Happy St. Patricks Day!

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

March 2008

Next Public Operation Sessions:

GoodGuys Spring Show

Club News

Upcoming Events

March Goodguys 26th All-American Get-Together March 29-30 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 4th.

Big Bertha will be fired up this month, for the pre-meeting meat burning rituals. Come on down, bring something to cook, toss it on the grill and join us in the first grilling session of the year. The coals should be hot around 6:00PM. As usual the chili pot will be on as well.

2008 Badges

The 2008 fair issued badges (credentials) have arrived. Members who were present on March 7 and 14 have already recieved their badges. There are still plenty left come down and get yours. HO scale badges are being held by Bob Johnson.

Unofficial Minutes for March 7th, 2008 meeting:

The meeting was called to order by V.P. Bill Wills at 8:05 pm.

Treasurer's report: Paul reported that there was little change from the last report in February. Anyone wanting to see the figures should get ahold of him.

Badges: Bob Johnson had picked up the badges, at the gate, and was distributing them to the members present. If you weren't there, please drop into a meeting and pick them up.

Good Guys show is coming the 29th and 30th of March. Sign-ups are still needed on both sides, but especially on the O-scale side.

Motion to adjourn was made, seconded and passed. Meeting adjourned at 8:07 pm.

Dean Lewis
Acting Secretary.

Editorial Change.

Dan Espinosa has relocated some distance away and has temporarily stepped down as club secretary and newsletter editor. Dean Lewis will serve as acting secretary. Bob Johnson will serve as editor for the time being.

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HO Scale News:

From the HO Scale Trainmaster:

The early months of the year have nearly passed by and the spring show season is drawing to a close. The weather is gradually getting warmer, so the time has arrived to resume work on the layout. We have acquired a number of new detail items for the layout including several buildings, vehicles, figures, signs, fire escapes and other materials. More items will be added to the supply stock in the near future. What we have need of now is for members to step foreward and start working with these detail items to improve the appearance of the layout. Oildale can use some sidewalk extension, for example.

The Good Guys car show is March 29 and 30, we do have a pretty good level of interest based on the signup sheets. The question of if the interest is in running trains or looking at the show cars is still up for debate. There is room for more participation so come on down. Before Good Guys we do need to do some clean up on the layout and also some maintenance on the layout. We have switches that have stiking points due to lack of use, these need to be exercised (thrown several times) to get them to loosen up. You can't be sure if it is working by just flipping the toggle on the panel. You need two people to work together, one to throw the toggle and the other to verify the the points are throwing correctly.

The Fair starts on June 20th, which is only a couple of months away. So, gentlemen, yes I am talking to you... Break time is over, time to restart work on the layout. I would like to see the larger projects that are getting a bit long in tooth completed. The current detailing project needs to resume work.

We have areas of the layout that are rarely used, we need to have training on how to use the underutilized areas of the layout (freight yard and reverse loops as examples). The port area trackage has been changed from the old configuration and the switch points are thrown via tortoise switch machines, so operations training is needed there as well. I would like everyone to be able to operate in the port area, the freight yard and on the reverse loops without execssive anxiety or whining "I don't know how to work that".

Freight yard operations training, see me. I'll have you up and running very quickly. The panel is actually quite simple, it only looks complicated. As they say in that commercial "no worries". Space at the panel is tight so training will have to be one on one. But I should be able to train several members in an evening.

-Bob
HO Scale Trainmaster

Unofficial HO meeting minutes:

Minutes of the March 7, 2008 HO meeting

Meeting was called to order at 8:03 PM by Trainmaster Bob Johnson.

R. Johnson gave kudos to Ernest for "high" work on the broken IR heater. D. Lewis gave kudos to R. Johnson for his extended time put in for the last show.

Old Business

• Port Project-Reported by Dean Lewis: Work is progressing on the bridges that will 1) span the railroad as it curves around Charmin and 2) span the south end of the aisle.
• Road/River Project-Paul Newhouse reporting: Paul is experimenting with road and river material.
• Amtrak Lounge Car-R. Johnson reported the purchase of subject car.
• Spare Track Components-R Johnson reported that some turnouts have been purchased, a few more to buy.
• Layout Detailing Budget-R. Johnson spent some money in February on layout details. There is remaining budget for additional purchases.
• ACE locomotive-R. Johnson reported that testing is being done and a recommendation will be made at the April meeting.
• IR heaters-R. Johnson reported that more "high" work is needed to fix the broken heater and the other two above Charmin that aren't working.

New Business

• R. Hopkins initiated a discussion about whether analog operations should be used for future shows due to low participation. P. Newhouse pointed out that during the 2007 County Fair that there was an average of one more person per day during analog operation than for DCC operation. The subject was tabled after more discussion.

Meeting was adjourned at 8:16 PM.

Respectably submitted
John Kolberg, ATM

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O Scale News:

From the O Scale Trainmaster:

Geroge has been a bit busy with real life, so no word for this month...

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Worlds Greatest Hobby on Tour Show

In January a group of club members went to the Worlds Greatest Hobby on Tour Show in Sacramento. Many of those who attended opted to ride the Amtrak Capitol Corridor train service between the Bay Area and Sacramento. The show seemed to be well attended, with many manufatcturers having booths. A small sampling of some companies reperesented included; Athearn, Kato, Woodland Scenics and Walthers. Photos

Winterail Report

Andy attended the annual Winterrail event in Stockton and provided the following report:

Another good gathering took place this past Saturday at Winterail in Stockton. Members in attendance from our club included Jere, Lee, Dean and his better half, Margaret, and yours truly. Lee's railfan buddies Dave and Zack were also present. The slide presentations seem to get cleverer every year with some bits of humor thrown in. A lot of Santa Fe fans really got their fix with about 3 presentations. I really enjoyed the slide presentation on the Rio Grande Zephyr. It had some very good background music. Lots of railroad memorabilia was set up in a huge room for those wanting to open their wallets. A lot of old time tables, dinnerware, and lanterns are still out there. I got lucky and got my ticket number drawn for a door prize. I Picked out a hardcover book on High Speed Rail which I starting reading. All in all I'd say everyone had a good day.

-Andy

Spring 2008 Model Train Show

Western Pacific Railroad Historical Society

The Western Pacific Railroad Historical Society (WPRRHS) and the Feather River River Rail Society (FRRS) will be holding their TWELFTH ANNUAL historical and modeling convention in Sacramento, California, Friday April 11th and Saturday April 12th 2008. You do NOT have to be a member to attend. So if you have any interest in the WP, you may register and join them for a fun weekend of WP related activities. For more information see:
http://www.wprrhs.org/conv08/

Calrailfans

Calrailfans will be holding their regular monthly trackside gathering at the Lodi Amtrak station on Saturday, April 12th. People come to and go from this event throughout the day. Note there is a hobby shop featuring trains nearby. Calrailfans meets are held at various trackside locations throughout the year.

Pacific Coast Region 2008 Convention to be held in Fresno

The 2008 edition of the Annual NMRA Pacific Coast Region convention is scheduled for April 30th through May 4th at the Ramada University, Fresno, CA. 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 April 24, 2008.

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.