The Gandy Dancer

Upcoming Public Operation Sessions:

Alameda County Fair

Friday, June 22 thru Sunday, July 8.
Monday thru Thursday 11:00 AM to 10:00 PM.	Friday, Saturday and Sunday 10:00 AM to 10:00 PM.
Wednesday, July Fourth 11:00 AM to 6:00 PM.	Sign up today!

Open House and Swap Meet, sponsored by O Scale.

On Sunday, August 4, the O Scalers of ACCRS will host our second annual summer get-together, swap meet and barbecue. Bring your favorite locomotive (or train) and operate it on the Club's O Scale pike. We are equipped for DCC running, as well as traditional ("analog") controls, and the more, the merrier. Hang out with other O Scalers, tell lies, and have some barbecue. This year, we are adding trading tables for all interested in swapping your stuff for somebody else's stuff. Commercial dealers are also welcome (scale O only, please). There is no charge for any of this, but we'd like to know if you are coming--especially if you want a swap table. RSVP to the O Scale Trainmaster, George Cumming

Good Guys

August 24 and 25. 16th West Coast Nationals. Hours: Saturday 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM and Sunday 8:00 AM to 3:00 PM.

General Club News:

Fair Badges and Passes:

This year the Fair has issued the club photo ID badges, for all members, for admittance to the 2002 edition of the Alameda County Fair. The badges permit the members to enter the grounds without the need for admission tickets. The badges were on hand at the June business meeting and were distributed to the members that were present. If you were not present, please see Cathy Chrisman for HO members and Curley Bellaver for O members about getting your badge. Friday, June 14th parking permits, were distributed.

July Business Meeting

As in past years, there will be no July general business meeting due to the date for the meeting falling during the annual Alameda County Fair. Due to the upcoming club BBQ in August the next general business meeting will be in September.

Annual Club BBQ

The annual club barbeque will be held on Friday, August 2nd.   Hors D'Oeurvres will be served between 6:30 and 7:00 PM.   The club will provide the meat, beans, beverages and bread.   Members are encouraged to bring in a variety of salads and desserts.   The signup sheet is located on the refrigerator in the locker room.   Break out that secret family recipe and share the fruits of your culinary skills with your fellow club members.   Sign up today!

Fire extinguishers serviced. All three fire extinguishers in our building have been exchanged for units that are current for recharging and inspection. Annual inspection of fire extinguishers in public buildings is required by state regulation.

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HO scale news:

Fair signups available:

Signup sheets for the annual Alameda County Fair are available in the upstairs meeting room. There are three shifts for each day:

Monday through Thursday: First shift is 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM. Second shift is 2:00 PM to 6:00 PM. Third shift is 6:00 PM to 10:00 PM.

Friday, Saturday and Sunday: First shift is 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM. Second shift is 2:00 PM to 6:00 PM. Third shift is 6:00 PM to 10:00 PM.

Thursday, July Fourth: First shift is 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM. Second shift is 2:00 PM to 6:00 PM. No third shift, on the Fourth of July as Fair will be closing at 6:00 PM.

Please note that in prior years we have closed early on a couple of evenings during the small animal changeover. We are required to close, as our front door must be closed during changeover, and fire regulations do not permit us to be open to the public with only one building exit available. The dates for small animal changeover are Wednesday, June 26 and Monday, July 1.

Assistant Trainmaster announced:

The HO scale now has an assistant Trainmaster. Cathy Chrisman is the new HO Scale assistant Trainmaster. Cathy will be filling in for Mike during his absence due to his job requiring him to be overseas until the middle of the fair.

Special Meeting held on June 14.

Assistant Trainmaster Cathy Chrisman chaired a special meeting that was called on June 14. Her remarks follow:

There was a special HO meeting held on Friday, June 14 to discuss spending and keeping track of funds.

From this meeting there were several recommendations:

• There should be an Assistant Train Master to keep notes of all meetings and to track funds by project. This way we can keep better track of funds and what was voted on so things are not a surprise.



• At the beginning of each meeting, the Assistant Train Master would read the minutes of the previous meeting and report on certain expenditures for the preceding month, expenditures to come and amount spent on each project to date.

It was voted on unanimously to have a special meeting on August 9th (the week following the bar-b-que) to discuss and vote on these recommendations. This was decided since Michael Browne was not available for the meeting on June 14. If you cannot make the August 9 meeting please let me know.

--Cathy Chrisman

Scheduled run nights are posted.

A calendar has been posted adjacent to the dispatch panel showing the scheduling of Analog and DCC running for Friday evenings. The letter "A", on the calendar, denotes an analog run night. The letter "D", on the calendar, denotes a DCC run night. The schedule for July is as follows:

Analog:	Friday, July 19.
DCC:	Friday, July 12 and Friday, July 26.

Programming track back in service.

The DCC programming track is once again available for use. Previously, it had developed a short circuit that prevented its use for programming decoder equipped locomotives. Testing isolated the problem to the cable between the base station and the track. Replacing the cable cured the problem. Thanks to Mike Browne for the new cable and reinstallation of the programming track.

Kensington sidewalk project:

The first support structure for a block of sidewalks in Kensington was poured on Friday, May 31. This is the prototype for the other blocks in the project. Dean did the honors of mixing and pouring the hydrocal base. Detlef and Carlo did the prep work and installation of the forms.

New control panel installation:

The new control panel for the engine terminal and passenger yard is in the process of being installed. The new panel will allow the use of DCC and analog operation. The old panel has been removed and the new panel is in place. Wiring the new panel is progressing, volt and amp meters have been reconnected. Labeling of the panel is also in progress. Gerald with some assistance from Seth is installing the new panel.

Next stop Omaha:

The new passenger station building is coming right along. The partially completed station and its support structure were at the club for a test fitting on Friday, May 31. The new station looks sharp, and is elevated above the tracks, just like the prototype is. Gary is assembling the station and scratch building the base and support structure. The station kit is from Walthers, and is based on the C.B.& Q. station in Omaha, Nebraska.

HO Trainmaster to be departing club:

Mike Browne, HO Trainmaster, has let it be known that he will be relocating to the Portland, Oregon area in the near future, due to requirements of his employer. He will be absent for the next few weeks, but expects to be participating in the Fair during the second week.

The following remarks are from the HO Scale Trainmaster.

Hello Everyone,

If you have not availed yourself of the opportunity to signup for the fair, now is the time to do so. We are a bit thin on signups for some days, take a look at the signup sheet and see if you can fill in where we have some openings.

Looking forward to after the Fair, hopefully everyone will still be talking to each other by that point. Our main focus needs to be concentration on the animation of the layout and to have a weekend session running DCC, using the plan Dennis Stokely has made up. It looks to be very interesting. Thanks in advance, to everyone who chose to participate in the success of the fair this year.

--Mike

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O scale news:

Good Guys:

Many thanks to Bob Bunch, Curley Bellaver, Bill Brisko and George Cumming (plus Gary Lewis on the HO side) for operating during the Saturday session of the June 1 Good Guys meet. Although this was not an official ACCRS show, we left the doors open and received a lot of very favorable comments from visitors who stopped by. Many said they "always" brought their children to see the model trains during Good Guys shows, and they were really glad we were open. A lot of goodwill for ACCRS out of a very small investment! Thanks again.

Fair Share:

Please be sure you are on the sign-up sheet for operations during the Fair, or let George know when you will be running. There are still shifts in need of coverage.

August 4 Get-Together:

A sign-up sheet for this event will be posted. We need to get some idea of how many attendees to expect, so if you have any information about non-club attendees, please pass it along. There will be swap tables, a barbeque and an opportunity to run on our layout--something may visitors particularly enjoyed last year.

--George A Cumming Jr. — O Scale Trainmaster

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Test your word power.

Listed below are the answers to last month's questions about American railroad slang. Some terms refer to people and others to equipment, facilities or actions.

1. A "go-devil" is a handcar.
2. The "Q" was the Chicago Burlington and Quincy.
3. A "feed stop" is a stop to feed livestock.
4. "Greasing the pig" is oiling and greasing the locomotive.
5. A "Johnson bar" is the reverse lever on a steam locomotive.
6. "To blow smoke" is to boast.
7. A "snipe king" is the section boss.
8. A "clinker boy" is a fireman.
9. A "train delayer" is the dispatcher.
10. The person who is known as "speedy" is a call boy.

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In Memoriam, Long time member Dale "Speedy" Jackson answered the call of the great dispatcher and took his final run to the station of eternity during the latter part of May of 2002. Dale was a member of ACCRS since the formation of the organization in the late 1950's. An active participant in club activities since the club was founded; he was well known and was liked by all who knew him. Dale was a member of the O scale and though less active the last few years, he always helped out at the fair. Over the years Dale donated a number of things to the club; the pot belly stove by the front door, two dwarf semaphores from the Oakland Mole, the wig wag signal; removed from the railroad when they had been retired from service, and a large number of Athearn freight cars that were on the HO layout for many years. During his working life, Dale worked as a signal maintainer for Southern Pacific. He was based out of the sixteenth street station area and other locations in Oakland and retired from the railroad at the time of the merger with the UP. Dale will be missed at club functions; his name has been added to the memorial board.

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Go to June 2002 Issue

Return to Gandy Dancer Index

Go to August 2002 Issue

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The Gandy Dancer, A monthly publication of the Alameda County Central Railroad Society, Inc.
© ACCRS, Inc 2002 all rights reserved
Last Revised June 15, 2002
For more information contact Robert Johnson, Editor