September 2026 Meeting

Posted September 22, 2026 · ·Announcements, Meetings

Our September meeting is coming up on Wednesday 30th, September 3:30pm to 5:30pm, at Coppola’s restaurant located at 203 Carlton Street, St. Catharines.

This marks the start on the next year of CRHA Niagara monthly meetings. It is also time to renew your membership. Also, we are accepting new members, so bring a friend and introduce him/her to the benefits of our club. As we are all suffering the shock of rapidly rising prices for almost everything, you will be pleased to know our fees and calendar prices are the same as last year.

2027 Calendars are now available. The CRHA Niagara calendar is not just a calendar, it is a photograph album of rare and unique photographs of the Niagara Region and Southern Ontario; and accompanying stories by renowned local photographers and historians. It is a must have for all railfans.

Benefits of CRHA Niagara membership

  • Monthly meeting with fellow railfans featuring excellent presentations by members and prominent speakers.
  • Stimulating conversation with members at the monthly lunch/meeting.
  • Notifications of group outings with fellow members
  • Group walking tours with fellow members to historic railway sites
  • Advice from fellow members on photography and rail history
  • Frequent email contact, from fellow members, often with photos or video, featuring sites visited, experiences, and rail history .
  • Opportunity to participate in the outstanding historic plaque programme conducted by CRHA Niagara.
  • Direct contact with CRHA/Exporail through CRHA Board member Andy Panko.
  • Camaraderie and friendships created by contact with fellow CRHA Niagara members.

Membership fee for 2027 $30.00 (Unchanged)
Calendar only – picked up at meeting in October or November $20
Calendar only prepaid postage in Canada $25

Early payment bonus – for membership paid no later than November 25, 2025

Membership $30.00 2026
CRHA Niagara Calendar with prepaid postage
$20.00 (regular price $25.00)
Total  $50.00
or membership with CRHA calendar at the meeting (no postage) $45.00                   

Methods of Payment

  • Cash to Chris Paxton or Ron Danielsen at the next monthly meeting
  • Interac e-transfer to crhaniagara@gmail.com
  • cheque payable to CRHA Niagara – address: 72 Hillcrest Ave., St. Catharines, ON, L2R 4Y1

Looking forward to seeing you at the September 30th meeting.

CHRA Niagara 2026 Christmas Party

Posted September 21, 2026 · ·Announcements, Events

Save The Date

Holly

 

 

Christmas Party
Please save this date for yourself (and your +1 guest).

Saturday, November 28, at 1 pm (a daylight ride in both directions, and hopefully no snow) at COPPOLA’S Restaurant where we hold our meetings. Similar to our very successful party last year, here is the menu and anticipated pricing:

  • House salad, big bowls, served family style
  • Pasta (penne tomato) with meatballs, also served family style,
  • Entre – Roasted herb chicken breast, with roasted potatoes and vegetables, nobody is going home hungry (food was left over last year and several folks took some home for later)
  • Dessert – tiramisu
  • Coffee, tea, pop all included (alcoholic and other

Beverages are on you, of course). Normal price last year was $45, not including tip and tax (we will firm up this year’s price at the September meeting). The ‘normal price ++’ including tax and a reasonable tip comes out to, according to our mathematician Gerald A., $60.01 per person. Instead, the Division will, like last year and many times in the past, subsidize a portion of the value of the meal for Members paid in full for 2027, and one guest of theirs. The Division will cover $15 of the meal, so Members plus one guest will only pay $45 each (price to be confirmed at September meeting).

For 2026 we sold out of calendars. If any 2027 calendars remain by the time the party rolls around, they will be available as part of the ‘Danielsen deal’ for 2027 dues + calendar at the party. If you already paid your dues, any available calendars will be $20 face-to-face (or $25 mailed).

Coppolas is easy to get to, as it is about 45 seconds south of the QEW at the Lake Street Exit in St. Catharines. Lots of close by parking, and flat, so no stairs.

It is never too early to put together a ‘spouse-friendly’ (i.e., semi-non-technical) 7 to 10-minute presentation to show at the due. If kept short and entertaining, we can likely squeeze in a half dozen of these. Your travel adventures that have railfanning or rail history included usually makes for a great show. Power point on a stick only please.

In order that the restaurant has an idea of our numbers, I will send out a notice again a few weeks, and a few days ahead of the party. We don’t need to hear from you now, but we do need you to save the date.

Andy

May 2026 Meeting

Posted May 25, 2026 · ·Announcements

The Niagara Division will meet as scheduled this Wednesday (in two days) at Coppola’s Ristorante at 3 pm for the last meeting of the season.

The Treasurer’s Report and the Minutes have been sent out. As shown in the minutes, at the start of the last meeting we had 20 members present, we eventually had 24 at the end…all in all a great turnout.

You may have noticed the meetings are running a bit long – A GOOD THING. With some research, we have established that the reason for this is three-fold:

1 – the quality and depth of the presentations are precipitating some very solid discussion.

B – the venue provides an excellent place to discuss things, railway history and otherwise, amongst our Members.

iii – when we were at the Lock 3 Museum, we were turfed out into the cold at 9:30, done or not, and that parking lot was not the greatest place to carry on a discussion that started in the warm confines of the Museum. Here, we CAN carry on pretty well as long as we want, and the meetings after the meeting have been going on for up to half an hour afterwards … a good thing!

There is no feature show this Wednesday, as we are hoping to fill the entire time with Member’s shows, each being 12 or so minutes long. Please contact Bob Martin if you want to present so he can put you on the list.

See you all on the 27th.
Andy Panko, CRHA Niagara President

President’s Report On The April Meeting

Posted April 30, 2026 · ·Meetings, Uncategorized

We had 23 Members and Guests out, so a good count. I was generally happy the meeting went well, lasted to about 6:15, most everyone gone by 6:30.

Gerald’s idea of moving the food order phase to the breaks worked quite well. I was impressed that after the order, and while we were waiting for our entries, Coppola’s brought out two types of large family style salads for each table, complimentary. Shows a lot of class on their part.

April 2026 Upcoming Meeting

Posted April 23, 2026 · ·Meetings

Our upcoming meeting is THIS WEDNESDAY – April 29, 3 pm at Coppola’s in St. Catharines.  Our feature speaker is Ken Gansel RC.  Other presenters are those that could not present due to time restraints at last month’s meeting, including Glenn Cherry, Dean Brown and Andy Panko (NS&T film).  Hopefully there will be other members with their short (10 minute) shows that will help round out what looks to be a dandy meeting.

If you have a short presentation, please contact Bob Martin personally, not via the group’s .io address, so he can get you on the list.  We will hear via email from Secretary Doug and Treasurer Chris, vis a vis the previous minutes and current finances before Wednesday.

Looking forward to seeing as many of you as possible on Wednesday afternoon.  The weather forecast so far calls for NO SNOW.

March 2026 Meeting

Posted March 22, 2026 · ·Announcements

March Meeting

Well, this Wednesday’s meeting is shaping up to be a dandy. Weather looks reasonable, and we have a very interesting guest speaker.
The meeting is scheduled for 3 pm at Coppola’s Restaurant on this Wednesday, March 25.

You will be able to order food during the meeting, as this is a full-service restaurant. Most, or many of you, have been there for our most recent Christmas Party, so you know what it’s all about. We are in the same private room, with the video set-up, and the very accommodating seating arrangement. Lots of free parking and a flat environment good for wheel chairs and walkers.

As for the Guest Speaker – this is the cat’s pajamas – Wayne Ettinger’s friend, Bob Dingman, the owner of the New York & Lake Erie Railroad, will tell us some interesting stories. You will not want to miss this first hand account of a nearby railroad that many of us are familiar with….’Planes, Trains and Automobiles’ and ‘The Natural’ were filmed there. But there is more to it than that!

We were debating whether we need to do an RSVP for this meeting, but decided to go out on a limb and figure that we should have a great turnout without asking for an RSVP from the gang. It is important that if you can get there, please try to be there. Also remember you can order supper right at your seat.

There will be other presentations as well, at least one on the NS&T. There will be a short book auction and a raffle as usual. The business meeting will be as abbreviated as possible, that you know your Prez knows how to do

Andy Panko,
President, CRHA Niagara Division

February Meeting

Posted February 23, 2026 · ·Meetings

Regular Monthly Meeting

Wednesday,
February 25 at 2 pm
Coppola’s Restaurant
203 Carleton Street, St. Catharines
Directions: 300 m west of Lake St. – take QEW Lake St. exit SOUTH, then one block 2nd light, and left on Carlton

So far the weather looks agreeable for a face-to-face meeting.

If you park in front, come in main entrance and walk through to back. If you park on the east side, come directly into the meeting room through the back door.

Assembly as usual a bit before the meeting start time. Although the restaurant does not officially open until 3 pm, our host will accommodate us earlier, and therefore lunch can be ordered once we are assembled. Discussion within the Exec indicates a strong desire to make the meetings as casual is possible, so ordering during the proceedings will not likely be an issue. I have given many a presentation talking over the clanking of forks and knives on dishes – no problem for me, should be okay for you too, I trust.

Keep in mind that our host, the restaurant owner, is saving us over $1300 a year by offering up this great room, with screen and proper seating, for free, but he hopes that when he calls in his kitchen and serving staff early just for us, we will order lunch or at least something, late lunch as it might be (or is it early supper?) We need a good showing for this and future meetings, or this venue and the present situation will just not work for our group.

Recall we were getting around 18 people out to Ricki Jo’s for dinner and then another 6 or 7 added at the actual meeting. Hopefully we can keep up these numbers. Please do your best to come to the meetings, whether you order food or not. Remember, you have to eat food on Wednesday one way or the other, whether you come to the meeting or not, so nine times a year not eating at home, well, what can I say, do your best.

We really need Members and Guests to bring well edited, short (10 to 12 minute) presentations. You can do two different shows if you want, as long as they together don’t exceed 12 minutes each. The 2nd show can be done after the rest of the registered presenters have done theirs, and if there is time left. If you have a short show and want to present, best to get on the list by contacting Bobby Martin separately at trains1987@hotmail.com (i.e, please do not ‘respond to all’, just contact Bob directly).

If you have not paid your dues for 2026, it is past due and can be paid to Treasurer and Lord of the Exchequer Chris at the meeting.

Looking forward to seeing the gang out on the 25th. Bring a guest. Encourage them to join.

Andy Panko
President, CRHA Niagara Division

Note: Update on January Meeting

Posted January 27, 2026 · ·Meetings

Notice to CRHA Niagara Division Members

The meeting tomorrow, Wednesday, January 28 will be ONLY by ZOOM.

Gerry at Coppola’s called and indicated that for him to open the restaurant early for us, and call in waiters and kitchen staff, would be problematic if only 8 or 10 folks show up because of the weather.

Indications are that the weather will not be better than it is today, and if you have been outside this morning in the wind, you will have found it to be dangerous, especially if you are a senior. Having to deal with a malfunctioning car for instance, in conditions like this, could be a real problem.

I just got off the phone with Gerald, and he will be sending an email link later today that you can log into. In order not to do a wholesale disruption, the time will remain the same, 2 pm.

January Meeting

Posted January 19, 2026 · ·Meetings

Regular Monthly Meeting

Wednesday, January 28 at 2 pm
Coppola’s Restaurant
203 Carleton Street, St. Catharines
Directions: 300 m west of Lake St. – take QEW Lake St. exit SOUTH, then one block 2nd light, and left on Carlton

If you park in front, come in main entrance and walk through to back. If you park on the east side, come directly into the meeting room through the back door.

Assembly as usual a bit before the meeting start time. Although the restaurant does not officially open until 3 pm, our host will accommodate us, and therefore lunch can be ordered off the regular menu commencing at 2 pm.

As with our previous 48 years of meetings, we will run 2 ½ hours, so clearing out around 4:30. I don’t think the room is being used immediately after that, so we will not likely be kicked out right at the end-time like at the museum.

Regarding Presentations

We really need Members and Guests to bring well edited, short (i.e., no longer than 10 to 12 minute) presentations. Please remember, that unless you are deemed the feature, negotiated and officially scheduled by Bobby Martin, whereby we get to enjoy your show for 30 to 40 minutes (that includes 5 minutes for questions and comments), regular presenters are limited to 10 to 12 minutes. You can do two different shows if you want, as long as they together don’t exceed 12 minutes.

If you have more to show, or want to do two shows that extend past the 12 minutes, you certainly are welcome. This can be done after the rest of the registered presenters have done theirs, and if there is time left.

In the old days, the Captain was the timekeeper and used to cut overtime presenters off before they finished what they wanted to show if they went overtime. We really don’t want to have to do that. Time your show by previewing and timing it at home, and edit down as necessary. It is acknowledged that there are relevant questions and comments that might interrupt your performance, and these are generally welcome, and presentation length can be adjusted as appropriate on the spot.

These rules were put in place many years ago after a lot of Member complaints, and getting to the end of the meeting night having too many people not having had the chance to do their presentations.

If you have not paid your dues for 2026, it is due and can be paid to Treasurer and Lord of the Exchequer Chris at the meeting. Also, we have very few calendars left, and they will be available for $20 cash at the meeting, or $25 postpaid if mailed. See JB for calendars, I think he might have four or five left.

If you have a short show and want to present, best to get on the list by contacting Bobby Martin separately at trains1987@hotmail.com (i.e, please do not ‘respond to all’, just contact Bob directly).

Looking forward to seeing the gang out on the 28th. Bring a guest. Encourage them to join.

Andy Panko
President- CRHA Niagara Division