Microsoft Word - 99jan.doc Page 1 of 10 HotScoop Shovel Logo by Larry Rose A publication dedicated to the volunteers of the San Diego Railroad Museum January 1999 MUSEUM NEWS VOL XI NO I >>>Volunteer of the Month<<< The VoM for November is Ansara Gilbert. We recognize Ansara for his great attitude and hard work as a trainman. He is now well into brakeman training, where we’re sure he’ll succeed. Congratulations, Ansara, and our best wishes to you! The VoM will be selected at the combined Operations-Services meetings with input from the superintendents. >>>Director of Campo Operations<<< Denby Jones On Sunday, Jan 17, 1999, while the crew was switching, Ron Hyatt was observing and was impressed with the professionalism and expertise the crew displayed. Ron Hyatt is the Road Foreman of Locomotive Engineers for this Division of AMTRAK. GOOD JOB Don Getz, Jim Baker, Randy Houk, Mike Edwards, Ansara Gilbert and Sandy Schussler! >>>Campo News<<< Lew Wolfgang *** Annual Dinner *** The Museum's Annual Dinner will be held at the Bali Hai on Thursday, March 25th at 7:00pm. Cocktails and fellowship will start at 6:00pm. The Bali Hai is located at the north end of Shelter Island. We all had a fine time at last year's dinner and hope to see you there again this year! *** Miller Creek Saturdays *** In the face of withering concern and angst the decision to cancel Miller Creek operations on Saturday has been reconsidered. The crew shortage problem remains, however. Various scenarios have been considered and it has become obvious that there is no happy way out of our predicament. It was decided to try to quickly increase the Operations volunteer base. (See write-up elsewhere in this HotScoop) This will be a challenge for all of us since we can't compromise safety and the trains must be run until new volunteers can be properly trained. Thus, Saturday Miller Creek will remain as long as our existing volunteers saddle the extra load until new folks can be brought onboard. So we are appealing to you to help your Museum through this difficult time. Are we up to the challenge? *** Three Kings Train *** The Museum hosted its second annual "Three Kings" train to Tecate on January 10th. Things went very well, except for a communications snafu that required some on-the- spot decision-making. All the volunteers are to be congratulated and thanked for another successful trip that we hope will become a tradition. The Union Tribune published an article about the trip that contained some factual errors, but on the whole offered a good description of the event. The Museum would like to thank the following volunteers who participated either directly or indirectly in this most significant of our events. Page 2 of 10 Crew: Jack O'Lexey, Conductor Denby Jones, Engineer Randy Gibson, Fireman Sue Ann Taggart, Trainman Alma Gilbert, Trainman Rod Gilbert, Trainman Bob Miles, Trainman Jim Freidlan, Trainman Dianne Roberson, Brakeman Dave Houk, OBS Carrie Moorehouse, OBS Allan Alverez (SDPD), Head Security Myke Santos, Security Jim Tulumelo (SDPD), Security George Anderson (SD Community College PD), Security Alex Cuesta (National City PD), Security Ann McVeagh Ross Bryan, Ops Supt. Charlie Coval, Project Manager Margaret Coval, Charlie's Wife MOW: Foreman Allan Dillane, Steve Kostelak, and Rich Warner Everyone Else: Mike Reneau Pat Blackmore and Martin White Mike Retz, Crew Caller Myke Santos (Board Member) sent this note of appreciation to Jack O'Lexey: Please extend my thanks to everyone for a job well done at the 3 Kings train yesterday. You, as conductor, managed the crew beautifully. Thanks, also, for your patience and understanding as our security team tried to put together a contingency plan (on the fly when we arrived at Tecate) that would safely and efficiently manage the crowd and protect the 3 kings, gifts, and participants. Please give the credit for the security team to Alan Alvarez: he's the team leader and Superintendent of the Railroad Police. Alan did a great job interfacing and befriending the Tecate police-- I think our relationship with them was the best it's ever been--some real friendships were made. Again, thanks for your help. You, Lew, Denby and the crew are truly the best. Myke Santos And Charlie Coval (Board Member and Project Manager) sent this note to everyone: Margaret and I wish to Thank everyone who helped make the train a success. Our measure of success is still the giving of individuals from one country to the children of another. It is wonderful that the Railroad Museum is the sponsor of such memories for children. We can only imagine the excitement of a child who knows a train is coming to town with gifts for them. And on the day the train comes, that child wakes up with that very first thought on his or her mind. As the day dawns the children of Tecate begin to meet in town and talk about the train that comes on Saturday with the tourists. But this time it is coming on Sunday and is bringing gifts for them. In their minds they are wondering....What will the train bring me on this Day of the Three Kings? Will they have enough? And as they wait in line they can hear the train whistle blow in the distance. Yes! The train is coming today. As the time passes the train whistle gets closer. Soon it will be here. And then they see the train. That thought alone, will stay in the children’s minds forever. And on each occasion the train arrives in Tecate, the children will remember the day the train brought gifts just for them. Charlie Coval Just in case you missed it, here is the Union Tribune article: Page 3 of 10 Trainload of good is a memorial Presents for 4,000 children in Tecate By Patricia Dibsie STAFF WRITER January 11, 1999 A lot of good has come from one $20 bill, two parents' wish that a dead child be remembered and three wise men. A whole trainload of good. Shortly after sunrise yesterday, a couple hundred volunteers packed up 4,500 wrapped toys, blankets and candy and boarded the Christmas Train at the Campo Depot. The train made tracks for the Festival de Reyes in Tecate, Mexico, where 4,000 children and their parents waited to celebrate Mexico's popular Festival of the Kings. Gifts, the children there will tell you, are brought by three wise men 12 days after Christmas. A little longer in this case, because the wise men's train only runs on weekends. Besides, the 200 Americans on the train wanted to be at their party. It's their gift to the children, something to remember Bekki Stewart, who was 36 when she died in an automobile accident in 1996. "Thanksgiving 1997, six of our family were sitting at the dinner table when Jack and Claire Stewart handed a $20 bill to each guest and told them to do something for children in Bekki's name," said Margaret Coval, who was at the dinner. She and her husband, Charles, decided to buy candy canes and toss them to the children along the railroad track from Campo to Tecate. Then, like dominoes, everyone who heard about their idea wanted to bring something along and join them on the excursion. Some offered toys, others blankets. Last year's initial run grew from one car to the whole train during the five weeks it took to organize. As they did last year, the Covals enlisted a train crew from the San Diego Imperial Valley Railroad; the locomotive and passenger cars, owned by the San Diego Railway Museum, were donated for the day. Bekki's brother, Mike Stewart, put a band together and organized the music -- everything from pop and jazz to mambas and Irish ballads. Shortly before 9 a.m., the band tuned up and the train headed through the rugged backcountry, through tunnels and then into Mexico. A lone whistle invited the children along the way to come out of their homes and wait by the tracks. Carlos Bejar pulled an olive green velvet robe over his head, and a friend placed a golden crown on his head. Marco Razo wore purple silk; Mitch Beauchamp donned a vanilla cotton robe belted with red, purple and orange material. Enter the three wise men. They took their bows to thundering applause. The party was on a roll. Page 4 of 10 The train stopped three miles outside Tecate, near a small settlement with a handful of homes. The kids, conductor Jack O'Lexey explained, always run out to wave at him on his weekend runs. He wanted them to have some toys and their parents to receive blankets. Richard Harrington of Lakeside made his second trip and donated 4,000 Washington state red delicious apples. His reason was simple: "I just wanted to make myself cry. You get so filled with joy that it brims over." Aldo Garcia, an 18-year-old from National City, volunteered to go along because, he said, he was used to people giving to him and he wanted to know what it felt like to give. Nick Zagunis, 11, said he wanted to go because it was his first time riding a train and his first time in Tecate. Jessica Saunders, 9, said getting gifts is neat. Giving gifts makes her feel "warm inside, just different than getting a gift." Children swarmed around the train when it pulled into the Tecate Brewery, where the festival had started hours before. The atmosphere was like a carnival; the music blared and the people danced. Volunteers organized three lines, one for the boys, another for the girls and a third for the babies. Each of the wise men took his place in front of huge stacks of wrapped gifts. The families filed by for two hours, giggling children and their grateful parents. The cooks at El Polo Veloz filled plates with chicken and beef, grilled vegetables, beans, rice and bread for the volunteers inside the train. Cokes, too. One by one, a long line of exhausted volunteers returned to the train to refuel. "Great food," said Marlene Scott. "Delicious," agreed Sandy Bhares. The cooks grinned and left the train to fill more plates. "This giving, it feels different," Aldo Garcia said at the end of the party. "Getting is good, maybe this giving is better; it sure feels darn good." Copyright 1999 Union-Tribune Publishing Co. *** Your Museum Needs You *** The office and the Qualification Board have been agonizing about what to do about the chronic crew shortages that we have been seeing since the weekly Tecate trips started. Many alternatives have been considered, all of them unpleasant. It has been decided to try the least disruptive alternative in hope that we won't have to start canceling trains. This alternative is a new membership drive in which the office will actively advertise for new volunteers, possibly in the newspapers, possibly on the radio. To expedite the training process the Qualification Board has temporarily lifted the requirement that new Operations volunteers first serve as Trainman before starting Brakeman training. The Board knows that this will be an unpopular policy and asks that the volunteers who have fulfilled the Trainman requirement understand the difficult position that we find ourselves in. Page 5 of 10 If you would like to start Brakeman training immediately please contact Jim Baker for dates and further details. This offer is open to all existing and new Museum members. Mention it to your non-museum friends in hope that you can recruit them. The only requirement to start Brakeman training is that the candidate be a current dues-paying member. Brakeman candidates still need to take the Trainman class to become familiar with the train and our safety rules. Next class will be Feb 22, Mar 1, and Mar. 6. Time-in-service requirements for the other operating positions will remain unchanged. The Board also requests that existing Ops folks chip in and increase their commitment to the CallBoard until we can get the new folks trained. The Museum needs your help more than ever to avoid having to cancel scheduled operations. Let's show them all what we're made out of! >>>FROM THE TRAINING OFFICER<<< Jim Baker NEW CERTIFICATIONS The Qualification Board recently certified Dick Pennick as engineer and Greg Perrin as Brakeman. Congratulations, Dick and Greg! ANNUAL TESTING A reminder that the annual rule review and testing program is underway. See last month's HotScoop for details. ALL CERTIFIED CREWMEMBERS (engineers, conductors, brakemen, and speeder operators) MUST TAKE THIS CLASS AND TEST. Persons who have not completed the test by the end of Feb. cannot operate until they have passed the test. >>>OPERATION REPORT<<< Jack O’Lexey Ear Protection I know some people when they read this report will say "I don't need ear protection because it doesn't bother me!" I'm here to tell you when you get "TINNITUS" you have it and there's no cure for it. So I ask you are you going to wait until you get it before you start wearing ear protection? I have had Tinnitus for over 10 years, sometimes it's only in my right ear and sometimes both. My noise sounds similar to the air coming from an air tank. There's a saying about Tinnitus sufferers "When you have Tinnitus you know no silence." Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night and I can't get back to sleep because of the noise. I play a radio all night to help mask the sound. Which will sometimes leave me tired and irritable the following day. I also understand that some people who have Tinnitus their noise sounds like bouncing Ping-Pong balls. If you don’t believe what I'm telling you you can talk to Larry Williams, Bob Miles, Mike Retz and Ross Bryan. I wear earplugs that the Railroad Museum provides for us that are available in the car barn or in the back area of the ticket office. We have the best earplugs I have been able to find. Of course the best protection are earmuffs. When I ride on a locomotive, Diesel or steam I wear small foam earplugs in each ear. I also wear ear muffs when we blow the whistle. If you suffer from Tinnitus there are support groups and a monthly publication called "Tinnitus Today." The address is as follows: AMERICAN TINNITUS ASSOCIATION, P.O. Box 5, Portland, OR 97207-0005. This magazine has reports and stories written by people who have tried different things that have helped them. It tells what people have done to cope with Tinnitus. One lady had it so bad the only way she could get relief was when she took a shower. So she used to take over a dozen showers a day. Page 6 of 10 I am presently trying the latest treatment for Tinnitus. I have two hearing aids that introduce a noise into my ear, which is a similar hissing noise like my Tinnitus. The theory behind its use will be to bring the background noise forward and lessening the Tinnitus. At times it seems to be working, it will not cure my Tinnitus. This treatment is very slow. I was told it would take 18 months to two years to become effective. It seemed like it helped almost right away but even today right now as I write this both my ears are hissing. Things that annoyed my Tinnitus are as follows: Caffeine, such as chocolate, coffee, tea and things that are too sweet. When I exercise, run, walk fast and swim it gets worse. Yelling or shouting also causes my Tinnitus to hiss loudly. Remember if you get Tinnitus it can only get worse, so why take a chance of getting it when two small earplugs can prevent it. Don’t say "IT DOESN'T BOTHER ME." >>>Maintenance Of Way<<< Allan Dillane FRA Track Inspection In less than 14 months we have had the privilege of 5 FRA inspections. Our latest occurred on Monday 1/4/99. On the previous Saturday the Roadmaster had implemented USDT - FRA Title 49 Part 213.5 (a) (c) rule between MP 70.55 to MP 70.60. This step was taken by the Roadmaster following standard MOW procedures to complete, what was in this case, a safety inspection of a reported rail vibration. On every railroad including our own, every railroad employee is required to report any apparent dangerous rail deficiency. Whether in writing or oral and an inspection must be performed and appropriate remedial action taken. Here at the SD&A these reports are forwarded to the Roadmaster. Two important points should be made here; (A) We have had similar reports before within this same area and (B) we had replaced several ties, plugged and re-spiked all raised spikes and added ballast. During the next track inspection after this report was received, a careful walking inspection of the area was made. No problem that could be attributed too what had been observed could be found. Because of that, the rule was imposed and each train for that day was taken through that piece of track under the eyes of the Roadmaster and the track crew leader. Lew Wolfgang and Ross Bryan joined them. Several variations of speed and the addition of rail grease were tried. The train crew was most cooperative and it appeared that the customers enjoyed it tremendously. The result was that no chatter was heard or track movement observed. No one chose to volunteer to put their hand on the rail to see if they could "feel" anything but you must realize that all MOW people are not handy under these conditions. All kidding aside, the test went well and the track was approved by the Roadmaster for regular operations. On the Monday following, the Roadmaster provided transportation for the FRA inspector to inspect all of our track from MP 60 to MP 74. He was generally pleased overall but found one broken bolt which has now been replaced. It was a pleasure to watch him work. He would intently stare at the rail as we moved slowly along the track. From time to time he would have me stop and he would walk back along the track. Sometimes he would get back on the speeder and say nothing, sometimes he would have me get down with him and he would show me what had caused him to stop. The outcome of all this was for me to realize that many of my concerns and some of those expressed by some our volunteers are groundless when judged by Class #1 track standards. Regular maintenance and careful and regular inspections will prevent all but those unexpected/unforeseen track failures that will occur on any railroad. The example of that was the broken bolt. On Class #1 track we are only required to have one bolt in each rail end. Our MOW crew’s goal is to have Two! In this case one was missing and the other broken. Our point is that vigilance is everyone’s job! Neither the FRA Inspector nor we found any basis for concern regarding our rail movement and we are thankful. However, the day after we checked for rail movement we lost a bolt. We will be checking the track twice a week but we need more help. Fresh eyes see things that Page 7 of 10 the same eyes seeing week after week might miss. We need weekday help from engineers and brakemen and knowledgeable volunteers! Your eyes may save someone’s life! Maintenance Of Way Annual Report Year Ending 12/31/1998 The Maintenance of Way Department has had a successful year! We have moved from a defunct arm of the Museum to a functioning and responsive service entity. We have formulated a description of the department's responsibilities, recruited a nucleus of staff, employed and trained a regular track crew and provided form and commitment to the Museum's requirement to operate a Class #1 railroad. In doing this we have accomplished the following; A. met and resolved numerous real emergencies. (i.e. broken rail, engine derailing, undermining of right of way by water, FRA deficiency reports, repaired split switches to name a few.) B. brought misused and derelict equipment into functional use. C. trained staff and developed skills to deal with everyday needs. D. organized a minimal response means to deal with emergencies. E. instituted a plan to complete the lower museum yard. F. unloaded 5000 ties from Camp Pendleton and recovered 16 plus bundles of switch ties and 14 barrels of track trim from storage that had been left with the National Guard at Camp Morena. G. installed approximately 1000 ties on the mainline and in the museum yards. H. rebuilt tracks #3, 4 and 5, the track leading to the three way switch and repaired their related switches in the upper yard. I. cooperated in providing new track for installing the Santa Fe bridge crane to an upright and safe location in the upper yard. J. instituted a continuing process for gaining some sense of organization to the "North Forty". Because of these accomplishments we were in a position to support the Museum’s decision to increase its trackage responsibility from 8 to 13 plus miles including three bridges and a part of a tunnel. >>>BACKCOUNTRY BACKGROUND<<< Mike Retz MITCHELL CONVALESCENT HOSPITAL INSTITUTED IN 1944 Last month we talked about the microwave dish off La Posta Road. This month I'd like to cover an area a little closer to our museum. In fact, it just about surrounds it - - Mitchell Convalescent Hospital. Once again, thanks to Jim Hinds for letting me take most of this info from his book "Military Presence in the San Diego Backcountry". Following the departure of the horse cavalry in February 1944, Camp Lockett was spared the fate of other bases that were declared surplus after their soldiers had left. Instead, Camp Lockett was placed on standby in April 1944 for future use as an Army convalescent hospital and was redesignated a Class I facility. With Army Ground Forces personnel gone, Camp Lockett would now be an Army Services Forces facility. At this time, there were no convalescent hospitals in the United States. As it turned out, Camp Lockett achieved the distinction of being the first Army Services Forces convalescent hospital in the United States. Administratively, Camp Lockett was within the Army's 9th Service Command, headquartered at Fort Douglas, Utah. However, the camp bore the distinct stamp of the cavalry. It had been built in 1941 for the 11th Cavalry Regiment, which had deployed to the Mexican border in November 1940. In June 1942, the 11th Cavalry had been replaced by the 4th Cavalry Brigade, 2nd Cavalry Division. After the War Department's decision in 1942 to reactivate the 2nd Cavalry Division in early 1943, Camp Lockett experienced a surge of new construction necessary to accommodate the new cavalry regiment that was to be activated in conjunction with the reactivation of the division. In addition, the Page 8 of 10 Southern Land Frontier Sector, Western Defense Command, a senior headquarters, was transferred in June 1942 to Camp Lockett, necessitating even more construction. By 1944, Camp Lockett was a combination of both mobilization-type and theatre of operations-type construction. As a military base, Camp Lockett was geographically isolated on the Mexican border, 50 miles southeast of San Diego. The camp was a temporary wartime facility, and the Army provided only the essentials for the men who had been stationed at Camp Lockett during the cavalry era. These facilities were now vacant; only a small complement of personnel was present. In March 1944, the Army took steps to reduce the size of Camp Lockett Military Reservation by canceling three of its leases. The Army owned 702.436 acres of land; the remainder of its 7,581-acre reservation had been acquired through leases and permits. Three months passed before the War Department announced the establishment of an Army Service Forces convalescent hospital at Camp Lockett on June 7, 1944. At the same time it redesignated the station complement as Service Command Unit 1961, Army Service Forces Convalescent Hospital (ZI), Camp Lockett, California. The cadre for the new hospital was drawn from Camp White, Oregon. A branch prisoner of war camp also was established at Camp Lockett, and Italian prisoners were transferred from the main POW camp in Riverside County. Though not well received by senior military commands in southern California, the prisoners had reached the west coast during the fall of 1943 after a policy change. They served as a source of labor for the hospital. On August 1, 1944, the convalescent hospital was activated under the command of Colonel Frank Chamberlain. Four days later the War Department named the facility Mitchell Convalescent Hospital in honor of Silas W. Mitchell, Civil War surgeon. For the most part, patients for the hospital had been hospitalized in other facilities for the treatment of acute problems and whose condition had improved enough that they could participate in educational and recreational programs. At the time of the hospital's activation, there was a lack of equipment needed for the hospital's reconditioning program. Both the station complement and the patients were quartered on the main post while the branch POW camp was located in the Eastern Garrison. In the early days of the hospital's operation, there was almost no transportation available for the patients to use so they could enjoy weekend passes to San Diego or Los Angeles. This led to discontent, so government buses were brought in and inexpensive service established. The bus between the hospital and San Diego was known as the "Lockett Rockett". During 1944 Colonel Joseph E. Campbell replaced Colonel Chamberlain as the hospital's commanding officer. In its material conservation efforts, surveys in 1944 were instituted to raze old buildings no longer useful and to use the material for essential hospital construction (there is no record of this construction being undertaken by civilian contractors or what it entailed). This was the first step that would ultimately alter the cavalry-era appearance of Camp Lockett. The men coming to Mitchell Convalescent Hospital were first assigned to the Patient Provisional Regiment's Receiving Company, where most of them were given a 30-day convalescent furlough within a few days of their arrival and after the completion of the required processing. They were subsequently assigned to one of the Patient Battalion's four lettered companies - A,B,C and F -(in 1945). These administrative companies functioned as an ordinary company. These men were quartered in their company area and ate in the company mess hall. For the patients at Mitchell Convalescent Hospital the Reconditioning Program consisted of both educational and physical reconditioning. Occupational therapy was available for those men whose medical adviser prescribed it for them. There was a wide range of educational and physical activities available. The physical activities were paired to the specific limitations and needs of the individual patient. Page 9 of 10 The reconditioning program functioned eight hours a day, five days a week, thusly: physical reconditioning, 2 hours; orientation, 1 hour; educational reconditioning, including occupational or physical therapy, 3 hours; consultation, free time, etc., 2 hours. Upon a man's completion of his convalescence at Mitchell Convalescent Hospital, he was either returned to military duty or discharged from the Army. The educational reconditioning program encompassed academic, arts and crafts, music and vocational courses. Academic courses included corrective speech, English, mathematics, Spanish, typing, play production, script writing and radio speech. Arts and craft courses included block printing, ceramics, commercial arts, free hand drawing, landscape painting, life/portrait drawing/painting, sculpture, stage design, still-life painting and silkscreen. Music courses included harmony and composition, music appreciation, music instruments and voice. Included in vocational courses were agriculture, auto mechanics, driving, machine shop, photography, projectionist, refrigeration, sheet metal, welding - gas and electric, drafting and wood-working. For the physical reconditioning program, a wide variety of indoor and outdoor activities were available for the patients. At the field house, which is now our shop, they could participate in gymnastics, volleyball, boxing, wrestling, bag punching, handball, badminton, basketball and shuffleboard. There was horseback riding, with 100 former cavalry horses at the hospital for the patients to ride. Instruction in golf was given on the hospital's own 9-hole golf course. There were outdoor courses on Lockett Field in sports from horseshoe pitching to football. In addition, there was fishing and boating available at Lake Morena, where the hospital kept 8 boats for patient use. There were also company-level intramural sports in which they could participate. In March 1945, the Army awarded a construction contract to the Phoenix-based Del Webb Construction Company to renovate the hospital. While the patients remained on the main post, the station complement moved to the East Garrison (old 28th Cavalry area) which was linked with the main post by bus service. A trailer park for their families was established (no date of either action is known). The renovation work would greatly alter the appearance of Camp Lockett. When coupled with the work done by the POWs there was a significant change in the camp. Gone was the plain, drab camp that had existed during the cavalry era. During this work, the majority of the 1942-era buildings on the main post were converted to permanent buildings. All the two-story, 63-man barracks were painted with bright, cheerful, pastel colors, in harmony with War Department directives. A sprinkler system and indirect, soft lighting was installed. Buildings were insulated and concrete fire stairways were erected. Dayrooms were painted, floors were covered with asphalt tile and indirect lights were installed. Orderly rooms were painted throughout and tile flooring completed in the offices. Of the four lettered patient companies, only C Company was housed in the singlestory theatre of operations-type buildings that had been built on the southern end of the hospital (date of construction unknown). The hospital patient capacity was 207 officers and 1,252 enlisted patients. The renovation work was halted about August 15, 1945 on all major Del Webb Construction Company work. At this time, these facilities were not completed: mess hall, new theatre, library, post exchange, bowling alley, officers club, officers mess, numerous athletic field installations, physiotherapy indoor swimming pool and adjacent buildings. During the winter, patients needing remedial work were bused once weekly to the swimming pool at Warner Hot Springs. Neither was the auxiliary power line from the hospital's new auxiliary power plant to Lake Morena completed. The hospital's power plant supplied emergency power to 100 square miles of surrounding countryside when fire damaged the civilian rural electrification system. Several projects were completed by post engineers. During 1945 (exact date unknown), 36 members of the Woman’s Army Corps were assigned to Mitchell Convalescent Hospital. In addition to the WACs, Army nurses, officers and enlisted men, the hospital also utilized civilian personnel in its operation. Page 10 of 10 The American National Red Cross also had a branch at the hospital. Mitchell Convalescent Hospital also provided emergency medical, dental and veterinary service to civilians. For the station complement and patient personnel there was a wide range of after-duty recreational activities available to them at the hospital. The range of these activities included a service club, Mitchell Playhouse, company dayrooms, two War Department theatres, USO shows, other live entertainment, tours, dances, post library, plus recreational and athletic activities and facilities used in the hospital's reconditioning program. During the summer months, movies and shows were put on outside at Merritt Bowl. During the winter months, movies were shown in both East Garrison and main post theatres and shows were put on in the Mitchell Playhouse. There was also the hospital's ACORN newspaper for them to read. >>>February 99 Dates of Note<<< 1 Ops. Meeting 16 School Days 6 Tecate 20 Tecate 13 Tecate 22 Trainman class 13 Dinner Train 27 Tecate >>>Article Submissions<<< Please submit articles in pure text (.txt) or MS Word (.doc) format. Please don't send typewritten pages, since retyping may be required. E-mail to hotscoop@train.sdrm.org is preferred, but floppy disks are OK. >>>PHONE NUMBERS and e-mail<<< SDRM ADMINISTRATION @train.sdrm.org Museum Phone (La Mesa Depot)...........697-7762 Business Office, Pat Blackmore.........595-3030 office Business Office Fax....................595-3034 HotScoop Editor, Randy Houk............672-0111 hotscoop La Mesa Depot..........................465-8444 Campo Depot............................478-9937 Campo Car Shop.........................478-9451 Campo Caretaker, Thomas Lee Braginton..478-9344 DEPARTMENT HEADS @train.sdrm.org Facilities, Thomas Lee Braginton............478-9344 Director of Museum Services, Rich Borstadt..294-9321 borstadt Research, Bruce Semelsberger................264-7282 Director Railroad Ops, Denby Jones..........279-2419 jones Deputy Railroad Ops, Lew Wolfgang.........H-662-1963 wolfgang Chief Trainman, Mike Retz...................466-8808 retz Safety Officer, Lew Wolfgang..............H-662-1963 wolfgang Library, Roy Pickering……....................462-3392 pickering Operations, Ross Bryan......................478-9451 Operations Assistant, Jack O’Lexey..........274-4449 olexey Restoration, Ted Kornweibel.................461-0098 kornweibel Steam, Bob Miles............................280-8529 bob Training, Jim Baker.........................670-7441 baker RoadMaster, Allan Dillane...................582-4264 dillane The HOT SCOOP is published by the San Diego Railroad Museum. Please send address changes to: San Diego Railroad Museum C/0 Santa Fe Depot 1050 Kettner Blvd. San Diego, CA 92101

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Pacific Southwest Railway Museum

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