Microsoft Word - 99MAR.DOC Page 1 of 4 HotScoop Shovel Logo by Larry Rose A publication dedicated to the volunteers of the San Diego Railroad Museum March 1999 MUSEUM NEWS VOL XI NO III *** 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! Cost is $25 single and $45 couples. >>>Volunteer of the Month<<< The VoM for February is Ross Bryan. We recognize Ross for his outstanding contributions to our locomotive maintenance program at Campo, as well as his stepping up to be interim Superintendent of Operations. He’ll soon be back in Kansas for the spring and summer, and we sure do look forward to seeing him back here next fall! >>>From the Training Officer<<< Jim Baker We just completed our annual Rule Review and Testing program. Over 30 train crewmembers have completed the required 2-hour class and the written test, which ranged from 47 to 136 questions, depending on the positions certified. Congratulations to the following people who scored 95%, or better, on their tests: Allen Andrews, Jim Baker, Robin Becker, Al Brill, Don Getz, Randy Gibson, Tom Gray, Dick Hobson, Randy Houk, Denby Jones, Ken Kahan, Chop Kerr, Jim Lundquist, Bob Nickles, Dick Pennick, Don Pope, Dianne Roberson, Dick Ruppert, Karla von Huben, and Larry Williams. For those few people who have not taken the test, the test must be completed before you run again. >>>Maintenance of Way<<< Allan Dillane The easy part of finishing the lower yard is just beginning. It just takes time. We need everyone to drop by and drive some spikes. We need to finish spiking down the switches and then we will take #11 as far west as we can. Tracks #12, 13, and 14 (Museum main) will follow as soon as we have cleared the junk out of the lower yard. See Steve Kostelak or Rich Warner. Caution, one spike at a time is fine, three are great and six are outstanding. Have fun and be part of something important, but you are not out there to kill yourselves! Gandy dancers who drive spikes all day develop eye-hand coordination together with a rhythm that allows them to work while only just raising a sweat. No one on the mountain will ever approach this skill. Just hit the damn thing! The therapy is great. If something is bothering you, just think of it as centered in the head of a spike and pound away at it! We have less than 3,000 spikes to go. Let’s get them in before it gets too hot! >>>E Clampus Vitus<<< Mike Retz On Saturday, April 24th at noon, E Clampus Vitus will be dedicating a new monument to Charles Hatfield at the site of his rain-making near the Ranger station at Lake Morena. They are the same people that put up the monument in front of the Campo Depot. They've extended an invitation to all our members, so come on out. Page 2 of 4 >>> Hatfield - The Rainmaker <<< Mike Retz I was sitting in the doctor's waiting room the other day, reading a National Geographic article about the Trans-Siberian Railway in Russia, when another patient sat down next to me and started talking about trains in general and the SD&A in particular. His first question was about reopening the line. His second was, "Have you ever heard about the flood Charles Hatfield caused around 1916?" Funny how many people in San Diego have heard of Hatfield. You've probably heard the story when you were going through Trainman class. But for those of you who didn't or maybe forgot, here's what I dug up from several sources at my local library. (Yes, they're still open even though they didn't get the vote!) For four years prior to 1915, rainfall in San Diego and the surrounding area was below normal. You must remember, this was before water was imported from either the Colorado River or northern California. All San Diego had was its reservoirs, and they were getting critically low. The San Diego Common Council had several requests from influential citizens to hire Charles Hatfield, who they said was successful in producing rain from Los Angeles to the central valley of California, as well as in Oregon and the wheat growing areas of Canada. In December 1915, Hatfield sent a letter to the Council, offering to fill Morena Reservoir by December 20, 1916 for the sum of $10,000. If the reservoir was not filled, the city owed him nothing. Charles Hatfield was no stranger to San Diego. The Hatfield family, Quakers from the Midwest, first settled in Los Angeles and then moved to a canyon between Vista and Bonsall in 1894. The boys, Charles and younger brother Paul, became interested in meteorology when several years of drought hit the southern California area. In 1902, they experimented with a combination of chemicals to produce rain. By this time, Charles was earning a living as a sewing machine salesman. In 1904, his experiments attracted the attention of the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce and the city offered him $1,000 to produce rain. In the next four months, Los Angeles received over 18 inches of rain and Hatfield's career as a rainmaker was launched. So it was that in late 1915, the San Diego Council voted 4 to 1 to accept Hatfield's offer. The City Attorney was instructed to draw up a contract. The Hatfield brothers, eager to start at Morena Reservoir, didn't bother to sign the contract. They built a tower about a quarter mile from the dam and waited for the right weather conditions. Rain began to fall on January 14, 1916. In the next four days, over 12 inches was recorded at Morena. The ground was saturated. After a week's lull, a heavy rain again started on the 24th. On January 27, Otay Reservoir dam gave way and sent a wall of water through the valley below. In two hours, 13 billion gallons of water made its way to San Diego Bay, taking out everything in its path. This included the new SD&A Railway bridge and 3,000 feet of embankment. A little to the north, part of the Sweetwater Reservoir dam was also washed away, causing tremendous damage in the Sweetwater Valley. Still further to the north, the raging San Diego River tore out the railroad between Foster (present site of the San Vincente dam) and Lakeside. This track was never replaced. Since Morena Reservoir was filled to overflowing, Hatfield put in his claim to be paid. The Council ignored him since they had more important things to do - rebuild a city. When he filed suit six months later, the city agreed to pay him under the condition that he assume responsibility for the three and a half million dollars in damages that had been filed against the city. This he chose not to do and eventually left San Diego to continue his rainmaking in other parts of California. In 1957, Charles Hatfield sat in the audience at the premier of the film, "The Rainmaker," starring Katherine Hepburn and Burt Lancaster. He died the following year. Page 3 of 4 >>>Importance of Trainmen<<< Tony Neece In the February Hot Scoop, Alma Gilbert stated: << Trainmen may be at the bottom of the ladder, but they are important to the guests of the museum as they are the ones the guests are in contact with the most. >> I think Trainmen are at the TOP of the ladder, because they are the ones with the most contact with our REVENUE guests. Some of us get wrapped up in our interests in running trains or doing projects that we forget the importance of hospitality. Above all else hospitality is what will keep this organization alive!! Have you been to Sea World or Disneyland and been treated as if you were in the way? If so, how mad did it make you? I know wherefore I speak because I have been really annoyed to have to halt work a couple of times on a day when I was trying very hard to complete an important project, to let a tour group pass safely and hear the guide. But there is really no alternative, when it comes to making our guests go home feeling their trip out to Campo is something they will recommend to their friends, neighbors and co-workers. Absent that, there will be no funds to keep the lights on! >>>April 99 Dates of Note<<< NOTE: Tecate trains run every Saturday. 5 Operations meeting 10 Brakeman class 17 Dinner Train 20 School Days 24 Brakeman class 28 Museum Services meeting >>>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 Report Editor, Marna Hartjen......(760)489-1353 report HotScoop Editor, Randy Houk............672-0111 hotscoop Station Master, Terri Gregory..........280-8529 gregory La Mesa Depot..........................465-8444 Campo Depot............................478-9937 Campo Car Shop.........................478-9451 Campo Caretaker, Thomas Lee Braginton..478-9344 Page 4 of 4 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 Crew Caller, Mike Retz ....................466-8808 retz Safety Officer, Lew Wolfgang..............H-662-1963 wolfgang Library, Roy Pickering......................462-3392 pickering Operations, 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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