Microsoft Word - 99sep.doc Page 1 of 4 HotScoop Shovel Logo by Larry Rose A publication dedicated to San Diego Railroad Museum volunteers September 1999 MUSEUM NEWS VOL XI NO IX >>>Richard Dick Update<<< Gordon Buck I spoke with Richard Dick a couple of times this past week. First time was several days ago when I spotted him out by his camper and shot over there. He said he was going to start and run the engine a bit; beginning to get it in shape to sell. He said his doctor had proposed a radiation program that might extend his time, but he didn't seem to think there was much point to that. "I've got a bad bladder, too." I wondered aloud about why that mattered now, since my understanding was he'd had that since the '53 accident that had severed his urethra. He mentioned the biblical passage about there being a season to every thing. The implication seemed to be that his season had run its course. He was ready. It's all very hard to accept. He looked fine, sounded fine, although he would occasionally grope for a word. Even the head wound where they took the biopsy is pretty well healed. Thursday Priscilla stopped her car by us as Monica & I were returning from Carl's Jr (Monica helps me get utilitarian things done twice a week). "Leonard's here" she said. I'd met Leonard Salisbury a few months ago, when Richard brought him over to pick up a copy I'd made of the Cal Gold Gorge program. I really wanted to see them together again, so we went right past our house to his. Priscilla helped me up the bumps by a few strategic placements of their welcome mat, and there they were, finishing lunch; Richard, Leonard, and his wife, Fern. We chatted a bit. Leonard described a recent experience that's worth repeating. He had some sort of traffic citation and wound up in traffic school. When it was his turn to describe his infraction, he prefaced it by declaring this was his first ticket in 70 years of driving. This got quite a reaction. "Well, how old ARE you?" "Ninety-two." Another reaction. He seems quite proud of his age. I'd say he had every right. Priscilla mentioned a little while ago that Richard had been visited several weeks ago by Larry Williams, and then Fred Perry. Now's the time, guys and gals. As I say, he's in real good shape. 276-2222. >>>The “Impossible Railroad” on KPBS<<< Bob Miles Quoted from the October issue of KPBS On Air Magazine. "The Impossible Railroad" airs Wednesday October 20, at 8 P.M. There is an article on pages 12/13 telling the history of the SD&A and a little bit about making the film. Also a nice tribute to Mike & Marianne Gerdes for producing the film. One glitch, they refer to SP-2353 as a Coal Burner. Check out this link for a story on the Gerdes family and the making of the film: http://www.kpbs.org Page 2 of 4 >>>Maintenance of Way<<< Allan Dillane ROADMASTER Allan Dillane has completed two years as Roadmaster and has chosen to return to his interrupted efforts to provide the Museum with respectable service cars. His efforts to give the Museum safe tracks took him away from completing his work on the SD&A 350 (yellow hospital car) and the SD&A 6700 Baggage Car. He is looking forward to moving these projects toward completion. MAINTENANCE OF WAY Time, weather, fire, hard use and lack of means to make regular repairs have taken their toll on our mainline. A report that the trestle was moving caused MOW to do a preliminary check, which verified that old age has set in. The trestle has moved and creaked, like all trestles do, for years. Rich Warner, Tom Walker, Fred Carnathan, Ken Hansen and Dick Hobson have done a great job of strengthening the west abutment. Earlier we replaced ties and reballasted both abutment approaches. This has tightened up much of the movement. The fill to the west of the trestle over the years has settled. Although this is not a direct problem in relation to the trestle it does justify a slow order for all trains. An engine increasing power east bound tends to surge out onto the trestle in away that adds increased stress. Reducing speed will extend the life of the trestle. The recent Campo fire did more good than bad. Weed control in the area is now the best it’s been in years. Fire equipment damaged the shoulders of the fill and at three places we have added ballast to improve these spots. When time permits MOW will replace three burnt ties more for cosmetic reasons than immediate need. Steve Kostelak, Rich Warner, Jim Lundquist and Dwight Koller replaced 7 ties near the west mainline D-rail in the Campo Yard to improve the track gauge. We continue to replace ties in the lower section of Sport Curve and to date have 12 in place. We hope to get another 10 to 12 before we finish. A heavy thunderstorm in July increased our right-of-way erosion problems. The continuing degrading of the ballast is now affecting the ties. As we replace ties we are finding date nails from the 40's are common. We have found a 27, 28 and several from the 30's. Normal life of a tie is 40 years but when disturbed as is happening in the Clover Flats area these old ties tend to fall apart. Our Tuesday tie parties tend to have a limited attendance and 4 ties a week just isn't getting the job done. Without a safe, operable heavy-duty forklift, frontloader, side/center dump ballast car and a full time Museum owned backhoe with trailer and dump truck the future is dark. >>>From the Training Officer<<< Jim Baker As of Sept. 8, we already have 10 people signed up for the Trainman's class at Cuyamaca College. Look for these new people at Campo on Oct. 2 for their "hands-on training." There is still room for more, so if you haven't taken it, or want a refresher, sign up now. Cuyamaca dates are Sept 21 & 28. We also have 7 signed up for the Brakeman's Class on Oct. 6, Nov. 3, 6, & 13. That means we have room for only one more person. Sign up now if you want this class! The classroom portion of this class also applies to speeder operators. STEAM CREW - REMINDER! Only a few of you have taken the 1999 Steam Test. Remember, you need to take this before you can crew again. See Jim Baker or Jack O'Lexey. For further information on any of the above, contact Jim Baker, Training Officer at 619-670-7441 or baker@train.sdrm.org. Page 3 of 4 >>>Air Brake Repair Update<<< Ken Kahan More progress: 8-01-99 to 9-10-99 Did a lot of work in air brake room today. Room is pretty clean, now has room for air brake test stand and finished valves vs. junk or to-be-built valves are on separate racks. I have lighting ready to be installed as soon as I can find a tall stepladder (8') and a large vise installed. I attempted to find the problem with the sanders on 7285 or whatever its called but after disassembly found no problems in the valves. I believe it’s in the switch or relay but haven't been able to find the relay yet. 1809 has its brakes complete again and needs a little more work on the auto and then I'll start on the next diesel. I looked at the RPO car and found the brakes to be UC valves, which are no problem to rebuild. I have all the parts in stock. There are also two sets rebuilt and ready in the brake room. The car is missing nearly all its brake shoes so someone needs to install those. 2353: to date I've serviced the compressor, compressor governor, whole train filter and purge valve, lubricators, and replaced the automatic with a current rebuilt one. Will go through the one taken off before we run. Still have a few more items to tend to before the 9th but it will get done. PS I was going to get the test stand in the brake room but found we have no operating fork lift and the stand weighs ?400-500#? don't know but we aren’t going to pick it up so I'll wait for a solution. More progress as of Sept. 18th: I want to let everybody know that Allan D., Fred C. and Tom W. helped me make big headway last week when they moved the brake test rack into the brake room and then installed the lights and vises that I got for the room. Allan, I finished hooking up the lights and bolting down the vises (thank you for the small vise, it’s perfect) on Friday and we have begun using the room. Next project is to install an overhead air source and a tee line for the test stand. I've begun restoration on the AB test rack this weekend-thanks Dave S. for acquiring it. On the ventilation idea, either a roof turbine ventilator or a quiet variable wall exhaust fan is all I need. A window would be too hot on the south side of the building. >>>B*Witched Music Video update<<< Randy Houk The two days of hard work put in by SDRM crewmembers and SP #2353 back in July can now be seen in a computer version of the video. In addition to on-site photos and mp3 audio file interviews of the girls, a 5.7 Mbyte ‘Realvideo’ of the 3 ½ minute music video can be downloaded and played. I think it’s quite good. The only one of us who had his mug captured appears to be Ken Kahan as he climbed down 2353’s ladder. There are several scenes of Jack O’Lexey with his red flag and Jim Baker carrying around various things including an oil can. Denby can be seen waving from 2353’s cab as the train arrives at the depot. The music is quite repetitious, and the scenes are very typical for contemporary videos; rarely more than 1 or 2 seconds per scene. However, there is absolutely NO DOUBT which steam engine is starring in this production. SP #2353 looks gorgeous! The web site is http://www.b-witched.net/jho.htm >>>Customer Satisfaction<<< Lew Wolfgang This came in via the web site We were aboard the Tecate run on Saturday, Aug. 21, 1999. As you know, while we were in Tecate, a large fire broke out in Campo and the train was unable to return to the border. We were very impressed with the speed and efficiency of the volunteer team. Page 4 of 4 They were able to come up and implement a "plan B" with minimal inconvenience to the passengers. And the air-conditioned bus was a plus! Although this wasn't quite the trip we had anticipated, we certainly did get our money's worth from the adventure standpoint! Again, a job well done! Sincerely, K. Durante and D. Kessel >>>October 99 Dates of Note<<< 2 Campo Trainman class 4 Operations meeting 6 Brakeman class at Cuyamaca College 9/10 Steam 9 Dinner Train 19 School Days 23 Dinner Train 27 Museum Services meeting 30/31 Steam >>>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, 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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Pacific Southwest Railway Museum

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