I am in the early stages of planning to host the 2017 ProTrak weekend, May 3 through May 7, 2017. I am interested in any questions/concerns you may have, and certainly open to any suggestions to enhance the weekend.

Hotel – To be determined, but most likely in Frederick, Maryland; Frederick is west of my home and a 25 minute drive to/from my house. There are numerous hotels and I will explore them in the next few months.  I am aware that some of you may bring your spouses/family members along for the weekend.  There are also hotels located in the Columbia/Ellicott City area, which is about the same distance east of me.

Travel – I live in Glenwood, Maryland, located in Howard County. My home is approximately equidistant from Baltimore, Washington, DC and Frederick.

• Driving – for those of you who will be driving my home is easily reached off of Interstate 70.
• Arrive by Rail – Amtrak (http://www.amtrak.com) serves Washington Union Terminal, BWI Airport and Baltimore’s Penn Station. Rental vehicles are readily available at BWI; I don’t know how convenient it is to rent a vehicle at the other stations. Also, MARC, Maryland Rail Commuter, (https://mta.maryland.gov/marc-train) operates daily between Washington Union Station and Frederick.
• Arrive by Air – there are three major airports in the area, Baltimore-Washington International (BWI), Reagan National Airport, and Dulles International Airport. All of these airports are served by the major airlines.

Restaurants – I will explore Frederick and locate some breakfast spots to suggest. For lunch, there is a Subway, Italian carry-out, and BBQ carry-out just up the street.  Dinners will likely be at a few of the local restaurants.  I would like your input regarding the Saturday evening dinner; there are many nice restaurants in Frederick to choose from; additionally, Baldwin’s is a former B&O station located on the still used Old Main Line and located in Sykesville, just east of my home.

My Railroad – I model in HO scale Norfolk and Western’s Shenandoah Valley line; the prototype ran from Hagerstown, Maryland to Roanoke, Virginia; I model the portion from Front Royal, VA to Waynesboro, VA. The era is August 1956 and a mix of steam and diesel power is used.  I used Digitrax Radio DCC.

Other Activities – I am planning to include a trip to the B&O Railroad Museum in Baltimore; the museum is about an hour from my home; for now I would plan to have this trip on Thursday morning, followed by lunch; then return to my house for an operating session. I am open to suggestions for other activities you may enjoy, such as a layout visit.

Other Attractions – There is tons of shopping in the area; there are outlets in Hagerstown, MD, about 20 minutes west of Frederick; numerous malls in the region including Frederick, Columbia, and Rockville.

Frederick is home to the Civil War Museum of Medicine; it is also the burial place of Francis Scott Key; the Baltimore Orioles have a Single A Farm Team, the Frederick Keys. The Weinstein Theatre of Performing Arts hosts a variety of shows and musical groups.

For civil war buffs the Monacacy battlefield is just outside of Frederick; Gettysburg and Antietam are less than an hours’ drive each.

Washington, DC is a commuter train ride away from Frederick; there are numerous museums and attractions in the nation’s capital.

Let know if you have questions or suggestions.

Jim Brewer

A friend recently made me aware of these videos of my layout that I didn't know existed......have a look...

The area shown in the second video as "expansion" is Waynesboro, where N&W and C&O interchanged; the C&O operated the north and south "belt line" serving various industries.  I am presently working on this area and it should be operational by next May.

Jim Brewer

Paddy,

Good luck with the new job; if things change and you can make it would be great to see you.

Jim Brewer

Joe,

I use BWI; it is relatively easy to get in and out of; the rental car lots are nearby and there is a shuttle service for them. Since I am familiar with it I like it best.

National is located along the George Washington Parkway across the river from DC; I have flown into National on one occasion when a flight was redirected but never flown out of it; Dulles is located southwest of DC and accessed by a toll road; there is also Washington Metro Subway service; I have never used Dulles.

The biggest problem with National and Dulles is the Washington DC area traffic; you would need to use the Capital Beltway (I-495); if going directly from the airport to Frederick, you would then use I-270; the beltway is always jammed and 270 is a parking lot inbound to DC in the mornings and outbound in the evenings.  It is not as bad on the weekends, but still very heavy, especially the beltway.  If you were coming to or going from my house to National or Dulles, you would be using Connecticut and Georgia Avenues; both very, very heavy with multiple lanes and traffic lights.

BWI is also a hub for Southwest airlines; SW also flies into National but I don't know about Dulles.

BTW, I have suggested hotels in Frederick; my reasoning is it is about a 25 minute drive to my house, and there is far less traffic traveling I-70. The hotel prices seem to be a little cheaper overall. There are hotels in Ellicott City and Columbia, both of which are close to me and the prices vary; in fact, the closest hotel is the Turf Valley Inn and Resort but the room price is about $200 per night.  There is lots of traffic during rush hours with Ellicott City and Columbia.  I am trying to make things less complicated and less stressful for commute between the hotel and my house.

I hope this helps; let me know if you have any other questions/concerns. Looking forward to seeing everyone.

Best wishes.

Jim Brewer

All,

I am busy working on the layout getting it ready for the weekend, which is just a little over 6 weeks away!  I'm hoping to have a new area in service which includes a small yard and industrial switching; I've also been busy installing decoders...we will see!

Here is what I have planned as the tentative schedule:

Wednesday, May 3 - 1 pm and following - arrive, meet and greet, some operations and dinner (carryout or go out)

Thursday, May 4 - 9:30 a.m.  Meet at my house and car pool to the B&O Railroad Museum in Baltimore. http://www.borail.org/ We will follow this visit with lunch and then return to my house for operations. Probably order in pizza for dinner.

Friday, May 5 - 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. clinics; what clinics would you like? I think it would be appropriate for Jim to give a review of the major additions to ProTrak since last year; we will leave at 11:30 a.m. and car pool to visit Howard Zane's model railroad in Columbia, followed by lunch in Columbia; then return to my house for operations.  Dinner to be determined.

Saturday, May 6 - 9:30 and following Operations; our usual group dinner at about 6 p.m., location TDB.

Sunday, May 7 - 9:30 to ? - Operations and good byes.

Please let me know if there are any other activities you might like to explore in the area; also, I'd appreciate if you would drop me a line indicating if you will be attending the weekend.

I would ask if you have a Digitrax 40x simplex radio throttle to bring it along; I should have more than enough throttles but it will not hurt to have a few in reserve if necessary.  I do not have Digitrax Duplex radio, yet.

Looking forward to seeing you all here....

Jim Brewer

Fred,

Sure...here it is:

3611 Point Hitch Road Glenwood, MD 21738

443-864-2832

Looking forward to seeing everyone.

Jim

On Wed, Mar 22, 2017 at 6:52 PM, ProTrak.org wrote:

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