Microsoft Word - 2000mar.doc Page 1 of 5 HotScoop Shovel Logo by Larry Rose A publication dedicated to San Diego Railroad Museum volunteers March 2000 MUSEUM NEWS VOL XII NO III >>>Annual Dinner<<< Ann McVeagh The Annual Dinner will be held on Thursday, March 23rd at the Bali Hai on Shelter Island; we will have a sumptuous buffet dinner at 7, preceded by an hour of no-host cocktails. We will present our annual awards, including "Rail Fan of the Year" and other surprises! There will be an address by our new Board President Arn Hunsberger who will discuss his vision for the Museum and the exciting prospects for our future. Cost is $30 each or $55 per couple. For more details call me, Ann McVeagh, at the office or at home, 619-477-9402. >>>Campo Report<<< Allan Dillane TRACK #3 On Saturday February 26th Track #3 was spiked down into the new building. We will now move to place the rock ballast that Rich Warner so generously donated and tamp the track. No decision has been made to finish Tracks #5 and 6 into the building at this time. There is no ballast available or means to transport it for the lower yard to be finished. The Museum will now be able to store more rail cars out of the weather. The Museum is indebted to the outstanding efforts and financial support of the following individuals who helped make this possible: Jim Baker Dwight Koller Bill Niedrich Roger Challberg Dick Hobson Mike Retz Robin Becker Paul Lannen Lamar Scheuerman Ken Hansen Dick Cupp Frank Stites Allan Dillane Ted Kornweibel Tom Walker Bob Haney Dick McIntyre Rich Warner Steve Kostelak Randy Houk LUBE & PAINT SHED LOCKERS The lube locker is up and running. The 55-gallon drum storage area has been cleaned and organized. Everyone is encouraged to work with Safety Officer Jack O’Lexey to put used oil, solvent and filters in their respective containers. We need a system for identifying which containers hold what and which containers are open and available for current use. It behooves each volunteer and superintendent to insure that we are not wasting or contaminating our valuable supplies. The efforts of Tom Walker, Fred Carnathan and Dave Slater to get us EPA compliant is to be commended. Moving the paint into the new paint locker and out of the Reefer and elsewhere after 13 years is in its final phase. The roof has been resealed, shelving has been added, electrical has been run into the locker and a method for keeping temperatures within the locker moderate has been accomplished. We will begin moving the paint starting the first week in February. Pulling this all together has taken the efforts of Mike Retz, Thomas Lee Braginton, Paul Broer, JR Broer, Dave Slater, Tom Walker and Fred Carnathan. Thank you! LOWER YARD PROJECT That weed patch and junkyard we now call the lower yard is no more! The yard is now full of track and the weeds are few and far between; after all this is Campo. Two tracks are in the new building and we are in the process of spiking the rails down. The process of ballasting the track has begun with what little DG we can get from the Page 2 of 5 North Forty. Personal equipment of members has been pressed into service and no serious injuries have occurred. The Museum is especially indebted to Paul Broer for the use of his company’s small forklift and to Rich Warner for the use of his little yellow tractor. The mechanical aptitude of Ken Hansen and Steve Kostelak has been invaluable. The Tamper is back in operation and we have hopes of having the hydraulic spike remover on line by the time you read this. Several members have joined together at the instigation of Dick Cupp to purchase a spike driver. It is due soon with great expectations by the gandy dancers! AROUND THE MUSEUM Two special projects have been under way that some of you may have missed. Jim Lundquist with Mike Retz and Larry Owen have completed and installed another track sign: CHICKEN RANCH. Mike and Jim have undertaken to move DG by hand and wheel barrow to build a better offloading area for passengers at the Upper Yard stop on the main line. This project has been planned and needed doing for years. The welding crew has undertaken a solution long needed. The Museum has simply covered over any track with dirt where they wanted a road. WORKS GREAT, RUINS TIES! By using no longer needed 60lb rail they are building movable crossings. In time, these will replace the wooden ones that the engines drag out of place because their “cow catchers” snag them and we will stop putting dirt over ties at other places. >>>Safety Corner<<< Jack O’Lexey On Feb. 18, 2000 an employee from the County of San Diego inspected the Museum grounds. We have several items we need to do better. Don't spill oil Don't keep oil in open containers Put the oil in the WASTE OIL TANK DO NOT take it to your local gas station, because we have to show the county a paper trail that we disposed of the oil properly. Don't mix paint solvent in with waste lube oil. We have a separate drum for waste solvent. If you have a battery that is no longer any good let your Superintendent know about it. Don’t set it on a palette with the battery caps off. Rain will raise the ACID level and spill it on the ground. Batteries good or bad need to be stored preferably inside and must be on concrete. If you see oil or Diesel dripping from equipment put a can under it. If you see one partly full empty it into the proper container: Waste Oil tank or Solvent waste tank. You might be able to get it done quicker than I can find someone to do it. When you empty a barrel it needs to be marked (MT) that is an abbreviation for EMPTY, think mmmmmmmT. We will be having classes. We must document to show we have training for proper disposal. This is our Museum; we all need to work together. >>>FROM THE TRAINING OFFICER<<< Jim Baker RULE REVIEW CLASS AND TESTING There are still a few people who have not taken the annual Rule Review Class, and quite a number who have not yet taken the Rules Test for the year 2000. Remember that effective March 1, you cannot serve in a certified operating position until you have taken the class and passed the test. Contact the Training Officer if you have any questions. Page 3 of 5 NEW CERTIFICATIONS The Qualification Board recently certified the following people to operate in the positions shown: Diesel Engineer: Jim Baker Conductor: Ansara Gilbert and Jim Lundquist Brakeman: Brian Sampson Congratulations to all! GENERAL ORDER #1 General Order #1, dated Feb. 1, 2000, became effective on Feb. 1. All certified operations people should have a copy. If you need one, contact the Training Officer. FIRE SUPPRESSION PROTOCOL Also available are copies of our Fire Suppression Protocol. ALL train crewmembers should have copies of this one; if you didn't get one at a Rule Review class, pick one up in the Ops. Office. RULE OF THE MONTH Probably 90% of the people who have taken the Rules Test missed this one: "(52) At what distance must cars and engines be left from road crossings on the SD&A (single track)?" Most people answered 250 ft. This is not correct. Please read Rule 6.32.4. It states, "Leave cars, engines, or equipment clear of road crossings and crossing signal circuits." The 250 ft. figure applies only when there is an adjacent track. Therefore, if we needed to leave a car near the La Posta Rd. crossing, it only needs to be clear of the road. If we had to leave a car near one of the Highway 94 crossings, it would need to be clear of the crossing gate circuits, which is much further than 250 ft. So, the correct answer for Question 52 is, "Clear of the road and crossing gate circuits." ORGANIZATION OF TECATE, JACUMBA, AND OTHER SPECIAL TRAINS Rich Borstadt provided the following information for me to give at the March Trainman's class. I thought it should be passed on to our current volunteers, too. The Museum has an operating agreement with the Metropolitan Transit Development Board (MTDB), who owns the physical SD&AE right-of-way, for the passenger rights on the entire line except San Diego Trolley territory. San Diego & Imperial Valley Railroad (SD&IV) has the freight operating rights on the entire line and works in cooperation with SDRM. The Museum regularly operates demonstration trains on a home stretch of ten miles of track, mostly in the Campo to Miller Creek stretch of just under 8 miles and has been maintaining this ten-mile length, as well. The Museum contracts with Carrizo Gorge Railway, Inc. [singular and note the contemporary "z" spelling of Carrizo; the "s" spelling was historical to Spreckels' original line and is used by the Museum for period trains and in the name of the business car used by John Spreckels] for Maintenance of Way and Mechanical services . . .and to operate regular passenger routes and specials on other parts of the line. Carrizo gives first preference to Museum-trained individuals as employees on their runs in Mexico and Eastward along the line to Jacumba and in the Carriso Gorge. TECATE TRIPS Trainmen who have gained experience and proven their skills on the Museum's demonstration runs and specials on the Miller Creek segment of the SD&A may have the opportunity to run on trips operated for the Museum by CGRwy elsewhere on the line and be hired by CGRwy. Among the Museum's contracted excursion routes are those to Tecate, Mexico from Campo, California and from Tijuana, Mexico. Page 4 of 5 >>>Tunnel #3 update<<< Jim Polloreno Work continues on Tunnel # 3 and as we near completion there are some hard working people to thank. Please let me know if have missed any of your names. The ceiling was dropped on February 13. Tunnel #3 1/2 is now #3 again! Train Crew: Ross Bryan, Mike Edwards, Don Getz, Randy Houk and Mike Reneau Fuel Carriers: Ross Bryan, Steve November and Jim Polloreno Backhoe Crew: Jack Burton, Luis Gonzales and Benny Wright Carrizo Gorge: Matt Adams, Vince Crisi, Mike Edwards, Mike Reading, Gary Sweetwood and Benny Wright Donated Equipment from Hawthorne Equipment Rentals: 1 Excavator This equipment is valued at approx. $1,015,000. 3 Loaders Thanks again to all the folks involved, many of which are not listed here but have played a pivotal behind the scene's role. >>>La Mesa Depot Report<<< Jim Polloreno The floor-painting project is near completion. Maintenance activities this past week include: Removing two doors, planing and re-installation. Changing all the locks. Making a new tiller for the baggage cart (kids jumped on it and broke it). Thanks to Bob Schussler for his hard work on ALL the baseboards, he sanded them to bare wood, filled the inordinate amount of nail holes and repainted them. As always thanks to Duane Dubke our ever-vigilant security at the depot. Our Model Train Sale and Railroad Collectibles Swapmeet is on March 11, 2000. Our First participation in the La Mesa Car Rally's selling hotdogs, chili, nachos, and lemonade will begin on Thursday night April 6, 2000. If anyone is interested in participating in either of these events please let me know. Food Handlers Class Graduates: Bob & Sandy Schussler, Don Getz, Roy Pickering, Jim Polloreno. There are still classes available; you need one three-hour class and $2. >>>A Poem<<< Jennifer O’Brien Sitting lonely in the yard, Worthless in the eyes of some Sit the old engines and cars. The sun beats down On this iron graveyard Showing no mercy For years of faithful service. Oh, if only these trains could talk, What stories they’d tell. Worthless in the eyes of some, Not mine. >>>New SDRM web site offerings<<< Randy Houk I’ve updated the People Gallery with shots of Herb Kehr, Ted Kornweibel, Kevin Dudenbostel, Jim Polloreno, Jennifer O’Brien and Steve Young. You can see these folks at http://www.sdrm.org/gallery/people/. I have made this link much quicker to load by giving the viewer the choice of seeing the entire list or just a portion of it. You can now take a ‘tour’ of an MRS-1 locomotive. I’ve created a clickable image of an MRS-1 which has photos of various parts of the engine. Have a look at http://www.sdrm.org/roster/diesel/mrs1tour/. Page 5 of 5 >>>March/April 2000 Dates of Note<<< none Tecate April 1, 15, 29 March 6 Operations meeting April 3 March 7 & 14 Trainman class at Cuyamaca College Jacumba Train April 8 March 25 Trainman class at Campo March 25 Dinner Train April 8, 22 March 21 School Train April 18 March 29 Museum Services meeting April 26 March 30 Deadline for April 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 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 Safety, Jack O’Lexey (858)274-4449 olexey Restoration, Ted Kornweibel (619)461-0098 kornweibel Steam, Dwight Koller (619)478-9348 Diesel, Ross Bryan (619)478-2492 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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Pacific Southwest Railway Museum

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