Mark up your calendars!

RPM-East will be

March 21 and 22, 2025!

Our host will be
Westmoreland County Community College
Student Achievement Center
145 Pavilion Lane, Youngwood, PA 15697

There will be hundreds of models in the model display room.

Youngwood is minutes away from the New Stanton exit on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, forty miles southeast of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

The WCCC space has great rooms for presentations, model displays, and vendor sales. Our 2023 event was well attended and we are looking forward to the 2025 RPM-East! Make your plans to attend and re-energize your modeling efforts as winter melts into spring. RPM-East is sponsored by Division Two of the NMRA, Mid-Central Region.

In addition to the on-site events, we are planning operating sessions on the Thursday before the event and a Sunday self-guided home layout tour. Railfan opportunities are nearby. The Southwest Pennsylvania Railroad runs through Youngwood as it makes rail connections in Greensburg and Connellsville. The busy Norfolk Southern main line is just north of nearby Greensburg, while the CSX mainline is 20 miles south in Connellsville, PA.

Online registration has closed.

Doors open at 9:00 am, Friday March 24.

$45 full event or cheaper single-day registrations will be accepted through Friday and much of Saturday. These will be cash-only transactions.

We'll see you in Youngwood!

 

Keep up with RPM-East announcements on Facebook!

Check out the RPM event calendar for more events.

Chris Lasher displayed a number of fine HO scale diesel models at the 2023 event.

Several hotels are available in nearby New Stanton, which is less than five miles to our event site. Check this Google Map for locations and contact points. Explore on that map to find options in Greensburg.

Several restaurants are located in New Stanton and Youngwood. Review this Google Map for more details. Nearby Greensburg has additional options.

 

 

 

 

RPM-East event schedule (subject to change)
 Friday 9:00 am - Registration opens
Vendor and Model Display rooms open
10:30 am - Presentations begin
11:30-1:00 pm - Lunch break
1:00-5:00 pm - Presentations
5:00-7:00 pm - Dinner break
7:00-9:30 pm - Presentations

Saturday 9:00 am - Registration opens
9:00 am - Presentations begin
11:30-1:00 pm - Lunch break
1:00-5:00 pm - Presentations
5:00-7:00 pm - Dinner break
7:00-9:30 pm - Presentations

Registration is open all day Friday and Saturday until the dinner break.
Vendor and Model Display rooms open both days, but these rooms will slowly clear after Saturday dinner.

Presentations will begin at 10:30 am on Friday, March 21.

We currently have 37 speakers committed to our 2025 event! The presentation topics are listed below. Some of the details are outlined on a separate page.

Here's the tentative 2025 RPM-Eastpresentation schedule. This is subject to change.

Rick Barton The California & Oregon Coast Railroad, between Grants Pass, Oregon and Crescent City, California
Rob Bennett Shipping transformers from the Westinghouse plant in Sharon, PA
Here's a PDF of Rob's presentation handout.
Jimmy Braum Narrow gauge Phoenix; the East Broad Top Railroad 2020-2025
John Brown, MMR Cab Ride on Clinchfield (CSX) Mine Runs out of Dante, VA
Brian Carlson The Cambria & Indiana hopper fleet
Doug Chapman Gateway to the Great Lakes: the Ohio Central Lines
Pete Clarke Robertsdale on the East Broad Top Railroad
Kenton Colvin Impact of Railroads on WW I
Jack Consoli PRR's Southwest PA Water Supply System
Shannon Crabtree History and modeling of a Virginia shortline: The Virginia Central 
Keith DeVault Up and Over; the many struggles the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad overcame going from Cumberland to Connellsville
Larry DeYoung Modern short lines
Jerry Doyle The EMD 35 Line
Nick Fry Steel City Railroading with John W. Barriger III
Steve Funaro Greenville well hole flat cars
Todd Griffith The Ligonier Valley Railroad, connecting Latrobe and Ligonier, PA, from 1877 to 1952
Eric Hansmann Team tracks and team yards
Mike Hauk Photography 101 for Railfans and Modelers, Pt.1 & Pt. 2
Steve Holzheimer Freight Terminal Operations: What Can We Learn from a Financial Audit?
Ben Hom Down the Rabbit Hole #1 (Boxcars) – What Do Those Bogus Models Really Represent?
Matt Hurst Kitbashing steam era hopper cars
Will Jamison Temporary wood structures for transporting plate steel and spun heads in gondolas
Ken Kobus Monongahela Connecting Railroad; a Jones & Laughlin steel mill railroad
Dennis Lippert Weathered - My latest techniques
David Owens HO scale fire equipment, available models and eras they cover
George Pandelios Weirton Steel Open Hearth
Jim Panza Modeling TTX Special Equipped Flatcars
Steve Raqué Modeling P&LE Lot 874-H and 875-H Covered Hoppers in HO scale
Ramon Rhodes Designing a layout using the prototype's actual track configurations and operations
Nick Santo What is a Decoder Buddy
Neal Schorr How I Achieved Realism on My Layout
Mike Shylanski ACF’s Early Center Flow Covered Hoppers and Available Models
Robert Sprague I Want to do a Track Plan but I Don’t Know Where to Start…
Mont Switzer Freight cars of Muncie, Indiana
Mont Switzer Modeling the freight cars of Muncie, Indiana
Chip Syme Cleveland Hulett loaders of the Cleveland & Pittsburgh ore dock
Bob Tegtmeier An inside look at Sperry Rail Car Service, 1999-2000
E. Roy Ward Western Maryland Railway track and operations in Bowest Yard and Connellsville, Pa.

Here's the tentative 2025 RPM-Eastpresentation schedule. This is subject to change.

Some of the presentation details are outlined on a separate page.

Review past RPM-East presenters and topics.

Bruce Elliott displayed a host of B&O cabooses at the 2017 RPM-East.

 

Vendors: The large room has 40 tables filled with vendors and historical societies.

Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Historical Society
Bethlehem Car Works/White Rose Hobbies
Michael Bradley
Rich Burg - photos and models
Chessie System Historical Society
Jeff Coburn
Funaro & Camerlengo
Friends of the East Broad Top
Gotham Rail & Marine
Will Jamison - resin cars
JL Innovative Design
Kevin’s Railroad Art
New York Central System Historical Society
NixTrainz - decoders Buddy
P&WV Technical and Historical Interest Group
Chuck Pravlik's CMP Shops - steel mill parts
Scott Schaller - steel and mining kits
Schuylkill River Model Railroad Club
Steel City Chapter Railway & Locomotive Historical Society

Niedzalkoski's Train Shop in nearby Jeannette, PA, will be open from 9 am to 12:30 pm Friday and Saturday.

One of a few earlier era HO scale models Andrew Raith displayed in 2023.

 

 

RPM-East photo galleries

Ted Cullota's 2023 RPM-East experience
RPM-East 2023 - Eric Hansmann PBase Gallery
Jerry Britton's 2019 RPM-East Recap
Bernard Kempinski's 2019 RPM-East summary
RPM-East 2019 - Eric Hansmann PBase Gallery
RPM-East 2017 - Eric Hansmann PBase Gallery
RPM-East 2015 - John Frantz PBase Gallery
RPM-East 2015 - Eric Hansmann PBase Gallery
RPM-East 2013 - Eric Hansmann PBase Gallery
RPM-East 2011 - John Frantz PBase Gallery
RPM-East 2011 - Eric Hansmann PBase Gallery

Tom Wilson shares video of an operating session at Larry Kline's Bowest O scale layout.

 

Steve Holzheimer displayed N scale structures, locos, and rolling stock at the 2023 RPM-East.

Our model display room will have plenty of tables. Over 800 models were displayed at the 2023 RPM-East. Bring your latest efforts and works-in-progress to share with others.

Click here for a model display cards PDF file so you can write up your model details. There are four cards to a sheet.

A busy dispatcher on the Blenko's Conrail Pittsburgh Mainline layout in 2019. Photo by Andy Blenko.

Big steam on Neal Schorr's O scale Middle Division of the Pennsylvania Railroad layout. One of the layouts open for our Sunday layout tour. Photo by Neal Schorr.

Op Sessions: We are have several operating session hosts for the 2025 event. Here are the current layouts for op sessions.

Dave Baker - Cumberland & Lake Erie
Andy Blenko - Conrail Pittsburgh Mainline
Frank Coat - PRR Laurel Mountain Division cancelled
Dennis Coglianese - Pacific Central
Don Coulter, Jr. - Norfolk Southern Pittsburgh Southern
Keith DeVault - B&O Aspen Subdivision
Ken Hanawalt - Turtle Creek Railroad

Bob Prehoda - Huntingdon Northern
E. Roy Ward - West Virginia Central & Pittsburg

Turtle Creek Railroad owner Ken Hanawalt encourages you to join a Thursday night operating session. These sessions are a great way to discover new friends, learn how a layout owner models history, management, and purpose of a prototype, and have some fun. Sessions are easy going with regular operators assisting visitors.

Layout Visits: Several area layouts will be open for Sunday self-guided visits.

Dave Baker - Cumberland & Lake Erie
Andy Blenko - Conrail Pittsburgh Mainline
Frank Coat - PRR Laurel Mountain Division cancelled
Dennis Coglianese - Pacific Central
Don Coulter, Jr. - Norfolk Southern Pittsburgh Southern
Keith DeVault - B&O Aspen Subdivision
Ken Hanawalt - Turtle Creek Railroad
McKeesport Model Railroad Club - Mon-Yough Valley RR
Bob Prehoda - Huntingdon Northern
Neal Schorr - Middle Division of the Pennsylvania Railroad
E. Roy Ward - West Virginia Central & Pittsburg

Several well-weathered HO scale freight car models were displayed by Scooter Hovanec in 2023.

Weathered and detailed diesels and rolling stock were featured in Dennis Lippert's 2023 model display.

Greg Dixon exhibited numerous HO scale vehicles at the 2023 RPM-East.

In-process projects are encouraged in the model display room. Dave Wilson shared his work on this HO scale Mikado.

Several display models followed prototypes from industrial Pittsburgh. Jack Consoli shared his progress on an HO scale Montour Railroad Mikado in 2023.

Gus Minardi displayed a long HO scale train of trailers on flat cars at the 2023 event. Impressive tie-down details were featured with each trailer.

Tom Haag displayed a number of HO scale freight cars at the 2019 RPM-East.

Atlantic & Yadkin modeler David Bott displayed his classic HO scale caboose at the 2019 RPM-East. Photo by Larry Linger.

Site updated 03/26/2025