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

March 2007

Next Public Operation Sessions:

GoodGuys Spring Show

OSH How To Fair

Club News

Upcoming Events

March Goodguys 24th 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.

April

Business meeting:
Friday, April 6th.

Unofficial Minutes for March 2nd, 2007 meeting:

As of press time no information had been received from the Club Secretary.

Parking Blues.

As everyone is probably aware, at present per instructions from fairgrounds management, we can no longer park next to our building on Friday evenings. Our designated parking area for Friday nights is adjacent to the blacksmith's shop.

When parking in the designated parking area please be considerate of your fellow members. If you are among the first to arrive park closer to the blacksmith shop. If you arrive later in the evening make sure that you don't block in those who arrived earlier.

We are allowed a brief amount of time, 15 minutes, to park near our building for unloading or loading tools, supplies and equipment. While engaged in this activity, please keep an eye on the clock.

Selected photos of the ACCRS parking area.

Distant view of ACCRS parking area from near club.	Parking is to the left of the line between the trees. Please avoid parking on the grass to the right of the trees.
View of the far side of parking area.	View of the middle of club parking area.

Energy Conservation in Progress.

In response to a request from the fair management, the club has begun an effort to reduce electrical consumption. A number of compact fluorescent lights have been installed, replacing incandescent bulbs. The central aisle fan lights have been changed to CFLs. The reflector light for the locomotive artwork on the aisle has been changed as well as the lamp at the back desk.

In addition, the manually operated flood lights at main entrance have been changed to CFL flood lights with 45 watt halogen flood lights for the motion detection light. The flood lights along the back side the building are in the process of being changed out as well.

If you come down to the club to work on a project during the week please only use the lights you actually need. If you are working on the HO layout, for example, please use the HO layout lights and the center aisle (fan) lights. Turning on the O scale layout lights will not add to the available light for your project. Likewise if you are working on the O scale layout use the O scale layout lights and the aisle (fan) lights as needed.

Your cooperation in the club's efforts to conserve energy is appreciated.

The refrigerator coils have also been cleaned, which should help it run more efficiently.

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HO Scale News:

From the HO Scale Trainmaster:

As many of you know there are a few projects going on. We have the port project. Last night the team was working on the yard. You may have noticed that the river bed is under repair and soon the power district for all the layout lighting. There are still a few projects that need volunteers including the servicing and repair of the swamp coolers. It is going to get hot before you know it.

I noticed that there has been a steady decline in the show DC sign ups. Last night there were only two people signed up for Good guys on Sunday (DC day). Perhaps we should start having DCC on both days of a show.

-Seth
HO Scale Trainmaster

Unofficial HO meeting minutes:

Minutes of the March 2, 2007 HO meeting

Meeting was called to order at 9:00 PM by Assistant Trainmaster Bob Johnson.

Charmin Port Project:

Gary Lewis reported that 2" x 2" material that has been installed around the perimeter of the port area serves to support a strip of "water" at the edges of the harbor to suggest that the whole area is a body of water. There are no plans to cover the operator's pit. The project is expected to be finished by the Fair. The project is reported to be within budget. There was brief discussion.

DCC upgrade:

John Kolberg reported that the installation of the new cabinet is completed but there was a minor issue that was being addressed. Otherwise the project is considered complete by the crew, and this report is the final report. Brief discussion followed.

River Road repairs:

Paul and Carl are working on this maintenance project. Previous projects in the area damaged the road surface, necessitating repairs. As the old road materials were removed it was discovered that the road and scenery support was widely spaced cardboard strips which provide an inadequate base for the required road repairs. So the scope of the maintenance has expanded to include improvement of support for the road and riverbank.

It was noted that we may wish to upgrade the trackside signals in the Oildale area as they have been repeatedly repaired over the years (existing signals are Bachmann plastic). Suggestions for possible replacements will be made at a future meeting for group consideration and as a possible future project..

Track Repair:

Bob Johnson reported that the passenger track at summit has been fully shimmed. There are still a couple of drops to be installed at this location. There was some discussion of other locations needing some attention. Bob has requested assistance in locating problem areas so they may be addressed.

Classes and Clinics:

A show of hands was requested to gauge interest in various clinics. Track maintenance clinic received six votes. DCC decoder clinic received 7 votes.

Equipment sound levels:

The subject of sound (volume levels) was again visited briefly. There was a small amount of discussion during which it was suggested that a DB meter had been utilized by other model railroad groups as an objective means of measuring sound volume. In practice, the meter would be used to obtain readings from prototype equipment a known distance with readings taken from sound capable model equipment from an equivalent scale distance so that the volume level will approximately scale as objectively measured. Assistant Trainmaster Johnson requested that this item be placed on the agenda for the next meeting, when Trainmaster Abrahams would be present to participate in the discussion.

A motion to adjourn was made and seconded. The meeting was adjourned by unanimous vote at 9:20 PM.

Ship ahoy!

MV Black Pearl tied up at the container port.	Detail view of ship's bridge and superstructure.

Road Closed...

The pavement of the old riverside road was broken. In the course of repair work it was discovered that the old scenery support was poorly constructed and when touched began to crumble.	Close inspection of the riverbank showed that it was made with a series of widely spaced cardboard strips as the primary supports, covered with paper towels and very crumbly layers of plaster shell.

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O Scale News:

From the O Scale Trainmaster:

Work is progressing slowly one track work for the trolley extension. Unfortunately personal pressing matters have cut into the time available for work by some members and this has slowed things a bit. We are still hopeful for a completion before the annual fair show.

The Good Guys operation is on the 24th and 25th of March. O Scalers are encouraged to show up for operations. A signup sheet is posted by the dispatch booth on the layout.

Some new fluorescent lamps have been installed in place of the incandescent ones over the north end of the layout. Your constructive comments to the O Scale trainmaster regarding the lamps' appearance are appreciated.

O Scale Trainmaster

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Spring 2007 Model Train Show

Pacific Coast Region 2007 Convention to be held in Santa Cruz

The 2007 edition of the Annual NMRA Pacific Coast Region convention is scheduled for May 2nd through 6th at the University Inn & Conference Center in Santa Cruz. For a listing of events and more information, see: The convention website.

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The Gandy Dancer, a monthly publication of the Alameda County Central Railroad Society.
Last updated March 18, 2007.

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Copyright © 2004 - 2009 Alameda County Central Railroad Society. All Rights Reserved.
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