The Short Line Model Railroad Story
The Short Line Model Railroad Club (SLMRC) was officially founded in 1989 when local resident Mike Fasnacht placed an ad in the Shopping News (a local paper) trying to gather interest in forming (or reforming) a local model railroad club. Mike also reached out to members of a local group of men that had formed a group, that was never officially named, to inquire about their interest as well. This organizational meeting was held at the Cloister Restaurant in Ephrata and was attended by Keith Bear, Len Brune, John Czarnecki, Mike Fasnacht, Larry Hornburger, Dennis Leeking and Jeff Throwbridge. Two of those members, Keith Bear and Dennis Leeking are active club members today.
Early Beginnings
In 1977, seven men gathered with a common goal to build a HO Gauge scale model railroad. The reason they decided to come together was because individually, this goal couldn’t be achieved but collectively they could make it happen. The original members of this group were Keith Bear, Vernon Bear, Andy Fasnacht, Mike Fasnacht, Andy Glass, Larry Hornburger and Dennis Leeking. As you can see from above, there was commonality among this early group and the group that officially stood up the SLMRC in 1989.
The club’s original location was the Western Auto Store building which was located on W. Main Street in Ephrata where the club had rented a portion of the basement. The club’s goal during this time was to build a branch line, a point to point railroad, where the members could operate. Knowing that they had limited funds and membership, they decided they would only build one portion of the layout at a time which consisted of benchwork, road bed, track, wiring and scenery. For example, once funds and materials were in place, that section of the railroad would be completed. During the initial two years the club was together, they only worked on the benchwork together.
Shutting Down the Club!
In 1979, Western Auto canceled the lease and the club was forced to move. Unsuccessful in locating a space to use, the club disbanded in 1980. And with that, the club was disbanded for approximately nine years.
It should be noted that during the disbandment, some members formed an NTRAK group. Current club member Curt Wallace, was a member of that group. “It was the Cloister N.Track Group. I believe we ran one year – 1980. Keith (Bear) and Mike (Fasnacht) promoted it and built the four corner modules. We had around a dozen members. Each member built a 2’ x 4′ module so we had a layout that was an oval approximately 26’ x 14’ … plus or minus a module. We got together and built and tested the layout over a few months, then did a full show in the Ephrata train station. We collected donations for the station preservation.
The problem we had was the station space was shared with others. So the entire layout had to be taken down after each session. That is likely why the NTRAK group did not last. I believe the corner modules were kept at the Western Auto store. My own module is long gone. I do remember the public really liked the layout. I had two diesels painted for Reading: Atlas GP30, and a Trix U30c that were able to pull a 96 car train. No two kids could count the same number of cars.”
Starting Over!
In 1989, the club restarted when several members decided that it was time to get things moving and space was obtained in a Brownstown storage facility which was basically an oversize one car garage. In this garage space, the benchwork was started and the basics of the railroad continued to grow and become functional. With the addition of roadbed and track, adding some electrical power as well as rolling stock and locomotives, the hard work and dedication of those seven men was realized with the first trains working on the branch line.
No doubt the club had limited funds to operate but the first official financial transactions that took place occurred in 1991 when a checking account, reflected by the 1st check register, with opening balance of $170.00, took place on 2/25/91. The first check written was #101 on 3/14/91. Looking through the transactions, some were for rent ($135.00), member dues ($85.00) and lumber ($150.00).
Regrettably, the railroad lost their lease again and in August 1993 the club moved to its current location at 11 S. State Street. Ironically, the new building was just around the corner from the Western Auto building where the club started. The move from the Brownstown storage facility
was interesting because the layout had to be taken apart to move into the new spaces. Members literally looked at the layout and used a circular saw and basically just cut it into pieces and moved it into the new building. The building was extremely spacious at the time for just hosting the branch line. It took several years to put the railroad back together where it had been cut, the scenery repaired and the electrical system rewired to restore the layout and return it to operational status.
Again, seven men did this and the solid foundation of the club was again formed. A key point to emphasize here is that the original seven members of the club, saved their dues and other funds that had been donated to the club to purchase the supplies and materials needed to construct the railroad. In some places, you could see where wooden doors were used to form the basis of the layout because they (the doors) were cheap, basically free, and they added to the completeness of the benchwork. Along with the money came a devoted group of men that dedicated their time and efforts to make the Short Line what the railroad is today.
Short and Sweet:
Where did the name The Short Line Railroad come from? Some of the membership wanted to name the railroad after the Pennsylvania Railroad and others wanted to use the Reading Railroad. So it became a compromise among the membership and the club voted to name the railroad, The Short Line.
The Growth Years
It didn’t take long, maybe three to five years, when several club members decided it was time to expand the railroad and add onto the branch line. So with a goal to expand at the south end of the branch line, plans were drawn up and funds saved by the original seven members. The railroad was expanded where it came off the Branch Line and basically a large ‘O’ was created to encircle the Branch Line. More specifically, records show that In the fall of 1993, lumber and track was purchased and that’s when the expansion to Coalsburg is thought to have begun. Additional areas that were added were the hidden staging yards inside the mountain, the mountain where the narrow gauge line now resides and the hidden staging yards. The lift out section that was built to connect the Branch Line and this newly expanded area is still there today but rarely used because of the way the railroad has been expanded over the years.
After several years, again, expansion took place and the railroad continued to grow. And in 2010, what was then the railroad, was expanded with the addition of Hornburg which is located just inside the front entrance to the club. In June 2012, additional wood and homosite was bought to double the size of Hornburg allowing it to come closer to the front door and its current configuration. With this change, the final changes, as we know them today, were put on the
layout.
There are no records that have been located to show the membership growth through the years. It had to have happened gradually over the years to our current membership of approximately 42 members.
Modernize the Electronics
A major shift in the way the railroad ran was the transition from what was the standard with a transformer and block power to Digital Command and Control (DCC). This leap, which commenced in May, 2010, took the railroad into a more realistic operating system where the locomotives were outfitted with circuit cards and each train was controlled by an assigned number and throttle where the operator could run the train and the associated ‘options’. This made operations on the railroad more realistic as locomotives horns and whistles came in many different patterns, trains vented air brakes, they rumbled down the tracks with a variety of noises and we continue to be surprised by the constant enhancements with the transition to DCC.
In 2015, a proposal was put forward to the club to add a logging line which was constructed at the midpoint of the railroad and was recently completed (12/2025). Its grand opening was during the 2025 Holiday Show season and is a welcome addition to the layout. Also during 2025, a major effort was put into place to improve the look of the facility. The club lighting was changed to museum quality LED lighting, the floor and doors were painted, a larger TV installed, new video cameras installed and the layout computers and monitors upgraded. An area in Union was rebuilt by club member Chris Erb that added 5 homes, retaining walls, and ground cover to the area. The final efforts of 2025 was to resurrect the trackside signals project that has been in long term hiatus for various reasons. This project will add realistic and operational signaling to the club when completed in 2027.
In 2020 membership stood in the low 20s which was the highest number of members that the club ever had. Today, there are approximately 41 members of the club that actively participate.