Microsoft Word - 2000jan.doc Page 1 of 4 HotScoop Shovel Logo by Larry Rose A publication dedicated to San Diego Railroad Museum volunteers January 2000 MUSEUM NEWS VOL XII NO I >>>FROM THE TRAINING OFFICER<<< Jim Baker Rule Review Our annual Rule Review Classes for the Year 2000 will be held on the following schedule: January 11, 19, and 24, from 6:30 to 8:30 PM at the Solar Turbines Learning Center, located at the foot of Hawthorn St., (at Harbor Dr.) San Diego. The entrance to their free parking lot (right turn) is just before (like 20 feet) Harbor Dr. The building entrance is on the Harbor Dr. side, just north of Hawthorn. VERY nice classroom. January 15 and 29, from 9:00 to 11 A.M. in the lounge at the Campo Car Barn. As has been required in the past, all certified crewmembers (everyone except Trainmen) must attend one of these sessions. In addition, a written test is required. Attend one class session, and take the test at another, or arrange with the Training Officer or one of the Operations Staff to take the test at another date. Testing must be completed by the end of February. Fire Speeder Training As most of you are probably aware, CDF is again requiring that a fire speeder follow all of our trains. We are therefore in great need of speeder operators (and speeder crew). The Qualification Board just certified Darren Apedaile as our Speeder Operator Instructor. People who are already qualified as Brakemen, or have recently taken the brakeman's class, need only to contact Darren for "behind the wheel" training as a speeder operator. People who are not qualified as brakemen will need to take a 4-hour class. The date of Jan. 15, from 12 to 4, has been set for this classroom session in the lounge at the Campo Car Barn. After taking the class, arrange with Darren for operational training, and pass the written test. Speeder crewmembers don't require formal training, as far as operating the speeder goes. But, they are needed as ride-alongs to assist the operator in case of fire. Both CDF and BLM fire officials have offered to conduct classes in fire suppression at Campo in the next few months. Dates will be announced later. These should be a valuable addition to that which we received earlier this year form the El Cajon Fire Dept. ALL crew members (speeder and train crew) and anyone else who comes out to Campo are encouraged to take this class. CERTIFICATIONS The Qualification Board recently certified Gary Sweetwood and Mike Reading as speeder operators, and certified Darren Apedaile as a brakeman. Darren was also appointed as a speeder operator instructor. Congratulations to all! Page 2 of 4 >>>The Trainman's Corner<<< Bob Schussler The December callboard was rather thin, precipitating a review of possible reasons for the reduced participation. After several phone calls and conversations, the following considerations were identified. The holiday season itself was a factor. Family reunions, shopping, and other holiday activities took precedent over Trainman duties. This is understandable, and I truly hope you all enjoyed the festive times. Most of those who stayed away will be back in January (with bells on?) A few individuals hesitated to come out because of the physical difficulties involved with loading water jugs or giving walking tours. I assured them that we work as a team here, and that other crewmembers would gladly help with these tasks. The beauty of our group is that everyone can contribute something. We can expect a slightly increased turnout in January, but we are still woefully short of people. We need to get more Trainmen. Along those lines, we will now require that all personnel serve eight days as a Trainman prior to becoming certified as a Brakeman. This is a return to previous policy, and it will provide some new Trainmen, albeit temporarily. We will also attempt to keep some of our Trainman for a while before sending them headlong into Brakeman training. We will also have an ad for volunteers in the Union Tribune on January 7th, which we hope will bear fruit. In the interim, several qualified Brakemen and Conductors are filling in as Trainmen, and our "Old Faithfuls" are doing double duty. My sincere thanks to you all. We are going to prevail, so let's come out and make 2000 a banner year. See you at Campo. >>>Iron Horse gets a Stall<<< Bob Miles Restoration of the SP-2353 was completed in February of 96 and she made her maiden venture onto the main line the following month. Since then the 2353 has pulled excursion trains to Miller Creek, Tecate, and has been featured in several commercial film productions. All of this time the locomotive has set outside of the Car Barn exposed to every foul deed Mother Nature could throw at it. Granted, in the Hey Day of Steam these marvelous machines were exposed to Mother Nature’s foul deeds 98% of the time. But, the resources and assets that kept them in tiptop condition during those times no longer exist. In December 99 the Museum Staff recognized the need to move the SP-2353 in and away from Mother Nature’s vengeance. Virtually every department within the museum became involved in moving the locomotive into the Car Barn. Track 13 inside the barn was the most logical place to designate as the 2353 stall. But it didn’t stop there. The restored FGEX Refrigerator car and the S.D. & A 050 were in that location and had been for many years. All sorts of things had found a home under and around both of these cars. There was serious concern regarding the condition of the rail and ties on track 13. Would it support and guide the locomotive without a disastrous incident. Other questions and concerns that needed answers arose. Could the FGEX be safely moved with all of the flammable material stored inside of it? Would the storage containers at the West end of the barn be ready to receive the material before the move? What was going to be done with the 2098 setting on track 2 in the Display building? Was there sufficient room on track 2 to accommodate the Refer & the 050? The RPO car would have to be relocated to clear track 13. Where would we put it so that it was still available and presentable to the visitors and the restoration team who are still working on it. And the list goes on. New questions and concerns arose almost daily. Page 3 of 4 The hard part (physical labor) began on the weekend of December 11th. The stuff that had taken up residence under and around the Refer and 050 began finding new homes. Larry Williams & Mike Edwards moved all but the RPO off track 13. Ted Kornweibel had to interrupt work on the RPO and prep it for movement. Al Dillane and the gandydancers inspected track 13 to determine what needed to be done to make it safe for movement of the 2353 across it. Jim Baker, Al Brill & Paul Lannen spent a day driving spikes and installing gauge bars on track 13 to beef it up for the move. Al Dillane, Fred Carnathan and Tom Walker continued to find new homes for the stuff under and around the Refer & 050. Mike Reneau checked out the brake systems on the Refer and 050 to ensure movement would be safe. He also shored up the racks & shelves in the Refer in hopes that nothing came down during the move as the Flammables container would not be ready in time. On December 29 a crew consisting of Larry Williams, Jack O’Lexey, Fred Perry, Dick Pennick, Bob Shussler, Al Dillane, Rich Warner, Steve Kostelak, Don Getz, Paul Lannen and myself gathered at the Car Barn and made all of the final preparations, including track inspection, removal of the last of the stuff, driving a few final spikes and a zillion other final tasks. Fred Perry came down from San Bernardino to assist Dick Pennick wash out the boiler of 2353 before it was moved inside. Paul Lannen performed a final inspection and lube of the locomotive to insure no damage would occur during the move. While all of this was taking place stuff around the Refer and 050 continued to find new homes, the area around track 10, where the 2353 has been parked, was cleaned up in preparation for moving the RPO to that location. The following day, Thursday, December 30th Mike Edwards assembled his crew consisting of Dave and Randy Houk and Darren Apedaile to start all of the moves. By sunset that day the 2098 and 3873 were on track 12 inside the barn, the FGEX Reefer and the S.D.& A 050 were snuggly placed on track 2 in the Display Building with three feet of clearance and the way is clear to move the 2353 onto track 13 inside the Car Barn and the RPO to track 10 where the 2353 has resided for the past several years. The final move will be made during the first week of the New Year and new millennium. We sure did find a lot of interesting things while cleaning up around the Refer & 050. I’m not sure all of the stuff has railroad application. I think it prudent at this point to state that throughout the entire effort the E.D. Rich Borstadt and the Ops Supt. Lew Wolfgang chewed fingernails in an admirable manner while providing full support to the effort. I am sure I must have missed a few names here as this was a massive effort involving many of the museum volunteers. My sincere apology to those I may have missed, there was no intent to do so. This impressive effort shows what the team can accomplish when there is an established goal and focus on that goal is maintained. Without constant communication and cooperation we could not have enjoyed this success. My heartfelt thanks and congratulations go to every volunteer that helped put our Smoke Belching Iron Horse in its long awaited stall! >>>New SDRM web site offerings<<< Randy Houk I’ve updated the People Gallery with a few new faces. We now have Jim Polloreno, CDF Captain Pete Scully, Al Pearson, Alma and Rod Gilbert as Mrs. and Santa Claus, Rich Borstadt, Fred Carnathan, Tom Walker, Bob Haney, Dick Cupp and Dick McIntyre. Also we have new shots of Jim Lundquist, Don Getz, Ansara Gilbert, Robin Becker, Randy Gibson, Ross Bryan, Carol Dyreng and Jim Friedlan as Mrs. and Santa Claus, Dick Pennick, Steve November, Bob Schussler and Duane Dubke. You can see these folks at http://www.sdrm.org/gallery/people/ Page 4 of 4 >>>January/February 2000 Dates of Note<<< Tecate Feb. 5 & 19 Jan. 10 Operations meeting Feb. 7 Jan. 11, 19, & 24 Rule review classes at Solar Jan. 15 & 29 Rule review classes at Campo Jan. 15 & 29 Dinner Train Feb. 12 & 19 Jan. 18 School Train Feb. 16 Jan. 26 Museum Services meeting Feb. 23 Jan. 28 Deadline for February articles >>>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 Business Office, Rich Borstadt (619)595-3030 office Business Office Fax (619)595-3034 Museum Phone (La Mesa Depot) (619)697-7762 Report Editor, Marna Hartjen (760)489-1353 report HotScoop Editor, Randy Houk (858)672-0111 hotscoop Station Master, Terri Gregory (619)280-8529 gregory La Mesa Depot (619)697-7762 Campo Depot (619)478-9937 Campo Car Shop (619)478-9451 Campo Caretaker, Thomas Lee Braginton (619)478-9344 DEPARTMENT HEADS @sdrm.org Executive Director, Rich Borstadt (619)294-9321 borstadt Research, Bruce Semelsberger (619)264-7282 Crew Caller, Ansara Gilbert (619)529-3927 gilberta Library, Roy Pickering (619)462-3392 pickering Operations, Lew Wolfgang (619)662-1963 wolfgang Restoration, Ted Kornweibel (619)461-0098 kornweibel Steam, Bob Miles (619)280-8529 Training, Jim Baker (619)670-7441 baker Trainmen/Guides, Bob Schussler (619)698-1458 schusslerb La Mesa Depot, Jim Polloreno (619)590-2892 polloreno Facilities, Thomas Lee Braginton (619)478-9344 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. STE 5 San Diego, CA 92101-3339

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