Winter Solstice Edition.

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

December, 2006

Next Public Operation Session:

Spring Home and Garden Show

This annual event returns in February.

Upcoming Events:

January

The Monthly Business Meeting will occur on January 5th, 2007.
The club Bar-b-que, Big Bertha is currently in hybernation. It is expected to wake up when the weather warms up.

Recent Events:

Club Elections were held in November

Membership Dues are Due.
	If you have not paid your 2007 dues, please see Paul and ante up! Dues are $24.00.

Annual Pot Luck

The annual club holiday potluck was held on Friday, December 1. We had a fair turnout for this annual club event.

Upcoming Events Page Updated

The upcoming events page on the club web site has been updated. The dates for all pre-fair shows are listed as well as the dates for the fair. Check it out! 2007 club run schedule.

Editorial Note

The regular newsletter editor, Dan Espinosa, has been a bit over committed of late. So with his agreement, Bob Johnson, will be filling in on the newsletter and web site duties for a little while.

Due to the time of year and short lead time the December issue will be, shall I say a bit abreviated in some areas...

It is hoped to possibly resume a more regular schedule of publication soon.

--Bob

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HO Scale News:

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November HO Meeting Minutes

Meeting was called to order at 8:08 PM by Trainmaster Seth Abrahams.

Trainmaster Abrahams thanked Assistant Trainmaster Bob Johnson for running the HO meetings during his absence.

Charmin Port Project update:

Gary reported that the project was suffering from a temporary loss of manual dexterity due to an injury to Dean's left hand. The container ship is basically assembled and is expected to be on display for Great Train Expo. Track work is in progress and is expected to be ready for use by November 17th.

DCC upgrade:

John Kolburg and Pat Power reported that the project was progressing as of the date of the meeting. It is expected that the cabinet wiring will be done by the date of Great Train Expo.

Back door upgrade:

There was discussion about upgrading the back door (hidden yard door). The project would consist of two phases. First phase would involve modifying the door to match the front and rear building doors. Estimated cost would be approximately $100.00. The second phase would involve adding controls to access the layout lighting and layout power.

Trainmaster election:

Dean proposed that Bob Johnson be nominated for Trainmaster. Bob declined due to personal commitments outside of the club. Seth Abrahams was nominated and re-elected as Trainmaster. Bob was nominated for the position of Assistant Trainmaster, and was re-elected as Assistant Trainmaster.

Perspective members:

Harvey Gross and his grandson Nick have turned in applications for membership. Carl Klenk had spoken with Harvey at a about not seeing them for a while. Harvey indicated to Carl that they would not be joining the club as they live in the far south bay area and that was too great of a distance for them to travel.

Layout maintenance for GTE:

The layout is to be broken down into several sections with members breaking into teams to attend to cleaning and maintenance for their chosen section of layout.

A motion was made and seconded to adjourn. The meeting was adjourned by unanimous vote at 8:32 PM.

Sign up sheets available

Sign up sheets for the Spring Home & Garden show are posted upstairs on the white board.

From the HO Trainmaster:

We may have some comments in the next issue.

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O Scale News:

From the O Scale Trainmaster:

We may have some comments in the next issue.

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General Hobby and Prototype News

WP 165

At the November meeting Bob Johnson gave an update on WP165.

WP165 was the 0-6-0 switcher that lived here on the fair grounds up until fairly recently. It was moved to the Niles Canyon Railway's Brightside Yard via truck; several club members were involved in the process. (photo essay on the move) The NCRY then traded her to the Portola Museum as part of a 3 way deal to land one of the SP's S-6 Alco switchers and some other items. 165 is now in Portola, and the museum is raising cash to get the asbestos off her as the first step for restoration to operation. Bob Johnson has details if you wish to donate or find out more. Western Pacific Railroad Museum Steam Page

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WinterRail set for March

WinterRail, the annual gathering of West Coast railfans is set for Saturday, March 10, 2007, celebrating its 29th year. The 2007 installment will be held at the

Stockton Scottish Rite Center
33 W. Alpine Ave,
Stockton, CA

Tickets are now available! $30.00 each

Details on the event are available from the official WinterRail site. Specific questions not answered by a sister site with lodging information and directions should be routed to:

Winterail 2007 - Vic Neves
P.O. Box 1627
San Leandro, CA 94577

or you can e-mail Vic at winterail at comcast dot com.

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The Gandy Dancer, a monthly publication of the Alameda County Central Railroad Society.
Last updated January 20, 2007.

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.