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www.ecgrc.com - 1 - November - December 2013 - January 2014
November - December 2013 - January 2014 www.ECGRC.com Vol 2014-1
Winter 2013
Another year has come and gone all too quick. It seems that 2013 just got here and the whole year feels like a blur. Too many things going on and by‐golly‐gosh, we have been busy, busy, busy.
Page Contents
1 Winter 2013
2 President Message; Bill Wertz Final Departure
3 Lionel Christmas
4 Art Museum Derailed
5 Niceville Christmas Display
6 Niceville continued
7 Berkshire 2-8-4 Loco
8 Jordan Lot Activities; Museum Improvements
9 Events & Dates; Calendar; Health & Welfare
10 Birthdays & Anniversaries
11 Aristo-Craft News; Bachmann Wheel Sets
12 Niceville Fire Too Close; Tailgate Swap Meet
Eva Nelle and I (editors and Publicity), along with Jack Grill (President), Ian Sinclair (Secretary), Paul Weston (Treasurer) and Keith Rapley (past president), all wish everyone in the Emerald Coast Garden Railway Club a wonderful holiday season, and a terrific 2014. We hope that your Thanksgiving was hearty and tasty with plenty of family and good food. And also, that your Christmas was wonderful and fun filled with lots of good times.
Some of us received the New Year quietly and some of us rang in the New Year with plenty of good cheer and
fireworks. However you rang in the New Year 2014, we all hope it is a great and wonderful year for you all year long. Ed & Eva
Emerald Coast Garden Railway Club
Emerald Coast Garden Railway Club WFRM
www.ecgrc.com - 2 - November - December 2013 - January 2014
President's Message
President Jack Grill during some warmer days at the Jordan Lot
Our busiest month has gone by. Lionel Christmas at the museum was pretty busy. Last year we had night runs on two consecutive Saturdays. We decided on only one this year. That was easier on our crew along with the decision to have parents stay with their kids and not let them run around as happened last year. Also, we did not turn off one of the overhead lights this time. All that helped keep little hands from putting big rocks on the tracks as happened several times last year. The night time crowd was smaller than last year because, I think, of the two evening Christmas parades in the area.
This year we served as a Toys for Tots collection point with boxes for toys and jugs for money donations set up around the museum.
Our Christmas dinner was held in the dining car the day of the night run. This year the museum actually closed at its usual 3:00 and reopened at 5:00 for the night run allowing us a couple of hours of peace to eat in the dining car. There was also no afternoon rental of the dining car.
Many thanks go out to all who worked the night run, those who brought that good food and to those who set up and cleaned up the dining car for the dinner.
As to the year gone by, we can be thankful for another quiet hurricane season. It's been a good number of years since we have been targeted. Let's keep that losing streak going. Rah, Rah!!
Jack
Bill Wertz Final Departure
Bill Wertz passed away suddenly on Wednesday, 13 November. Bill and his grandson Matthew were very active ECGRC members since April 2011. They were frequent Jordan Lot operators on most Saturdays no matter the weather or temperature.
Bill Wertz and grandson Matthew Wertz as of April 2013
Bill was born in 1937 in Charleston SC. Bill served in the U.S. Air Force (aircraft maintenance, we think) and then the Small Business Administration. Bill was married to his wife, Mary Beth, for 57 years. Bill and Mary Beth had four sons and daughters, and many grandchildren including Matthew Wertz.
Wertz family at Matthew's surprise birthday party, 27 April 2013
Emerald Coast Garden Railway Club WFRM
www.ecgrc.com - 3 - November - December 2013 - January 2014
We know Bill Wertz from his frequent weekend visits at the Jordan Lot, along with Matthew. Bill was last seen at the Jordan Lot about Saturday, 2 Nov 2013. Bill and Matthew spent the following Saturday, 9 Nov, at Paul Karczewski's 7‐1/2" railroad open house. Matthew even got to drive one of the large scale locos around Paul's over 4,000 foot railroad.
William "Bill" Wesley Wertz III 1937 - 2013
Bill Wertz will be greatly missed and not forgotten. He lives on in Matthew who has a big set of shoes to fill now. Fully expect and hope Matthew to continue his active participation at the Jordan Lot for a long while to come.
Lionel Christmas 2013
Another Lionel Christmas was conducted at the RR Museum this past December. It was advertised and ran for the three weekends in December, and it was a busy, busy place. We had lots and lots of visitors.
Mike Moore set up a large oval of O scale track for his various Lionel and MTH O scale trains. Mike thrilled many kids with his sound‐equipped
steam locomotives and diesel locomotives. Mike set up in the Freight House at the West end using a bunch of tables covered in white fabric.
Mike Moore and trains
Much of the Christmas decorations were put up the weekends around Thanksgiving. Mike started his set up of the O scale trains the weekend before Thanksgiving and finished it up the weekend after Thanksgiving. Then Mike and friends ran trains during the weekends of 6‐7, 13‐14, and 20‐21 December. Many visitors big and small enjoyed the operating Lionel trains.
Future engineers watching Lionel train closely‐ pic by Ian Sinclair
While the Lionel trains were rumbling along, the Jordan Lot was also rumbling. The Riding Train was almost constantly busy with loads of kids, and some adults. And, of course, lots of garden trains were operating on the Jordan Lot Garden Railroad.
Emerald Coast Garden Railway Club WFRM
www.ecgrc.com - 4 - November - December 2013 - January 2014
Riding Train ‐ pic by George Wilson
We only had one evening session on Saturday, December 14th. This differed from years past where we had two Saturday nights. Also, we emphasized kids needed to stick with parents and not run loose, plus extra yard lighting helped keep the dark away but still allowed the lighted passenger trains to show up very well.
Jordan Lot ‐ pic by George Wilson
Two long lighted passenger trains were operating on a Mainline Loop #1. Orlando Gomez set up his Pennsylvania RR passenger train. On the same track, Bill Carrington set up his Atlantic Coast Line RR passenger train. Both ran great and garnered lots of favorable attention.
Both of the long lighted passenger trains gobbled a lot of power. "More power, Scotty!" Using Bill Carrington's 50‐amp power supply, we saw the amperage run up to 31 amps with both trains running smoothly.
Frank Paine ran his B&O passenger train on Mainline Loop #2, plus his musical train rang out Christmas music while parked on a siding by the town. Lots of other folks operated trains throughout the evening session. Good times by all.
Art Museum Derailed Also in the same timeframe as the Lionel Christmas was running, we had the Pensacola Art Museum exhibit scheduled with some G scale trains. The original plan had been to set up several tracks of G scale in Gallery 2 of the art museum. And the PMRC N scale train modular layout would set up in Gallery 1. This was to be included with the Pensacola Winterfest and its Polar Express theme for the kids.
Keith Rapley was the chief conductor for this event. Keith and Bobbie were busy making plans and setting things in motion and lots of preparations. Ed was working the Niceville display at the same time, so we had some competition for track resources and things.
BUTT, things got derailed. At the last minute, the art museum director and displaying artists decided that train displays would not be appropriate down on the first floor of the art museum and forced both the G scale trains and the PMRC modular layout into an upstairs room, which was much smaller than the two galleries that had been planned. Despite various reconfiguration attempts, there was no physical way to get both the G scale trains and PMRC modular layout into the upstairs room. Thus, the decision was made to only use the PMRC layout.
Apologies to Keith and Bobbie for their preparations and efforts to get things ready for the art museum display exhibit. The art museum workers did offer unofficial apologies for the last minute changes and confusion. However the art museum director and curator were both silent and did not present themselves or communicate with us about the situation.
The PMRC reported that their N scale train display went good. They think the visitor count was about 280 people total through their exhibit in the upstairs room at the art museum.
Emerald Coast Garden Railway Club WFRM
www.ecgrc.com ‐ 5 ‐ November ‐ December 2013 ‐ January 2014
Niceville Christmas Display
The Niceville Christmas Lady, Debbie Lewis, held her
annual Christmas light display called Animation in
Motion during this past Christmas season. It started
on the Friday after Thanksgiving, 29 Nov, and ran
every night through the Christmas season until
Friday after Christmas, 27 Dec. Her total count of
visitors was a record breaking 19,800 folks. Debbie's
original goal was just 10,000 people.
Corner display scene full of Christmas things
The Christmas display travels around using different
available sites in the Niceville area. This past
Christmas season display was in the old Food World
grocery store on John Sims Parkway in Niceville FL.
This was a huge store when it is all empty inside.
Original plans included the Miracle Strip HO club,
but they committed to Old Town Station shopping
center Christmas display. The Niceville Christmas
display set up started in early October with lots of
volunteers helping and working and rushing to meet
the Thanksgiving Friday, 29 November opening
night. Debbie and her husband, Kevin, spent many
long evenings frequently with several hard working
volunteers getting Christmas display things
unpacked and set up. Besides our G scale train
exhibit, there were two well running Lionel train set
ups, three N scale ovals, and another G scale
Christmas train running around a large Christmas
tree. We had trains all over the place.
Kevin and Debbie (The Christmas Lady)
In the beginning, the space was empty and then there were tracks
We set up a large scale train display of 13 operating
tracks. This included three large ovals, with the
outside loop using 16.5' diameter curves. Great for
the long passenger trains. Two back‐n‐forths were
busy with trolleys and street cars or an occasional
RDC. The Cloverleaf had four Christmas trees set up
inside it. Plus three small 4‐foot circles of track. Of
course, consideration was given to adding some
more tracks such an elevated track or two. But, we
ran out of time and the floor was too crowded and
busy to add anything else.
Emerald Coast Garden Railway Club WFRM
www.ecgrc.com ‐ 6 ‐ November ‐ December 2013 ‐ January 2014
It was a great venue for the G scale trains. The
darkened hall allowed the lighted cars to show up
great. Lots of kids got down low to peer into the
passenger cars so they could see the passengers
inside. The train display filled an area about 54' x
26' with viewing from all four sides.
Rear viewing area for kids with carpet and tent
Ed and several helpers set out, set up, and
constructed the G scale train display. Paul Weston
and Ed started on Wednesday, 13 November. Other
help from Paul Karczewski, George Provan, Frank
Paine and Jack Burk over the subsequent days got it
all built. We finished the train display Saturday, 23
November at 9:30 PM (yawn!!). The largest loop
was using 16.5' curves and things got smaller from
there. Eleven loops and two back‐n‐forths gave
plenty of things to see.
Cartoon Train, Old Time Passenger, Thomas Train and the
Red M&M blowup
Operations commenced on Thanksgiving Friday with
Tom Walkup and Paul Weston at the controls. Then
Ed, Mike Stokes, John Kashynski, Frank Paine,
George Provan, Paul Karczewski, and Orlando
Gomez joined the operations. It was a record
breaking 29 day run for a single train exhibit display.
George and Paul running trains
Ed's lighted hopper train was a popular train with the public
Ready to run ‐ pic by Paul Weston
Frank Paine provided lots of things for the train exhibit. A lighted gingerbread house showed up in
Emerald Coast Garden Railway Club WFRM
www.ecgrc.com ‐ 7 ‐ November ‐ December 2013 ‐ January 2014
Gnomeville. A musical and lighted seafood restaurant was located on the sea by the Tiki Lounge. Frank's New Bright animated Santa train got lots of attention running up on the elevated table top track. We think Frank loves Christmas!
Paul Karczewski's Union Pacific passenger train and a deflated
Thomas ‐ pic by Paul Weston
Orlando Gomez's Pennsylvania passenger train and Santa taking
a face plant ‐ pic by Paul Weston
Favorite Train voting was very hectic and numerous.
Lots of ballots got submitted. Well over 1,400 votes
for the Favorite Train. Paul's Cartoon Train garnered
the most votes in the total tally. Although, he did
not carry every night. The lighted hoppers with
Christmas ornaments topped out a couple of nights.
Thomas and Friends were a big hit with the kids, as
was the Old Time Passenger train which looked just
like the Polar Express. Lots of choices and hard to
decide which one was a favorite train.
Takedown of the G scale trains started on Sunday,
29 December, with Ed, John Kashynski, Paul Weston
and son, and Frank Paine getting everything
carefully picked up, packed up, and transported
back to Milton or Pensacola. Finally, Monday, 30
December was the last trip with everything for the
train display, except several work tables which Paul
Weston hauled away later.
It was a lot of hard work by all. We kept track of
hours spent at the train display. It tallied up to 465
man hours, including takedown (but not the week
and a half of set up). The travel hours added
another 183 hours. So it was way over 648 man
hours of work. Much thanks to everyone. Well Done
Job, Guys!!!
Berkshire 2‐8‐4 Loco
This is hopefully, the first of several articles
describing the myriad of loco types and names. To
start the series, the 2‐8‐4 steam loco started at the
Lima Locomotive Works just after WW 1. They
wanted to get a steam loco with better speed and
horsepower than the older USRA Mikado (2‐8‐2).
The Mikado loco was suffering wheel slip under
heavy loads. The first improvement was a much
larger firebox which required a four‐wheel rear
truck to support it.
The first 2‐8‐4 loco was tested on the Boston &
Albany RR in the spring of 1925. A head‐to‐head
competition was arranged against a 2‐8‐2 Mikado
and the new 2‐8‐4 loco won the trial test, thus
ensuring it would make it into production.
Since the B&A RR was the first railroad to use the
new wheel arrangement of 2‐8‐4, the moniker of
"Berkshire" was attached to the style or type of
loco.
Emerald Coast Garden Railway Club WFRM
www.ecgrc.com ‐ 8 ‐ November ‐ December 2013 ‐ January 2014
The Berkshire went into production for several
railroads, including the L&N. A total of 368
Berkshire 2‐8‐4 locos were built by Lima, with
another 168 built by ALCO and 75 built by Baldwin.
The L&N RR ended up with 42 Bershire 2‐8‐4 locos,
some from Lima and some from Baldwin.
About twenty of the Bershire 2‐8‐4 locos still exist
today in various RR museums.
Source: steamlocomotive.com website
Jordan Lot Activities Things have been busy at the Jordan Lot. Lionel Christmas had lots and lots of folks visiting. Some resulting from the advertising George Wilson and Ed did with the local media. Some resulting from the Niceville Christmas lights display. Many visitors had the flyer in hand that was passed out at Niceville. We had lots and lots of visitors at the Jordan Lot.
There is a new back‐n‐forth track. It travels inside the center lobe. It got ready just in time for the Lionel Christmas. Several different trolleys, streetcars and short trains have gone back and forth through the countryside. The tightest curves are 6‐1/2' diameter. Even an RDC should work well on it.
A second back‐n‐forth is under construction up in the first lobe. It will be elevated and cross over Loop #4, the Penalty Loop, and over to the town. The tightest curves on that will be 6‐1/2' diameter curves.
The Riding Train was having some cranky problems of late. The cold, cold weather had it hard to start. And once we needed to jump start it from a truck. Eventually, with lots of folks working on it, we fixed and cleaned up a number of little problems. Thanks to Lyle Scott and Bill Carrington. Eventually, we got it starting very snappy and running well. Could almost say it was purring, but the pussy cat
union objects to my using that description to a diesel/gas locomotive. Geeezzzz!!! Approval to procure some catnip may be considered.
More chicken grit was obtained from the Katy Feed store in Katy, Texas. Now Keith is happy with a new supply.
The Lionel Christmas decorations did get put up and showed well. Frank Paine worked with the spruce tree by the Storage Building. Putting strings of lights up in the big tree. Eventually, we got the strings strung. And they looked great. Icicles adorned the fences. Wreaths were hung on the fence, too. Plus, the lighted deer was seen nibbling in the underbrush by the pine trees.
The evening session for Lionel Christmas went well. Having the kids stick with parents plus the extra yard lighting helped keep the rocks on tracks problems at bay.
RR MUSEUM IMPROVEMENTS
The recent renovations and improvements at the RR Museum are done. The signs have been corrected and fixed or reprinted.
The new Fallen Flags display shows the numerous Panhandle railroads that existed over the years. It is an interesting display to study and see what was where. Who knew?
The recent Polar Vortex froze water pipes at the Depot. A plumber came in and made some major improvements under the Freight House and at the Dining Car. We now have four valves
to turn the water on and off for freezing weather. Now, this valve turns left, no, no, it turns right, or was it down???
Thanks to the many folks that made all of the improvements happen.
Emerald Coast Garden Railway Club WFRM
www.ecgrc.com ‐ 9 ‐ November ‐ December 2013 ‐ January 2014
Events and Dates 16 Nov – Museum Board meeting at 9:30 AM
16 Nov – Club meeting at Noon
27 Nov ‐ Thanksgiving
29 Nov ‐ Niceville Christmas Display starts
6‐7 Dec – Lionel Christmas
13‐14 Dec – Lionel Christmas
14 Dec – ECGRC Christmas dinner late afternoon
14 Dec – Lionel Christmas evening trains until 8 PM
20‐21 Dec – Lionel Christmas
21 Dec ‐ Museum Board meeting at 9:30 AM
24 Dec ‐ Christmas Eve
25 Dec ‐ Christmas
25 Dec ‐ Niceville Christmas Display
27 Dec ‐ Niceville Christmas Display last night
31 Dec ‐ New Year's Eve
1 Jan 2014 ‐ New Year's Day
12‐19 Jan ‐ Diamondhead Steam‐Up, Diamondhead,
Miss. ‐ www.Diamondhead.org
18 Jan ‐ Museum Board meeting at 9:30 AM
18 Jan ‐ Club meeting at Noon
2 Feb – Super Bowl Football sofa time
14 Feb ‐ Valentine's Day
15 Feb ‐ Museum Board meeting at 9:30 AM
15 Feb ‐ Club meeting at Noon
15 Mar ‐ Museum Board meeting at 9:30 AM
15 Mar ‐ Club meeting at Noon
22‐23 Mar ‐ Foley Train Show
4‐12 April ‐ Santa Rosa County Fair
19 April ‐ Tailgate Swap Meet
19 April ‐ Museum Board meeting at 9:30 AM
19 April ‐ Club meeting at Noon
Calendar A 2014 calendar is in the works. Grinding its way out
with dates and events, including birthday and
anniversaries. Be sure to let Ed know of dates that
need to be included for things during 2014.
Health & Welfare Keith Rapley & Bobbie Dorner ‐ Bobbie has a new set of wheels, a Honda Fit. She is a very happy girl. Keith is all bruised up. The furniture tackled him!
Terry & April Tucker ‐ "April and I are doing just fine.
Getting over our cough and colds we picked up on
vacation. Also getting to know our two new kittens,
ironically also picked up while on vacation."
Stephanie & Bill Carrington ‐ "Nothing new to report!"
Emerald Coast Garden Railway Club WFRM
www.ecgrc.com ‐ 10 ‐ November ‐ December 2013 ‐ January 2014
Ian & Barb Sinclair ‐ "We're both fit to fight and ready to go! Also, both of my surgeries, cataract & hernia, are in the past and I'm better off eye sight wise. We're planning to visit Minneapolis (Barb's home) in May, then, perhaps, travel on to Boston (my home), then back to P'cola. No, we won't be traveling by train!"
Frank Paine - "All is well."
Tom Walkup - Had knee joint replacement surgery.
"My new knee is 2 weeks old [27 Jan]. Tom"
Pat Stevens ‐ Pat suffered a stroke and is still recovering. Lets hope no news is good news.
Margaret Bryant ‐ Our snowbird is back down south, but needs to pack heavier winter clothing.
Eva Nelle Dice ‐ Survived the Houston TX roadway icing by staying home and working telecommuting.
Paul Weston ‐ Has his Jimmy jeep ailing with major repairs. Hope is to get back rolling in January.
Ed Dice ‐ Skated at the Jordan Lot but bounced up in one piece. Blames it on the roller‐bearing rocks at the Train Shed. No traction or splints required.
Andy & Beth Sloan ‐ Back down to St. Croix for the winter again.
Paul Karczewski ‐ Nice newspaper item on Paul and his P&S RR. It was on the front page of the NWF Daily News. See www.NWFDailyNews.com
Birthdays & Anniversaries
26 Nov – Jim & Carolyn Rush anniversary
6 Dec – Susan Cope birthday
7 Dec – Jack Grill birthday
10 Dec – Jerry Stewart birthday
14 Dec – Ed Couturie birthday
21 Dec – Ed & Ethel Couturie anniversary
21 Dec – Bob & Lorene Fasnacht anniversary
22 Dec – Tom & Kathy Perry anniversary
23 Dec – Ted & Nancy Batchman anniversary
5 Jan – John Kashynski birthday
11 Jan – Margaret Bryant birthday
11 Jan – T.J. & Paula Takahashi anniversary
17 Jan ‐ Carol Stewart birthday
20 Jan ‐ Jerry & Carol Stewart anniversary
22 Jan – Eva Dice birthday
30 Jan ‐ Ian Takahashi birthday
3 Feb ‐ Tom Perry birthday
3 Feb ‐ Bob & Susan Cope anniversary
5 Feb ‐ Beth Sloan birthday
5 Feb ‐ T.J. Takahashi birthday
7 Feb ‐ Paul Weston birthday
9 Feb ‐ Ed Dice birthday
10 Feb ‐ Keith Rapley birthday
20 Feb ‐ Carolyn Rush birthday
23 Feb ‐ Jim Rush birthday
6 Mar ‐ Paula Takahashi birthday
Reminder: If you do not see your birthday or anniversary, be sure to let us know. Our mindreading scanner is broken waiting on parts from Mars.
Emerald Coast Garden Railway Club WFRM
www.ecgrc.com ‐ 11 ‐ November ‐ December 2013 ‐ January 2014
Aristo‐Craft News Almost all of you know that Aristo‐Craft closed its doors in late December. After 80+ years, Polk's Hobby Shop has served the industry well and long.
The electronics portion of Aristo‐Craft is being continued under the Crest Electronics product line. This is headed by Navin Shievdayal. Most of your know Navin as the repair wizard for all of the Aristo‐Craft trains. Navin was a very busy guy.
Now Navin is running Crest Electronics and will apply his skills to that area. The Revolution radio command control systems are included and available. A shipment from Korea is due anytime now and should be available soon.
Contact info: Navin Shievdayal Crest Electronics Room 230‐231 32 Noble Street Newark NJ 07114 Website: www.Crest‐Electronics.net Email: [email protected] Phone: 201‐565‐6069
There is supposed to be a rework of the Revolution Base Station into a cabinet and possibly with a fan. Lots of folks, including us, are eager to get some more of the Base Stations.
On the other side, Scott Polk is doing Polks GeneratioNeXt and plans to offer the Aristo track as the first products available. A website planned but not ready yet. Scott said he wanted it to be perfect. It is in countdown mode to a 5 February opening date, maybe.
Contact info: Scott Polk Polks GeneratioNeXt, LLC 4475 South Clinton Ave., Suite 110 South Plainfield NJ 07080 Phone: 903‐834‐2139 Email: [email protected] [email protected] Website: www.polksgenerationext.com
Thanks to Bob Fasnacht for info/data.
Bachmann Wheel Sets
Contributed by Bob Fasnacht
Bachmann Industries is beginning to sell a new
wheel set for G scale trains under their "Spectrum"
line with a stock number of 88071.
They are sold as a blister pack of four and have a
new wheel diameter of 32.5mm. It is generally
accepted that these wheel sets are primarily
intended for 1:20 scale uses. The new wheel sets
have thinner flanges and are not as deep as the
Bachmann "Big Hauler" wheel sets that have a
31.00mm diameter.
Acceptance of the Spectrum wheels is mixed.
Modelers who have tried to use this new wheel set
with 1:20 equipment find the wheels do not track as
well as the 31.00mm variety, except on finely tuned
layouts. Furthermore, 1:29 and 1:32 G‐scalers are
discovering the larger wheel diameters cause
scrubbing against brake assemblies or some parts of
a car's underframe.
At present there is no information being released
by the manufacturer about whether or not the new
wheel sets will replace the older, widely used ones.
There is certainly some published criticisms from
the 1:29/1:32 crowd that may cause Bachmann to
continue both sizes.
Many club members have purchased the older
92421 in vast quantities and may wish to continue
to do so. Hence, it is important to a buyer to know
the differences in the two wheel sets and make
certain a vendor supplies exactly what is wanted.
Emerald Coast Garden Railway Club WFRM
www.ecgrc.com ‐ 12 ‐ November ‐ December 2013 ‐ January 2014
Niceville Fire Too Close
Or Real Outdoor Cooking?
With our large train display for the Niceville
Christmas Lights show, a next door fire at the BBQ
restaurant brought home the need to be watchful,
careful and vigilant. The first news alert by Paul
Weston to Ed Dice were scary. Fire, what fire????
BBQ shack fire ‐ pic by Paul Weston
The small BBQ restaurant had their outdoor BBQ
shack behind their restaurant catch fire on Monday,
25 Nov. Appears all of the damage was contained
and quickly put out by
the Niceville Fire Dept.
No impact or damages
to the Christmas Lights
venue. All trains safe.
While everyone setting up at the Christmas display
had to evacuate the building, fortunately no smoke
or water entered into the building structure proper.
Thank Goodness!
The BBQ restaurant was back open again in short
order. They had great BBQ and super great banana
pudding. They got a lot of our dinner business
during the month of November and December.
Tailgate Swap Meet
The next Old Fashioned Tailgate Swap Meet is
planned for 19 April 2014. This is the Spring swap
meet. Most things will run the same as past swap
meets, EXCEPT that I need to ask $5 per Museum‐
provided table. No charge if sellers bring their own
tables. AND asking for donation from sellers so the
Museum gets some help defraying costs like
cleaning bathrooms, electricity and such. Still do
not plan to have any admission charge.
As in the past, sellers need to register for space
since we get so many sellers. The Courtyard parking
spaces fill up quickly. I have sixteen parking spots
planned. And some folks like particular spots and
places. I already have two sellers registered.
Will plan on coffee and donuts. Think putting it in
the Freight House by the sink works well.
Convenient, easy to check for clean‐up, refilling
coffee pot. Anyone who wishes to volunteer to
handle it, is welcome to do it.
Pleasssseeeee!
Also, need volunteers to help on
the Friday afternoon late with
set up and staging of things.
Then again early Saturday morning with final set up,
then receiving sellers, guiding sellers
into spots and so on. I may also need
someone to take charge while I
attend the RR Museum Board
meeting at 9:30 AM.
Pass the word to family and
friends. April should be great
weather and no Polar Vortex is
expected. Likely you will need your
sunscreen and wide brim hat.