Post on 21-Mar-2018
Tehachapi Loop Railroad Club’s Newsletter
A Step Back in Time at the Nevada Northern Railway Pictures and Story by Marlan Woodside
June 2015 Issue - Page 1
At the 16 May 2015 Plane Crazy Saturday event held at the Mojave Airport, Mike Massee gave an excellent
presentation and slide show that covered the Nevada Northern Railway, a National Historic Landmark. The
railroad is located in Ely Nevada and is staffed by docents that recreate steam as it was in its heyday.
Mike spoke of his favorite time of year to take pictures of the steam engines was wintertime as it provides
an opportunity to accent the steam aspect of the railroad. His presentation included many black and white
photos that certainly made the engines and crews appear to be from the 1930s and 40s. The focus of the
railroad is to re-create the 19th century in the 21st century and they certainly have achieved that objec-
tive. The presentation was originally planned for the June 2014 Train
Crazy Saturday, but was cancelled due to illness. Check out Mike’s pho-
tography at mike@mikemassee.com and www.mikemassey.com or face-
book.com/masseephoto Each Plane Crazy and Train Crazy event fea-
tures guest speakers and the presentations are held in the airport
board room at 11am of the every third Saturday of the month events.
A small donation is requested and seating is limited to about 48 people.
The proceeds of these events support the Mojave Transportation Mu-
seum (MTM). On the 20th of June 2015, an Antelope Valley Rail Fan
and Airplane enthusiast Bob Alvis will be making a presentation that
covers rail fanning in the Antelope Valley during the 1960s and 70s.
Since seating is limited, it is best to RSVP by emailing prop-
turns1@hughes.net (Cathy Hansen is the point of contact) or by phoning
661-824-8417 and last but not least, checking in at the Mojave Trans-
portation Museum booth the day of the event to see if seats are still
available. The event will run from 9am to 1pm at the Mojave Air and
Space Port 1434 Flight Line, Mojave CA 93501. More information on
MTM is at www.mojavemuseum.org Mike is pictured at right as he is an
engineer for the Mesa Grande Western Railway in his spare time!
Since April 1993
June 2015 Issue - Page 3
We only had one get together at John Bell’s house this month. We checked the grades
of the roadbed for all the future tunnels and started digging to get it correct. It was
dry and hard to dig, so we laid concrete
blocks to hold water in that area. Then we
flooded that area so digging would be easier.
John has done a lot of work on his own, clean-
ing and moving his trains in the back of his
garage. Those large storage racks were also
moved. He also added a spur track off his
outside mainline at ground level. He then ele-
vated the spur to be waist high by the time it
enters the back of the garage. He plans on
putting a hole in the wall for the trains to run
into the garage. Then he can make up trains
without bending down and send them out on
the mainline.
I drove my wife Judy, Dennis Keck and John
down to Riverside to see the Roger & Faith
Clackson Railroad at what turned out to be his
last open house of the season. Check out his
web site at R&F railroad.com I have seen a lot
of G scale railroads before, but this is still my
favorite. It is 1/3 acre of outdoor trains! It
has been shown on television many times. They
had so many cool trains running all at once and
then would switch out others to run also. All
the different areas were set up so nicely with
many buildings, cars and people. There is just
too much to describe in this letter. They also
have a three car garage with a wonderful H.O.
layout that was all lit up with miniature lights
everywhere. Again this H.O. layout was really
detailed. We spent about three hours there. They can-
celled their June open house. Maybe in the fall they might
have some more.
The Ontario train show will be conducted on 6 and 7 June.
John, Dennis and I will go on Saturday the 6th of June. I
like to get there early to see if there are any good bar-
gains!
Our next get together will be at John’s on each Thursday
unless we do something different. Hope to see you
there . C U - Rick
East Kern G Scale Railroaders Story and Pictures by Rick Passalacqua
Side Note about Private Cars: Since the
early days of railroads there have been pri-
vately owned passenger cars, and special cars
for railroad officials. Usually handled on the
rear end of the train, owners pay for special
handling. In its early years Amtrak required
cars wear its color scheme, but rescinded the
requirement by the late 1970s. Today, Amtrak
still handles private cars and those of railroad
officials, many of which are dressed in historic
railroad schemes or the owner’s unique colors.
June 2015 Issue - Page 4
TLRC Business Meeting Stationmaster’s Report
Wilson James filling in for Dean Smith
May 9th, 2015
at Kelcy’s Restaurant
1. Superintendent Rex Welker called the
meeting to order at 10:03 AM.
2. Members/Guests: There was a packed
house. 23 members and guests, including
Marty and Pat Briggs were present. Marty
and Pat will soon join us as members.
3. Stationmaster’s Report: There was no
report because of the April train show.
4. Paymaster’s Report: Wilson James
made a motion to approve the report. Ann
Tuma seconded the motion, and the report
was unanimously approved.
5. Committee Reports:
A) Hospitality: Cathy Welker was not in
attendance. Rex Welker reported for her
that there was nothing to report. Doug
Pickard reported that member Robert
Fowler was in rehab, and Rex Welker men-
tioned that the club would send a card out
to him.
B) Conductor: Chris Howard was not in
attendance, no report was provided.
C) Historian: Rex Welker is open for any
train related articles. There was nothing to
report .
D) Rick Passalacqua had to leave the
meeting. There was no report. Members
were reminded that annual dues must be
paid at the June 2015 meeting.
E) Loop Editor: Marlan Woodside asked
for, and received clarification on posting
articles about activities where club mem-
bers were not involved, but that may be of
interest to members. It was decided that
even if members were not present at an
5. Committee Reports: (Continued)
E) Loop Editor: Marlan Woodside
(concluded) event, there still might be inter-
est in a report, so it is ok to publish infor-
mation in the newsletter.
F) Facebook Site: Dean Smith was out of
town and no information was reported, but it
was noted that he is still doing a great job.
G) Web Site: Ravi Balasuriya was out of
town and no information was reported, but it
was noted that he is still doing a great job.
H) Promotions: Maureen Cornyn reported
that t-shirts are going to be ordered, and she
will be combining orders in order to have
enough to place an order with the t-shirt com-
pany.
I) Publicity: Mike Schmitt had nothing to
report, however Marlan Woodside reported
that the Train Crazy Saturday event at the
Mojave airport will take place Saturday June
20that 9am to 1pm. Doug Pickard will not be
in attendance, but TLRC members will be
staffing the Toy Train hospital layout and
Dean Smith will have an N scale layout and
Marlan Woodside will have a Z scale layout on
display. Maureen Cornyn will staff a promo-
tions booth. Dean Smith posted information
on our Facebook page.
J) Ways and Means: Vacant
K) Tours: Marlan Woodside reported on
the past three events. The Sacramento trip
had seven folks and included a tour of the Cal-
ifornia Railroad Museum and State Capital,
Fullerton train days had eight folks touring
the layouts and Santa Fe steam engine 3751,
( Stationmaster’s Report continued on next page )
5. Committee Reports: (Continued)
K) Tours (Concluded): Marlan Woodside
and six people went on a downtown Los Ange-
les Rotary Club fund raising tour of loft
apartments of the Los Angeles historic core,
which included a lunch at Cole’s in the base-
ment of the Pacific Electric building. Future
trips are, June 7th, Metrolink to Newhall to
eat at the Newhall Refinery, a brew pub and
restaurant, and to see a live performance of
Westside Story at the Canyon Theater.
Then on June 27th a Metrolink trip to have
lunch in the historic core of downtown Los
Angeles and to see a Los Angeles Conservan-
cy Last Remaining Seats showing of the Raid-
ers Of The Lost Ark at the Ace Theater.
There is some talk about a future trip to
Ridgecrest to see George Pruitt’s layout.
L) Event Coordinator: Wilson James
thanked all of those who participated and
helped at the April train show. Wilson re-
ported that the 8’ module will be replaced by
the August train show.
6. Scale Chair Reports:
A) N – Chris Howard was not in attendance,
no report was provided.
B) HO – Wilson James reported on repair-
ing the connectors on the Digitrax throttles,
and on separating the six inch track seg-
ments that go between the modules. There
will be a work session at John Bell’s house
after the June 13th train show.
C) Toy Trains – Doug Pickard reported on
the “O” Scale train that he repaired. Doug
reported that there is something wrong with
the worm gear on the repaired loco, and it
needs to be repaired. The other loco
that Bob Fowler donated to the club is
6. Scale Chair Reports (Concluded):
C) Toy Trains – Doug Pickard (concluded)
still working, and is good to go for our June
20th train crazy day.
D) G Scale – John Bell had nothing to re-
port.
E) Z Scale – Marlan Woodside reported
that he will have the attaché case railroad on
display at the Train Crazy Saturday event
and will be featuring a few new pieces of roll-
ing stock for the viewing public.
7) Old Business:
A) There was no old business.
8) New Business:
A) Mario Terrazas reported that his boss,
Midge Wright has a 3 rail “O” Scale layout
located in a 40’ box trailer that her late hus-
band Ron Wright built. Midge has offered to
donate it to our club. After some discussion,
a motion was made by Doug Pickard and se-
conded by Ann Tuma. The club has unani-
mously decided to accept Midge’s offer, and
work out the details of how and where it will
be stored.
B) Marty Briggs asked for help with her “G”
Gauge layout, and John Bell agreed to stop
by and take a look at it.
C) Wilson James reported that the wife of
our departed club member, John Holmes may
still have some “O” Scale three rail for sale
if anyone is interested.
D) Marlan Woodside inquired about a slate
of officers being presented to the club for
the next TLRC operating year. The current
slate of officers were nominated with Doug
Pickard moving and John Medvigy seconding
( Stationmaster’s Report continued on next page )
June 2015 Issue - Page 5
TLRC Business Meeting Stationmaster’s Report
Wilson James filling in for Dean Smith
May 9th, 2015
at Kelcy’s Restaurant
June 2015 Issue - Page 6
TLRC Business Meeting Stationmaster’s Report (Concluded)
Wilson James filling in for Dean Smith
May 9th, 2015
at Kelcy’s Restaurant
8) New Business (Concluded):
D) Marlan Woodside: the motion. A vote
will take place at the June meeting to enter-
tain any other officer seekers and to vote
on the slate officers.
9. Upcoming Events:
A) June 13th — Monthly Meeting —
10:00 AM at Kelcy’s Restaurant located on
Tehachapi Blvd across from the Train De-
pot.
B) June 20th – Train Crazy Saturday, Mo-
jave Transportation Museum, Mojave Air and
Spaceport, 1434 Flight line, Mojave,
CA 93501 Saturday 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM.
Call 661-824-2889.
C) June 27th – Last Remaining Seats,
Tehachapi Loop Railroad Club (TLRC) is spon-
soring a Metrolink trip from Lancaster to
Los Angeles Union Station and then Metro
Red Line to the 7th Street Transfer Station
Square, lunch a the Panini Cafe and then on
to the Ace Theater to see the movie Raiders
of the Lost Ark. Saturday 8:30 AM to 7:30
PM. Transportation to Lancaster is on you.
F) July 11th – Crew Change Dinner No
Business Meeting, Meet at John Bell’s house
on Saturday at 4pm, bring your own drinks,
Debra Howard will send out an email to coor-
dinate food selections that are needed.
10. Superintendent: Rex Welker made a
motion to adjourn the meeting and the mo-
tion was approved. The meeting was ad-
journed at 11:04 AM
In 1975, the Santa Fe Railroad painted five
locomotives for the United States 200th birth-
day to be celebrated in 1976. The five locomo-
tives were numbered 5700-5704. Today, there
is only one of these locomotives left that is
still in use. Number 5702, now BNSF 1571, op-
erates close to her old home. Every day, 1571
operates on the Boron local. I am friends with
the crew of the local, Chris Bell and Willy Byr-
ne, who operate the train every weekday from
the Rio Tinto mine in Boron. Chris Bell told me
about the locomotive being one of the bicen-
tennial locomotives, but he didn’t know which
one, so I did some research. Chris Bell is the
engineer of the local and Willy Byrne is the
conductor. I have been rail fanning them a lot,
and they give me things.
I went on many different websites for the re-
search, one of which had a copy of the 1976
Santa Fe locomotive roster. This locomotive
was an SD45-2 until it was acquired by the
BNSF and rebuilt to become an SD40-2R. The
locomotives were painted in 1975 at the Santa
Fe shops in Barstow, and operated close to
home. They operated mostly on the Cajon Pass
and the Tehachapi Pass. So, to answer the
question in the title, they’re in BORON!.
Bicentennial Units, where are they now?
Pictures obtained by and Story by Chris Howard
June 2015 Issue - Page 7
TLRC FINANCIAL REPORTS
From the desk of the Paymaster Mike Schmitt,
the following reports are provided for your
review
You are reading a special edition of the Tehachapi Loop Railroad
Club newsletter.
(You didn’t want to read our financials anyway, did you?)
We hope you enjoy reading about our activities and hope your inter-
est in our club has been ignited such that you might consider joining
in the fun with us!
We are a non-profit organization that fosters the interests of our
members in the hobby of railroading and modeling of railroads as
well as seeking out railroad adventures to further our understanding
and love of trains.
We put on an occasional show or two as well over at West Park in
Tehachapi and meet the second Saturday of each month at Kelcy’s
Restaurant (across the street from the Depot) in Tehachapi. Stop
on by we’d love to have you join us.
To learn more, visit our website, send us an email or contact one of
our board members or any member of the club! All this information
is displayed on page 8 of this newsletter.
TLRC OFFICERS
Superintendent Rex Welker 661-256-2147
Dispatcher Mario Terrazas 661-816-6314
Stationmaster Dean Smith 805-760-1035
Paymaster Mike Schmitt 661-821-5271
1st. Inspector Wilson James 661-823-1665
2nd. Inspector Marlan Woodside 760-373-4765
Monthly Newsletter of the
Tehachapi Loop Railroad Club
Post Office Box 876
Tehachapi, CA 93581
Next Meeting Date:
13th June 2015 @ 10am
Location: Kelcy’s Restaurant 110 West Tehachapi Boulevard
Tehachapi
Loop Railroad
Club
Table of Contents
Nevada Northern RR .........Page 01
Train Crazy Saturday ........Page 02
Kern G Scale Railroaders ....Page 03
Stationmaster Report ........Page 04
Stationmaster Report ........Page 05
S Report & Howard Report ..Page 06
Paymaster Report ............Page 07
Officers & Contacts ..........Page 08
ADMINISTRATORS/CHAIRPERSONS
Activities: Scale Chairs:
Hospitality — Cathy Welker N — Chris Howard
Conductor — Chris Howard HO — Wilson James
Historian — Rex Welker Toy Trains — Doug Pickard
Membership — Rick Passalacqua G — John Bell
Loop Editor — Marlan Woodside Z — Marlan Woodside
Facebook and Web Site Conductor — Dean Smith and Ravi Balasuriya
Promotions — Maureen Cornyn
Publicity — Mike Schmitt TLRC Email Address:
Ways & Means — Vacant tlrc_club@hotmail.com
Tours — Marlan Woodside
Event Coordinator — Wilson James
Facebook Address: Search for Tehachapi Loop Railroad Club
Website Address: tlrc.club
Loop Editor’s Corner
If you caught our last meeting
you know that the current
board is basically running
unopposed for the slate of
offices, so being in attend-
ance at the June meeting
will be your chance to en-
dorse that slate or propose
some other candidates. We
are asking that folks seriously
consider running next year as the current board
is getting tired, maybe that’s just me talking.
Also the OTHER big event in June is TLRC DUES
are DUE to Rick Passalacqua, $40 for individual
or $70 for a family membership renewal so
please have a check payable to TLRC ready to
turn in at the meeting or make arrangements to
get the money to Rick. Hope people are making
plans to attend the 2nd Train Crazy Saturday
9am to 1pm 20 June (Saturday) at the Mojave
Airport. TLRC will be out in full force and Bob
Alvis of Quartz Hill will be making a presentation
on rail fanning in the 1960s and 70s. 27 June is
our Metrolink trip to LA for the Raiders of the
Lost Ark. Happy Training!!! Marlan
June 2015 Issue - Page 8