The Gandy Dancer

Upcoming Public Operation Sessions:

Alameda County Fair

Friday, June 20 thru Sunday, July 6.
Monday thru Thursday 11:00 AM to 10:00 PM.	Friday, Saturday and Sunday 10:00 AM to 10:00 PM.
Friday, July Fourth 10:00 AM to 9:00 PM

Good Guys

Saturday, August 23, and Sunday, August 24. 17th West Coast Nationals. Hours: Friday 8:00 AM to 6:00PM, Saturday 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM and Sunday 8:00 AM to 3:00 PM. Start time for the club display is normally 10:00 AM for this event.

Please note this event also runs on Friday, August 22, so parking may not be normal for a Friday.

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 2003 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 on prior to the June business meeting and were distributed to the members that were present.

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 1st.   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. New signs highlighting the locations of the fire extinguishers have been installed to bring the club into compliance with current requirements relating to marking of fire extinguishers.

Coolers refurbished.

The club coolers have been refurbished to function better. All tanks were cleaned, new float valves were installed in three coolers and one cooler was extensively shimmed to level the unit. In addition all eight evaporative pads were replaced at the same time, which is a big help on those hot fair days. We have not replaced all cooler pads at the same time in many years.

The first couple of days of the fair there were some comments that the air from the coolers was a bit on the chilly side. However, we got a hot day on June 25, and the coolers kept things in the comfortable for our members and visitors alike.

Carl Klenk, Ken Olsen, Garrett Kirby and Bob Johnson worked on the coolers and Andy Herrera picked up the new evaporative pads from Sears. Way to go cooler team!

Saturday work session well attended.

A work session was held on Saturday, June 7 starting at 9:30 AM. We had a good turnout by both scales for the event and a lot of good work was accomplished. The O scale members replaced light bulbs, dusted and cleaned the layout and tossed out a dumpster full of junk. The HO scale worked on switch machines and conducted a switch machine installation clinic in addition to continuing work on the new city trolley line and installing additional scenery items. Members from both scales worked on raising and cleaning the ceiling fan over the front donation box. A collaborative effort by both scales provided a bountiful lunch for all that participated in the day's event.

Thank you to everyone who came out and cleaned, assembled, repaired or otherwise put in an effort to help in getting things ready for the fair.

Two join regular membership.

John Kolberg and Wayne Toigo, having completed their probationary periods were voted into regular membership at the June general business meeting. Both of the new members have been quite active in working on the HO layout during the past few months. To John and Wayne, Welcome Aboard!

Your Bar tab is due!

It seems that some folks are running a large amount on their beverage tab on the refrigerator. Some bills are around the five-dollar range. There is one that is far beyond that amount and growing. If your tab is five dollars or more please pay your bill right away. It is unfair to everyone for individual(s) to run a big balance. This situation makes it more difficult to keep the fridge stocked. If you don't know how much you owe check the list in the locker room. Don't become a deadbeat!

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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.

Friday, July Fourth: 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 9:00 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 25 and Monday, June 30.

Layout Video System Upgraded.

A proposal for the upgrade of the layout video system was made to the HO membership at the HO meeting in June. A number of options were presented and discussion of these options was conducted. At the conclusion of the discussion it was decided to install four additional CCD cameras to supplement the existing cameras mounted in various locations around the layout.

All four monitors were adjusted, cleaned and one monitor was relocated to a more visible location. The four new cameras were installed and the entire video system is much more useful than it has been in a long time.

Many thanks to Wayne for all the hard work on the video system, during the time period leading up to the fair.

Schedule for run nights 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 18.
DCC:	Friday, July 11 and Friday, July 25.

The schedule for August is as follows:

Analog:	Friday, August 1, Friday, August 15 and Friday, August 29.
DCC:	Friday, August 8 and Friday, August 22.

New City looking better.

The new city is looking much better. A lot of work went into the trolley tracks, the new bridge between the theater and the city and the main passenger station. A last minute effort brought the burning building scene to life. Those new emergency vehicles look very good. Many thanks to all of those who participated in the work on the city related projects. After the Fair we can take it a bit easier, but we will need to keep making progress toward the ultimate goal of completing the city.

The new pump jack (oil well) installed near Summit looks great. After the fair perhaps we should look into getting some additional units to put around the layout. These just about beg to be decorated as a large bug or other critter, as some wells are in real life.

The following remarks are from the HO Scale Trainmaster.

Hi, HO Members,

Well, we're off and running into this year's Alameda County Fair showdown. So far it looks as though we're off to a smooth start. Though attendance seems a bit lower, it is understandable with the economy. We have had, for the most part, a good follow through by the fair patrons.

I would really like to commend all of you who have given such a great effort in preparation for the fair. You made it all happen. In all my years as a club member, I have never seen such a group that has shown such an interest in the club. And believe me, it really shows. Thanks to all of you for your participation in working the fair. Looks like this year of wowing the fair crowd should be a success.

I've heard a lot of positive feedback from folks in the first days of the fair.

--Andy Herrera

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O scale news:

As of press time there was no O Scale report available.

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Name the Railroad.

Listed below are the answers to last month's questions about American railroad slogans. How many did you get right? Next issue five more railroad slogans to ponder.

1. The railroad that used the slogan "Linking 13 Great States with the Nation" was the Baltimore and Ohio.
2. The railroad that used the slogan "Spans the World" was the Canadian Pacific Railroad.
3. The railroad that used the slogan "The BIG Four" was the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and Saint Louis.
4. The railroad that used the slogan "The Eel River Route" was the Eureka Southern.
5. The railroad that used the slogan "Queen of the Short Lines" was the Virginia and Truckee Railroad.

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Editorial Notes:

Due to scheduling conflicts the July and August issues of The Gandy Dancer will be combined. There will be no separate August issue. Normal publication of the club newsletter will resume with the September issue, which will be mailed out and posted to the newsletter website the week of August 26. Wishing everyone a happy summer and vacation season.

Humor Junction

New Railroad related simulator,

Member Don Pomplun brought this link to the editor's attention. Link to Train Spotting Simulator.

Museum Report.

Due to coverage of the WP 165 move, the museum report will not appear in this issue. It will return in the September issue.

News of the Prototype.

WP 165 leaves the fairgrounds.

Former Western Pacific 0-6-0 #165 (ALCo 1919) was prepared for movement on Saturday, June 7. On Wednesday, June 11, work commenced on removal of the fence that surrounded 165. Once the fence was cleared away construction of temporary track was started after the lowboy truck trailer was in position. Track construction continued until early afternoon and after the track was properly positioned and secured the winch cable was attached to the 165 near the front coupler.

The big rig tow truck took up slack and started to pull and the 165 slowly began to creep forward accompanied be some rather interesting groaning and popping sounds. Very slowly the engine moved towards the trailer. After advancing to a point just short of the trailer the cable was disconnected and the tow truck was repositioned to allow for a better angle to pull the 165 onto the trailer.

Once the pair of cables was hooked up to the pilot beam the winches once again took up slack and started to pull 165 forward. All went well until the locomotive started to climb the incline onto the trailer at which point the seventy odd tons of steam locomotive became a bit much for the tow truck as the winches began to pull the tow truck towards the trailer and locomotive. A pause to reassess the situation was conducted and it was decided to hook another big rig tractor to the front of the tow truck creating a double header of sorts. The winching operation was restarted and the 165 began to slowly roll up the incline onto the trailer. A bit later the chains and binders were being applied to the 165. When the tie down operation was complete the temporary track leading from the display site to the trailer was partly dismantled and realigned to allow for the reassembly of the lowboy trailer into its highway configuration.

The process of loading the tender on a second lowboy trailer was accomplished in a manner like the loading of the 165 earlier in the day. Due to the late hour of the completion of the loading phase of the moving process, the 165 and its tender remained on the fairgrounds overnight. The moving process was completed on Thursday, June 12, 2003. The photos in the supplement page detail some of the work involved in loading the 165 for its move to its new home.

Selected photos of the WP 165 move.

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Go to June 2003 Issue

Return to Gandy Dancer Index

Go to September 2003 Issue

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The Gandy Dancer, A monthly publication of the Alameda County Central Railroad Society, Inc.
Copyright ACCRS, Inc 2003 all rights reserved
Last Revised June 18, 2003
For more information contact Robert Johnson, Editor