February 2023 Crossing Gate Editorial

From the Workbench of the Assistant Superintendent

My name is Randi Relander, and I am currently your division assistant superintendent. This is my first editorial for “The Crossing Gate” so let me start out by welcoming all the new members who have joined the division lately. Looking around, I find it humbling to be associated with such a talented crew and am looking forward to where the division is headed. For those who don’t know me, and even those that do, here is my story.

I was born in Grand Rapids, MN in 1964 and grew up in a “suburb” of Babbitt, MN, about 50 miles straight north of Duluth, at the end of the iron range where my dad worked as a truck driver for Reserve Mining. We lived in a small trailer house on the edge of a swamp outside of town and I slept in the front room until my sister moved out in 1976 and I inherited her 8’ x 8’ bedroom. Shortly after, I became interested in model railroading and started reading everything I could on the subject, eventually building an N scale version of the “HO Railroad That Grows” by Linn H. Wescott, but my passion has always been scratch building structures.

School happened, life happened, I married my highschool sweetheart and kids happened. Several layouts were started, and several layouts were torn down. Over the years, countless NMRA flyers were collected with good intentions and either lost, forgotten, or recycled. In 2020, the Rail Pass was what finally reeled me in. I was soon meeting local NMRA members with talent that I had only read about. I decided to jump in and attend my first TCD Modeler’s Retreat … the weekend before the Covid lockdown started. Meetings went online and we kept in contact with Facebook, Zoom, masks, and something they called “social distancing”.

Last spring, the division superintendent Art Suel stepped down, eventually to be elected region president, and Ken Zieska moved up from assistant superintendent to division superintendent, a position that he already knew well. When nominations to fill Ken’s position came up, the Zoom meeting went silent. If I remember correctly, I was still hunched over my workbench with my OptiVISOR down, and said “Yeah, I can do it.” A few minutes later, I looked up and was the next assistant superintendent of the Twin Cities Division of the NMRA. Quite an honor, but I had absolutely no idea what I had just done. Thanks to everyone for their support!

So, I guess the moral of the story is, no matter if you are just starting out, have been lurking for years, or are one of the division veterans, just jump in and volunteer, keep helping others, and share your skills. Believe it or not, you are all, without exception, very talented individuals sharing a common interest and we want to hear from you. What’s your story?

- Randi