Potomac Chapter NRHS

Upcoming events

Since COVID-19 our meetings are a mixture of Zoom, in-person, and hybrid. Keep an eye on the schedule below.

Renew — You can renew your membership online, using a credit card or PayPal account.

July 2023 program: NYS&W Railway in the 60s and 70
Available on YouTube. Tom Nemeth provides a look at freight operations, before stack trains, on the heritage New York Susquehanna & Western between Little Ferry, Butler, and Sparta Junction along with action at Edgewater on the Hudson river.

May 2023 program: 50 Years of Photography
Available on YouTube. Mike Yuhas, noted photographer and former Director of Advertising for Trains magazine, highlighted 50 years of his photography. Areas covered included Long Island, Hudson Valley, Philadelphia, and Southeastern Wisconsin.

April 2023 program: Ten Years Before and Ten Years After Amtrak
Available on YouTube. May 1, 1971 represented the end of most privately operated passenger trains in the United States. Ira Silverman takes the viewer through the last years of the private passenger train and the first decade of Amtrak.

Newsletter — We're very proud of our newsletter, Potomac Rail News.
– See last month's issue.
– Read the issue from two months ago.
– See the issue from three months ago.

Meetings — We meet the third Tuesday of every month at 8:00 p.m. Sometimes on Zoom. Sometimes in person in downtown Rockville. Check the calendar.

Chapter Information — Learn more about our chapter and how to become a member.

Parking — There are many parking alternatives for the membership meeting. See a map with alternatives.

Visiting our area? — As railfans, we can offer sightseeing suggestions for visitors to the Washington, D.C. area. Sample our collective wisdom.

Just for Fun: Wayne Sherwin uses his digital editing skills to create some interesting images.

A thank you for our donors
Aberdeen B&O station
Many thanks to our members who donated to our fund-raising drive to help preserve the B&O Railroad’s only existing station on the Philadelphia Subdivision. We sent $4,400 to the Friends of the Aberdeen B&O Train Station, Inc.

Golden Spike 150th anniversary celebration
Member Jay Creswell captured these two images at the May 10, 2019 event marking the completion of the transcontinental railroad 150 years earlier. (Click to enlarge.)

Potomac Chapter is a group of railfans based in the National Capital Area. We are chartered as a branch of the National Railway Historical Society (NRHS). We seek to increase public awareness of railroads and their history.

Contact us: For more information, you can call Vice President John Sery at (301) 431-0088 or Director Bob Dixon-Gumm at (301) 762-5073. You can write to us at:

    Potomac Chapter NRHS
    P.O. Box 235
    Kensington, MD 20895-0235