A publication dedicated to the volunteers of the San Diego Railroad Museum November 1995 VOL VII NO XI DIRECTOR OF CAMPO OPERATIONS Denby Jones INDEX Director of Operations 1 Safety Corner..................... 2 Operations Department 2 Training Department 2 Calendar Front Cover Network News 4 Phone Numbers 4 Timecard Inside Cover The HOT SCOOP is published by the San Diego Railroad Museum Please send address or subscription changes to: San Diego Railroad Museum c/o Santa Fe Depot 1050 Kettner Blvd. San Diego. Ca. 92101 Wandering through the different projects at Campo I see people industri ously working. Occasionally, I see people kind of standing in the background watching. Ask them if they would like to help and they re ply, "Well, I really don't know how to do that kind of work". One of the things I really like about our Museum is the fact that there is meaningful work on almost any project for anyone regardless of skill level. Not ev eryone is a certified machinist or welder. And to be honest with you, we do not have the machines to support any more machinists than we al ready have. But there are many other tasks to be accomplished that do not require that level of expertise. Some of these tasks can bo quite challenging when worked under direct supervision of a knowledgeable person, and some of them are not so challenging. The one common denominator is they all have to be accomplished. By taking on some of these tasks at least three things happen. The task is being completed, the person accepting the task may be learning a new skill, and by accepting the task it may free someone up that has different skills that may be needed elsewhere. Don't forget that there are a variety of departments in or Museum and this per son may have skills that would fit another department. Classic examples of this occur in operations where crew shortages force us to use people with critical skill levels otherwise engaged in other projects to ensure that the Demonstration Train operates safely. So what does all of this lead to??? We have some big projects that are nearing fruition, and others in the wings. In order to complete these projects we, as a Museum need to work as a team. If you are in Opera tions, maybe you could sign up for an extra weekend. Possibly members that may not possess the necessary mechanical skills could train as Do cents and relieve the on-board trainmen of walking tours. If you see people that seem to be "lost", talk to them, find out what their interests are and guide them to the right people to develop those interests. I constantly hear that our Museum does not have the money to complete this project or that job. Well, all the money in the world is not going to help if we do not have the other side of the equation, manpower. Manpower is one of the biggest resources we have, and if we are to succeed we are going to have to allocate it properly. As you probably know already, we are seeing a lot more traffic in the Campo area, especially undocumented aliens. If you encounter such groups do not approach them or try to communicate. HotScoop November 1995 Page 2 Call the gift shop and have them get in touch with the Border Patrol. They will take care of the problem immediately Op erating crews keep your eyes open for people on the track and at vehicle cross ings, especially at Spencer’s Crossing. There are also reports of objects being placed on the tracks. Objects such as spikes, nuts, bolts and pieces of sheet metal. These can and will derail a train, so please be careful. Thanks for listening and see you at Campo! Denby Help Wanted by Lew Wolfgang First, an apology is in order. Recent increas ing demands on my free time have resulted in the Hotscoop being chronically late. It has always been my goal to have the Hotscoop in your mailbox on the first day of the month. Alas, the goal has been increasing difficult to meet. What good is a "Hof' scoop that is a month late? Part of the problem has been sparse Crew Callboard attendance. As you may know, I also serve as conductor/engineer on the Mill er Creek excursions. With all the callboard blanks, whenever I'm in Campo I'm usually asked to help run the trains. However, my other position as Safety Officer also makes demands on my time. If I can't do my safety work on the weekends because I'm on crew, I have to do it during the week, requiring spe cial trips to Campo. Well, it's during the week when I have the time to work on the Hotscoop, so guess what gets deferred? I can hear you asking yourself: "Gee Lew, how can I help?" Well, if you are crew qualified, you can help by filling up those callboard blanks. If you aren't qualified, why not7 The training class es Jim Baker is giving now are excellent, why not avail yourself of the opportunity? I know that some of you are no longer active in Operations because of the increased atten tion paid to the rules test within the past few years. I ask you to reconsider your position. First, we owe our guests the safest railroad ing experience we can humanly provide. Second, we have to comply with increasing stringent FRA operating requirements. Think it over, your Museum can use your help. Another thing for me to consider is giving up responsibility for producing the Hotscoop. Are any of you in a position to take over job? It's a lot of fun, but the pay stinks.... Thanks for your support. Lew Operations Department by Maryanne Thompson My ridership totals have fallen behind (partly because I've been busy and partly because Lew hasn't printed what I ve sub mitted!), so bear with me while I get the numbers out of the way. The ridership to tal for April was 2,668 including the 349 passengers that rode the April 29th Tecate trip. For the month of May, we had 2,519 including 173 on the Tecate trip. For Me morial Day weekend we had 1,040!!!! In June we had 1,696 . July we carried 1,610 passengers. August was typical in that we only had 838 riders for the entire month. Thanks to all of the train crew members who keep the trains rolling. Also, along that same line, I want to thank everyone who helped to fill in the September Call Board. We have Tecate trips planned the last Saturdays of October and November. As usual, we will need crews for both the Miller Creek trips and the Tecate trains. Please try to help out on these days if you can Thanks and keep up the good work! Mike Reneau has asked me to pass along the following to everyone. When you have been working in the car bam, please turn off the lights and close the doors at the end of the day. On Sunday, if you are the last one up there working, turn out all the lights, close the doors and lock everything up. This past Sunday, Mike went up to the bam at the end of the day and no one was to be seen. There were doors left open and every light was on. Would you do this at home? I think not. Also, please remember that all ofusneed toclean up after ourselves. There will not be an Operations meeting in October. Keep in mind that the November Operations meeting will be "Movie Night on the Berkeley". This sounds like an en joyable evening and Mike and I encourage all from Operations to come out for this Museum event. Hope to see you there! TRAINING DEPARTMENT By Jim Baker The Trainman's class at Cuyamaca College has had the first of its three meetings. Would you believe 38 people?!!! Look for a group of 40 people at Campo on Oct. 7, for the all-day session, and give them a big welcome. If only half of them become ac tive, what a great addition to our crew pool. Thanks to Chandra George for a great idea. Looks like there will be 8 or 9 people in the brakeman's class starting Oct. 10. That fills the class, and no further registrations can be taken. ANNUAL TESTING - That fun time of the year is approaching. Dust off your rule books and start studying. I should have the test ready by the end of the brakeman's class, Nov. 4. Test dates will be soon after that. Look for the dates in the next HOT SCOOP. Remember that our FRA submis sion requires that each calendar year, all certified operating personnel - Engineers, Conductors, Brakeman, and Motorcar Op erators - are required to participate in a four-hour classroom training and testing program in safety, operating rules, and air brake rules. I will be giving several 2-hour review/training sessions - operating per sonnel must attend one of these. If you want to get it over with in one shot, the test will be available at the same times, and will also be made available separately. RULE OF THE MONTH: RULE 7.6, SECURING CARS OR ENGINES Remember that our General Order #2, un der SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS, calls for SP Safety Rule 7.6 (page 76) to replace Rule 7.6 of the General Code. The SP rule re quires that "a sufficient number of hand brakes" be applied when setting out cars, "but NO LESS THAN TWO when there are two or more cars." So, be sure to set at least two hand brakes when securing the train at the end of the day. Don't count the en gine hand brake, since the engine may be cut off from the rest of the train for main tenance or other sendee. UNITED WAY CONTRIBUTIONS CAN HELP THE MUSEUM! by Wynn Mott By designating the San Diego Railroad Museum as the recipient of your United Way campaign contribution, either through payroll deduction or as a lump- sum gift, you can contribute to your work place's United Way campaign and signifi cantly help the Railroad Museum. Al though the United Way does not consider the Museum as eligible for its allocated general funds, it will pass on a designated contribution, deducting only a small administra tive fee. Thus, for those who feed it important, or whose employer C0feels it important, to ■contribute to United way, this can be of real assistance to the Museum. When the United Way campaign comes to you, simply designate the San Diego Rail road Museum on the card provided and select the size of your contribution. Safety Corner by Lew Wolfgang Clean up Thy Messes One of our members made a tour of the carbarn recently and was appalled by some of the conditions he encountered Here is a shghtly edited note that he sent to Pacific Southwest Railway Museum Association « 1995 HotScoop November 1995 Page 3 Parents: See that your children play in a safe place! Do not send them out on the railroad tracks to pick coal! Lew. I was at Campo today Sun. Oct 1. At the end of the day (4.30) the Steam team had all left, but they left two large coffee cans out. One had oil soaked rags and a sponge in it, the other was 7 /4 full of kerosene or some other solvent. There were also a couple of Army-green round 3-5 gallon cans at the back door where the steam team has their bench. Both had two holes punched in them for draining, one was empty with a cap, the other has some liquid in it but no cap. I told Thomas Lee and he said that he would take care of if later if the steam team didn't do it. Also in the car barn the 1820 crew was still working when I left but there were grease rags overflowing the safety rag can, on the floor and benches. They also had a couple of open cans of cleaner on the benches. I also found a small trash can that had about 1 inch of diesel in it. This I dumped into the waste con tainer outside. The waste container flip top lid was open and had a oil filter sticking out of it draining. Some one used the thread cutting machine on the concrete apron in the barn and left the cuttings mixed with cutting oil on the concrete floor, there was a pan to catch this stuff under it but was not used. The writer of this note has every reason to be concerned. While we don't usually deal with REAL hazardous chemicals at Cam po, many are poisonous, flammable, and hazardous to the environment if misplaced. Maintaining a clean, safe facility is EV ERYONE'S job. If you see a potential hazard or mess, please take care of it be fore it gets worse. Of course, the best course is to clean up your OWN mess as soon as you are finished with a task. As my grandfather once said, "The job isn't finished until you've wiped down and put away your tools and cleaned up your work area." Good advice, don't you agree7 In particular, oily waste has to be picked up and disposed of immediately. Oily rags, when left in a corner by themselves, may be subject to "spontaneous combustion." In other words, they may start burning all by themselves without the help of welder sparks, cigarette butts, etcetera. The last thing we need is for the carbarn to burn down some Tuesday evening because someone left an oily rag in the locomotive maintenance pit the pre vious Saturday! Speaking of cigarettes, remember that the entire carbarn is a NO SMOKING area. Even if we weren't concerned about fires, it is still a San Diego County ordinance. Please, if you have to smoke, do it outside. It is the considerate thing to do. Standing Hard Member Don Livesay sent me the follow ing for further discussion- Subject: Re. "Standing Hard, 3 points" Date. 27 Aug 1995 23:49:09 -0400 Conrail has a system to provide that a train will not move when a crew member is on, un der, or between equipment. To "Stand Hard" is an informal request for what is called "3-step protection " 3-step consists of 1) Center the reverser handle 2) Open the generator field switch 3.) Train brakes applied The protection is not to be removed until re quested by the person who requested it in the first place You engineers and brakemen, what do you think? In our operation, could the presence of a skate under the downhill wheel be considered as "Train Brakes Ap plied?" I think the idea warrants further discussion. If the engineer applied train brakes (if no skate), centered the reverser and opened the generator field switch be fore giving the "hands off" acknowledg ment to the brakemen, we would certainly have a safer operation. We have had a good safety record so far, but was it attrib utable to luck or planning? Let's talk about it. What does a Fireman REALLY do? Another post deals with GG-1 locomotives: Subject: Re: GG1 History.... Date: 1 Oct 1995 13:32:19 GMT pierson@cimcad.cnet.dec.com (dave pierson) wrote: 20 years (or so) ago i was standing be hind a couple of guys in line for a train show in 'Joiscy. One apparently _drovc_ GGls. His comment u>as roughly' "pretty, but cramped & bad visibility.. " Going around left hand curves, your vision was obscured. Luckily we had firemen back then. On one trip from Penn Station Io New Haven, the fireman's list had been exhausted and they sent a new brakeman to be my fireman (that was OK). I left on a restricted signal (be prepared to stop for anything) on one of the low number tracks. As / headed around the curve, I asked the young brakeman what the next signal was. 1 could not see it. He replied, "Which sig nal is ours7" I stopped the train and ivcnt over to the other side of the GG in time to see a LIRR train cross my bow! There is another signal story from a GG-1 as it approached South Norwalk on the New Haven Line. The fireman called out, "Clear" (for a green signal), then he shouted, "Approach, it Pacific Souihwcsi Railway Museum xssociadon ■< 1995 mailto:pierson@cimcad.cnet.dec.com HotScoop November 1995 Page 4 just dropped to approach!" Just seconds later he yelled, "Stop signal! It just went red1" The engineer laughed. The fireman was looking at the traffic light from the street! For the root beer of the month question: How is a GG-I similar to most of our loco motives in Campo? A case of cool ones to the first member telling me the right answer. (I'm to be the judge of what is "right") Thanks for your support, Lew PHONE NUMBERS SDRM ADMINISTRATION CAMPO Museum Phone .... . 697-7762 Business Office Chandra George 595-3030 Business Office Fax .................................595-3034 Director of Operations. Denby Jones 279-2419 HolScoop Editor, Lew Wolfgang 553-3106 La Mesa Depot 465-8-144 Campo Depot 478-9937 Campo Car Shop 478-9917 Campo Caretaker, Thomas Lee Braginton 478-9344 Campo Gift Shop, George and Nancy Boggs... 789-4210 DEPARTMENT HEADS Facilities, Thomas Lee Braginton 478-9344 Interpretation, Rich Borstadt. 294-9321 Research, Bruce Semelsberger . .... 264-7282 Chief Trainman, Mike Rotz. .................. 466-880S Mechanical, Lew Wolfgang (asst)H-662-1963 W-553-3106 Library, Roy Pickering 462-3392 Operations, Mike Reneau 466-5402 Restoration, Ted Komweibcl 461-0098 Safety.. Lew Wolfgang.. 662-1963 Steam. Richard Dick .......................................... 276-2222 Training, Jim Baker.. H-670-7441 W-467-6476 THE HOBO SWIMMING HOLE And The St. Vitus Dance by Arvcl "Sunshine" Pearson submitted by Don Livesay In '32 I was headed west on the MOP (the old Missouri-Pacific), about 10:00 pm, I was lookin' for an open box and a place to flop. I settled for an icebox in an empty re fer, but it had a flat wheel and before I could find another it was movin' too fast along that steel. After about a hundred miles of bumpity-bump, we came to a stop at a water tank in a big curve along side of the Arkansas River bank. It must have been about 2:00 am, I was lookin' for a spot to lay down when I spot ted another Bo that was westward bound. He hadn't fared any better ridin' a gondola with just enough slack coal a blowin' in his face, stingin' like blowin' sand. "Let's get some weeds and make a bed." I could see he was bushed. "Ok," I said. The sun came up mighty hot and we kept movin' our bed around that tank to a shady spot. After a couple of hours the sun was at 108. We were sittin' there wishin' to get on another westbound freight. Being' hungry, I climbed that water tank for a look around. There wasn't a house nowhere around. I was thinkin' of some nice cozy place and havin' a feed, but I had settled for just some sunflower seed. Along about 11:00 am the sun was real hot and the wind was kickin' up dust a lot. I decided to wash my clothes in the water tank. I laid them out on some ties close by, then headed to my swimming hole up in the sky. Now I was havin' a ball in that nice cool water up in the tank, then I heard Old Bo yell, "You had better get down here fast if you want to save your clothes." If you have ever been in Kansas you know how the wind blows. My shirt had got hung up on the fence, and he said with a smile, "your pants are down that wheat field 'bout half a mile." Bearin' the train whistle a blowin' and the drivers a hummin', I took off a runnin'....my feet was bare, no clothes, not a stitch; through that fence and then stum bled in a ditch. Every time I would get close enough to pick up my pants, the wind would do the St. Vitus' dance. I made a final grab, when I heard Old Bo shout., "The train is pullin' out!" I tied my shoe laces and slung 'em around my neck with just enough time to get my shirt and pants tied in a bundle on my back. The Hogger had bunched the cars and was ready to take up slack. With a highball, he took off down the track. In all that confu sion, I didn't have much time to pick and choose as it picked up speed, but I though the old tanker might do the trick. Old Bo got a flatcar with some lumber and stuff, and me that old tanker, in the buff. Them runnin' boards was hot on my feet, had me doin' the Hen Wally Shuffle to a clinky-click beat. Now and then my back side would hit that old tanker and it made me wonder why I took a swim in a water tank. After about 60 miles the train began to slow and we were able to get off. Old Bo said, "You put on quite a show." With blistered feet and sunburned all round, I got washed up, put on my clothes and headed up town. Old Bo said, "I been on the road a lotta years," he was laughin' so much his eyes made tears, "but I have never seen a Bo ridin' a runnin' board on a tanker without any pants at 60 mph, doin' the St. Vitus Dance!" He was fixin' to head west on the Santa Fe, I was goin' north on the D & RG W. I was just leavin' for Denver on the Rio Grande, when Old Bo come up to shake my hand. He said real nice, "Lemme give you some advice, next time you decide to go for a swim, tie your clothes on a strong, swingin' limb! network news Where articles from USENET'S rec.railroad are presented for your edification and fur ther enlightenment. Opinions are those of the author's and are worth exactly what we paid for them: NOTHING! A small font is used to minimize production costs. From- EXTG49A@prodigy.com (Randy Buchter) Subject: Re: Brakes A new brake svstem is about to be implemented in the US. There is testing underway as I write, on an Electro Pneumatic brake system for freight cars. There will also be a technical meeting this week in Chicago to discuss the best system to pursue The attendees will be the As sociation of American Railroads, various system compo nent suppliers, and of course, the American Railroads. The basic idea is that the brakes will still be powered by air. but they will be controlled electronically. The train line will remain pressurized at all times, allowing repeat ed apply- release cycles Stopping distance will also be reduced, not so much from higher braking forces, but from brakes that will apply simultaneously on all cars, eliminating the long delay for brakes in the last cars to apply I have designed some components for this sys tem, but will not get to attend the meeting in Chicago. I will have to depend on feedback from our 'marketing' people, and info from the AAR. - From, msb@sq.com (Mark Brader) Subject: Water tube boilers on steam locomotives David Bromagc (bromage@mdw078.ee mona-ili.edu.an) writes: Apart from Gresley's (failed?) experiments, did ami other railway experiment with water tube boilers on steam lo comotives? What was the success or otherwise of the trials? Yes they did, in one case with fatal results. Here's a re post from about a year ago. The quoted article is from that period. For metric readers 1 foot = 12 inches = 30.48 cm- 1 psi 6 895 kPa = 0.0703 kg(force)/cmA2. I Repost follows] My source for this article is "Experiments with Steam: Landmarks in unusual British locomotive design 1846- 1959 ' by Charles Fryer (1990. Patrick Stephens / Collins Publishing, ISBN 1-85260-269-4). Water tube fireboxes were tried on a frw Delewareand Hudson locomotive a> well as Baldwin Locomotive Works H60 000 Leaky water tubc/omt* were a constant problem ... IlZT,scal1c-boilers were also used on the little Sentinel brand slenm railcars tie. locomotive Briton in'?o" n Ol’e1b°dy) were Inlrodoecd in late 1930's Ka"ways. running until the o°X"i lb?S'?TO7had“ helwo "T: " (psi); the engine was a 4-cvlind P Unds Pcr inch ....... .. each side of the firebox 11 i h ‘ enS,ne: onc on ametcr, and two more‘fo!ward o^th ? P long and 19 inches in diameter At ° 5 f Calendar Managereq O\ SO T—< 23 30 K K U K a r n r n n « « n a w n m (1 tl II M » t l $ J 1 « 1 H 3 jCjeuurf 1 • ;c ■ u. is i V"< 00 «n 22 6Z “ ’ = = a ‘••’Jex sax = «-■'- q C 5- ’-sawZ x -a s -rrH i—< eq 28 ■y 'SO cnT—1 o 27 1S 00 In te rp M tg S FD s ''' ■ n' ic eq O\ w 26 4 18 30 St an M g SF D rH o (J)ei a 22i 25 3 DO W oi ga ng X . * 8• tt 5 s§ i • J2g 24 D O X or nw ci be l in 3

1995-11-Hot-Scoop

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Pacific Southwest Railway Museum

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