The Gandy Dancer
The Official Publication of
The Alameda County Central Railroad Society
April 2001
Spring Issue.
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19th All American Get-Together. Saturday, March 24th 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM and Sunday, March 25th. 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM.
Dates for the Alameda County Fair are Friday, June 22 thru Sunday, July 8.
A special meeting to discuss DCC was announced by the club leadership at the March business meeting. The meeting was scheduled for Friday, March 16th at 8:00 PM. The club bylaws provide that the membership be notified of such meetings by mail. A special meeting notice was sent to members in the same manner that the newsletter is distributed so everyone would be aware of the meeting being scheduled. Details of the meeting appear as a separate item in this issue.
The April general business meeting will be held on Friday, April 6 Big Bertha, the club BBQ, will be fired up for those wishing to bring your own meat for the self-service grilling session prior to the meeting.
The club had a total of 1,565 visitors for this weekend event. The majority 1,088 visited on Saturday. While the visitor count on Sunday was 477, down due to the rain.
The special meeting started at approximately the scheduled time. Member Errol Spangler brought in and demonstrated several locomotives equipped with DCC decoders on the O Scale layout for the benefit of those who may have missed the previous demonstration sessions. A lively question and answer session was conducted which addressed many technical issues and application of the technology. This continued for a while after which the club adjourned to individual scale meetings where the discussion of scale specific issues continued.
Thank you to the following HO members who participated in staffing the OSH show: Andy Herrera, Mike Browne, Seth Abrahams, Bill Wills, Little Joe, Joe Cancilla, Lee Buckner, Keith Peck, Carl Klenk, Detlef Buescher, Dean Lewis, Cathy and Ken Chrisman and Bob Johnson. Ed Note: If anyone was left out please accept my apology.
The following remarks are from the HO Scale Trainmaster.
I want to mention the preliminary planning work proceeding in the town of Kensington. Some new thoughts on the whole area have pushed the desire for this project. The old town was looking a little beat up, not bad though, considering the abuse things on the layout receive over time. It served well over the years. We want to see if we can hide the back door a bit and provide more of a scenery break between the freight yard and the town. Other items on the wish list too, I'm looking forward to the plan our scenery group develops and brings to the scale next business meeting. Remember the good guys show is coming up on the 24th and 25th.-- Gerald DeWitt
The area of the layout known as Kensington is undergoing an upgrade, a committee has been formed to coordinate and oversee this project. Committee members include: Seth Abrahams, Bob Hopkins, Linda Flannagan, Gary Lewis, Dean Lewis, Little Joe and Bob Johnson. The next committee meeting is scheduled for Friday, March 23. A Walthers catalog would be helpful for the planning and budgeting process.
In a rare display of stealth and power, Mother Unnatural and her young henchman, Little Joe, aka the Hurricane, blew through Kensington on Friday evening and left little in their wake. The town was reduced to dust and rubble, with a lone building left standing. Oddly, this building has been on fire for several years. Officials have been unable to explain the phenomenon.
Mayor of Kensington Gerald Dewitt emerged from a meeting he was attending when the storm hit and declared, "It looks like a tornado hit!" The mayor has long been known for his keen grasp of the obvious. In a courageous display of false hope Dewitt averred, "We will rebuild this town. All we need is the money and we can make it better than before."
City Treasurer Cathy Chrisman has already contacted President Dubyah for emergency funds, but predicted that the town would have to look elsewhere for help. "Bush said our town isn't big enough for federal aid," the treasurer remarked.
City planners are already at work on a new city plan. "It's what we do," said head planner Linda Flanagan as she and construction engineer Carlo Borlandelli began the process of trying to get the townsfolk to agree on a new look for the town. "It's like herding cats," Flanagan was overheard saying.
Meteorologists have been at a loss to explain the total disappearance of Kensington. Reports are beginning to come in, including one of a small dog and a woman on a bike who were found in a tree in Wichita, along with a sign for California Fruits and Nuts, a long-time Kensington business, at least until last Friday's tornado.--Linda Flannagan
Member Bob Hopkins located a supply of free lumber which is now safely stored under the layout. Members involved in the procurement and storage process were Bob Hopkins, Ann Meisner and Seth Abrahams.
The following remarks are from the O Scale Trainmaster.
We had a good turnout of O Scalers on March 16th to discuss adding DCC to our layout's capabilities, at the end of which the vote was unanimous to go forward on the basic proposal provided by Rod Miller. The basic "package" will be the throttles and other hardware necessary to add DCC, plus 2 locomotive decoders each for members who wish to participate. It was also agreed that we should standardize on decoders (presumably Lenz) that do not need to be decommissioned when the layout is operating in the traditional (analog) mode. Errol Spangler will check with Rod on a few remaining details.
Meanwhile, I will post a list for members to sign-up for additional decoders they wish to order, and we will then establish some weekend "work party" dates for installation of the equipment. There will also be operational clinics held, and a clinic covering installation of decoders in locomotives.
To those who may still be a bit apprehensive, or who do not wish to purchase additional decoders, I want to emphasize again that this is a voluntary program, and that we are adding DCC, not converting to it. After we are up and running, we will adopt schedules for regular (analog) and DCC operating sessions.
Finally, a reminder that we will be open Saturday and Sunday for the Good Guys show. If you arrive before 8 a.m., you should be able to drive to our building. Later, you can park at the VIP parking lot, just outside the tunnel opposite the horse barns. Enter the Fairgrounds by the Off Track Betting facility on Valley Ave. Your Club badge will get you past both the parking lot and entrance gate attendants. We will be running from about 10 a.m. on both days, and until 5 p.m. on Saturday. Those working Sunday afternoon can use their judgment as to when to shut down. Thanks in advance for your participation! --George A Cumming, O Scale Trainmaster
Listed below are this month's questions about American railroad slang. Some terms refer to people and others to equipment, facilities or actions.
A mention was made at the March 2nd meeting of the possibility of having a club picnic at a location other than at the club, prior to the fair. This would be in addition to the annual club BBQ. The idea would be to have a family oriented day of fun for everyone that would like to participate. A couple of possible locations were mentioned
A north bay possibility would be at the Western Railway Museum also known as Rio Vista Junction, on Highway 12 in Solano County. This museum features a large collection of trolley cars, many of which operate, and a fair sized picnic area.
A south bay possibility that was mentioned was the Roaring Camp and Big Trees Railroad in Felton.
The Felton location features some beautiful scenery and operating narrow gauge steam locomotives pulling trains up the hill and standard gauge diesel locomotives pulling trains to the Santa Cruz Boardwalk
If you and your family would have an interest in this type of activity, and have a location preference, please let us know so that we may work out the details and set up a tentative date.
A sheet will be posted on the main bulletin board so that membership interest will be gauged. This will not be a sign up for the event just a poll to determine general interest, and preference for location(s). Details would be worked out at a later time.
The Classification Yard will be a recurring section of The Gandy Dancer. This area is where members may list items to buy, sell or trade.
San Francisco Giants baseball tickets are available for most 2001 home games at Pac Bell Park. Tickets are for seats on the club level, which are not offered for sale to the public. For details on which games are available please contact Bill Kennerley.
The club bylaws require that the newsletter be published and distributed periodically. There are no further instructions as to what is expected of the newsletter or its Editor. For nearly the past year and a half, The Gandy Dancer has been a monthly publication. As editor, I have enjoyed performing this function for the club.
I would like to hear some feedback from the membership relating to the club newsletter. While remarks telling me that I do a good job, or that the newsletter looks good, are appreciated and welcomed; there is still the question "is there any way that the newsletter can be improved?"
Examples are: would you prefer the newsletter monthly, bimonthly, or quarterly? Are there things that you like about the newsletter? Are there items that do not like, and would like to see eliminated or changed? Any and all comments relating to the newsletter are welcomed and will be considered for future issues.
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