May - Orange Empire Railway Museum

Vol. 123 No.5
May 2015
Donna Zanin
Inside This Issue
PG. 1 TRUCK SHOW
PG. 3 OERM'S AMBASSADOR
PG. 4 ARCHIVES COMMITTEE REPORT
UPCOMING EVENTS
PG.5 THOMAS (AND PERCY) NEED YOU
PE & FATHERS DAY WEEKEND
PG. 6 PLANT AND FACILITIES REPORT
JOIN US
PG. 8 CIVIL WAR
PG. 10 UP 942 RETURNS TO SERVICE
PG. 12 THE COMET CARS
PG. 14 THE OLD MACHINIST
PG. 15 FAREWELL TO KEN RUBEN
PG. 16 RAIL FESTIVAL
PG. 17 FACES TO NAMES
PG. 18 COLLECTIONS REPORT
PG. 19 SIGNAL REPORT
PG. 20 MAINTENANCE REPORT
HELP WANTED
PG.21 AT&SF 108 PROGRESS REPORT
PG.22 TRACK REPORT
PG.23 DONATIONS REPORT
PRIVATE RAILCAR TOUR
The winners of the OERM Choice award – A 1947 Chevrolet Woody pulling a 1935
Bowlus Road Chief travel trailer with the entry door over the tongue
hand, including a large selection of
military, fire trucks, and farm
equipment, representing eras from
early to late 20th century.
Awards were given for several
categories, including extent and
quality of restoration, and various
special categories unique to age and
specialty of the truck's historical
use. The OERM Choice Award
went to Con & Carole Oamek of
Redlands, for their 1947 Chevrolet
Woody and 1935 Bowlus Road
Chief travel trailer. Continued on page 2
Truck Show
Norm Buchanan
By J Michael Donnelly
O
ur annual Antique
Truck Show, presented
in conjunction with the
American Truck Historical Society,
Southern California Chapter, was
held on May 3, 2015 and was an
even better success than last years'
event. More than 135 vintage
trucks of every description were on
Whole No 689
Vintage Trucks are lined up along Georgia St
Truck Show
- Continued
Continued from page 1
A beautiful Autocar
Paul Dieges
Norm Buchanan
Paul Dieges
Over 1200 people came
through the front gate and 175
people accompanied their trucks.
The group also hosted a swap
meet of antique truck items and a
working display of antique saws
and pumps, designed to work on
their own.
As usual, train and trolley rides
were available and 538 visitors
bought tickets and rode our train
and several trolleys.
Restored Yellowstone tour bus
Norm Buchanan
Vintage Pickup Trucks line up
along Broadway
Vintage Semi's are parked on the pavement between the Grizzly Flats and the new Archive Building
2 Gazette May 2015
OERM's Ambassador
By Donna Zanin
Donna Zanin
R
Rob Zanin & Walt Craig at the
Dicken's Festival
sharing the information with friends
and others who were interested.
In April, the museum was invited
by the Motte Historical Museum to
have a booth at their annual Big Barn
Classic Car Show. The Antique Truck
Show and Rods & Rails were the
featured events at this show.
In May, Rob took his show on the
road. With the help of Paul Harr and
John LaPrince, the narrow gauge
handcar was put on the trailer and
taken to Fullerton Railroad Days to be
displayed in the museum's booth for
the weekend. The handcar brought the
booth to a whole new level. We were
not just handing out information but
educating our visitors about the
handcar and other railroad related
topics.
Thank you to Rob and his fellow
ambassadors Walt Craig, Janet White,
Steve Struman and John & Susie
LePrince. Your dedication to the
museum is appreciated.
If you are interested in
volunteering as an ambassador please
contact Rob Zanin at
[email protected] or call Donna Zanin
at the museum office 951-943-3020.
A MONTHLY newsletter published
by the Orange Empire Railway Museum
as a benefit for its supporters
Location: 2201 S “A” Street
Perris,CA 92570
Telephone: (951) 943-3020
Fax: (951) 943-2676
E-Mail: [email protected]
[email protected]
Web: www.OERM.org
Submissions for publications are
welcome, and appreciated.
Please email ideas,
suggestions, articles and photos
to Sharilin Peters
[email protected].
Or send to ‘OERM Gazette’
on Facebook
The opinions expressed herein
are not necessarily those of
the Officers, the Board of Directors,
or the Editorial Staff of the Orange
Empire Railway Museum.
Board of Directors (term ends):
Byron Brainard (2018)
Joe Fuller (2017)
Zeke Hastings (2018)
Tom Jacobson (2017)
Paul Peters (2016)
Bob Leabow
ob Zanin is the Orange
Empire Railway
Museum's Ambassador.
Rob visits venues around Southern
California, sets up the information
booth and shares the story of our
museum and all of the exciting things
there are to see and do once visitors
arrive at the museum.
Some of the places Rob has
visited recently:
In January, Golden Palms RV
Resort in Hemet invited the museum to
participate in the annual Taste Of The
Valley event. This is the fourth year
that the museum has participated in this
event. The guests that attend are “Snow
Birds” that have come from Canada
and the Northern US to spend the
winter in the warm California climate.
Vendors at the event share all the
wonderful things there are to do in the
area. Rob shares with visitors the many
opportunities available at the museum.
Everything from a docent led tour to
getting behind the throttle and
operating a locomotive and when
you're through you can check another
item off the bucket list.
In February, Rob and his fellow
ambassadors Walt Craig and Donna
Zanin put on their Steampunk finery
and setup shop at the Dickens Festival
in Downtown Riverside. The costumes
were great conversation starters. It
gave the group the opportunity to focus
on our upcoming themed events Iron
Horse and the Civil War Reenactment.
We recognized some familiar faces
from the first Iron Horse event and it
was great to hear that they planned to
attend the 2015 Iron Horse and were
Fred Nicas (2017)
Bill Lamb (2018)
Brian Norden (2016)
Phil Palmieri (2016)
Community Directors:
Barry Busch
Directors meet monthly (except Dec.)
on the 3rd Saturday at 4:00 PM at
OERM’s Town Hall. Members are
welcome to attend
Marketing & Special Events Manager:
Donna Zanin
ASSOCIATION of
TOURIST RAILROADS
& RAILWAY MUSEUMS
Rob Zanin (in hat) talks with visitors to the OERM booth at Fullerton Railroad Days
Orange Empire Railway Museum 3
Archives Committee Report
M
embers attending
the May 11th
meeting included:
Darrell Calvillo, Alan Fishel, Jerry
Joseph, Dave Frevele, Ken
Douglas, Harvey Laner, Dick
Harley, Loren Martens, Craig
Rasmussen, and Allen Copeland.
Dick and Alan will conduct an
inventory of computers and
scanners that have been donated to
the archives. Dick has purchased
two new scanners which will be
donated to the museum after we
move into our new spaces. Allen
will incorporate the inventory into
the working paper he is compiling
on the OERM archives. We need to
keep management aware of what we
are doing, and raise awareness of
what has been accomplished and
what needs to be done. For
instance, we have inventoried and
stored 1,589 maps and drawings.
We have scanned over 52,000
photos, negatives, slides and
drawings. While there is a lot more
to go on this work, it is time to start
thinking how we would like to
display this material on the
museum's web site. Allen, Alan,
and Harvey talked about new
material to scan after several
projects are completed. It was
decided to work on the box of San
Bernardino negatives in the REY
( R a y m o n d E . Yo u n g h a n s )
collection. There are over 1,000 of
these and they are well labeled.
Work Accomplished during the
work session:
Ÿ Ken Douglas – Scanning Los
Angeles Railway prints and
maps from REY collection
Ÿ Jerry Joseph & Dave Frevele –
Inventorying PE (Pacific
Electric) maps from Pat
Underwood collection.
Ÿ Alan Fishel - Scanning Pacific
Electric black & white negatives
from Jim Bruggere.
By P. Allen Copeland
Ÿ Darrell Calvillo – Scanning PE
negatives from REY collection.
Ÿ Dick Harley – Scanning Union
Pacific slides (Payne Collection).
Ÿ Craig Rasmussen – Pulling
prints that need to be scanned
and working on captions.
Ÿ Loren Martens – Scanning
LARy negatives.
Ÿ Harvey Laner – Loading
scanned materials to museum
backup drive from previous
work sessions, and loading
DVD's of PE photographs taken
by Frank Bradford and scanned
by Craig Rasmussen.
Ÿ Allen Copeland - Delivering
used publications to gift shop for
sale, and hauling donated
materials from the bookstore to
our archives spaces. Wrote
letters of donation to Carolyn
Townsend and Diana Otwell and
picked up supplies from gift
shop. Ordered fiber mailing
tubes for map/drawing storage.
OERM UPCOMING EVENTS
Rods & Rails - June 13th, Hosted By The City Of Perris
See classic cars, historic trains and enjoy many other fun activities for the family, including a diverse selection of food.
Pacific Electric Weekend and Model Trolley Show - June 20th & 21st
A full parade and display of the Pacific Electric collection including a model trolley show. This is Father's Day weekend and
a BBQ lunch will be available on Sunday June 21st. Call the museum for BBQ reservations 951-943-3020.
Perris Appreciation Day – July 18th
If you live, work or go to school in Perris come out to the museum on Saturday July 18th and enjoy the museum and ride the
train and trolleys for free. Train and trolleys operate from 11:00am – 4:00pm.
Member's Barbeque and Evening Trolley Rides – July 25th
The evening starts at 5:30pm with dinner in Holstrom Park. After dinner it's time for trolley rides! Reservations for dinner
are required. Please contact the museum office at 951-943-3020.
Fall Swap Meet – September 12th
Buy and sell railroad antiques, collectibles, scale models, and toy trains. Swap Meet 9:00am – 2:00pm Train and trolley
rides 11:00am – 4:00pm.
Pumpkin Train – October 17th, 18th, 24th & 25th
Pumpkin Train is a Fall tradition not to be missed. Ride a trolley to the pumpkin patch where you can pick out and decorate
your own pumpkin. In addition to trolley rides there will be a bounce house, children's games, a costume contest and more
activities. Call the museum office to make reservations 951-943-3020..
Day Out With Thomas – November 7th, 8th, 11th, 14th & 15th
Day Out With Thomas is a fun-filled event that provides children of all ages the opportunity to climb aboard and take a
ride with Thomas and Percy as well as participate in tons of Thomas and friends activities. Advance tickets are
recommended. Call the museum office for more information 951-943-3020.
4 Gazette May 2015
THOMAS (AND PERCY)
NEED YOU
H
ow does a museum as
large and visitor
friendly as OERM get
its money to build and maintain its
facilities? One of the important
means, and our largest fundraiser, is
A Day Out With Thomas ™. In
order to pull off an event of this
magnitude and success we need
your participation. This has
become more important this year as
we have added an additional
attraction and opportunity to make
more money.
For the first time we will be
operating a train pulled by Thomas'
friend—Percy. Not surprisingly,
Percy will also be a friend to our
Chief Financial Officer as we are
selling the Percy ride separate from
the normal Thomas admission.
Early ticket sales make it clear
Percy will be a sell out and is very
popular with our visitors.
Operating an additional train
requires additional people. We
need an entirely separate pre-board
and loading team, as well as a
separate train crew. Though the
rewards are great, we need the help
of our dedicated volunteers to
assure our success.
This will be a very exciting
Thomas event. Our visitors will be
enthused and excited, especially
those having previously visited us.
Percy is one of the biggest
innovations to the event made in the
last 15 years. Last year, Percy was
available for photographs and was
every bit as popular as Thomas.
Percy will be boarding at a new
platform area to be installed
adjacent to Middleton Siding.
Visitors will access Percy from the
east end of Grizzly Flats and exit
along the west end of Grizzly Flats.
The pre-board tent will be north of
By Tom Jacobson,
DOWT Project Manager
Grizzly Flats and visitors will have
their tickets checked and enter the
new platform north of Cottonwood
station. Following their ride they
will be able to have their pictures
taken with Percy. Visitors not
purchasing a Percy ticket will be
able to have their pictures taken
through access to a line accessing
the photo area from south of
Grizzly Flats. This will also be
handicap access for Percy ticket
holders. All of this requires a group
of people to help with visitor
guidance and support.
We have a place for everyone.
If you can't stand for long periods of
time we have positions allowing
volunteers to sit. If you don't do
well in interacting with people we
have positions supporting the event
not requiring a lot of visitor
interaction. Whatever your skills,
or limitations, we have something
you can do to help us raise the funds
we require to support our
magnificent museum.
This year we will host Thomas
November 7, 8, 11, 14 and 15. We
appreciate your commitment as
early as possible so we can address
any shortfalls of volunteers with
our cadets and other groups. We
prefer to have as many museum
members as possible because our
visitors like to talk with our
volunteers about the museum.
Thanks again for helping us out and
agreeing to volunteer.
You can let us know of your
availability by dropping us a note at
[email protected] or
[email protected]. You can also
call us at (951) 943-3020.
Thanks for helping us make
this a super event.
All day pass for train and trolley rides for non-members: Adults $12.00, Children (5-11) $8.00
Extra charge for barbecue
Orange Empire Railway Museum 5
Plant and Facilities Report
W
hile our Spring event
season is in the final
stages we are
already embarking upon a program of
strategic planning with reference to
the physical layout of the Museum
and how we can best accommodate
both the new events and the
reconfiguration of already existing
events. The Visitor Experience
Division holds a series of monthly
meetings, some of which are event
specific, while there is also a general
events meeting. We are bringing
together as many of the volunteers as
possible to get new and fresh ideas
concerning the direction of the events
and how best to successfully
undertake each different event while
utilizing as much of the same
physical plant, props and other
equipment and services as possible.
A prime example of this is our
decision to construct a new loading
By Hank Winn,
Vice President / COO
platform at Cottonwood Station.
This will be at the south end of the
Middleton siding and will allow us to
run the new Percy Train component
of the A Day Out With Thomas ™
event simultaneously with the
normal Thomas train. We have
elicited a number of opinions and
concepts from very talented
volunteers and have designed a
beautiful new loading area, one that is
designed to be fully functional for
Continued on page 7
Join Us - Volunteers Welcome
WHAT
are we doing
Ne xt Date s
June 20th
Board of Director's Meeting
July 18th
Harvey Girls Historical
June 6th
Society Meeting & Brunch
Sept 12th
WHEN
Us ual Sche dule
3rd Saturdays (in
4:00pm
Dec 2nd Sat)
1st Saturdays
9:30am
(Sept-June)
1st Mondays
10:00am
(Sept-June)
WHO
do we me e t to Contact with Que s tions
Sharilin Peters - 714-800-3820
Town Hall
[email protected]
Pat Wolven - 951-833-2338
Town Hall
[email protected]
Gary Cochrane
Host / Tour Guide Meeting
Sept 7th
Town Hall
[email protected]
Intro To Railway Operations
Yardmaster's Brian Norden
July 11th
9:30am
& Museum History
Office
[email protected]
Yardmaster's Gary Starre
Motorman Class
Aug 1st
9:30am
Office
[email protected]
June 13th
Yardmaster's Rodney Jackson
GCOR2 Class
9:30am
Oct 10th
Office
[email protected]
Iron Horse/Steam Punk
Donna Zanin - 951-943-3020
Mar 21st
9:30am 3rd Saturdays
Town Hall
Committee
[email protected]
Thomas Event Committee
Aug 15th
Tom Jacobson - 951-314-4258
11:00am 3rd Saturdays
Town Hall
Meeting
[email protected]
Iron Horse / Steampunk
June 27th
Donna Zanin - 951-943-3020
9:30am Last Saturdays Town Hall
Event Committee Meeting
July 25th
[email protected]
Santa Event Committee
June 20th
Donna Zanin - 951-943-3020
10:00am
Town Hall
Meeting
July 11th
[email protected]
Grizzly Flats / Paul Harr - 714-225-7852
Narrow Gauge Projects
9am-5pm Most Saturdays
Car Barn #6 [email protected]
June 20th
1st & 3rd
Dan Parks - 626-827-3791
Steam Crew Work Day
9:30am
Car Barn 4
July 4th
Saturdays
[email protected]
By Arrangement
Dan Wheeler - 626-919-2134
Landscaping Work
- Contact Dan
[email protected]
Hank Winn - 951-226-6660
Signal Department work day
9:00am Most Saturdays Contact Hank
[email protected]
Collections Restoration and
Rod Fishburn - 818-203-5276
Year Round 9:00am Most Saturdays Contact Rod
Electric Car Maintenance
[email protected]
Note : In addition to contact info above, you can leave a message with the Staff at 951-943-3020 or [email protected]
6 Gazette May 2015
Time
WHERE
Plant and Facilities Report
- Continued
Continued from page 6
loading the Percy train while at the
same time being sufficiently benign
and color coordinated with the
natural environment to be compatible
with the requirements of the film
industry when Cottonwood is used
for filming. Other operational
changes were made to allow for a
greater utilization of Car Barn 4 when
hosting special events. This is just
another example of how we utilize
the best talents of the volunteers we
have in the most efficient manner to
develop a solution that will achieve
the desired result while being the
most efficient process with regard to
time, material, money and volunteer
hours. This cannot be achieved
without the coordinated efforts of the
various divisions involved.
A good example of the previous
paragraph is the recent effort to
install the landscaping for the new
Thomas F. Grose Archives Facility.
Dan Wheeler, our Landscaping
Manager, graciously set aside
virtually every project he had
undertaken to assist Fred Nicas with
this final phase of the building
project. As a result we are now very
close to achieving the completion of
the facility. Dan brings many years
of experience to the table. He is now
free to undertake the renovation of
the irrigation system in both Pinacate
and Holstrom parks. This will
involve both adding new sprinkler
heads and the repair or relocation of
existing sprinkler heads. This will be
a large project requiring much
physical work and effort. Dan has
also recently completed an
arrangement to have our existing
stock of vegetation grindings
removed and restored, at the same
time it will be relocated to a number
of more localized locations
throughout the Museum to facilitate
the distribution of the material more
efficiently. Ted Nira has been busy
taking care of his wife Maria, a
volunteer in the gift shop, who
fractured her ankle. All this while
still doing as much as he can to
maintain the grounds of the Museum,
many thanks to Ted for his continuing
effort. Brian and Ginger Voorhis
have been doing their usual efficient
work for the event season as they
concentrate on material movement
and trash removal. Without the help
of these and our other Events
volunteers, these events would not be
possible. If you have volunteered for
special event work in the past and
have the time to do even one or two
days a year we really would
appreciate your help. Please contact
our Special Events Division
Manager, Donna Zanin
( [email protected] 951-943-3020)
to see what you can contribute. Days
and hours are very flexible, anything
makes a huge difference.
R o n R u ff u l o , o u r m a s t e r
electrician, has been busy rebuilding
a number of light units slated to
replace currently used fluorescent
fixtures. He has also been busy with
Rob Zanin working on the electrical
hookups required for our stillongoing Spring special event season
all the while doing maintenance on a
number of smaller issues that were
deferred due to scheduling conflicts
with other projects. One ongoing
effort is to design a 480 volt standby
power system for our passenger cars
that are used in these special events.
Our four newest cars are air
conditioning equipped and operate
from a 480 volt, three phase, head end
power system. Many thanks to Ron
and Rob for what they accomplish.
Without their assistance and long
hours of volunteer time we would be
unable to put on the number and
variety of events that we have
recently been promoting.
Both Paul Dieges and Zeke
Hastings have recently accomplished
the completion of various earthrelated projects and are now moving
on to others. Several projects are
now underway including the dirt
work at the northeast corner of the
Loop. When the dual gauge turnout
for the transfer table was constructed
much of the dirt was removed to a
more convenient location around the
corner of Car Barn 3. In order to
restore the drainage channel from the
area, it became necessary to move
that dirt to another location and clear
the channel of excess overburden.
Paul did the grading with our Galion
motor grader and Zeke removed the
material with our John Deere scraper
and distributed it to locations that
required fill dirt. We still have a
small amount outside the radius of
the Loop that needs to be removed
and they are already planning that
project. Another example of excess
dirt being utilized is the addition of
dirt to the east slope of the new
Archival Facility.
With strategic planning, most
any problem at the Museum can be
dealt with---the utilization of our
talented volunteer pool is the key to
our continued success. With the socalled growing season underway we
have also turned our attention to
vegetation control. Paul Khoury has
been patrolling the grounds and
doing hand work with his weed eater.
Paul Dieges has been using our
Galion motor grader to deal with
weeds along the right of way and
Zeke Hastings has been doing the
same with our skip loader. Many
thanks to these volunteers for their
much needed help.
Orange Empire Railway Museum 7
Maria Gil Washington artillery company photographer
CIVIL WAR
By Cpl. Carlos Edward Brito,
Washington Artillery Reenactor
(with additional information by J. Michael Donnelly)
Trying to take the rail yards Sunday morning
Camp life was also recreated,
including one group providing era
meals (lunch and dinner), for sale
to the reenactors, cooked in 1860s
outdoor fashion. Many reenactors
Norm Buchanan
C
arlos has been an
OERM museum
member for about 6
y e a r s n o w, v o l u n t e e r i n g i n
operations and at the Grizzly Flats
Barn. But besides a passion for
railroading, he has another passion,
American History. So for the
past 11 years he has been a Civil
War Reenactor. He volunteers in
both Union & Confederate units.
When he is Union, he is a Pvt.
(Private) in the 3rd U.S. Battery F.
Artillery and when he is
Confederate he is a Cpl. (Corporal)
in the Washington Artillery of New
Orleans.
The last time OERM hosted a
civil war reenactment was 5 years
ago. This year's event was held on
May 16th & 17th and started off
wet. Setting up on Friday May 15th
was a little difficult due to the rain,
but by midafternoon it cleared up.
Members of the American Civil
War Society provided recreations
of authentic canons, rifles and other
period weapons.
8 Gazette May 2015
spent the night in their
encampment and cooked their own
breakfasts at their tents, in 1860's
fashion.
Each day two battle recreations
were held, with north and south
fighting with rifles and cannons. If
the real war was as loud as the
recreation, the Civil War must have
been pretty loud and smoky. (This
was before smokeless gun
powder.)
O n S u n d ay M a y 1 7 t h , a
coming home celebration for the
soldiers was held.
OERM's usual trains and
trolleys were available and our
hosts provided car barn tours. We
hosted over 500 visitors and over
100 reenactors (approximately 45
Union, 47 Confederate and 18
Civilians) performed over the
course of the two day event.
At this event, Carlos was a
Johnny Reb and this is his after
battle report in the style that a
soldier of that era might have
written.
Continued on page 9
OERM's own Carlos Brito is pushing the cannon on the right
CIVIL WAR - ContinueD
Continued from page 8
After Battle Report
We got orders to protect the rail
yards at all cost. Scouts early
Saturday morning spotted Yankee
guns closing in on the rail yards
Alan Gonick
fellow by some Calvary and 2 units
of Yankee infantry. We engaged
Billy at the narrow gauge rail yard
around 11:30 we were fighting for
about 30 mins when we finally
pushing Billy Yank back . Then
around 1300 (1:00pm) them Yanks
surprised us and sadly push us
back where we where engaged into
street to street combat and finally
Confederate soldiers in their camp
they took both rail yards. We did
suffer heavy losses and retreated
them yanks again . We got word of a
back to our camps to fight another
Yankee train was on the way to the
ration of Rum and food .
Finally around 1500 (3:00pm)
yards to re-supply there units. A
we where going to do a final push
Sunday morning our officers
small group of Virginia dismount
on them and take control of the rail
decided to re-take the rail yards.
Calvary and a couple boys from the
yards again . Our Calvary rush into
day.
Around 12 in the afternoon our
Washington artillery (Yes that
the street and surprised the
artillery open fire on the Yankee
includes me) waited for the train to
Yankees. As those Northern Invaders
guns. We thought we had surprised
board it and rob it. Taking the
try to re-group and fight back us
them but they were waiting for us.
train by surprise we took Yankee
boys in the Washington Artillery
Once again them Yanks got the
prisoners and also took possession of
open fire on them. Our infantry
upper hand and push our boys
ammunition and Yankee money.
rush In and cased them yanks back
back .
Returning with our spoils our
to New York . Our fine boys in the
Well trying to regroup to attack
infantry also captured some of
officers reward us with a extra
there artillery. We finally took the
rail yards back and when
reinforcements relieved us. Our
officers orders us to the rear to relax
where we received a wonderful
Welcome Home from our strong
Alan Gonick
southern women .
Sincerely yours
Johnny Reb
Washington Artillery of New
Orleans, reenactor
Union soldiers marching into battle
Please visit The Washington Artillery
of New Orleans Reenactors website at
www.washingtonartillery.info or
http://acws.net for a list of our other
events.
Orange Empire Railway Museum 9
UP 942 Returns to Service
A
2013, it was decided that the 942
should be used for display purposes
only until the work on the 108
tapered off.
With the return of Dave
Althaus after a lengthy absence, in
early 2014, interest of repairing the
942 began to build. Richard Berk
took the task of performing a “one
turn inspection” of both engines.
This told us what the condition of all
of the cylinders was and allowed us
to develop a scope of work for the
repairs.
The repair job was the cylinder
with the broken piston. After
knowing what parts were needed,
we evaluated what parts we had on
hand. It was found that we had a
new cylinder liner with a set of
piston rings on hand. Through the
help of Paul Krot, and the generous
support and help of Matt Monson of
Dieselmotive Company, Inc., a
piston, a head and replacement
gaskets were obtained.
In September 2014, Richard
Berk, wanting to make the
locomotive operational for the 2014
Union Pacific employee picnic,
began the task of changing the
damaged power pack. Richard, with
the help of Carl Pickus and Frank
Kunsaitis, removed the damaged
parts and replaced them with either
new parts or good used parts. This
allowed us to operate the #2 engine
again.
Due to the consequence of light
load operation that we subject our
locomotives to at the museum,
engine lubricating oil accumulates
in the exhaust system because high
temperatures are never attained to
Continued on page 11
Ryan Gallaher Photography
fter the 2012 cosmetic
restoration of the
Union Pacific 942,
much work remained to be done to
allow it to return to regular service
and function reliably. With the start
of the ATSF 108 restoration, the
museum's volunteer resources were
directed to that project, leaving little
time to address the problems with
the 942.
In August 2013, the 942 started
to show symptoms of a serious
problem with the #2 engine. Frank
Kunsaitis noticed a slight knocking
sound coming from that engine.
With some investigation it was
found that one of the pistons had
been broken.
Wi t h m o s t of the dies el
maintenance volunteer resources
working on the ATSF 108 during
by Jeff Williams
The UP 942 and the UP Trainset are brought out for Rail Festival
10 Gazette May 2015
UP 942 Returns to Service
- Continued
Continued from page 10
b u r n - o ff t h e o i l . W h e n t h e
locomotive was operating, this oil
had rained down on the entire top
surface of the car body. Tom
Platten, John Bateson, and Tim
Johnson cleaned the entire exterior
of the locomotive. This work was
done by hand to minimize the mess
that would be made by possibly
spreading the oil around.
The locomotive was
operational for limited use for the
UP picnic and was well received.
After the UP picnic, Richard
began to push for the need to return
the locomotive to regular service.
With the laundry list of problems
that it had, many small to medium
sized problems needed to be
addressed.
1. Replace all of the air box and
crankcase cover gaskets, to
correct the excessive amount
of oil leaks.
2. Replace any valve bridges that
were not working correctly, to
prevent additional broken
pistons.
3. Replace the oil filters on both
engines, to prevent valve
bridge failures.
4. Exchange all of the air brake
portions with rebuilt units to
bring the brake system into
date.
5. Repair the pre-lube pumps for
both engines, to eliminate the
risk of engine bearing damage
from dry starts after many
weeks of not operating.
6. Repair the control circuit for
the radiator cooling fans on
the #1 engine to correct the
overheating problems that
were experienced with that
engine.
7. Check and adjust the valve
lash and injector timing on all
12 cylinders of both engines,
to prevent valve damage and
ensure best economy of
operation of the engines.
8. Replace the gasket for the “top
deck” (rocker box) covers (8
covers total), to stop the oil
leaks from those areas.
9. Replace the faulty “engine
protector” device for the #1
engine, to stop the false low
water shutdown problems
After the scope of work was
determined, Richard set out to
research a supplier and cost
estimate for the air brake portions.
The cost of the air brake
replacement portions was found to
be acceptable and Richard took on
the difficult task of this job. The
942 has a 24 brake schedule and 24
schedule brake portions are very
heavy with some of them being
more than 75 lbs. each. This was
not an easy task as handing heavy
parts in a confined area where no
lifting equipment can reach made
this job especially difficult.
As the air brake work
progressed, a new volunteer, Chris
Cesena, began replacing the air
box and crankcase cover gaskets.
When that was completed, Richard
and Chris replaced the oil filters on
both engines.
Richard adjusted the valve
lash and injector timing on both
engines. This helped us find one
additional valve bridge that was
sticking. This prevented an
additional cylinder from being
damaged.
Richard Berk, Tom Platten and
Carl Pickus replaced the 8 top deck
cover gaskets. These covers are the
covers that are most visible on the
top of the engine where one can lift
them and access the camshafts,
rockers, valve bridges and
injectors. These were a significant
source of oil leaks, where oil was
normally streaming down the side
of the engines due to the old
gasket's condition.
Richard Berk and Chris
Cesena replaced the engine
protector device on the #1 engine.
The engine protector had been a
source of problems for many years
at the museum. After changing the
engine protector, it was found that
the 3-way test valve for the engine
protector was clogged with rust
and would not function. Jeff
Williams disassembled the valve,
cleaned it and reinstalled it.
In the days prior to Rail
Festival 2015, the fan control
circuit on the #1 engine was
troubleshot by Jeff Williams and
Richard Berk. It was found that
one of the fan motor contactor
coils was open. A temporary workaround scheme was set-up to allow
the locomotive to continue to
operate with two working radiator
fans. A replacement contactor coil
is on hand and will be replaced in
the near future.
Jeff Williams added a full 55
gallon drum of lube oil to the #2
engine.
Jeff Williams replaced the prelube pump motor for the #1 engine
with a spare that was on hand. The
original motor was damaged from
a combination of a locked-up
pump and the circuit breaker that
fed the motor having too high of a
trip setting.
Moving forward, the
operations department will
continue to re-qualify engineers on
the locomotive. This is necessary
since it is more complicated than
our other locomotives and because
of the long duration that it was out
of service. At this time, we intend
to operate the locomotive on our
mainline trains once per month.
Orange Empire Railway Museum 11
The Comet Cars
By Andrew Novak
Steven Helper
O
Erie Lackawanna 3382 West with a train of Comet Cars at Denville Junction
in June 1974
Standard for use on the EL
commuter lines operating out of
Hoboken. When originally built, the
cars were named “Dieseliners” by
Pullman and the name “Comet Car”
was adopted after New Jersey
Transit took over the former EL
commuter lines in 1983. The name
“Comet” was derived from the
“Blue Comet” a famous train
operated by New Jersey Transit
predecessor, Central of New Jersey.
Albert Novak
n January 21, 1971 a
train of three brand new
Comet 1 cars left the
Erie-Lackawanna (EL) station in
Hoboken, New Jersey at 10:30 AM,
pulled by a General Electric
U34CH. This was the inaugural run
of the new Pullman Standard-built
commuter cars, ushering in a new
era in commuter railroading in the
United States.
Prior to the delivery of these
new cars, the EL, in conjunction
with the New Jersey Department of
Transportation (NJDOT) were
operating a variety of passenger cars
on their diesel-hauled Hobokenbased commuter trains. These older
cars consisted of a variety of former
Lackawanna cars, including
“Stillwell coaches” and a rainbow
fleet of former Burlington Northern
(BN) and Santa Fe long distance
coaches. Many of the former BN
cars operated in the BN green paint
scheme along with Great Northern
(GN) green and orange and GN Big
Sky Blue.
In an effort to modernize the
fleet, the NJDOT purchased 155
single-level coaches from Pullman
Metrolink Trailer 5749 at the Norwalk/Santa Fe Springs Station on March 23, 2010
12 Gazette May 2015
The 155 “Dieseliners” were
built with all aluminum bodies, head
end power (HEP) and automatic
doors. The cars were built for lowlevel platforms and had fixed steps
in the vestibules instead of the
conventional traps. With automatic
doors, all the doors could be opened
from one location and each door did
not have to be opened on each car.
This allowed faster loading and
unloading of the train. Along with
the coaches, known as trailers, there
were also cab cars which allowed
the trains to be operated in push-pull
configuration. Push-pull operations
meant that trains did not need to be
turned at the terminals. At the time,
push-pull operations were not
widely used on the east coast, and
since then have become the norm for
commuter and even some regional
passenger train operations.
All 155 cars were delivered
between 1971 and 1973. Trailers
1700-1770, snack bar coaches
1600-1609 and cab cars 1500-1523
were delivered in 1971. Trailers
1771-1809 and cab cars 1524-1534
were delivered in 1973. When built,
all of the trailers and cab cars had
Continued on page 13
The Comet Cars
- Continued
Continued from page 12
to museums. By 2010, NJT had
scrapped the remaining Comet 1
cars.
Utah Transit Authority (UTA)
purchased 25 of the low-level
entrance trailers in 2006. The cars
were refurbished for use with the
agency's Bombardier Bi-Level cars.
They numbered the cars 301-325.
Six Comet 1 trailers and three cab
cars were sold to the Southeastern
P e n n s y l v a n i a Tr a n s p o r t a t i o n
Authority (SEPTA) in 2008 for
increased service on the SEPTA
Regional Rail Line. At SEPTA the
Comet trailers were numbered
2590-2595, and the cab cars were
numbered 2460-2461. SPETA also
owens cab car 5118, but that car has
become a dedicated parts source.
In 2008 the Southern California
Regional Rail Authority, also
known as Metrolink, was looking
for additional cars to use on their
commuter routes in southern
California. At the time Metrolink
was leasing Bombardier Bi-Levels
from Sound Transit in Washington
and Altamont Commuter Express
(ACE) in Stockton, California to
accommodate increases in service
levels and replace cars that had been
damaged in derailments. Metrolink
had ordered new cars from
Hyundai-Rotem which would not
be delivered until 2010 at the
earliest. To help fill the void until the
new Rotem cars arrived, and the
Sound Transit and ACE cars were
returned to their respective
agencies, Metrolink leased nine of
the Comet 1 cars from UTA and
purchased 15 Comet 1 cars from
NJT.
The UTA cars were all lowlevel entrance cars and retained
their UTA paint scheme while
operating on Metrolink. On
Metrolink trains that included a
Comet car, it was always coupled
directly to the locomotive. After
some modifications, the UTA cars
Continued on page 14
Andrew Novak
conventional 2x2 seating inside.
Along with the new cars, 32 new
General Electric U34CH diesel
locomotives were delivered to pull
the trains. Between 1979 and 1980
the cab cars were renumbered 51005134.
In 1983 the former EL
commuter operations, now operated
for NJDOT by Conrail, were taken
over by New Jersey Transit (NJT).
Four years after the NJT takeover in
1987, the agency had the Comet 1
fleet rebuilt by Bombardier.
Bombardier had purchased the car
design from the Pullman Company
and was continuing to build
“Comet” cars for commuter use.
They also used the same body style
for Amtrak's “Horizon” cars which
are used on many regional trains
across the county. During the 1987
rebuild, the conventional 2x2
seating was replaced with 2x3
seating which increased the
capacity of each car. At the same
time, most of the coaches were
rebuilt with conventional traps to
allow for boarding at high-level
platforms. The trailers that retained
their low steps were renumbered
1700-1760 and the rebuilt trailers
were renumbered 5707-5751. As
part of the rebuild, the cab cars also
had their low-level steps replaced
with conventional steps to be
compatible with high-level
platforms.
In 2005, NJT retired the last
remaining trailers with the lowlevel entrance steps. On March 27,
2009 Train 1169 departed Hoboken
at 5:45 PM with six Comet 1 Trailers
and one Comet 1 cab car. When the
train arrived in Suffern, New York at
6:46 PM, the era of the Comet 1 cars
had ended. After retirement several
of the cars were sold to other
commuter agencies, private leasing
companies and some were donated
Metrolink Trailer 5750 at the Montebello Metrolink Station on October 1, 2010
Orange Empire Railway Museum 13
The Comet Cars
- Continued
Continued from page 13
service.
During the brief time that
Metrolink operated Comet cars,
they developed something of a cult
following with some of the regular
riders. Many riders would often ride
in these cars instead of the standard
bi-levels when they were on their
trains. It was also not uncommon to
find passengers enjoying a nap on
the three-person seats in the Comet
cars.
While NJT may have scrapped
the bulk of the Comet fleet in 2010,
several of the cars have found their
way into private ownership and
museums. Comet trailers 5720,
5732, 5734 and 5749 have been
donated to Orange Empire Railway
Museum in Perris after Metrolink
retired them. Trailers 1753, 1786
and 1803, along with cab car 1519
are at the Whippany Railway
Museum in Whippany New Jersey.
Trailers 1700 and 1705 are now
owned by the Erie-Lackawanna
Dining Car Preservation Society of
were able to operate with the
Metrolink cars and the doors were
fully operational. Metrolink leased
UTA cars 302, 305, 310, 313, 315,
316, 317, 319 and 320. In 2010 these
cars were returned to UTA.
Metrolink purchased 15 Comet
cars from NJT: nine cab cars and six
trailers. All of these cars had the
rebuilt vestibules. The cab cars were
5103, 5111, 5113, 5116, 5117, 5124,
5127, 5130 and 5134. The trailers
were 5710, 5720, 5732, 5734, 5749
and 5750. Metrolink only placed
five of these cars in service: 5720,
5732, 5734, 5749 and 5750. These
cars retained their NJT paint
schemes while at Metrolink, and
like the cars from UTA they only
operated one car in a consist directly
behind the locomotive. Because
these cars had the high-level
boarding doors, passengers were
unable to board these cars directly
and they had to board through the
Metrolink bi-levels. In 2011
Metrolink retired these 15 cars from
BIG HOG SHAPER AT WORK
By Mel Johnson (aka The Old Machinist)
T
Mel Johnson
he Orange Empire
Railway Museum
machine shop is
fortunate to have a 24″ hydraulic
Big Hog Shaper
14 Gazette May 2015
shaper. It is used only infrequently
and needs to be run periodically to
allow the pressurized lubricating
system to distribute oil. I decided a
scrap 6″ x 8″ piece of hot roll mild
steel spotted nearby would serve as
a work-piece for some run time. To
make the job interesting, I set the
goal to machine the plate to within
.001″ of being parallel. To meet the
.001″ goal, it was necessary to
adjust the knee support several
times.
The shaper type of machine
tool has a long history of useful
work, but these days the milling
machine is the better choice for
most jobs. Our shaper does not run
often and needs periodic TLC.
Pennsylvania. Trailers 1714 and
1776 are found at the United
Railroad Historical Society of New
Jersey, which also owns one of the
former EL GE U34CHs. With
several of these cars preserved in
museums, generations to come will
be able to see and ride the cars that
ushered in the modern era of
commuter railroading.
I would like to thank the
following individuals, groups and
publications for the information and
photos for this article: Will Walters,
Albert Novak, Ed Von Nordeck,
John Arbukle, Ray Ballash, Steven
Helper, The Whippany Railway
Museum, Erie Lackawanna Dining
Car Preservation Society, The
United Railroad Historical Society,
utahrails.net, The Utah Transit
Authority, Railway Passenger Car
Annual Volume IV 1978-1979,
Railway Passenger Car Annual
Volume V 1980-1981 and New
Jersey Transit Rail Operations by
Joel Rosenbaum and Tom Gallo.
About the
Old Machinist
By Mel Johnson
(aka The Old Machinist)
I
am 82 years old and wed
for 65 years. I am a retired
engineer and spent 35
years developing INS gyroscopes.
I am a High School mentor in
physics, mountaineer, model
builder, machinist and have a
degree in Physics. My interests
include railroad history and
photography, science history,
cosmology, interesting people,
and old engineering drawings. I
place a high value on my
friendships. I enjoy life and am
looking forward to the future with
my usual sense of anticipation and
curiosity.
Farewell to Ken Ruben
K
en Ruben, a longtime
fan and frequent news
p r o v i d e r to
TrainWeb, passed away at 10:40
A.M. on Thursday morning, March
12, 2015, after suffering a disabling
stroke on December 30th, 2014.
A man who never held public
office, never was prominent in
commerce, never accumulated the
most remote form of wealth but
rose to the perch of being one of
Culver City's best known citizens
through sheer will. The lifelong
bachelor was 72 years old.
An office worker in earlier
years, his avocation of avidly
pursuing the lore and travel
experiences of trains and busses
served him magnificently in his
retirement years. Wherever he
passenger'd by rail or bus wheels
throughout California, he
encountered friends. These
authentic pals, from Sacramento to
Los Angeles, joyfully shared their
mutual passions and genuinely
cared about each other's welfare.
Even though Mr. Ruben's last
family member died more than 40
years ago, a tightly knit cordon of
friends closely monitored his
By Steve Grande
& Ari Noonan
mostly depressing condition the last
2-1/2 days. Rare was the day he
went without a visitor, and perhaps
he did not.
An inveterate observer of and
participant in community meetings,
especially those with transportation
themes, hardly any resident was
more quickly recognizable.
His 5-foot-2, 210-pound frame
was his most familiar asset, garbed
as it routinely was in Mr. Ruben's
beloved trenchcoat and newsboy
cap. Seldom were he and they
separated.
When he removed his cap
before stepping to the speaker
podium, by his eloquence, rich
bank of transportation knowledge
and his wave blond hair almost
always impressed audience - even
those accustomed to his clearly
delivered opinions.
A newshound, Mr. Ruben was
magisterially informed every day.
One of his keepers was a transistor
radio. He knew the radio shows and
schedules as well as he knew his
pals' names.
A borderline natty dresser, he
almost always was attired to attend
a high-end party or the most casual
function.
Unlike some members of his
generation, Mr. Ruben was as facile
with today's technology as the most
awesome teen.
He owned almost one cell
phone for every finger. He texted.
He sent and received pictures.
Mr. Ruben was a candidate for
the best informed of citizens. He
was well known in downtown Los
Angeles, where he moved
comfortably in MTA circles.
He may have been the only
Angeleno who knew every bus
schedule in Los Angeles the city
and the county.
He knew most of the upper tier
of MTA-type executives. They
knew him. He may have sat in on,
and actively participated in, more
meetings than any other Southern
Californian.
He was not a passive observer,
of meetings or of life.
Orange Empire Railway Museum 15
Rail Festival
By J. Michael Donnelly
Jonathan B. Camacho
O
The stars of the show - PE 717, UP 942 and VC2
The Bandit Band played
country, blue grass music and
staged robberies on the train and of
the audience in our Holstrom Park.
The costumed robbers usually
perform train robberies at Knott's
Berry Farm on their 3-foot gauge
railroad.
The H&N No 1 and the PE 1624 Electric locomotives
make a rare appearance on the loop line
16 Gazette May 2015
Jonathan B. Camacho
standard and narrow gauge cars
having a rare day in the sunlight.
Members Gary Starre and Mary
Bovert gave descriptions of each
car as it passed by. Mini Run Ones
were very popular with over 50
guests getting 10 minutes behind
the throttle of the Southern Pacific
3100 for only $20 each.
Jonathan B. Camacho
ur Railfest event was a
success, with sunny
skies and lots of things
for our visitors to see and do. We
hosted over 800 visitors.
Our Ventura County number 2
steam locomotive led the activities,
pulling a 5-car train, with the end
car being the business car, Soo #54,
the Mt. Rubidoux. Special tickets
were available for rides in the Mt.
Rubidoux, giving the passengers a
taste of old time railroad executive
train riding.
The diesel maintenance team
did a fantastic job getting the Union
Pacific 942 E8A back in service for
this event. Details on this project
can be found in a separate article by
Jeff Williams. The UP trainset ran
twice each day of the event, pulling
a five car UP passenger train
consist, including the 1530 lounge
car and the National Scene sleeping
car. Thanks guys; the train looked
great!
The Operations department
hosted a loop parade, with many
The Mt Rubidoux, on the rear of the steam train, passes the
SP 3100 which was being used on the Middleton siding for
the Mini Run Ones
Continued on page 17
Rail Festival
- Continued
Continued from page 16
FACES TO NAMES
By Dave Wolven
Dave Wolven
Jonathan B. Camacho
Let me introduce John Bateson
John Bateson
J
Don Robinson
Extra streetcars were out for Rail Festival
Don Robinson
The Bandit Band performs a fake train robbery
ohn is one of the true “worker
bee's” he works most every
Saturday and can be found
under or on top of the Southern Pacific
#1006 project. He has been a member
of the barn #7 restoration crew for 7
years. He started working at the
museum in 2006 on the Santa Fe
98/108 restoration and has since
moved over to work on #1006.
When asked why he volunteers at
museum? His answer was rather
surprising. John says he and his wife
have been married for over 50 years
and he felt that the dear lady needed a
break. So he comes out to the museum
one day a week so his wife can have the
day to herself, what a nice guy!
As I said, John is part of
restoration crew headed by Dave
Althaus and having a rather small crew
consisting of Carl Pickus, Tom Platten
along with the Painter family.
When asked what change he
would like to see? He had a number of
wishes, but the most realistic one was
that he would like to see more new
members. So if you would like to make
a real differences at the museum join
John and the crew in barn #7. They can
use your help.
Remember we are an equal
opportunity organization and would be
happy to let anyone get filthy dirty.
PE 717 Does a brisk business
Orange Empire Railway Museum 17
Collections/
Curation Report
By Rod Fishburn,
Collections Manager
(With Reports frOm Ralph Nenn)
SANTA FE 108
See separate report from Chuck
Painter on page 21.
PACIFIC ELECTRIC 498
Rod Fishburn
Another major mile stone in the
restoration project has been reached
with the painting of the roof on this
Pacific Electric Blimp. Painting this
area made it apparent why these cars
were called "Blimps". It is one big
painting project!! We first cleaned the
roof and prepared the area for paint.
We then applied the finish tan paint to
the roof. When we finished, we were
tired, but very satisfied with the
finished product. The following day
the masking was removed and the car
was cleaned again. The paint team
consisted of Dave Ley, Dave Wolven,
Gary Knight and Ralph Nenn.
Doug White continues his
motorman's window project; the
window is slowly going back together.
After finding the window ledge, it was
necessary to have Jim Gates do a weld
repair, then Doug needed to drill and
tap the car frame to properly install the
ledge. All parts were painted PE red
and we are a step closer to actually
being able to install the window.
Several questions remain and several
parts to the frame are still missing.
Ray Ballash has been assisting us
in providing glass and giving us
Dave Wolven
April 26th - The LARY 1201 seats are being installed over the newly refurbished floor.
May 1st - Gary Knight is painting the
roof of PE 498.
18 Gazette May 2015
technical data for the project. This is
important because, of the current crew,
none of us saw this car prior to the tear
down many years past. Dave Ley has
installed the number boards on each
end of the car. Ray has taken the
information and will order the glass
and gasket material for the number
boards. While working on obtaining
glass we have realized that we cannot
use the 418 measurements for the
boxes on the 498 as they are very
different. So it's back to the drawing
board as the old saying goes "measure
twice and cut once." It is a fact when
you are doing restoration work. In
addition, Dave installed the small
porthole window in the motorman's
compartment.
Johnathan Suchan has assisted us
working on various items where
needed. Some of his projects include
working on the brakes on PE 498,
installing the motorman's door upper
sill and improving safety by mounting
a first aid station at the shop door for
easy access.
Dave Ley and Doug White
followed the very busy weekend
creating new punch lists of work to be
accomplished on the project.
Johnathan and Michael Suchan have
the body brake parts all laid out and
ready and waiting for the new pins and
bushings. Once those parts arrive we
can move forward on that project.
ELECTRIC CAR
MAINTENANCE
George Chapman reported that
refurbishment work on LARy 1201 is
complete. The work included painting
the ceiling and removing the seats and
floor among other items. Most
amazing, this refurbishment was
accomplished in 3 months and 2 days
from being switched into Carhouse 3.
The primary volunteers were George
Chapman, Project Manager, Jeff
Andelin, Lewis & Jennifer Dieters and
Ryan Keck.
We are planning to pull LARy
1201 on May 23 and immediately (NO
trips around the loop) place it over the
pit. We will be performing a full
inspection and truck swap on May 23
and 24. Ryan Keck and Rod Fishburn
have confirmed that the lifts are in
operating condition. On Saturday,
May 30 in the morning, we will have a
coming out ceremony and the 1201
will be returned to service.
LARy 665 will take 1201's place
in Carhouse 3 for a multi-year
rebuild.
W
hile most of our recent
efforts have gone to the
much awaited Perris
Connection, as previously reported, we
continue to work on other Museum
projects, especially on ones that will
improve the appearance and scene of
the Museum in the visitor areas. We
are now ready to install two of the
Pacific Electric 6th & Main signal
heads that we have been preparing for
some time. The Perris Connection
project has necessitated the reordering
of what we were able to accomplish in
the core area of the Museum due to time
restraints and now we have some time
to finish several smaller projects like
this one. The signals will be painted
black and white in the older paint
scheme used when the PE Building was
constructed in 1905. We are also
designing a slightly different concept
than originally planned for the signal
that we have already installed on the
Connecting Track that links the Loop
and the Barn 4 Lead. The new concept
will allow a train from either the
Connecting Track or the Barn 4 Lead to
have a green signal. Since the switch
that connects the two tracks is a spring
switch this will eliminate the
requirement of having to throw the
switch by hand in order to obtain a
green signal prior to entering the block.
Additionally, we are drawing up plans
to install a true automatic block signal
at the south end of the block that now
runs from the Alpine Drive south to the
Mapes Switch. There is already a
signal on the north end governing
southbound movements and by
upgrading the signal at the south end
from a distant signal to a true automatic
block signal we will bring the system
into true conformity with traditional
signal practice. We will of course, have
to install some additional logic relays
and the accompanying wiring for this
and that leads to an additional area
requiring work. The relay case at
Alpine Drive is not large enough for the
additional circuits and must be
replaced. Since we are going to do
additional configuring of the circuits at
By Hank Winn,
Vice President / COO
experience to the Museum as we
Oil Junction, we already knew that this
redesign and upgrade the core area at
would need future attention.
Alpine Drive and Middleton.
Preliminary design work has already
As part of this redesign, we would
been done. Brad Black and Hank Winn
like to install what are called either
have selected a larger signal case to be
motor car indicators or block
used. We will need to recondition
indicators. These are cast iron boxes
some of the shelving in it, repair the
with either a three dot or miniature
backboards and repaint the exterior but
semaphore mechanism that tells the
it is a good example of an older four
motor car, speeder or track car operator
door Union Switch & Signal Co. relay
whether the track ahead and behind is
case and fits the available footprint
clear. These are also used at switches
perfectly. Thanks for the design work
to let the train crew know whether it is
go to our Signal Engineer, Brad Black.
safe to come onto the main line from a
Our newest signal volunteer, Dale
side track. These will make an
Wyant, has been quite busy rewiring
outstanding addition to our system. I
some of the circuits at Alpine Drive as
would like to request that anyone who
previously reported and while he and
has one that they would be willing to
Hank Winn were looking over the
donate to the Museum for use on our
central area of the system, it was
railroad to contact me. All donations
decided to do an insulated joint
are IRS 501 (c) 3 tax deductible. Please
replacement at the Middleton spring
contact me at [email protected]
switch. We had recently acquired some
of the newer rubberized style insulated
or (951) 226-6660.
joints and it was determined that this
would be an
excellent
location to
utilize this
style. This will
free up this
older "wrap
around style"
joint to use in
the Alpine
Drive platform
area which is
buried to the
rail head in iron
ore slag ballast.
This ballast
material is not
g o o d f o r
rubberized
joints; the slag
ballast abrades
the material.
Dale has
proved to be an
invaluable new
volunteer and The drawing shows the new relay house and the new cantilever
brings many signal bridge for North bound trains. The existing signal between
the tracks will be turned to face North and a new 17 foot high
y e a r s o f signal will be placed in the new concrete platform, facing South
professional
and angled towards the switch. The new sandstone colored
s i g n a l
platform is being constructed for Percy loading this coming
November.
Orange Empire Railway Museum 19
Paul Dieges
Signal Report
Maintenance Report
By Paul Harr,
Division Manager Maintenance
Fitting of the last new blind driver brake shoe on NC 2.
(Emma Nevada) Cutting, grinding fitting and adjustment was
done by Byron Brainard, Mike Wissler and John Le Prince
Paul Harr
Paul Harr
The pictures below show examples of the maintenance projects that our various members have worked on this month.
SP Coach 2144 brake rigging repair and shoe replacement
done by Mike and John Suchan
Help Wanted
Job Description – Marketing Specialist
A Marketing specialist, also known as market research analysts, will help OERM figure out what sells. They will analyze market data on a
local, regional or national level, and determine what people are interested in regarding venues like ours, what gaps are in the market, what
type of people are interested in our venue, services and type of educational experience, and what people are willing to spend on those
products and services.
The marketing specialist and research analyst have their finger on the pulse of what sells around the region, analyzing demographic data,
buying and shopping habits, looking at a competitors and their pricing, creating and administering surveys, questionnaires and other
information gathering devices, measuring current strategies and much more, all in an effort to help expertly understand the best way to
market our products and services.
Salary/Stipend
We are looking for a graduate student/intern looking to build job experience and work for a stipend starting at $1200/month. This amount
could be increased depending on performance driven outcomes.
Educational requirements
Bachelor's degree, in market research, or similar field, Certification in marketing or similar discipline is also acceptable.
Job Skills/requirements
Ÿ Analytical Skills: Marketing specialists look at many streams of data to determine the demographics and buying trends of current and
potential customers. Understanding this data will be critical to the job.
Ÿ Communication: When gathering and presenting information, marketing specialists need to be able to talk and listen well.
Ÿ Critical-Thinking: Being able to process the data in a way to make recommendations takes critical thinking.
Ÿ Attention to Detail: Analyzing data to show trends takes precision.
Ÿ Ability to utilize and exploit social-media.
Ÿ Must be able to periodically spend time on property to get to know the museum, its resources, capabilities and culture.
Will report to / ancillary responsibilities
President/CEO, General Manager/COO; will interact with Event Planning Manager. May periodically make presentations to the board of
directors, media, donors, partners and clients.
Email your resumes to [email protected]. For further information or questions please call the museum office at 951-943-3020 and leave
a message for the President/CEO.
20 Gazette May 2015
AT&SF 108 Progress Report
the carbody frames, undercarriage,
and the front and rear pilots. Chuck
and Elizabeth Painter have spent
many days removing the multiple
layers of paint from the trucks and
frame below the side sill. Carl
Pickus took the task of installing the
new front pilot that was donated by
Motive Power Industries, Wabtec.
The sump below the engine has
been drained and scrubbed. New
body panels and battens have been
fabricated and installed. Jeff
Williams rebuilt the cab interior and
he, Danny Giles and Heather Garcia
painted it to the original color. Jeff
has painted the inside of the
dynamic brake hatch. Richard
Berk rebuilt the control stand to the
1967 factory specifications. Jeff has
also fabricated and installed new
window frames.
Going forward, we need to
finish the repair on the radiator
hatch and reassemble it. The
Paul Harr
O
Jeff Williams using dry ice blasting to
clean the engine covers for the
ATSF 108
Lizzy Painter
ur Museum's FP45 is
one of 14 units built by
EMD for passenger
service. Five belonged to the
Milwaukee Road, nine to the Santa
Fe. The F45, which was the freight
version and seven feet shorter, was
manufactured in greater quantities,
and, if Wikipedia serves me right,
used by the Santa Fe and the Great
Northern. All five of the
Milwaukee Road units were
scrapped. Of the Santa Fe version,
six survive. When completed, ours
will be the only operating FP45, and
of very few fully restored Santa Fe
Warbonnets.
The project entails a complete
restoration of the carbody, while
restoring many of the visible
features from when the locomotive
was new. After removing the
carbody panels, Tom Platten and
John Bateson spent many Saturdays
removing all the loose paint from
By Chuck Painter
In foreground is the area where we used a needle gun to remove the paint. In the
background is what it will look like when it's painted (minus the prop in the black
shirt sitting against the cab wall – aka Chuck Painter). Still shooting towards having
the locomotive running by year end.
dynamic brake hatch will soon get
turned over and we will begin to
prepare the exterior for painting.
At the time of this printing, we
will have dry ice blasted (this is like
sand blasting except with dry ice)
below the side sills. This will
remove all loose paint that could not
be reached with a needle gun. Dry
ice blasting has an advantage over
sand blasting because it does not
leave the used blasting media in
places where it would be difficult to
remove.
There are numerous other
detail items that would take too
much space in this article.
There are quite a few members
who have worked on the project
who did not get mentioned. Please
contact me at [email protected]
so that your good work can be
acknowledged and appreciated in
the next progress report.
Our project manager is Jeff
Williams. If you would like to
volunteer, he can be reached at
[email protected].
Orange Empire Railway Museum 21
Track Report- April 2015
by Paul Krot
P
Paul Dieges
aul Dieges and Zeke
Hastings continue work
on the Goetz Lead. The
slot behind the Signal Department
compound has been mostly filled in.
A shallow slot was graded further
east of Signal Land in order to
accommodate the track with the rail
head even with ground level.
Surveying was done by Paul Dieges
and his transit, assisted by Paul Krot.
With the grading complete, track
panels were laid out and roughly
aligned by Zeke Hastings. This was
followed up by Phil Palmieri lining
the panels and barring them up. After
our Union Pacific ballast car was
refilled at the ballast ramp at the front
of the Museum, it was spotted on the
Goetz Lead by the Operating
Department. Bill Leukhardt and Phil
Palmieri later distributed ballast on
the westernmost portion of this track.
Most of the ballast was spread on the
shoulders and the open cribs exposed
by the previous surfacing operation
will be filled using our Kershaw
ballast regulator in preparation for
final surfacing. Another big thanks
to FST Sand & Gravel for their
generous donation of ballast.
Our #10 turnout for the Perris
Connection project is coming along.
Paul Dieges
Danny Giles and Phil Palmieri admire the day's work on the switch. The
completed point section is in the foreground. The rail being used on the
switch is about 141 pounds per yard.
Phil Palmieri holds one of the screw
spikes used in this switch
22 Gazette May 2015
Plates that required punching to
accommodate the use of screw spikes
were processed by Phil Palmieri
assisted by Hank Winn in our
Machine Shop using the Buffalo
Ironworker. Mel Johnson machined
a set of drill guides to accurately
center the auger bit used to pre-drill
ties. This is done in conjunction with
use of screw spikes. The point
section has been fit up and mostly
assembled. Various adjustments are
required in the point section to
accommodate the various connecting
r o d s used. Various electric,
pneumatic, gasoline, and hydraulic
power tools, small shop forklift, and
Pettibone Speed Swing were utilized
for this work.
In assistance to the Line
Department, several hydraulic
repairs and upgrades were
accomplished by Paul Krot and
Wa r r e n B u c h a n a n o n t h e
International digger truck. This type
of work promotes safety, reliability
and ease of use when use of the
equipment is required.
Zeke Hastings continues
processing ties out back. His work
consists of first straightening out the
pile into something workable.
Stripping off any extraneous
hardware, then culling out any ties
that are outright defective and not
suitable for reuse, and then sorting
them by grade. The grades would be
suitable for use in the mainline,
secondary track, or yard track. The
final steps are plugging the old spike
holes and then stacking and banding
the ties for upcoming projects.
Great strides have been made by
Paul Khoury who has been working
in various areas doing weed
abatement. The Barn 7 lead is
looking better than it has in years and
the wye area that was out of reach of
the weed sprayer has also been
cleaned up. Bill Lamb continues his
weed abatement efforts in the Barn 4
yard and surrounding area. This is a
great help presenting a neat
appearance to our visiting guests who
tour through the area.
Cash contributions totaling $6,264 were made to the following funds in April 2015. Our sincere thanks to the following
individuals and businesses:
·General Fund - Anonymous, John Cook, Gary Knight, David Ley, Dean Lissner, Vicki Primavera
·Archive Building Project (Fund B11) - Larry Burks, James Walsh, Roy Wojahn
·Perris Connection Construction (Fund B22) - John Brinkmann, Larry Burks,
Jeffrey Butler, Gary Cochrane, Heather Garcia, Cameron Gillmore, David Ley,
Hunter McConnell Jr, Ralph Nenn, Jon Sirrine, Gene Somers
·Keeler Water Tank Construction (Fund B39) - Michael S De Ghetto,
John McHenry
·Harvey Museum Improvements (Fund B41) - Susan LePrince, Mona Lowe
·LATL 2601 Refurbishment (Fund C2) - Robert Szager
·SDERy 508 Refurbishment (Fund C33) - Frederick Brandt, Bill Costley,
William Lange, Donald Mac Innes
·PE 418 Refurbishment (Fund C36) - Thomas Goodwin, David Ley, Ralph Nenn
·ATSF 98/108 Refurbishment (Fund C41) - Charles Painter II
This stencil appeared on various pieces
·UP Mikado 2564 (Fund C42) - Thomas Gorman
of OERM rolling stock which had
·Track (Fund M4) - Metropolitan Stevedore Company
received periodic maintenance such
brake repairs and lubrication during
·PE Hollywood Cars (Fund M7) - Ray Olesen
the early 1980s. Pepper trees offered
·Archives Collection (Fund M9) - E F Bulmahn
shade from the blistering summer sun
·VC2 Ventura County No 2 (Fund M10) - Anonymous, Don Miller, Jon Sirrine
in that era before covered facilities.
·Red Cars Endowment (Fund E4) - IBM Employee Matching
Private Railcar Tour
Guests of the Hearsts
September 9-11, 2015
Experience what it was like to be an honored guest of William Randolph
Hearst! Our exclusive 3-day getaway includes travel from Los Angeles to
the Central Coast area and back aboard vintage private railcar Colonial
Crafts, a special, behind the scenes tour of Hearst Castle conducted by a
Museum executive, and a private catered dinner at the Castle.
Also included in this unique, exclusive tour are a welcome dinner at
Windows on the Bay in Morro Bay, two nights lodging at the Cavalier
Resort in San Simeon, a side trip to the Point Piedras elephant seal
rookery, and we wrap up our tour with visits to several of the area wineries
before boarding Colonial Crafts for our trip home.
Price: Fares start at $1,849 per person, double occupancy.
Please visit our website at www.ColonialCraftsRailcar.com, contact Colonial Crafts toll free at (877) 2241150 or by email at [email protected] for a color brochure, additional information,
reservations and booking for the September 2015 Guests of the Hearsts Tour.
Colonial Crafts in partnership with California Zephyr Railcar Charters and other tour operators offers private car tours to
destinations throughout the US. Colonial Crafts is also available for custom personal charters. Please check our website,
www.colonialcraftsrailcar.com and Facebook page for more information.
Orange Empire Railway Museum 23
Raphael Long
DONATIONS IN APRIL 2015
OERM Partners
Pacific
Maritime
Association
To: Orange Empire Railway Museum
DONATION REQUEST - (Tax deductible receipt will be mailed to you)
P.O. Box 548
Perris, CA 92572-0548
Amount
General Fund:
GF General Fund
Supports Operational Budget
$__________________
E1
Richards
Supports Unrestricted Projects
$__________________
E3
Niedrich
Supports Restoration Projects
$__________________
E4
Red Cars Endow
Supports Pacific Electric Program
$__________________
E5
Gagnon
Supports Steam Program
$__________________
Current Capital
B11
Archives Building Provide Space for Archives and Harvey Museum
$__________________
and Restoration
B22
Perris Connection
OERM Track to Perris Depot
$__________________
Projects:
C2
LATL 2601
1930 LATL Street Car
$__________________
C33
SDERy 508
1936 SDERy Street Car
$__________________
C36
PE 498
1913 PE Interurban
$__________________
C41
ATSF 108
1967 FP-45 Locomotive
$__________________
C56
SP 1006
1939 SP SW-1 Locomotive
$__________________
Endowment Funds:
Other Projects:
_____ _______________________________________
$__________________
_____ _______________________________________
$__________________
Total $__________________
Member Number:_________________
Cash: $____________
Name:__________________________________
Check: $____________
Credit Card: Visa
Master Card
Date:___________________
American Express
Discover
Card No: _______ _______ _______ _______ Sec Code: ______ Expires:________ Signature: ______________________
Thank You