Microsoft Word - 99aug.doc Page 1 of 5 HotScoop Shovel Logo by Larry Rose A publication dedicated to San Diego Railroad Museum volunteers August 1999 MUSEUM NEWS VOL XI NO VIII >>>Richard Dick Update<<< Jim Baker Richard Dick, a mainstay of the Steam Team and the restoration of SP 2353 is seriously ill. He was diagnosed in early August with an inoperable brain tumor. For those of you who may not know him, Richard has been a steam fireman on the old SD&AE, starting in 1943 until the early 1950's. He was away from railroading until 1990 or 91, when he became co-leader of the steam team with Larry Williams for the restoration of 2353. Had it not been for the HUGE amount of time put in on the project by Richard, Larry, and a few others, 2353 would still not be in operating condition. Richard also has made some very significant financial contributions to the project, and is our senior steam fireman instructor. The entire Museum owes him a great debt of gratitude. Richard is at home at this writing, but neither he nor his family is up to having many visitors. He and his family would appreciate cards and letters. His address is 2552 Deerpark Dr., San Diego, 92110. Please keep him and his family in your prayers. >>>Director of Campo Railroad Operations<<< Denby Jones Effective immediately Dwight Koller has been appointed Diesel Mechanical Foreman by Mechanical Superintendent Gary Sweetwood, and confirmed by the Director of Campo Railroad Operations, Denby Jones. Congratulations Dwight, and thanks for all of your hard work! >>>SDMRM Grant Affects Our Library<<< Mike Retz This article was in the 21 July 99 edition of the Mountain Views: San Diego Model Railroad Museum Grant Executive Director John Rotsart today announced that the SD Model Railroad Museum will be the recipient of a grant totaling $250,000 from the California Arts Council, constituting the largest single grant awarded to the Museum in its 19-year history. This grant will be used for a collaboration between the SD Model Railroad Museum and the Pacific Southwest Railroad Museum Association (San Diego Railroad Museum) to develop an extensive library facility and to establish a comprehensive research and educational program pertaining to railroading. According to Rotsart, a comprehensive library on railroads is long overdue. "This is the first time the two RR museums have formed a partnership. We're enthusiastic about pooling resources to serve the community. A significant portion of the grant will be used toward the purchase of movable shelving, computers, scanners, and related library equipment." This library will be available to students and interested individuals for purposes of research, exhibitions, publications and discovery of trains and railroad history. The museums aim to intensify the library's role in educational outreach programs. Page 2 of 5 The Museum wishes to acknowledge its gratitude to Assemblywoman Denise Moreno Ducheny, Senator Steve Peace and Governor Gray Davis for their assistance at the legislative level. And a note from Roy Pickering, our Superintendent of Libraries: This idea was John Rotsart's. We will be meeting with him again next week to work on details. Nothing is set in concrete as yet. Space requirements and access to the facilities will be discussed. There is also a request in to the Port District for funds to turn the baggage building we are currently in into a joint facility with the Maritime Museum. To have museum offices, meeting rooms and exhibit areas. So there is some activity taking place. Maybe by the end of the year we will have a place to call home. >>>From the Training Officer<<< Jim Baker UPCOMING CLASSES The Fall Trainman's class will be held the evenings of Sept 21 and 28 at Cuyamaca College, and all day Oct. 2, at Campo. If you are now working on our crew and have not yet taken this class, it is strongly suggested that you do so. And, if you know anyone who is not on our crew, but might be interested, please let them know about this class. We will cover San Diego railroad history with our Library Director of Research, Bruce Semelsberger. And, of course we will cover the basics about trains, and the art of being a Trainman on the SD&A. If you live in the Grossmont-Cuyamaca College District, look for their "Community Learning" catalog due soon at your home from your letter carrier. It has full registration information. Look under the History Dept., for "Workin' on the Railroad..." If you don't live there, contact me for the registration materials. The Fall Brakeman's class will be held the evenings of Oct. 6 and Nov. 3 at La Mesa Depot, and Nov. 6 & 13 all day at Campo. Remember, prior service as a Trainman is no longer necessary for this position, so come on our and get a little exercise! Note: this class is limited to a maximum of 8 students. Five have registered already, so only 3 slots remain. DON'T MISS YOUR CHANCE. SIGN UP NOW! For further information, contact the Training Officer, Jim Baker, at 619-670-7441 or jimbaker@cts.com >>>Ansara Gilbert takes over as Crew Caller<<< Mike Retz Ansara Gilbert will be relieving me as Crew Caller. He and I will be doing the October Callboard and then he'll have the whole thing for November. His phone number (529-3927) is a pager. (Ed. Note: Thanks for the fine work, Mike!) >>>Peary Pride Day<<< Sue Ann Taggart 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. If you have any questions, call me at (858) 672-2318. Page 3 of 5 >>>SDRM Helps Make a Music Video<<< Randy Houk SP #2353 got a chance to star in another production on July 22/23. The Irish group B*Witched sang “Jesse Hold On” and danced their way through the Campo depot area, with many scenes featuring our big steamer as a background. The four girls from Dublin (twins Edele and Keavy Lynch, Sinead O’Carroll and Lindsay Armaou) worked hard for two long days, even though the hot weather was nothing like that in Ireland! The video begins with #2353 pulling a long passenger train into the station with Denby Jones at the throttle and Ken Kahan as fireman. Conductor Jack O’Lexey waves a flag to stop the train and lots of “extras” are on hand as passengers. A small platform was built and placed in front of the baggage car as a location for one of the dance scenes. Jim Baker should be seen here carrying a parcel behind the dancers, and Ken Kahan and Randy Houk might be visible walking back and forth inside #6700 (stopping periodically to admire the party). Another scene shows the 63” drivers as background, along with Conductor Jack O’Lexey carrying a red flag and Jim Baker carrying an oil can. Engineer Larry Williams was creating puffs of steam on demand by turning a valve in the cab. The final scene has the girls standing on the platform of the Robert Peary as it leaves the depot eastbound.Some scenes were shot at night, with #2353 brilliantly illuminated. Each of the girls was filmed individually (cameos) singing her part of the song with the locomotive right behind. Lew Wolfgang and Mike Edwards acted as liaisons with the mostly British production crew and Bob Kredel, from James Clark Railway Co. The song will be on an album to be released late this year, and the video will be the group’s first serious attempt to break into the US market. Even though the final result will be only about 3 minutes, I’m sure looking forward to seeing it! B*Witched have a web site at http://www.b-witched.com/b-witched/intro.shtml >>>Internet newsgroup posting<<< Here is an example of what can happen with careless switch operation. Subject: Oopsie at IRM Date: 1999/08/07 Author: David S It seems they had a little "incident" at Illinois Railway Museum, big enough to shell out cash for the services of Hulcher to clean up and another firm to repair tracks. Apparently, as the 3-car train pulled by BN 1 was leaving for its run, someone hit the button to throw the electric switch for movement onto the trolley loop. This should not have been a problem. However, the circuit that's supposed to keep the switch from throwing while there's a train going through it seems to have failed. The lead truck of the second car followed the first car toward the main, but the rear truck went where it was directed -- toward the loop. This truck ended up to its frame in the ballast between these two tracks. The second axle of the third car also derailed, and these two cars were wedged together pretty well by their couplers. Museum staff did attempt to rerail the cars, but failed. All this started late in the afternoon on Sunday, July 25, and continued well into the evening. Hulcher showed up with a crane (hi-rail truck with a boom, not a sidewinder) on Monday morning and made short work of the mess. The cars were returned to service by the next weekend, but I hear they still need work (one may have been operating for years with its trucks improperly assembled). The company that does all switch work for the museum was called to handle the track repairs (most of the damage was in and adjacent to a switch anyway). Page 4 of 5 The bill from Hulcher is believed to have been less than $20,000. David Streeter opinions expressed are probably not those of Little "Q" Model Railroad Club Aurora, Illinois >>>September 99 Dates of Note<<< 6 Operations meeting 21 School Days and Trainman class at Cuyamaca College 28 Trainman class at Cuyamaca College 29 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, Rich Borstadt.........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 Ansara Gilbert.................529-3927 ansara 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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