DUES (over) DUE!

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

February 2007

Next Public Operation Session:

Spring Home and Garden Show

Our show season begins February 17th and 18th with the Home and Garden Show. Signup sheets are posted in the usual spots.

Good Guys Spring Show

Club News

DUES ARE DUE! Paul Newhouse reminds everyone that the ACCRS imposes a monthly penalty on late dues. If you haven't paid yours by now, you're liable to get a shock when you do- so pay up soon! A reminder, if you have a change in address, phone number or e-mail address please let Paul and Dan know so that your information may be updated on the roster. What this means to you is two things: One, if your contact information has changed, now would be an appropriate time to tell us. Two, if your dues are delinquent, you may be left off the roster and e-mail lists when they are updated.

DecoderPro upgraded

DecoderPro, the decoder programming software, on the computer upstairs, has been upgraded. The new version is 1.7.6 and has some improved features. We upgraded to version 1.7.5 last fall.

There are numerous additions and upgrades to the decoder definitions including MRC, NCE, Lok, TC and other decoder manufacturers. There is also provision for improved serial port communications, higher baud rate of 19200 instead of 9800, between the NCE brain and the computer which may permit a speed up in reading and writing of information to and from the decoders.

Upcoming Events

February

March

Business meeting:
March 2nd.
Big Bertha will remain cold this month.

Goodguys 25th All-American Get-Together
March 24-25
Hours: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.(Sat.);
8 a.m. to 3 p.m.(Sun.).
We will be open from 10ish or so to closing time both days, but as is usual, early visitors may be expected to wander in as soon as the lights are on.

Unofficial Minutes for February 2nd, 2007 meeting:

The meeting was called to order by President Gary Lewis at 19:59.
Approximately 25 members and visitors attending.

Treasurer's report: Paul Newhouse

Money came in. Money went out. We still have some left. No action was taken, as the monies incoming were from dues and the split is automatic per the bylaws. See Paul for details.

Show Report: Gary Lewis

The Home and Garden show occurs on February 17th and 18th. Please volunteer if you haven't already. Signup sheets are in the usual places.

Complicating factor: O Scale West; we may see an influx of visitors on Friday.
Due to the Home and Garden Show, there will be no O-scale open house this go-round,
so the only opportunity for people (non members) to visit and run will be Friday.

Clubroom maintenance report: Gary Lewis

Swamp coolers. There is some maintenance and inspection that needs done, and a carcass that needs disposed of. In particular, several of shutoff valves feeding water to the coolers were left on and the copper lines split during the recent freeze. Please volunteer before next meeting before the Board of Directors starts drafting people. Dan Espinosa offered some months ago to haul off the dead one if he can get help loading it into his truck. The offer still stands.

Awning project.

Henry Chandler has procured an aluminum awning to replace the tarp over the back door. This should improve the clubroom's appearance, reduce uncomfortable ness in the rain and give better shade for Barbequing during the warmer months. Again, volunteers are needed to put it up.

Gutter project.

Bob Johnson has donated 40-50 ft of rain gutter. Additional parts may be required to complete the project, but it should make getting into the clubroom a little more pleasant during the winter. See previous comments about the need for volunteers.

Correspondence report: Dan Espinosa

A Children's book about trains was offered (via unsolicited e-mail from the publisher) for us to sell. No takers here at ACCRS.

Another (series of) unsolicited email has been asking for help appraising a collection of O-scale equipment; the email was forwarded to O scale members. George Engeman commented that his experience as a certified appraiser led him to believe that the gentleman in question was grossly underestimating the time and effort required to do a fair assessment of the collection. No other interest was or has been expressed by ACCRS on the subject. Dan has suggested via return email that the gentleman contact the organizers of O-Scale West as an additional avenue to explore. If you would like more information or the gentleman's contact information, see Dan.

Member vote: Gary Lewis and Dan Espinosa

Jim Schneider, who has been attending meetings and shows regularly and has some experience and interest in helping us with our wiring, has become eligible for full membership. He has been spending most of his time at the club these last few months under the HO layout. A voice acceptance vote was taken with Jim out of the room. Jim was unanimously accepted. Please welcome him when you see him!

Ed Kinder, who is good friends with Jim and has been helping with shows and the wiring, has also become eligible for full membership. The two seem to work well as a team. The meeting was called back into session because Dan hadn't seen him, and a voice acceptance vote was taken with him out of the room. Ed was unanimously accepted. Please welcome him, too! (And help Dan apologize for overlooking him.)

There being no further business, the meeting readjourned 20:11.

Respectfully submitted,

-Dan Espinosa

Top of page

HO Scale News:

Port Project Enters Next Phase

The next phase of the Port Project is under way. The structures such as Burger King, Shell gasoline station and plastics plant have been removed from the layout and stored, as part of the preparation for installation of the new infrastructure for the port.

As they say a picture is worth a thousand words. Here are a couple of views of the work in progress. The 2" x 2" sections of unpainted wood are supports for the "water" along the edges of the port.

No HO Scale Meeting for February

Due to the pressing need to test the newly installed DCC upgrade, prior to the Home & Garden Show, the February HO scale meeting was dispensed with to permit more time for running trains in DCC mode.

The testing of the upgraded DCC system went well, thanks to the work put in by Pat and John. Thanks also to those who participated in the testing of the installation, we had several trains on the layout on February 2nd.

But it would have been nice to have more participation on February 9th as we could have used more trains to continue the load testing. The idea was to duplicate the loads placed on the system during show operations; when everyone shows up with their trains, without the group embarrassment of having things go awry with a large number of visitors present, a task made a bit more difficult to do without a large number of trains operating.

Top of page

From the HO Trainmaster:

The upcoming Home and Garden show marks the beginning of our show season. There has been a lot of work on the layout so far and a lot more to go. Thanks to you, the members we have a new port, new DCC boosters, improved track work in the helix and lumber mill area, more track drops, improved scenery lighting, and repairs to the riverbed and adjacent road. This is a LOT of improvements. There is still a lot to go. A list of projects was included in last month's news letter. If you would like to work on any of these projects let me know.

-Seth

HO Scale Trainmaster

Top of page

O Scale News:

From the O Scale Trainmaster:

ACCRS O scale members are continuing on projects as preparation for the summer Fair show. There will be a slight pause, however, for the Feb 15, 16 and 17 O Scale West meet.

Since the club will be open for the Home & Garden show (Feb 16 and 17), O scalers will be needed to run the layout. As of this writing, the O scale has just enough volunteers to operate and, thus, one or two more persons would be appreciated.

Also, we are tentatively scheduled to not be on the O Scale West open layout tour list due to the parking "issue" for the Home & Garden Show which occurs the same weekend as the meet.

For those who are interested in S scale, the O Scale West now has and S scale contingent, along with layouts open for the meet.

-George

O Scale Trainmaster

Top of page

General Hobby and Prototype News

WinterRail set for March

WinterRail, the annual gathering of West Coast railfans is set for Saturday, March 10, 2007, celebrating its 28th year. The 2006 installment will be held at the

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

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:

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

Model Railroad Show

Garlic City Railroad Company is holding their Annual Spring Show on
Sunday, March 11, 2007, 9:30 AM to 3:30 PM
Featuring: Operating Layouts, Vendor sales, Raffle, Prizes, food & snacks.

The show is being held at the San Martin Lions Club
12415 Murphy Ave, San Martin, CA

Admission: $5.00; Seniors 60+ $3.00; Kids 8 and under free.

Free Parking

Sponsored by: All Aboard Junction Train Store, Gilroy, CA.
Phone (408) 846-8841 for more info.

Sunshine Meet

Sunshine Models is holding their 2007 Prototype Modelers meeting on
Sunday, March 11, 2007, 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM
Registration and sales starting at 9:00 AM
Featuring: Presentations on various subjects including;

• Nevada County Narrow Guage Then and Now - Bill Schaumburg
• The Final Four: Restoring and Operation of WP F units - Larry Hanlon
• SP tank cars and their operations - Tony Thompson
• Citrus Packing Houses in Central California II - Jim Lancaster

WESTERN PACIFIC RAILROAD HISTORICAL SOCIETY & FEATHER RIVER RAIL SOCIETY CONVENTION

WPHS is holding their 2007 convention on
Friday April 13th, 1:00PM-10:00PM and Saturday April 14th 2007, 9:00AM-10:00PM

Featuring: clinics/slide shows every hour, sales room, model display and contest, memorabilia display.

The show is being held at the Doubletree Club Hotel
720 Las Flores Road, Livermore, CA 94551

Registration (Convention only): $35.00 or (Convention and Banquet) $72.00

Additonal information: WPHS convention

Bay Area Prototype Modelers Meet - BAPM 2007 Cancelled

Top of page

The Gandy Dancer, a monthly publication of the Alameda County Central Railroad Society.
Last updated March 18, 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.