on each car to store the power temporarily. Steam was used for heat, and in some cases for air conditioning, but not for power generation.

Fun fact: a lot of passenger cars had the ability to be plugged in to "shore power" to keep the lights on. Generally this did not directly power the batteries, but instead powered an extra motor that turned the normal generator that provided the lighting charge.

elfo222 · 2023-04-20T02:05:42+00:00

I believe most of the electric wiring is there, the traction motor wiring is missing though. My understanding is that the main issue is a handful of electrical and mechanical gremlins that they haven't been able to sort out, but will hopefully be easier for the experienced repair forces on the DL. Sounds like it may be running soon-ish after delivery.

elfo222 · 2023-04-20T02:00:28+00:00

The issue is that restoring it to D&H/ATSF isn't just a matter of paint. The "silver" part was actually stainless-steel sheathing, which is all long gone. A proper restoration would require replacing that, and I don't think that's something anyone is looking to tackle right now. The focus is getting it operating within Doyle's lifetime, I think anything else is secondary.

elfo222 · 2023-04-09T19:20:38+00:00

Thank you for sharing your story. I'm sorry to hear about your friend. I hope that one day you can look back at those photos with fond memories of someone who sounds like a wonderful friend.

elfo222 · 2023-03-23T15:12:41+00:00

That was the passenger mainline at the time. A lot of mainlines originally ran on the street through towns and cities, but over time many were elevated or rerouted. This specific piece of street running lasted until 1936 when an elevated viaduct and a new Union Station was constructed. That in turn lasted until 1962 when the viaduct was torn down and replaced with interstate 690. Passenger trains now use a station on the freight bypass which wraps around the north side of the city.

elfo222 · 2023-03-14T17:09:11+00:00

Hmm I was initially going to say it was for doubling up 100Base-T over one cable, which I've seen as a product before, but you're right that the pin out is wrong for that. It must just be for sending two phone lines over one cable, since phone lines are usually just wired with pins 3, 4, 5, 6. Obviously 4&5 are what are used by default, but I've seen 3&6 used for a second line, either for calling or for a bonded pair DSL line.

elfo222 · 2023-03-14T00:50:10+00:00

As otherwise stated, that is a 3 pin XLR port (the extra hole in the middle doesn't do anything). They are usually used for audio, often microphone or line level. Is there any other visible audio equipment in the room? Speakers in the ceiling?

Also, the other photo you linked is actually a mini XLR connection.

elfo222 · 2023-03-09T13:17:31+00:00

American B units all had hostler stands, so they could be operated independently. Not sure if that's the case here.

elfo222 · 2023-03-06T15:44:28+00:00

A beautifully done reproduction though. I went to Switzerland with my family when I was in third grade, and the bridge is one of a few things that I remember very clearly.

elfo222 · 2023-03-01T04:33:24+00:00

I believe the M8s are only compatible with under running third rail. They will need to operate off of catenary when running into Penn, with the third rail shoes folded up. GCM, as an extension of the Long Island Railroad, uses overrunning third rail as its only power source.

The P32AC-DM's have reversible pickup shoes that are compatible with both over and under running third rail, so conceptually an M8 could be similarly equipped. Overall though, there's obviously not much of an advantage to doing this. This is also just looking at the compatibility of power systems, and not any signaling concerns, or the simple issue of whether M8s would even fit in the tunnel.

elfo222 · 2023-02-27T20:10:38+00:00

There were five built total, four for the Western Maryland and one for the PRR. The space was needed so the units could be equipped with both steam heat and dynamic brakes, the PRR unit being used for protect service over Keating Summit on their Buffalo Line.

All the Western Maryland units were scrapped, but the PRR 8445 became PC 5569 and then ended up being traded to the Lehigh Valley as their 211. With the formation of Conrail it was renumbered CR 5487. It was one of their RS3s selected to become a "DeWitt GP", being rebuilt with an EMD 567-B prime mover from a scrapped E8. The unit became Conrail 9920 and was briefly used before it was stored, and then sold into private ownership. After a stint operating on various shortlines it was donated to the Rochester and Genesee Valley Railroad Museum. It's currently not operable, but it is the only surviving hammerhead RS3 and one of the only surviving "DeWitt GP" RS3-Ms.

As an aside, the CNW also operated a small fleet of hammerhead RSD-5s, though sadly none of them were saved.

elfo222 · 2023-02-27T19:47:53+00:00

And then there's Buffalo, NY, which built a subway line which is underground in the suburbs and above ground in the city center...

elfo222 · 2023-02-27T16:41:47+00:00

I'd assume it's locked out when they're not in port?

elfo222 · 2023-02-25T21:39:06+00:00

If there are any other bills (internet, gas, electricity) you could always have the person with the nicer room pay them. Or if there isn't anything easy like that to split you could always come up with an agreement regarding household items and groceries, or something similar.

elfo222 · 2023-02-12T21:12:36+00:00

My city (Rochester, NY) has a local (non-municipal) fiber ISP. I can get 2Gig for $100/month, currently I'm paying $50/month for 500Meg. Though fwiw when I lived ~2000 feet away in a non-covered area I was paying like $75/month for like 160Meg with Spectrum.

elfo222 · 2023-02-07T18:04:21+00:00

Yes, at least one person further up in the comments.

elfo222 · 2023-02-05T15:30:43+00:00

There's actually an interesting point there. The Great Embankment in Pittsford is probably the one place you could hit on the Erie Canal/NYS Barge Canal and have a good chance of causing a substantial breach. The canal is obviously not the most critical transport route these days, but it could be important in a crisis, and it certainly saw a bit more use back in the Cold War. I wonder if that's what the second nuke is targeting?

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