Microsoft Word - 99oct.doc Page 1 of 4 HotScoop Shovel Logo by Larry Rose A publication dedicated to San Diego Railroad Museum volunteers October 1999 MUSEUM NEWS VOL XI NO X >>>Campo News<<< Randy Houk First all-museum crew to Hipass! On Sunday October 10th the SDRM ran its first passenger train to Hipass with an all- museum crew. Gary Sweetwood chartered the train for his father’s birthday party. More than 30 passengers enjoyed the scenery, especially the wonderful vistas seen from the “High Bridge”, which soars 180 ft. above Hwy. 94. The Hipass siding is quite long at 1967 ft., and was the site of a wye, whose roadbed is still clearly visible. Conductor: Mike Edwards Engineer: Randy Houk Brakemen: Ansara Gilbert and trainee Darren Apedaile Trainmen: Alma Gilbert, Rod Gilbert and Jim Friedlan Jacumba Special scheduled for November Sunday November 28th has been set aside for a special excursion to Jacumba. All fares include mid-day meal in Jacumba, special train-arrival festivities, and a chance to explore the ruins of the hot springs spa that was a prime reason the town was established in the same year the SD&A Railway was completed. First Class on the AT&SF No. 1509 or Robert Peary: $75 Coach Class on SD&A chair cars: $55 ($20 per child 6-12 or occupying a seat) A very limited number of Santa Maria Valley Railbus seats will be available for $20 extra for a trip from Jacumba to blocked Tunnel #8 through the upper Carriso Gorge. HotScoop mailing list Starting with this issue, only those active members without email will receive a copy from the mailman. It is very expensive to copy and apply postage, so we’ll do our part to save the office some money! The HotScoop will also be available on the Museum's Internet web site on the same day the Editor releases the issue. Since the HotScoop contains information not suited for the general public, a username and password will be required for access. Just point your web browser at http://www.sdrm.org/members/. When prompted, enter "volunteer" as the username and "2353" as the password. The current, and past, callboards are also available at the same place. >>>Impossible Railroad Film<<< Bob Miles The documentary film “The Impossible Railroad”, will be aired on KPBS Wednesday Oct. 20th at 8:00 P.M. Much of the film was created at the museum's Campo facility and features SP-2353 and many museum volunteers. The film documents the creation of the San Diego and Arizona Railway. It was written and produced by museum trustee Marianne Gerdes and filmed by her husband Mike. Page 2 of 4 Several museum members had the privilege to attend the film's premier on Oct. 13th. It is an excellent film and well worth taking the hour out of your evening to view and learn about the railway we feature at the museum. Copies of the film will be available for purchase at both Campo and the downtown offices. The price per copy has not been established as of this writing. KPBS hopes to have the film available for purchase some time in November. We urge you to purchase your copy from the museum rather than directly from KPBS. That will help put some proceeds into our coffers. >>>Peary Pride Update<<< Sue Ann Taggart WOW! What great teams we have! The proof is in what was accomplished on Peary Pride Days I and II. On the first day, Saturday, August 28, the entire car was washed and the west side got a much needed waxing. Much of the observation platform was washed and waxed too. This was accomplished by Dave Johnson, Al Pearson, Robin Becker, Ted Kornweibel and Ann McVeagh, plus yours truly. Betty Conklin did great things inside the lounge area. She refinished the chair legs with wood stain, now they look as good as new. She also got the beaded light covers sparkling clean and did other cleaning in that area. Made a big difference! Due to the extreme heat that day, the car heated up too much to be worked on in the afternoon, although the team tried until around 2:30 or 3:00. The crew heated up too much, too, so things were put away and it was decided to continue on September 11. An e-mail message went out to those who have it, and some phone calls were made to individuals who weren’t able to participate in the first clean up day. The second Peary Pride Day was much cooler, and the car was placed inside the car barn, making the temperature of the metal much better for the task. Dianne Roberson was the first to arrive, soon joined by Rod and Alma Gilbert and Jim Friedlan. Bob Miles and Terri Gregory joined the crew late in the morning and stayed all afternoon, after some morning crew had to leave. The number of people working at any one time was about the same all day. The paint on the east side of the car was in much worse shape than that on the west, so the entire east side received a rubbing compound treatment and buffing, followed by a waxing. Apparently the car hasn’t been washed and waxed since it was painted about six years ago. As the day was drawing to a close, Jim, working from the north, and Sue Ann, working from the south, joined buffing towels in the top center to the cheers of all. We should have used golden buffing towels to commemorate the event! The inside of the car did not get all the attention it needed; there just wasn’t time or crew enough to do more. I plan to come out on some Saturdays or Sundays when I’m not crewing to work on some of the inside things. Would love to have company! Besides the “elbow grease crew,” I owe a BIG THANK YOU to our Operations staff – Jack O’Lexey, Mike Edwards and Randy Houk. These guys spent hours getting the car moved and spotted near water and electricity. Later they spotted it inside the car barn, brought scaffolding, moved in the shop vac for us to use, fetched ladders, erected a canopy to put things under, loaned us a big cooler to mix lemonade in, found extension cords to use, set up fans to circulate air, and countless other tasks that made what we did possible. Without their support, Peary Pride Days I and II would not have been possible. Just goes to show you what can happen when everybody pulls together as a team. It was great getting to visit with so many people, learning about the car, the museum, things we used to do and don’t any more (but maybe ought to look at again, like the Jacumba trip?!) and just finding out more about our many interesting museum members. The Robert Peary looks so much better now, but the 1509.(that’s another chapter to be written in the not-too-distant future). Thank you again to all who participated. Page 3 of 4 >>>La Mesa Octoberfest<<< Roy Pickering Another successful Octoberfest at La Mesa Depot was held October 2 and 3. Thanks to the following folks over $600 was raised for the museum library. Roy Pickering, Bruce Semelsberger, Laura and Kevin Emery, DaleMarie and Bill Parker, Mike Richards, Bob Underhill, Jim Polloreno, Amy Fitzgibbons, Carol Thomas and June Gibson. Special thanks to Laura and DaleMarie for once again baking cookies and cupcakes for a whole week for the sale. Also thanks to Roy Pickering, Rose Mary Pickering, Barbara Bailey and Julie Patterson for making and donating many great craft items. >>>Shirts and Hats<<< Jack O’Lexey The Following people have earned shirts, (H)=Plus a hat Jim Baker (H) Robin Becker (H) Al Brill Roger Challberg Duane Dubke Carol Dyreng Mike Edwards (H) Dave Finny Jim Friedlan Adam Gaeth Corrine Gallagher Don Getz (H) Randy Gibson (H) Ansara Gilbert (this month) Randy Houk (H) Chop Kerr Tony Neece (This month) Bob Nickles Steve November (H)-Last month Jack O'Lexey (H) Al Pearson Dick Pennick Greg Perrin Mike Reneau (H) Bob Schussler Sandy Schussler Sue Ann Taggart Larry Williams (H) Lew Wolfgang (H) We have 10 people that need one more month working 2 times to get a shirt. We have one person who will work this month and qualify by working once a month for 8 consecutive months. We have 3 people needing to work one more month three times to get a hat. Posted in the Operations office on the back bulletin board is a list of our Volunteers and the months they worked. If my records don't agree with what you think you have worked, I am not perfect, let’s look at the records for that month. >>>RailTex acquired by RailAmerica<<< from RailAmericas’s web page Boca Raton, FL and San Antonio, TX - October 14, 1999 --RailAmerica, Inc. (NASDAQ: RAIL) and RailTex, Inc. (NASDAQ: RTEX) today announced that RailAmerica will acquire RailTex, creating the world's largest short line/regional freight railroad operator, with expected first year revenues of approximately $450 million. Upon completion of the acquisition, RailAmerica will own or have equity interests in 51 railroads operating over 12,500 total track miles in key regions of the United States, Canada, Chile, Mexico and Australia. Under terms of the definitive acquisition agreement, unanimously approved by the Boards of both companies, RailAmerica will acquire all of the outstanding stock of RailTex. The transaction is valued at approximately $325 million, including the assumption of RailTex's outstanding long term debt. RailTex's shareholders will receive $13.50 in cash and two-thirds of a share of RailAmerica stock in exchange for each share of RailTex stock. "The combination of RailAmerica and RailTex is extremely compelling on a number of fronts," said Gary O. Marino, RailAmerica's Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, who will continue in those same roles. "This acquisition will result in significant cost efficiencies and earnings accretion. It also brings strong complementary management talent to RailAmerica and establishes a solid platform for us to become the world's premier, cost-efficient and customer-focused operator of short line and regional railroads." Page 4 of 4 >>>November 99 Dates of Note<<< 1 Operations meeting 3 Brakeman class at La Mesa Depot 6 Brakeman class at Campo 6 Dinner Train 13 Brakeman class at Campo 13/14 Steam 16 School Train 20 Dinner Train 24 Museum Services meeting 28 Jacumba Special >>>Article Submissions<<< Please submit articles in pure text (.txt) or MS Word (.doc) format. E-mail to hotscoop@sdrm.org is preferred, but floppy disks are OK. >>>PHONE NUMBERS and e-mail<<< SDRM ADMINISTRATION @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 @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 gilberta Library, Roy Pickering......................462-3392 pickering Operations, Jack O’Lexey....................274-4449 olexey Restoration, Ted Kornweibel.................461-0098 kornweibel Steam, Bob Miles............................280-8529 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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