Paul Cappelloni
President
Paul Cappelloni was born and raised in a neighborhood in Southside - Scranton Pennsylvania during most of the Erie Lackawanna Railroad's existence. His interest in trains developed over time starting with the typical Christmas tree set up and then full fledged model railroading. He did not get involved in train watching until he graduated from high school and started working with his father at architectural and engineering firm as an electrical draftsman. During the 1980's Paul photographed the D&H Railroad running on the former DL&W right of way between Taylor Yard and Cayuga Junction. He also was part of a volunteer group that set up a large Lionel layout at the defunct Scranton Dry Goods department store in order to raise money for the Steamtown relocation effort. It was during this time that Paul developed a fondness for the Delaware Lackawanna & Western Railroad.
Paul join the ELHS towards the end of the 1980s and became active in the Society when he moved to Massachusetts and met Schuyler Larrabee. Paul started by writing modeling articles on Lackawanna and Erie Lackawanna motive power. He then put together the Technical Advisor Newsletter and edited From the Call Box , a column designed to share answers to members' questions. After a short sabbatical, Paul organized the 2005 Annual Convention held in Stroudsburg, Pa and was elected to the ELHS Board of Directors. The following year Paul was elected President and Chairman of the Board when Schuyler Larrabee resigned from this position after 25 years of service in the roll.
Paul is still active in model railroading and is building a layout based on the Lackawanna's Bangor and Portland Branch.
Michael J. Connor
Vice President
Michael J. Connor was born in Wellsville, New York (about 1,000 feet from the Main Line of the Erie Railroad, he notes). Returning from military duty his father joined the Erie Railroad and the family lived in such on-line communities as Avon NY, Leavittsburg and Kent OH, Port Jervis NY, Riverdale NJ, and Buffalo NY. Following high school Mike attended John Carroll University in Cleveland (University Heights) OH earning a BS in Transportation Economics. While in college he worked for the Buffalo Creek Railroad, the Erie Lackawanna (principally at Binghamton), and the New York Central. In grade and high school and college he was able to ride almost all EL passenger and several freight-only lines.
Following graduation he served as a Lieutenant with the U. S. Army Transportation Corps being assigned to the 714th Transportation Battalion (Railway Operating) (Steam and Diesel-Electric) in the Military Railway Service. Upon completing military service he returned to the Penn Central where he served as Trainmaster at Muncie IN and East St Louis IL and Supervisor of Locomotive Utilization at Indianapolis IN. He served Conrail in its Philadelphia “Blue Room” as Director of Light Density Lines voluntarily leaving in late 1983 to pursue opportunities in the creation of new short and regional lines.
From 1983 to late 1988 he served in the organization and operation of the Chicago, Central & Pacific Railroad as Vice-President. Coming east in 1988 he joined the Ohio Central Railroad System as Chief Operating Officer/Chief Marking Officer and, later, Vice-President. In early 2006 he came further east and joined the Livonia, Avon & Lakeville/Western New York & Pennsylvania system as Vice-President Operation and Maintenance serving in this or related roles through July 2008. He currently serves as a railroad consultant with projects in New York and Ohio.
He is the fourth generation in his family to serve the Erie or the EL. This and his own career have given him a deep respect for the accomplishments of the DL&W, Erie, and EL and a personal goal of seeing that their stories are made available to those who didn’t have the privilege of knowing these railroads first-hand. To accomplish this goal he researches and writes of DL&W, Erie, and EL matters and serves as Vice-President of the ELHS and as a member of the Archives Committee.
His professional experience absolutely convinces him that the Erie Lackawanna’s fate—inclusion of most of its assets in Conrail—was unnecessary and that an independent EL, possibly in association with some other bankrupt railroads, was both possible and desirable.
Michael is married to Colleen and they have three sons—Matthew, Andrew, and Thomas.
David McWherter
Treasurer
David McWherter was born in Marion, Ohio, in 1933. Living in Marion Ohio, you either hated trains, because you would have to wait for them to pass, wherever you went, or loved them, as David loved them. His Grandfather worked for the C&O and David would watch him chase the flat switching cars in the C&O yards, climb up the ladder and set the brake on the cars. His Uncle also helped foster David’s liking of trains, when he would take his own two sons and David to the Erie yards, after Sunday school to watch the switching operations of the Erie Trains, being done then by steam locomotives. David, also spent his free time visiting Telegraph Stations, Crossing Watchmen’s Shanties and a great deal of time at Union Station, Marion Ohio, watching trains on the four Railroads which crossed one another at the Station in Marion, Erie, C&O, NYC and the PRR line from Columbus, Ohio to Sandusky, Ohio.
David’s first job , after High School, was Vacation Relief Clerk for the Erie at Creston, Ohio, where the Erie and NKP ( W&LE ) crossed and had an interchange of freight cars, and also in Urbana, Ohio which was located on the Erie’s Dayton branch between Marion and Dayton, Ohio.
David, attended Ohio State University, spend two years in the US. Army at Ft. Hood, Texas, where he was Secy to the commanding General, Thomas L. Harrold, Major General for III Corps. Upon completing his Army service, he returned to the Erie RR, where he became Messenger to the Superintendent, in Marion, then Demurrage Clerk, Icing Inspector, and Night Ticket Agent in Galion, Ohio, where the Erie and NYC Line from Cincinnati to Cleveland intersected with the Erie for Passengers transferring to the Erie for Eastern points on the Erie. David was also Stenographer in the Sales Dept. at Marion and in 1958 was transferred to the newly opened Sales office for the Erie in Houston, Texas.
He was transferred to the Dallas, Texas, Sales office in 1962, transferred to the General Headquarters in Chicago, Ill. in 1966, transferred to New Haven, Ct. as Sales Representative in 1972, and his final job for the EL was in Cleveland, Ohio, Headquarters of the EL, in 1975 as Traffic Analyst.
Upon the inclusion of the EL into Conrail, in 1976, he was moved to Philadelphia, Pa. as Car Control Analyst, and in 1978 became Equipment and Service Analyst. In 1986, he became Senor Marketing Analyst for Grain and Grain Products for Conrail. He retired in 1990.
Upon arriving back on line for the EL, he became Treasurer for the ELHS, which position he has retained until the present.
Steve Twarogowski
Secretary
Steve Twarogowski was born in the Slavic Village neighborhood of the EL headquarters city of Cleveland, Ohio. Drawn to trains at an early age by an older cousin and an HO scale train set at Christmas time, Steve became interested in the EL more specifically when trying to find out the history of the railroad that went through the family neighborhood. Turned out that railroad was the 1st sub of the Mahoning Division on its approach to Erie’s East 55th Street Yard in Cleveland. A couple of small HO scale layouts followed before Steve left Cleveland to attend Ohio Northern University in Ada, Ohio.
An interest in rail history was reborn during an independent study on the industrial organization and deregulation of railroads while completing his degree in Economics. A return to modeling followed soon after graduating. Steve found himself once again living in the shadow of the EL in the Tremont neighborhood of Cleveland overlooking the Steel Mills and spending ample time at his favorite restaurant, Sokolowski’s University Inn, that rests atop the west ridge of the Cuyahoga Valley. A peak over the guardrail along the road in front of the restuarant would reveal the location of the former Literary Street Yard of the EL tucked into the hill. It was at this time that Steve joined the ELHS.
A larger layout followed depicting the operations of the EL’s seasonal ore traffic out of Cleveland. That layout was disassembled before Steve was married. Modeling for Steve does not presently include a layout but when space presents itself, he plans on building an HO layout based upon the steel operations of Youngstown, Ohio centered on Brier Hill yard.
Volunteering at train shows on the west end, at the archive and as the current editor of the Extra Board, Steve has been involved with the ELHS for over a decade. He was elected to the board in April of 2008. Steve is presently employed in the Investment Bank at Wachovia. He is married with two daughters and lives in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Schuyler Larrabee
Director
A father with an interest, plus indulgent grandparents, led to an 8’ x 16’ Lionel layout by the age of 7. After a move to a new house came the change to HO, prompted by coming to know a scratchbuilder of HO brass locomotives. A simple operating layout followed in the basement.Elementary school was next to the DL&W Syracuse branch just north of Binghamton, and the D&H was visible “up on the hill;” both were closely watched The walk to Chenango Valley high school frequently involved climbing over or under a Lackawanna Syracuse branch train stopped for a signal, along with many of his classmates. Indulgent parents also journeyed to Rail City in upstate NY, Steamtown in VT, and to Edaville, along with the occasional stop at the DL&W station in Binghamton “to watch the trains.”
Until late in his high school years, Schuyler was just interested in trains, without much reference to specific railroads. The design of the EL herald, the “broken E,” sparked his first interest in the Erie Lackawanna as an interesting railroad. But six years away at college, and girls, drew him away from modeling. Graduating from Syracuse University with an Architectural degree, he migrated to California, interrupted by a winter in Colorado skiing. Noticing the Craig Branch of the Rio Grande through Steamboat Springs reawakened the basic interest, but not until an assignment to build an architectural model in Oakland CA, and a trip to a hobby shop for supplies, did the modeling bug come back. Hard. A Quality Craft kit for an ERIE caboose led to membership in the Erie Railfan Society, seeking plans to build a more accurate model.
Schuyler returned to the East coast, moving to Boston in 1976. He attended his first (by then) ELHS meeting in Honesdale PA, in 1980. At that, and subsequent Annual Meetings, Larry DeYoung noticed that Schuyler always attended Society Board meetings. In 1988, Larry asked if he would take on the Chairmanship of the ELHS. Schuyler served as Chairman of the ELHS from that time to 2006; he continues to serve as a member of the Board. During that time, the Society grew from approximately 700 members to over 1100, and The Diamond went from semiannual publication to quarterly, and our website debuted in 2003. The ELHS also began publishing books, and issuing custom decorated models.
Jay Held
Director
Joe Schveder
Director
