Microsoft Word - 99jul.doc Page 1 of 6 HotScoop Shovel Logo by Larry Rose A publication dedicated to San Diego Railroad Museum volunteers July 1999 MUSEUM NEWS VOL XI NO VII >>>Patricia Blackmore Update<<< Terri Gregory Many museum members and friends have been asking how Pat is progressing. I saw Pat on Saturday morning, July 17. She has Great Spirit and a strong desire to be out of the center and back to her life as before. She is focusing on her physical therapy currently and making progress every day. The program is too slow for Pat so she is also working on her patience. I know that she would like me to thank everyone for his or her prayers, concerns and good wishes. She is still limiting her visitors, but I know that she would love to receive cards and notes of support from all of us. Pat still has some confusion, frustration, tears and anger, so please call her and talk with her prior to trying to visit. Pat is currently at the San Diego Rehabilitation Center, 6645 Alvarado Road, San Diego, CA 92115. The number is 286-7374. (Ed. Note: Pat is recovering from a cerebral hemorrhage). >>>Director of Campo Operations<<< Denby Jones Recent promotions at the Certification Board meeting 7-13-99 Congratulations to: Darren Apedaile: speeder operator. Mike Edwards: conductor. 3873 Update Chris Ward and Dwight Koller have been working on the 3873. The old generator has been removed, new one has been installed and dialed in. They will be working on the blowers, the aux. generator and the carbody this week. We will then need to check out the electrical again and we should be back in service. Thanks to all who have lent their support to this project. Especially to Chris Ward who has spearheaded it. It has been a long time a getting there, but it looks like the end might be in sight. Thanks again! >>>Operations<<< Jack O’Lexey The Following people are qualified to operate the fuel truck. Darren Apedaile Jack O'Lexey Randy Houk Mike Reneau Darren and I will try to keep everything topped off. We have a 200 gallon tank with electric pump attached near the fuel truck. If you have a need for fuel contact the list in the order listed above. Not that Mike can't help you he is busy working on rewiring our SD&A cars and shouldn't be taken away from his work unless no one else is available or we have fallen down on our duties fueling. I have given shirts to 3 well deserving people. Page 2 of 6 Mike Retz Steve November Don Getz (Don also received a hat). Anyone wishing to question their days worked from Jan 1, 1999 please contact me at Campo or E-mail I will listen or show you the sign in sheets. >>>From the Training Officer<<< Jim Baker The fall Trainman's class will be held on two Tuesday evenings, Sept 21 & 28, from 6:30 to 9:00 PM at Cuyamaca College. The third class meeting will be held Saturday Oct. 2, all day at Campo. The Brakeman's class will follow soon after the Trainman's class in mid-October to early November. We will need to meet for either 3 all-day sessions at Campo or two evening sessions in town and two all-day sessions at Campo. Anyone who is interested in taking the class, please let me know what dates you prefer, and I'll see what we can work out. >>>A Job Well Done<<< Robin Becker Much of the work done at Campo is hard and thankless. The endless hours put in by some of our people are amazing. Many names could be mentioned, but I thought one job done recently by Mike Reneau typifies this dedication and was worthy of public mention. I've been wanting to get the outside brake wheel on 350 back into service ever since I discovered that it was ineffective. Last Sunday I got Mike to take a look at it. He blue flagged the train, climbed under the car and worked his way through the mechanism starting at the brake wheel until he was all the way back to the brake beam itself. There Mike found that a short chain linking the hand brake system to the brake beam was disconnected. Now it is very difficult just to reach the pin that secures that short chain, and to make things even harder the pin is held in place by a cotter key. Somehow Mike was able to persevere and after maybe half an hour of steady work he had the cotter key and the pin removed. Some discussion about the appropriate way to rejoin the chain followed, then Mike disappeared. A short time later he was back with a hasp. Again working at full arms length, Mike reinstalled the pin and then installed the hasp. The brake wheel on 350 now works great. Not just a couple hour’s work, but another of an endless series of such jobs performed by Mike. I know he doesn't hear this enough, so I wanted to take this opportunity to say "Thanks Mike, for all your efforts." >>>Private Car News<<< Sue Ann Taggart During the month of April, I was honored to be asked to take charge of Private Car Service, replacing Mary Ann Thompson. Jim Friedlan offered to give advice any time I needed, which gave me the courage to agree to take on this important assignment. I owe Mary Ann a lot of gratitude for her vision, standards of excellence, and attention to the Pullman Standard. Our private car service is remarkably good, and continues to improve by leaps and bounds. We are fortunate indeed to have excellent people dedicated to this part of museum activity. I sincerely hope I will be able to carry on the running of our charters and dinner trains in the quality manner to which we and our many guests have grown accustomed. I have several visions for the private cars, not the least of which is that they receive better care. I would like to see the cars stored inside to keep both interior and exteriors in better condition. Ultimately I would like to see the Peary completely restored to its original glory, including exterior, decor, furnishings, heat, cooling, all electrical systems, gauges, water, everything. If you have a couple of million dollars lying around, please call! Page 3 of 6 The first activity I am planning is what I’m calling Peary Pride Day. Mark your calendar for Saturday, August 28, 1999. Come in the morning, afternoon, or stay all day. This will be a day to wash and wax the exterior of the Peary. We’ll tackle the west side in the morning before it gets sunny and hot, and the east side in late afternoon, after the sun has moved west. The metal has to be cool with no sun on it to get good results. There are also inside tasks that need to be done. Each suite, the lounge, dining room, and the kitchen area all need special detailing. I’ll have supplies there, except elbow grease. If you have a tall ladder, we could sure use it. Anyone who would like to participate is invited! I’m working on making refreshments available. (P.S.: At present, all the dinner trains for September and October are completely booked. We can expect November to fill up, too. Wouldn’t it be an honor to the museum to have the Pullmans looking their best!) If you have any questions, call me at (858) 672-2318. >>>Internet newsgroup posting<<< Here is what I thought an interesting point of view from Smitty, a UP engineer. Subject: Re: What scanner to buy From: Douglas Smith Date: 1999/07/08 Newsgroups: misc.transport.rail.americas hawthorn9897@my-deja.com wrote: > I don't understand you hostility. We both work for the same company and > have probably watched railfans comit the same crimes, they are the same > all over the system. Get the scanners out of their hands and we will be > ending a possible source of temptation that could turn an average > railjerk into a criminal. Explain to me all this talk of long range > reception. What's the point of this if if you aren't keeping a lookout > for the POs? And Smitty replies: Tell me, what kind of car do you drive? Perhaps we'd better get it out of your hands so you won't be tempted to speed or run a red light. Perhaps we should take your computer away so you won't be tempted to search for child pornography or the instructions on how to make a bomb. Things such as these are on the internet, you know. Should we be there to slap you upside your head everytime you look at a good looking woman? Or better yet, let's make them all wear heavy robes so you won't be tempted by their beauty. As more stable and sane people have tried to explain to you, their interest lies simply in the pursuit of a hobby. Some of us have turned it into a vocation. It gets into your blood and never really lets go. I can't help it if you don't like the fact, but consider this: the company I (and you, allegedly) work for rosters two operable (well, mostly) steam locomotives, one of which has been rostered since 1944. Ask yourself why do they do this? The biggest reason is that the public enjoys it and it gives the UP a positive image. They run excursions with these engines which are mostly patronized by the railfan population, many of which carry scanners, BTW. The management, the Special Agents, hell, even STEVE LEE, all see them. Do you think they get upset? No, they don't and neither should you. Another case in point: in Rochelle, Illinois, right on the diamond of the UP (ex-C&NW) and the BNSF (ex-CB&Q), they built a park just for railfans, complete with an operating radio scanner!!! Jiminy Cricket, man, don't you think the two companies gave their blessings to this effort? Page 4 of 6 I wish I could tell you a few tales about monitoring radio transmissions, but when I retired from the Army, I signed a non-disclosure agreement stating that I wouldn't do so, an "If I told ya, I'd have to kill ya." type of thing. What these fans have at their disposal is nothing and what you have to say over the radio is of such infinitessimal worth that I truly cannot understand why you get so wrapped around the axle about it. What our respective world governments and other powerful factions have at their disposal would make you take your paranoid ass right back under that rock you came from. Personally, I've got my doubts as to your being a rail, but for these purposes I'll give you the benefit of that doubt. Besides, the Combats seem to have you pegged and, strange as it may seem, I'll trust their judgement. Like other railfans, they're just out to have fun. They don't have any latent desire to break into containers to steal CD players and TV sets, or cases of tube socks, or beer, or any of dozens of other types of freight carried by our company. The ones that DO carry out these nefarious acts rely on other tried and true methods of intelligence besides SIGINT. Probably from experience, they know which cars and containers to look for and have a highly organized system to loot them. I'm sure more than once they've broken into a car looking for high-value electronics, only to be confronted with cases of toilet paper. Giving you the benefit of the doubt, when you make a radio transmission, do you ever discuss exactly what type of freight you're hauling, which container or car you're carrying it in, and its exact value? This is the type of information that would be valuable to a thief if he were listening in. But you don't divulge that, do you? If you do, then you're the one who should be reported to the "PO"s, as you call them. The special agents know the profile and modus operandi of the individuals they're trying to apprehend and 99.9999% of all railfans just don't fit into this category, not even when you try to pound them into it with a sledgehammer. They just want to know when the next train is coming so they can take pictures of it. A scanner is just another tool in that pursuit. Hell, I own a scanner, even (it's out of service, tho'). Does this mean that I, too, am plotting some kind of chicanery? I'd better go handcuff myself to the bedpost! Wonder if the ol' lady would go for that? Probably not............ Restraightening the unset record. Smitty/UP Engineer Chicago/Twin Cities Service Units P.S. - Get a hobby, go fishing, fly a kite, see a therapist, learn to play an instrument, but whatever you do, lighten up a little. The world is too full of paranoid idiots going over the brink. One of them just took out Ricky Birdsong and a nice Korean lady here. Maybe if he'd taken my advice....... Page 5 of 6 >>>August 99 Dates of Note<<< NOTE: Tecate trains run every Saturday. 2 Operations meeting 17 School Days 25 Museum Services meeting >>>Article Submissions<<< Please submit articles in pure text (.txt) or MS Word (.doc) format. 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 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 Crew Caller, Mike Retz ....................466-8808 retz 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 Web page: http://www.sdrm.org The HOT SCOOP is published by the San Diego Railroad Museum. Please send address changes to: San Diego Railroad Museum C/O Santa Fe Depot 1050 Kettner Blvd. San Diego, CA 92101��

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