September 2026 Meeting

Posted September 22, 2026 · ·Announcements, Meetings

Our September meeting is coming up on Wednesday 30th, September 3:00pm 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

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

March Meeting

Posted March 26, 2025 · ·Announcements, Meetings

CRHA Niagara Division Members and Associates:

The weather seems to be reasonably agreeable, so no doubt we will have a blended meeting tomorrow night. We are always happy to meet in person, and always happy to see our more remote members join us on zoom, that has been running pretty good lately (thank you Gerald).

  1. You will have already received an email from Gerald indicating coordinates to log on to the ZOOM version of the meeting if you cannot make it in person. If you can make it in person, Lock 3 Museum, at 7 pm tomorrow, Wednesday.
  2. The meeting will be recorded and available to watch on-line for a period of 7 days. Peter Bowen et al take note.
  3. Secretary Doug has already sent out the minutes of the last meeting for review, so they will not be read at the meeting, but Doug will entertain changes if necessary before we vote on them.
  4. The minutes have been revised slightly thanks to remote (Arnprior – who would actually move there ??) Member David Bingham (PPFL). Thank you for your sharp eye. (a comma or period was left out)
  5. Bob M. and I had our usual monthly pre-meeting this morning, and please note – Bob tells us that we will start with Member’s Slides. The feature presentation will be by Keith Ballantyne, and we hope to have others with ALREADY ASSEMBLED IN A TRAY, slideshows that last about 15 minutes (OR LESS), to show off their wares. E-shows will follow the slides and word on the street is that we hope both Dean and Tammy have some of their neat and timely things to show. Shows are limited to 15 minutes or less please, to give everyone a chance.
  6. Thank you to Ron D., there will be a pre-meeting of the strategic minds at Ricki-Jo’s backroom at 5:15 pm. Do your best to eat, tell railfan lies, etc., pay your bill and be back at the Lock 3 Museum by 7 so we can start the meeting on time, as we have lots of shows.
  7. For those that come down this way to railfan before the dinner meeting, keep in mind that the canal is open as of a couple days ago, and raised bridges may already affect your travel plan timing.
  8. At 7 pm, we will have our AGM that encompasses our goings-on for 2024. This will be followed by our regular meeting at 7:06 PM.

Looking forward to seeing all and sundry tomorrow, one way or the other.
AWP

October Meeting

Posted October 17, 2024 · ·Announcements

October 30th @7pm, at the Lock 3 Museum in St. Catharines is the next CRHA Niagara monthly meeting. If you have not already done so, please consider paying your 2025 membership dues at the meeting. You may take advantage of the early payment bonus and receive a 2025 CRHA Niagara calendar with your membership for a package price of $50. This offer expires on October 31st.

Benefits of CRHA Niagara membership

  • Monthly meeting with fellow railfans featuring excellent presentations by members and prominent speakers
  • 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 2025         $30.00 (Unchanged)

Early payment bonus – for membership paid no later than October 31, 2024
Membership                              $30.00
2025 CRHA Niagara Calendar $20.00 (regular price $25.00)
Total                                           $50.00


The 2025 CRHA Niagara calendar is really an album of rare historic rail photos and their stories.

Methods of Payment

  1. Cash to Paul Chapman or Chris Paxton at the next monthly meeting
  2. Interac etransfer to crhaniagara@gmail.com
  3. cheque payable to CRHA Niagara address: 72 Hillcrest Avenue, St. Catharines, ON, L2R 4Y1

Membership must be paid no later than January 31st, 2025 to continue all the benefits.

We look forward to seeing you as we start the next exciting year at CRHA Niagara. Meetings are at 7:00 PM, the last Wednesday of each month, from September to May, except December, at the Lock 3 Museum in St. Catharines. Meetings are “hybrid”, that is by Zoom link, and face-to-face, unless it is clear there is an impending winter storm.

September Meeting

Posted September 12, 2024 · ·Announcements

September 25th marks the start on the next year of CRHA Niagara monthly meetings. It is also time to renew your membership, or join if you are not yet a member.

Benefits of CRHA Niagara membership

  • Monthly meeting with fellow railfans featuring excellent presentations by members and prominent speakers
  • 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 2025         $30.00 (Unchanged)

Early payment bonus – for membership paid no later than October 31, 2024
Membership                              $30.00
2025 CRHA Niagara Calendar $20.00 (regular price $25.00)
Total                                           $50.00


The 2025 CRHA Niagara calendar is really an album of rare historic rail photos and their stories.

Methods of Payment

  1. Cash to Paul Chapman or Chris Paxton at the next monthly meeting
  2. Interac etransfer to crhaniagara@gmail.com
  3. cheque payable to CRHA Niagara address: 72 Hillcrest Avenue, St. Catharines, ON, L2R 4Y1

Membership must be paid no later than January 31st, 2025 to continue all the benefits.

We look forward to seeing you as we start the next exciting year at CRHA Niagara. Meetings are at 7:00 PM, the last Wednesday of each month, from September to May, except December, at the Lock 3 Museum in St. Catharines. Meetings are “hybrid”, that is by Zoom link, and face-to-face, unless it is clear there is an impending winter storm.