The Gandy Dancer The Official Publication of the Alameda County Central Railroad Society

April, 2005

Next Public Operation Session:

The ALAMEDA COUNTY FAIR!

Upcoming Events:

April

The monthly Business meeting will occur on April 1st, 2005.
Don't forget your burgers and whatnot; Big Bertha the BBQ will be waiting.

May

The Monthly Business Meeting will occur on May 6th, 2005

June

The Monthly Business Meeting will occur on June 3rd, 2005

July

The Monthly Business Meeting will not occur due to Fairtime.

August

The Monthly Business Meeting will occur on August 5th, 2005
stay tuned for the 'We survived the Fair' celebration details.

Fair warning:

2005 Alameda County Fair
June 24th to July 10th, 2005

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Prototype Photos

Andy Herrera happened to be in the right place at the right time, and caught this California Zephyr Dome Observation car on camera. He reports that it was affixed to the end of the Coast Starlight when it passed through Martinez a while back. Ah, the glamour days of passenger rail. . . the neon sign in the Drumhead even works still.

The following thumbnails will expand to 640x480-sized images.

HO Scale News:

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From the HO Trainmaster:
Seth submitted no remarks this month. Seth
HO Trainmaster

O Scale News:

From the O Scale Trainmaster:

Hey gang-

Again, Progress. Most of the known electrical troublespots have been cured, and a couple of reluctant switch machines have been massaged. George Engemann is overhauling one of the reversing sections, and when that's done, we'll be in good operational shape. That puts us ahead a bit, and so I'd like to make some actual changes and appearance improvements to things this month instead of chasing deferred maintenance.

As no one seems to have a strong preference about when workdays happen, I propose workdays for Saturday, April 16th, Saturday, April 30th, and Saturday, May 14th. Those dates can be moved a bit if it'll help people attend.

The objectives of all this thrashing are:

• Getting the big trestle on the rear main built and in place
• Fixing the Narrow Gauge roundhouse roof
• Getting some sort of lockable storage built back by the set-up track
• Repairing the Cityscape behind the trolley section
• Installing a structure on or patching over the mine site in the north end of the layout
• Put up a removable view-block across the un-sceniced portion of the Main lines in the south end of the layout
• Getting all our lighting ready for the Fair
• Making a plausable display area for the MiJack and piggyback cars.

Then on June 4th, I'd like to dust, sweep, vacuum, de-web, de-bug, primp, preen and otherwise spruce-up the layout for the Fair. This process should include exercising with a train every piece of track and every switch machine on the Yard and Main Dispatch panels, particularly the reverse sections and the setup track. Doing so will accomplish two things: refresh (or teach, in my case) the skills needed to operate the layout, and hunt down any last-minute gremlins.

Also, I'd like to hear from the Trolley guys on the subject of wire cleaning skills and any other pitfalls of over-head power, so that all us ham-handed main-line types can lend a hand during shows. . . I really would like to see the trolley section run, especially as that area of the layout is the first thing visitors see when they walk into the clubroom. Maybe O scale should undertake the purchase a beater Boxcab or Streetcar for club/show use? Bring your thoughts on the matter to the meeting.

Thanks in advance,
-Dan
O Scale Slavedriver

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Trackwork report

Live Steam--In N Scale!

Several months ago, Atlas announced a Shay in N scale, which was mind-boggling enough. But now Rouge Model Concepts has gone a step further by building a prototype of a working live steam 4-8-4 in N scale, complete with 3/16" x 7/32" cylinders and piston valves. The company admits that the details are a little crude, and control is a little difficult, but they plan many refinements in the production version. The final version will approximate a GS-4 and will be painted in Daylight colors.

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The Gandy Dancer, a monthly publication of the Alameda County Central Railroad Society.
Last updated May 03, 2005.

Unless otherwise noted, this web page and all images and information it contains are
Copyright © 2004 - 2009 Alameda County Central Railroad Society. All Rights Reserved.
For more information, email Dan Espinosa at:
steelnomad2002 at yahoo dot com.