The Gandy Dancer
The Official Publication of
The Alameda County Central Railroad Society
February 2002
Presidents Day Issue.
| The Gandy DancerThe Official Publication of | February 2002Presidents Day Issue. |
| Club Officers: | |
|---|---|
| President Gary Lewis |
Vice President Henry Chandler |
| Secretary Dean Lewis |
Treasurer Cathy Chrisman |
| HO Trainmaster Mike Browne |
O Trainmaster George Cumming |
| Newsletter Editor Bob Johnson |
Webmaster Jim Ferreria |
| Visit the club website | |
If you have any information that would be of interest to the membership please contact Bob Johnson, so that it may be included in the next issue. The deadline for submitting information for the March issue will be Friday, February 18 with a goal of being mailed and uploaded to the website by Sunday, February 20. Members are encouraged to submit photos, announcements and other club and model railroad related material for use on the club website. Please contact Jim Ferreria with items for the website, or questions relating to the website. |
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| General News | HO Scale News | O Scale News | Test Your Word Power |
Saturday, February 2nd 10:00 AM to 7:00 PM and Sunday, February 3rd 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM. Please note that our closing time will be earlier that the closing time for the show. Signup sheets for this event are available. Sign up today!
Friday evening February 15th is the informal "stop by" session. The more "official" open house is on Sunday, Feb. 17, from 11 AM to 3 PM, more or less. HO scale members are welcome to attend and run for this event.
Saturday, March 2nd from 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM. Sunday, March 3rd from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM.
Goodguys 20th All American Get-Together Saturday, March 23, 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM; Sunday, March 24, 8:00 AM to 3:00 PM. Normally our exhibit opens at 10:00 AM for Good Guys events.
Photos of the club holiday party are available courtesy of Jere Ingram.
David Chandler was voted into full membership status during the January business meeting. Douglas Barskey was introduced as a potential new member for the O scale. Congratulations to David and welcome Douglas.
The February general business meeting will be held on Friday, February 1st. Big Bertha, will be fired up for the pre-meeting grilling session, weather permitting.
Membership Dues are Now Due.If you have paid your dues, thank you. If you have not paid yet, start looking for loose change in the sofa and under the car seat, please see the Treasurer and ante up! Dues are $24 per year. Club bylaws require that those who don't pay be dropped from the membership rolls. |
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Club badges for 2002 will be issued soon to those who are paid up members.
We are in the process of updating the club roster. A copy of the current roster, with space for changes will be circulating for you to check your address, phone and email information. Once this process is complete, copies of the updated roster will be available for all members. We hope to be finished with the updating process shortly after the all of the dues have been collected. An updated roster should be available in May. Please see Bob Johnson, if you have not been contacted.
The last couple of years club members had the opportunity to purchase vests to be worn for shows and other club related functions. Since a number of new people have joined the club since the last vest order was sent in, we are exploring the idea of putting together a new order for club vests.
The cost of the vest is $25.00 and includes a railroad logo of your choice. XXL costs an additional $2.50. The vest features the RR logo in the left breast pocket area. The member name is in the right breast pocket area. The club initials are across the back of the vest. Members purchase their vests and the club pays for the embroidery of their name and ACCRS on the vest.
A variety of embroidered railroad logos are available including the following examples: Amtrak, Cotton Belt, Lehigh Valley, Milwaukee Road, New York Central, Northern Pacific, Pennsylvania, Rock Island, Santa Fe and Southern Pacific. Union Pacific is one of the heralds available, even though it is not on the web site. Many other heralds are also available. Those with Internet capability may wish to visit the vendor website: BC Junction
If you are interested in ordering a vest or want more information about the vests please see Dean Lewis.
The following remarks are from the HO Scale Trainmaster.
The buildings in the city were removed to facilitate indexing of the underlying support blocks. Carlo Borlandelli has been working on indexing the blocks, which will permit the installation of finer details such as sidewalks, driveways, streetlights and other details. The structures have returned to the layout to allow consideration of final positioning and for the Home and Garden show. The buildings may again be removed or repositioned to allow for the installation of details as noted above.
Gerald DeWitt is working on a new control panel for the passenger yard and engine facility. The panel is well along and looks very good. One of the major reasons for the change is to allow for DCC control of the engine facility tracks as well the local and main control options of the current control panel. The old panel additionally has underwent a large number of changes and is not able to accommodate the track changes that have been made since the last panel revision. Indexing for the turntable is also in the works.
Carl Klenk is continuing to work on the uncoupling ramps in the Granger and Charmin areas.
Bob Johnson has replaced a number of lights that had burned out in the saw mill facility.
A sign-up sheet is posted in the meeting room upstairs for DCC decoders. If you have not already done so, please sign up for the decoders that you need for the two locomotives of your choice. The list will only stay up for two more weeks, last chance for sign-ups will be the evening of the February Business meeting Friday, February 1st.
--Mike Browne
The following remarks are from the O Scale Trainmaster.
Our "first Sunday" DCC operating session will take place as scheduled on February 3. This is the second day of the Home & Garden Show, but it is high time we showed off our stuff. Please sign up to operate Saturday, Sunday or both days, so I'll know whether we have adequate coverage.
As usual, we will be open for OSW visitors on Friday evening, February 15, and again on Sunday, February 17, from 11 AM on. If you are attending OSW on Friday and plan to be at ACCRS that evening, don't forget to allow for the commute traffic north from Santa Clara that afternoon. It is really dreadful.
Here is the latest information I have on NWSL steel wheelset pricing. The four-paks retail at $10.75, which is $2.75 per axle. The 2000 catalogue lists bulk pricing (per axle) of
| 100+ $2.01 | 200+ $1.80 | 500+ $1.70 | 1,000+ $1.50 |
I tried to confirm current pricing on www.nwsl.com, but the website does not have a full product listing. I have sent them an e-mail, and will post the prices as soon as I have them. But, there is an obvious saving in pooling our orders, so sign up if you are interested.
I spoke recently with Beat Hug, who is still trying to sell Old Pullman and retire. Meanwhile, however, Beat says his sales have boomed in the last few months. He thinks the events of 9-11 have driven people to return to home, hearth and hobbies. Beat will not be attending OSW, so if you need any track, mail order is your only choice.
--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. Many of the terms for this month are courtesy of member Bill Kennerley.
Over the years there has been a bit of discussion around the club about right and wrong, just and unjust etc., etc. I thought this might then appropriate to share with you all.
An old man, a boy and a donkey were going to town. The boy rode on the donkey and the old man walked. As they went along they passed some people who remarked it was a shame the old man was walking and the boy was riding.
The man and boy thought that maybe the critics were right, so they changed positions. Later, they passed some people that remarked, "What a shame, he makes that little boy walk."
They then decided they both would walk! Soon they passed some more people who thought they were stupid to walk when they had a decent donkey to ride.
So, they both rode the donkey. Now they passed some people that shamed them by saying how awful to put such a load on a poor donkey.
The boy and man said they were probably right, so they decided to carry the donkey. As they crossed the bridge, they lost their grip on the animal and he fell into the river and drowned.
The moral of the story? If you try to please everyone, you might as well kiss your donkey good-bye.
This is the sixth in a series of reports about railroad related sites and museums visited during your editor's recent vacation. This month features The Sumpter Valley Railway, located southwest of Baker, Oregon. This narrow gauge tourist railroad features two operational steam locomotives, several cars and a number of display items.
The Sumpter Valley Railway began with construction of a depot and right of way in Baker City, OR in 1890. Construction of the line continued, reaching Salisbury and later McEwen by October 1891. 1893 established passenger service to McEwen. Following the discovery of a major deposit of gold rails were extended an additional six miles to Sumpter in 1896.
Over the years the railroad survived hauling sticks and rocks (lumber and minerals) and passengers. In the early 1900's the gold began to play out and rails were extended to reach additional sources of lumber. At its zenith the railroad extended just over eighty miles from its point of origin. Great plans existed to extend the rail line to connect with the Nevada-California-Oregon Railway, but alas this would prove not to be.
About 1920 the railroad purchased a pair of 2-8-2 Mikado locomotives (#19 and #20) from American Locomotive Company. The Great Depression was not kind to the Sumpter Valley and things began to go down hill. In 1933 several miles of main line were abandoned and mid-1937 marked the end of scheduled passenger service with the discontinuance of the Stump Dodger. In 1939 the railroad purchased 2-6-6-2 Mallets following the design used for the Unitah Railway. The railroad continued to operate until mid-1947 when it was shut down and the rails were pulled up.
The reincarnated Sumpter Valley Railway, an all volunteer group, traces its roots to 1971 with the incorporation of the Sumpter Valley Railroad Restoration to operate a non-profit tourist railroad. A number of artifacts were retrieved from the surrounding area including locomotive boilers and items of rolling stock. One of the items recovered was W. H. Eccles Lumber Company number 3, a 1915 Heisler. Union Pacific transported the number 3 to Baker from Cascade, OR for a four-year restoration.
Things really took off in the mid-1970's with the donation of track materials by the U.P. The transportation of a water tank to the McEwen depot site and reacquisition of Mikado locomotives #19 and #20 from the White Pass and Yukon railroad which purchased them from the Sumpter Valley in 1940 were all hilights of that time period.
Work continued throughout the 1980's and in 1991 the restored line stretched from McEwen to Sumpter for a total line length of just over five miles.
This concludes a basic background synopsis on the Sumpter Valley Railway. Information in this report from the Sumpter Valley Railway web site. Photos of the Sumpter Valley Railway.
More on the Sumpter Valley visit in the next edition.
The next installment of the museum report will continue coverage of The Sumpter Valley Railway and the Sumpter gold dredge.
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