Cajon Officers

October 7, 2024

Director, Harold Helland, director@cajondivision.org, (847) 302-1577

I received my first Lionel train at the age of five and I still run my Lionel every Christmas with a steam engine and a selection of cars under the Christmas tree. By high school I discovered that there were more options for buildings with HO and switched to modeling in HO. After I married Joyce, I started building Campbell structure kits and Athearn “Blue Box” freight car kits in our apartment. Since then, I have had six different model railroads. My largest model railroad was a 25 ft by 30 ft model railroad in my basement in Hawthorn Woods, a suburb of Chicago. At that time, I joined the NMRA and started working on my MMR after several members talked me into working through the Achievement Program. Although it has been 11 years since I started, I still hope to achieve that goal. I am a member of the Union Pacific Historical Society and have been President of the North County Model Railroad Society in Oceanside for seven years. I thoroughly enjoy our state-of-the-art HO operation that includes trains running by cell phone and turnouts operating from touch pads.

Superintendent, Joel Morse, superintendent@cajondivision.org, (714) 614-5401

Model railroading has always had an important social aspect to me; when I started out with my Dad as a teenager, the hobby was a way for us to spend quality time together. Since my current layout became operational in November, 2011, the layout and the hobby are a big part of my social life, and have resulted in me meeting an entire community of operators and model railroaders with all kinds of interests. Whether for a work session or an operating session, it’s always more fun with good friends, who are willing to help you reach your goals and laugh with you along the way. Model railroading is all about the journey and your fellow passengers, not the destination.

Assistant Superintendent, NV, RL Jenkins, assistsuper-nv@cajondivision.org

RL has been in the hobby since he was 10 years old, although he was out of the hobby for several years, but he really got back into it in 2004. RL models the modern UP in N scale. RL is an Audio Engineer doing concerts and conventions. His interests are focused on the Operations and Electronics aspects of model railroading.

Paymaster, Bob Calicchia, paymaster@cajondivision.org

Chief Clerk, Gary Stenberg, clerk@cajondivision.org

Gary is a retired Fire Department Captain with more than 41 years of service, a husband, a father of four, and a grandfather. He is also a lifelong Model Railroader and a Life Member of the NMRA. He is no stranger to the Cajon Division as he was involved in its founding. As the first editor of the Order Board, he dates back to a time when “Cut and Paste” was literal! Moving on, Gary served as the second Superintendent of the Cajon Division and later as a Cajon Division A/P representative under PCR A/P Chair Eric Bracher, MMR. In more modern history, Gary has served as a judge for the “Celebration of Models” at four National Conventions. He models in HO with an emphasis on Narrow Gauge. Pick him out and say Hi at NMRA events … he’s the one in the brown derby.

Membership Chair, Patrick Rogan, membership@cajondivision.org

AP Chair, Gary Butts, MMR, ap@cajondivision.org, (714) 842-4980

Similar to most model railroaders, my interest in model railroading started with a Lionel train set positioned around the family Christmas tree. Dissatisfaction with the unreliability of that first circle of track on the carpet led to my first model railroad layout positioned on a 4 x 8 sheet of plywood featuring a single siding, paint ground covers and a pie tin lake with real water. When I was around 10 or 12 years old I discovered more accurately scaled model trains and received an HO Tyco "General" 4-4-0 engine kit for Christmas. I was hooked! I sold the Lionel layout complete and have been in HO since. Although now on my 4th layout, the size has not changed much and I still model on a layout not much bigger than my first. Fortunately, my wife, Sandy, shares some interest in the hobby and has contributed greatly to my hobby enjoyment as well as becoming a model railroader in her own right. The 2011 National NMRA meet in Sacramento introduced me to the NMRA and the Achievement Program. Hooked again, I pursued the Master Model Railroader title and was awarded MMR #552 in 2015.

Contest Chair, Mike Allee, contest@cajondivision.org, (626) 533-9913

Mike returned to the hobby in 1976 joining Glendale Model Railroad Society and is a life member. He has held all the offices of the club, several more than once. Became a life member of the NMRA. He got actively involved in the PSR at the annual convention held in Las Vegas 2011 by speaking to Mary Barstow, LA Div Superintendent, asking if there is something he could help with. She immediately responded with he can be the Activities Chairman. At a LA division spring meet met several members of the Orange County Modular Railroaders as a result of the meeting joined the club. Mike was elected LA superintendent in 2014 and served two years. During that time he moved to Apple Valley, Cajon Div. and has been active in the Cajon division since. He has been a committee member of several regional conventions and the 2013 narrow gauge convention in Pasadena.

Publications Chair, Kurt Matthews, editor@cajondivision.org

Kurt Matthews is a retired aircraft systems engineer and resides in Fullerton, CA. He has been model railroading in HO scale since his teens. His favorite prototype railroad and era is the Delaware & Hudson in 1975 just prior to Conrail. Being born and raised in Pittsburgh, he also has an interest in Pittsburgh steel mill and coal railroading. He has a small 4x8 HO layout at his home, but would characterize it more as a train set than a layout. Kurt is also a member of the Bridge Line Historical Society that specializes in Delaware & Hudson history. He has written articles for their newsletter, but his participation is limited since the Society is based in Albany, NY, a far piece from SoCal.

Web and Social Media Chair, Dan Moran, social@cajondivision.org

Dan is a relatively new model railroader and NMRA member, working on a small HO layout modeling the AT&SF in Arizona copper-mining country in the early 1950s. He is also the proud Dad of twin girls whom he is trying to turn into new model railroaders.

Donations Chair, Brian Neely, donations@cajondivision.org

I first got started in model railroading at the age of 7 when I received my first HO starter set for Christmas. If memory serves it was a Life Like jumbo set. I remember it almost dwarfing my 5’ 6”, 80 year old great grandfather at the time when he brought it the house. As a child my dad helped me build two different train layouts on a 4x8 table that went up to the rafters in our garage on pulleys. Now fast forward almost 40 years. I have plans to start a multi layer HO layout in a 27’ x 27’ auxiliary building on me and my wife’s property. I have been a active member of the Pasadena Model Railroad Museum since I was 14 (30+ years). The one aspect of the hobby that I enjoy the most is building structures and improving my craftsmanship skills. To the point of I am starting down the path of hopefully one day get my MMR. I have been lucky to find a wife that is not only supportive of the hobby, but she also gets involved as well. She has been collecting O scale 3-rail Disney rolling stock and will be helping with the G scale garden layout in our large backyard. You can us both quite frequently at the model train shows since we are the owners of the traveling hobby store, Model Train Solutions.