The Gandy Dancer

Upcoming Public Operation Sessions:

2003 Alameda County Fair:

Friday, June 20, through 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.

General Club News:

May Business Meeting

The May general business meeting will be held on Friday, May 2, Big Bertha the club BBQ, will be fired up for those wishing to bring your own meat for the self-service grilling session prior to the meeting.

Photos from Spring 2003 Good Guys Show.

PCR Open House

The PCR open house will be covered in the June issue.

Annual Club BBQ

The annual post fair club BBQ will be held Friday, August 1. Mark your calendar for this family oriented event.

Two-year anniversary.

This month marks the two-year anniversary of The Gandy Dancer going on line. The newsletter has grown and improved, and the time it takes to produce it has grown as well, during the last few years.

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HO scale news:

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 May is as follows:

Analog:	Friday, May 9 and Friday, May 23.
DCC:	Friday, May 2; Friday, May 16 Friday, May 30.

Did you miss something?

Perhaps you missed a scale meeting or just don't remember when we discussed that new or old project. Or maybe you are just wondering, "When did we vote on that?" If you are in that boat, help is at hand. Just check the bulletin board in the room upstairs. Minutes of the most recent HO scale meeting are posted there. Need information from an earlier HO meeting? An archive of HO meeting minutes (currently the last four months) is stored in the file cabinet upstairs. Check it out!

The following remarks are from the HO Scale Trainmaster.

Hello everyone,

Can you believe it's less than two months till the Fair? That's our biggest dog and pony event of the year. We've sure been busy the last six months getting the layout ready.

I'd like to extend my appreciation to all of you who have participated in our Wednesday work nights. Everything from track repairs to wire drops to building improvements have greatly brought our layout up to speed. I'd say we'll be ready to put on a great display for the Fair.

Word from Seth Abrahams is that we should be receiving our close to full shipment of switch machines. We've already had great working crews on assembling and wiring our switch machines so far. It's nice to see the enthusiasm and interest in such projects.

I've heard talk about having a Saturday workday in May at the club to get the place in shape for the Fair. Having a Bar-B-Q squeezed in that day has also been the talk. Anyway, more can be said at next business meeting on May 2nd.

So, till then, hope to see you at the next meeting.

--Andy Herrera
HO Trainmaster

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O scale news:

The following remarks are from the O Scale Trainmaster.

Coming Events:

A flyer is posted for a work session on Saturday, May 17 starting at 9:30 AM.

Projects for the day include fixing up, cleaning up, getting ready for the Fair and tossing out junk.

The Bar-B-Q grill will be fired up for lunch for the work crew.

--George A Cumming, O Scale Trainmaster

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Name the Railroad.

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

1. The railroad that used the slogan "A vacation in itself" was the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad.
2. The railroad that used the slogan "George Washington's Railroad" was the Chesapeake and Ohio.
3. The railroad that used the slogan "We Have the Connections" was the Detroit, Toledo and Ironton.
4. The railroad that used the slogan "Speedway to America's Playground" was the Florida East Coast Railway.
5. The railroad that used the slogan "The Old Reliable" was the Louisville and Nashville.

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Member's Model of the Month. This month's model is owned by Andy Herrera.

The dome observation at left is bringing up the rear of the D & RGW Prospector 8-car passenger train. It was on consignment at Caboose Hobbies in Denver, Colorado around 1993 when I saw it listed in the Brass catalog. The cars were custom painted. The manufacturer is Palace Car. They were purchased for $1800.00, which by today's going price for brass passenger cars is quite reasonable. The prototype train was originally purchased by the C & O for its "Chessie" passenger. When the C & O decided not to go with the "Chessie", Denver and Rio Grande purchased the cars to use on their Prospector/Royal Gorge overnight trains between Denver and Salt Lake City. They ran from the early 1950's until their demise in 1967.

Museum Report:

This is the eighth in a series of reports about railroad related sites and museums visited during your editor's vacation last summer. This month features coverage of the Railswest Museum at Council Bluffs, IA.

The Railswest Railroad Museum is located at 1512 South Main St, Council Bluffs, Iowa.

The museum is housed in the restored 1899 Rock Island depot, which is on the National Register of Historic Places. The depot waiting room has been restored to its 1950's appearance. Historic items on display include railroad passes from 1870, timetables from the late 1800's, and restored ticket office with original wall clock and original working telegraph key. The Freight house and Baggage room contain an operating HO model railroad loosely depicting Council Bluffs - Omaha area.

Full sized rail cars on display are restored RI 17130, a 1969 bay window caboose and UP 5908, a restored 1963 Budd built stainless steel RPO, and a UP box car. UP FEF-1 814 4-8-4, a 1937 ALCo ; CB&Q 915 4-6-0, a 1902 product of the CB&Q's Havelock Shops, CB&Q 13855, a wood-sided caboose and CB&Q Club Car "Omaha Club." Several of these items were moved from Dodge Park in Council Bluffs, IA to the RailsWest Museum in October of 1999.

Tours of the equipment and railroad layout are escorted, for protection of the equipment and model railroad display. As is the norm with such a tour, freedom to photograph or examine specific items is limited due to traveling through the displays in a group setting.

Museum Hours are: Memorial Day - Labor Day: 10 am to 4 pm Monday through-Saturday & 1 pm -5 pm Sun. Closed Wed. Adults $3; Seniors $2.50; Child $1.25; Under 6 Free. Photos.

Next we will visit the Durham Western Heritage Museum, which is located in the former Union Pacific station in Omaha, NE.

News of the Prototype.

Santa Fe 3751 on the road again.

Former Santa Fe 4-8-4 # 3751 will be out on the mainline again this summer.

On September 21, 2003, the 3751 is scheduled to pull a special passenger train from Los Angeles to San Diego and return. The Central Coast Railway Club and the San Bernardino Railroad Historical Society sponsor the trip. The train will Leave Los Angeles Union Station on September 21, 2003 at 8:35 am, arriving San Diego about 12:15 pm. Returning we will leave San Diego about 4:05 pm, arriving in Los Angeles about 7:15pm. Intermediate stops are scheduled at Fullerton and Irvine. Two classes of tickets will be offered, Coach and First Class. Family fare tickets will be offered in Coach class. Snack bar service will be available on the train.

This information was released by the "Central Coast Railway Club", information about this event will be updated as it becomes available. Tickets, ticket prices and ticket information will be available from either the SBRHS or the Central Coast Railway Club soon.

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Go to April 2003  Issue

Return to Gandy Dancer Index

Go to June 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 April 24, 2003
For more information contact Robert Johnson, Editor