Page 11 - All Scale Rails Magazine Issue 13 March April 2017

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they had and make use of the building they
was soon discovered that there were large dis-
were already residing in.
crepancies in scale, even though they should
In 1950, the club would undergo a mas-
have been compatible. Not all O scale trains
sive renovation and rebuild. The outside
were able to run on the club’s outside third
third rail was replaced with 2 rail track and
rail track.
the layout itself would spill over into the for-
mer baggage room. Much of what is there
today is original to this renovation. There
were a few major modifications like longer
sidings, a larger turntable and more scenery
work.
Over the years, many influential people in
the model railroading hobby and industry
have been card holding members of the Mod-
el Railroad Club of Milwaukee. To think that
Model Railroader magazine, Walthers and
the National Model Railroad Association
were all connected as young men enjoying
their hobby together is staggering. The club
that they built together as young men, that
opened up to the public 80 years ago, is still
carrying on their legacy long after they have
At this first National Convention, it was departed from it. *
voted that a national organization would be
generated with the purpose to standardize
scales in the industry and the National Model
Railroad Association (NMRA) was born. Af-
ter the convention, Harry Bondurant headed
the standards committee, whose job it was to
format and record new standards. Six months
before the 1940 National Convention, with
membership applications not being processed
and a great deal of disorganization in the NM-
RA, Al Kalmbach would step up and take
over as Business Director and bring order to
NMRA in time for the convention.
World War II would pull many members
overseas, but the club still moved forward.
Due to the War Effort, many supplies were
hard to come by and, after the war, the club
met to decide their fate. It was determined
that instead of finding a new place to relocate
to, they would simply renovate the layout

Issue # 13 2017 11