Holiday Edition.

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

December, 2008

Next Public Operation Sessions:

Spring Home and Garden Show

This annual event returns in February.

Upcoming Events:

January

The Monthly Business Meeting will occur on January 9th, 2009.
The club Bar-b-que, Big Bertha is currently in hybernation. It is expected to wake up when the weather warms up.

Under the heading of heads up. We are not open for this show, but just so you know when it is...

2009 CALIFORNIA Sports, Boat & RV Show January 9 - 19, 2009

The former separate RV and Boat shows have been combined into one show.

Membership Dues are Due.
	If you have not paid your 2009 dues, please see Paul and ante up! Dues are $24.00 for regular members and $18 for senior members. Dues become delinquent at the end of the January business meeting.

Recent Events:

Annual Pot Luck

The annual club holiday potluck was held on Friday, December 5. We had a very good turnout for this annual club event. There was plenty of food and everyone seemed to have a good time. Thank you to all who attended our traditional holiday get together.

Video tapes donated.

Early in the evening of the Pot Luck, we had a visitor by the name of Nick. He lives locally and donated a box of VHS tapes including several titles: "UP Odyssey Vol 1", "UP Oddyssey Vol 2", "UP Trubines of the Wasatch" and a number of other titles. These tapes will be played at various times during Friday evenings.

Upcoming Events Page Updated

The upcoming events page on the club web site has been updated. The dates for most pre-fair shows are listed. Check it out! 2009 club run schedule.

--Bob

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HO Scale News:

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From the HO Trainmaster:

The year is finally winding down. The 2008 show season is in the history books, and we are now in the winter down time. I would like to thank everyone who participated in the work it takes to make things happen. Thanks to those who detailed, repaired, cleaned, maintained and staffed the layout throughout the year. Also, please extend my most heartfelt thanks to your spouses who were kind enough to allow all of you to come out and play as needed.

I view the club as a sort of extended family, not in the sense of being biologically related, but bound together by a common interest in trains. And, like a real family, we don't always see eye to eye or agree on everything, this is completely understandable and normal. At times we are collectively dysfunctional, at other times only some of us are dysfunctional and rarely is there no one who is dysfunctional. We have members who must comment on everything, regardless of subject or context; their voice must be heard... We have micro managers, who feel compelled to "manage" things even though they have no responsibility for overseeing whatever has their attention at the moment. We have those who seem to be in need of boundaries as they don't seem to understand that what is good for them personally is not necessarily good for the group as a whole. They go out and do something, convinced what they are doing is the greatest thing since sliced bread; without consulting anyone else, and can't understand why everyone is not "tickled to death" with what they did. We have many members who are happy to do whatever is requested of them, these folks are the "salt of the earth types", and we are blessed with many members who fall into this category. When we disagree, we tend to disagree quite loudly, which can be quite vexing to those who are not a party of the disagreement. That is why the old email storms were so poorly received in the past.

If you recognize yourself in any of the above descriptions, think about it, you may be someone else's idea of a caricature and they won't be laughing with you...

Our club is a rather loose knit group and we have few rules, which is very good by and large. This model works well when everyone cooperates and does not have a tendency to go off on a tangent. Over the years this situation has served to make the club a pleasant place to be, for the most part. It has rarely been necessary to add any major new rules. Minor changes here and there from time to time have been sufficient. I personally prefer the minimum rules necessary, but I do recognize the need for boundaries and guidelines where appropriate.

That said I have come to realize that we seem to have reached the point that we need to add a rule or some rules (guidelines or boundaries) to what we already have. I know this will be unpopular with some members, but sometimes the unpopular item(s) prove to be necessary, when situations arise that force changes to be made. I will have some things to share with the HO membership at our January meeting. I am certain that this will set off some colorful fireworks, but I would like to get things resolved before things really get out of hand.

Looking ahead, the upcoming year looks to be a case of "interesting times"; the ancient Chinese curse (as they say). This can be said of the world, the economy and the club as well.

I wish you and yours, a Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah and a Happy New Year.

Bob Johnson, HO Trainmaster

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O Scale News:

From the O Scale Trainmaster:

Linda was busy with real life and was unable to comment for this month.

O Scale West

The 2009 edition of this annual event is coming up. 2009 O SCALE WEST WEB PAGES for additional information.

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General Hobby and Prototype News

OSH Calendar

The 2009 Orchard Supply Hardware Calendar will be available on December 20th.

Great Train Expo

The Great Train Expo show will be at Cal Expo in Sacramento, CA on January 10 and 11, 2009. More info.

Winterrail

The 2009 edition of Winterrail will be held on SATURDAY, MARCH 14, 2009 -- 9:00 A.M. to 10:00 P.M. More info.

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The Gandy Dancer, a monthly publication of the Alameda County Central Railroad Society.
Last updated November 27, 2009.

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.