The SETOFF - NARCOA · 2009. 8. 18. · The SETOFF May / June 2008 Page 3 NARCOA Officials From The...

The

SETOFFThe Official Publication of NARCOANorth American Railcar Operators Association

MAY / June 2008Volume 22 - No. 3

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The SETOFF May / June 2008

The

SETOFFVolume 22 - No. 3

The SETOFF is the official publicationof the North American Railcar Operators As-sociation (NARCOA) and is published bi-monthly to promote safe legal operation ofrailroad motorcars, and to encourage fellow-ship and exchange of information among mo-torcar enthusiasts. Membership in NARCOA,which includes a subscription to The SETOFFis $30 per year, and is available from Secre-tary Joel Williams. Please send your checkmade out to NARCOA to:

Joel Williams, MembershipBox 802

Lock Haven, PA 17745

Wayne Parsons, SETOFF Editor13380 Golden Valley LaneGranada Hills, CA [email protected]

The SETOFF is printed byGreg Kightlinger, GEK Printing

All subscriptions must go to the Secre-tary, and all materials for publication must goto the Editor.

Materials received by the 15th of evennumbered months will appear on the 1st of thenext odd numbered month subject to editingfor space. Please include your e-mail addressand phone number. Electronic submissionsare preferred. Text files must be in MS Wordformat with .doc extensions. Photo files mustbe high resolution with .jpg extensions.Printed photos are welcome. Please includethe original negative when possible. Nega-tives will be scanned and returned. All othermaterials are archived, not returned. We can-not reprint copyrighted material without writ-ten authorization or proper attribution. Lettersto the Editor must be signed and include an e-mail address or phone number for authentica-tion. All such letters will be printed asdiscussed in the NARCOA policy book.

For more information about NARCOA,the safe legal operation of motorcars, andNARCOA affiliates located in Canada, theUnited States, and Mexico, please see ourofficial website at:

www.narcoa.org© Copyright 2008 - NARCOA. All

rights reserved. Reproduction, by any means,in whole or part, by any party, is strictly pro-hibited.

President’s MessageWarren Riccitelli

[[aannttoonniittoo]]

On The Cover: The Durango &Silverton “High Line” rock cut in 2000. Photoby Wayne Parsons. See also back cover “Spot-light on an Affiliate.”

Welcome to the “new Setoff’. Youmay see some things that are differentand if not, get to the doctors immedi-ately. This is the first issue with WayneParsons as editor and I wish to thankhim for bringing fresh ideas and a newperspective to the Setoff.

Wayne is bringing to the Setoff hisyears of experience as a motorcar op-erator, an amateur photographer, andhis knowledge of design and layoutfrom his time at an advertising agency.In the coming months more featureswill be added. Don’t be surprised ifyou submit a technical article and heschedules it way in the future. He istrying to plan ahead with schedulingthat is taking us into next year. For ex-ample, the Spotlight On An Affiliate(upgraded to include color photos withplacement on the back cover) is bookedfor the next five issues. Wayne asksthat you send in run reports and photosright after you get home. That way runreports can appear in a more timelymanner. I’m just staying out of hisway.

In this issue, you will notice aNARCOA inspection check list and anarticle from Al Elliott on page 10. Ifyou haven’t been on a run this year, it isa good article to help you get your carready. If you are already out running,check it over for you might have for-gotten something that might end you up

on a towbar.Today, I received word that the

NARCOA FCC license issues areabout to be resolved. This will clarifyour use of radios in the Detroit area, up-state Maine and in Alaska.

And from Tom Norman comesnews that we are above our estimatesand ahead of last year’s participation inthe NARCOA insurance program. Seehis article on page 18 for a little historyof the insurance program.

Also included in this mailing is ourfirst NARCOA roster in four years.Because of the tremendous cost of theRoster , we are planning ahead with ayearly update to be mailed to all. Thethree hole punch allows for you to putthe roster in a binder and add the yearlyupdates as they arrive. We are lookingat a four year time frame before thenext complete roster printing. Due tospace, the listings are limited to twomotorcars per member.

And with all the primaries over,the snow melting and knowing you willfill in your NARCOA ballot (also in-cluded in this mailing) before going topage three, let the motorcar year begin!

And let’s all be safe out there...

Warren

Masthead ..................................2President’s Message..................2NARCOA Officials ..................3From The Editor........................3Directors’ Messages ..................4Railcar Widow ..........................7Winter Run In Georgia..............8“The Fugitive” Train Wreck ....8Saint Marys Railroad ................9Wheels ......................................9Inspection Form ......................10New Rules ..............................12

Posting Excursions..................13A-4-E Turntable Plans ............13A-4-E Turntable Drawings ....14Turning Gang Cars..................16Insurance Program History ....18Farmrail in Oklahoma ............18EC Test Results ......................19Excursion Announcements ....20For Sale Items ........................27Spotlight On An Affiliate(Patrick Smith) .......Back Cover

In This Issue


NARCOA Officials From TheEditor

NARCOA has invested in Quark, aprofessional layout program, used to cre-ate this edition of The SETOFF. Yournew editor’s goal is to use modern type-faces, a modest artistic bent, and thepower of Quark to get the most out ofevery page printed and mailed to you, themembership. Several layout choiceshave been made to accomplish this mis-sion.

The first choice is typefaces. Alltypefaces used in articles and headlinesof The SETOFF going forward are cate-gorized as “Roman” serif. Serif type-faces are named for the features at theend of their strokes. The body of articlesuses Times New Roman. Two font pack-ages, Northern Pacific RR

Roman and Clinch (ClinchfieldRailroad) Roman, purchased fromwww.RailFonts.com, are being used forheadlines and by-lines. A fourth fontcalled RR SIGN will create accents.

The second layout choice is a changeto three columns across the page. Thisapproach matches newspapers, and myfavorite publication, “Trains” magazine.Using right and left type justificationwithin the columns allows more wordsper page. Quark easily inserts type andpicture boxes into pages with control of“runaround” at the edge of those boxes.

Third, thanks to the generosity of ourprinter and publisher Greg Kightlingler,color photos are on both the front andback covers.

The SETOFF is limited to 28 pages(including announcements) for budgetreasons. With the changes in layout, thesame amount of material as before, andpossibly more, can print in this fixedpage count.

Finally, vertical (portrait) formatphotographs get first consideration forpublication. When you see a nice shot,please take the time to turn your cameraupright and include a little bit of sky!Wayne Parsons - Editor

What are the names in the little boxes?They’re stations or control points aslisted on a timetable or train schedule fora railroad in North America. Which rail-road is disclosed somewhere in the ex-cursion announcements.

[[llaavvaa]]

President: Warren Riccitelli Vice-President: Bobby MoremanSecretary: Joel Williams Treasurer: Tom Norman

Area 1 Director (ME, NH, VT, NY, MA, CT, RI) Warren Riccitelli (401) 231-5640 39 Jackson DriveNorth Providence, RI [email protected]

Area 2 Director (NJ, PA, DE, MD) Joel Williams (570) 786-1335 [email protected]

Area 3 Director (IN, Lower MI, OH) Bruce Carpenter (419) 738-5384 [email protected]

Area 4 Director (WV, VA, KY, NC, SC, TN) Tom Falicon (828) 488-8063 [email protected]

Area 5 Director (MS, AL, GA, FL) Bobby Moreman (770) 457-6212 [email protected]

Area 6 Director (MN, WI, IL, Upper MI) Hank Brown (608) 839-4939 [email protected]

Area 7 Director (ND, SD, NE, IA) Carl Schneider (515) 967-5181 [email protected]

Area 8 Director (Canada, World outside U.S.) Warren Froese (204) 668-8311 [email protected]

Area 9 Director (AR, CO, KS, LA, MO, OK, TX) Mark Springer (316) 721-4804 [email protected]

Area 10 Director (WA, OR, ID, MT, AK, WY) Jim Spicer (541) 344-3079 [email protected]

Area 11 Director (CA, NV, UT, AZ, NM, HI) Pat Coleman (925) 979-1030 [email protected]

Director-at-Large (non–voting) Bernie Leadon (615) [email protected]

Director-at-Large (non–voting) Dave Verzi (216) 941-5273 [email protected] Nominations, Elections Carl Anderson 1330 Rosedale Ln. Hoffman Estates, IL 60195 [email protected]

NARCOA Insurance Administrator Tom Norman (406) 722-3012 1047 Terrace View Drive Alberton, MT 59820 [email protected]

Rule Book CertificationTest Al McCracken 2916 Taper Avenue Santa Clara, CA 95051 [email protected]

Judiciary ChairAl Elliott (732) 536-7460 4 Woodview Drive Manalapan, NJ 07726 [email protected]

Safety ChairBob Knight (815) [email protected]

Rules ChairJim McKeel (316) 721-4378 [email protected]

The SETOFF Editor Wayne Parsons (818) 368-594213380 Golden Valley lane Granada Hills, CA 91344-1118 [email protected]

NARCOA Webmaster Keith Mackey (352) 347-0770 [email protected]

NARCOA Forum ModeratorRich Stivers (408) [email protected]

Committee Chairs Operations ……..…………... Hank BrownRules ..……………….…...… Jim McKeelJudiciary .................................... Al Elliott Safety ..……………............… Bob KnightAffiliates .................................. Dave Verzi Custom-Built Motorcars ........ Tom Falicon Communications ..……..…. Bernie LeadonData and Computer ................ Pat Coleman FRA ........................................ Ron Zammit Legal Forms ........................ Mark Springer

SNARCOA Licensed Radio Call Sign

WPHT745 – 151.625 MHz


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Area FourKY, NC, SC, TN, VA, WV

Tom Falicon

Area FiveMS, AL, GA, FL

Bobby Moreman

Hi Area four Members,It’s with deep sorrow that I once

again tell you that we have lost anothermember of our Area Four motorcar fam-ily. Bill Coker of Athens, TN left usMarch 10th. Bill was a master mill-wright, he reminded me of the kind ofguys you see on that TV show calledMega Movers. He had the men, machinesand skill to move damn near any piece ofequipment with ease, taking crap from noone in the process! He was a relativelynew member to our motorcar family buthe took to our hobby like a fat lady to acheesecake and fortunately, he managedto cram a lot of running into his 2007/8season. I was lucky enough to ride withhim on some rare mileage runs and I amso happy that we got to enjoy eachother’s company at those events. Bill hada knack for coming up with sayings andphrases that were so colorfully funny Icouldn’t wait to hear what he was goingto say next……. John, the torch has beenpassed; I think we’re all going to be ex-pecting to hear you start uttering some ofyour dad’s funny expressions prettysoon! Bill Coker was one of the AreaFour/Five members that caught the“Beaver Car Fever” that was runningrampant through the mountains last year.Bill and I seemed to be bonded a little bitcloser by the fact that regardless of alltheir quirks and noises, the eight mandiesel Beaver Car was our favorite andneither of us would trade ours for theworld. From now on whenever I crank upmy Ol’ Lister diesel and hear it roar tolife, I’m going to think of you, Bill, andtake you along for the ride.

Just when you thought it couldn’t getmuch more expensive to attend a motor-car excursion we get spanked with evenhigher fuel, food and travel costs. WhenI wrote about this fact a while back, I as-sumed that things would somewhat leveloff. Well, my assumption sucked andnow here we are wondering if we need toapply for small loan just to fill up our fueltanks??? As excursion attendees we mayneed to resort to some of the things I sug-gested in the past such as carpooling orpossibly sharing a motorcar or motelroom at an event there-by splitting the

cost in half. Attending events that areclose to home could be beneficial by hav-ing no motel costs and lower fuel costs.Our hobby is too strong to let some fi-nancial woes keep us down. I’ve talkedin the past about what a resourceful lotyou guys are and I think it’s time for youall to be even more ingenious than ever!I feel that this challenge of the higher costof everything will bring out the inventorin all of us and I hope to soon start hear-ing about some money saving ideas andinventions you guys have created.

In the retiring Area Directors dept: Idisagree with Area 3’s Director, BruceCarpenter referring to other Board Mem-bers as “old timers” and also disagreewith Bruce and retired Area 8 DirectorKen Annett both suggesting that currentdirectors step aside to allow new blood totake over. Each current director does hisjob to the best of his ability and I cannotthink of one man that does not give anextra effort to everything they do per-taining to NARCOA. We’d like to re-mind you that every NARCOA memberhas the ultimate choice as to who theirArea Director will be. Any NARCOAmember can nominate a fellow memberthat they think will do the job for theirarea. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem likethere is an overabundance of candidateswilling to devote the large amount oftime, responsibility and dedication ittakes to perform this thankless job. I’vealways told you guys in Area Four that ifthey ever feel that I am not giving you110% let me know and we’ll get some-one into office that will do a better jobthan me. I’ve been told that my rewardfor being an Area Director is being ableto attend the Annual Board meeting andhave my motel room paid for. Well, Ican’t think of anyone who would con-sider spending three days in a Chicagohotel that was built at the end of theO’Hare Airport’s runways a reward. Myreward as an Area Director is being ableto assure smiling faces and good, safe,family fun at motorcar events across thiscountry and if that’s what it means to bean “old timer” then call me one!

In the corrections/additions dept: Inmy last director’s letter where I paid trib-ute to lost Area Four family memberEvan Roderick. A sentence that told thefact that it was my first motorcar excur-sion ever was somehow left out and thenext sentence was modified to make nosense. Sorry for the confusion!

I’d like to welcome Wayne Parsonsaboard as our new Set-off Editor. He’s al-ready doing a great job as you can seefrom the new look of this issue. We’d alllike to thank him for his efforts!

I’d also like to take a minute topraise our webmaster Keith Mackey.Keith is the guy that has our web sitelooking so very professional and keeps itso very current. He also is the guy thatposts your want ads and excursion an-nouncements almost immediately withno problems what-so-ever. ThanksKeith…. You da man!

Thanks for talking with me guys,stay strong, Tom Falicon, NARCOAArea Four Director

For those of you that have been inNARCOA for several years, you will re-call the tremendous number of changesthat NARCOA has had. Most will thinkof rule and procedure changes, and thatis important in the ever expanding worldof business. We, as a NARCOA busi-ness, yet also a hobby, must accept thatchanges are important for the good ofNARCOA, and for NARCOA to survivesuccessfully.

You senior members will also re-member the succession of officers, arearepresentatives, chairpersons, committeemembers that make up the backbone ofthe administration of your NARCOA or-ganization. Every year is election year,somewhere in NARCOA. This year isagain your opportunity, as members ofNARCOA, to make your selection ofwho is to best serve you in your area. Itis your duty, and responsibility to lookcarefully at your area representative, andvote or nominate a responsible person togovern your area and NARCOA.

A major change this year in NAR-COA is the retirement of 'Charlie' Mor-vey, your past SETOFF editor, and theappointment, and acceptance of WayneParsons as your new SETOFF editor. Wewill miss 'Charlie' and her tremendousinput to NARCOA as our editor. WayneParsons comes with the best of recom-mendations and he is working very hard


By the time this newsletter hits themail, many of us will have already havebegun our ride season. Having said that,I hope everyone had the opportunity togo completely through their cars ahead oftime to see that they are ready for safetrouble-free operation. It’s the responsi-bility of the operators to make sure theircar(s) meet the safety criteria of NAR-COA, even though local safety officerswill be checking cars to see that there areno defects that could possibly causeproblems on the rails. We want 2008 tobe the safest ride season ever!

I have been doing a newsletter forthe First Iowa Division (FID) for manyyears and have been doing both snailmail and e-mail versions. With postagegoing up again and with many more ofour members joining the ranks of com-puter users, I will no longer be snail mail-ing the newsletter. Instead, I’ll be doingan article in The Setoff to keep our snailmail members up to date on what’s hap-pening in the area.

Area 7 has been blessed with somenew rail to ride. One of the neatest addi-tions to the FID schedule is the IowaRiver Railroad which we ride both direc-tions out of Eldora, Iowa. This is an ex-M&StL, CNW, and lastly UP branch linethat was purchased by shippers to serv-ice grain elevators and an ethanol plant.

We rode the line twice last year andhave scheduled it for two excursionsagain this year. The tracks, which followthe Iowa River, are very scenic, and theyare in surprisingly good condition formotor car operation. Come join us, asthis has become a very popular ride in avery short time. Even though the tracksare in Iowa, it’s not just corn and beanfields for scenery!

Let’s all get out there now and havea fun summer riding the rails!

H

March 8, 2008 was a great day to bein Region 6. The annual meeting forNorth Central Railcars was held at thePizza Hut in Madison, Wisconsin. Therewere 20 members present. Safety issuesby Bob Knight, NARCOA’s own Safetychairperson, and on Operations by me,were presented.

Two very important items that Bobmentioned were the use of safety vestsand following the rules. President Ottbrought up the issue of members follow-

[[ssuubblleettttee]]

Area SixMN, WI, IL, Upper MIHank Brown

Area SevenND, SD, NE, IA

Carl Schneider

ing to close to the car ahead. Most of theincidents we review on the Judicial Com-mittee relate to following distance. Therule book states that an operator shouldallow 10 to 12 seconds spacing. How-ever, this does not take into considerationthe speed at which the motorcar must op-erate to arrive safely at a destination at areasonable time. Higher speeds requiregreater spacing between cars.

I brought up the issue of seat belts.NARCOA does not require them andprobably will not until someone comesup with a fool proof way to install them.However, it will become mandatory touse them on Canadian railroads. Istrongly support the use of them. I havebeen on the Judicial Committee andevery year we have to review someonerunning into the back of another car.People have been injured because they,either didn’t have seat belts, or didn’t usethem.

The excursion schedule for Region6 is not what we would like, but therewill be excursions around the region. Wehave been working with the Wisconsin &Southern, the CPR and CN. East TroyTrolley Museum continues to supportNARCOA.

We will continue to offer new oper-ators a mentoring program. If you are anew member in Region 6 and want to bementored, contact Dave Otet (920-668-8677), Hank Brown (608-839-4939), orDave Hawley (630-854-8052). Remem-ber that the only way we can continue toride the rails is by doing it safely. So stayfocused.Hank

A

Region 6 - $orth Central Railcars annual meeting attendees.Photo by Dave Hawley

to continue the success of the 'SETOFF'.We wish Wayne our best, and offer himour help and advice. Seems like we justget better and better, and we learn fromeach succession of officers, area repre-sentatives, chairpersons, and committeemembers.

I hope that you will always remem-ber that NARCOA is your organization,and like all volunteer organizations, weneed your thoughts, comments, and sug-gestions to successfully keep NARCOA arespected part of the railroad community.

Just as we all keep a set of tools inour motorcar to make the inevitable re-pairs, your elected representatives arethere to make the needed repairs for yourNARCOA organization.

I'll close with another thought ontools. Do you know what a RTAFA is?It is simply a 'rotational torque-adjustablefastener applicator'. Growing up in southGeorgia, we called it a 'screwdriver.'

Brenda and I wish all of you a safemotorcar year. Bobby Moreman - Vice President


Area EightCANADA, MEXICO,

AUSTRALIA

Warren Froese

Area TenWA, OR, ID, MT, AK,

WYJim Spicer

Area ElevenCA, NV, UT, AZ, NM, HI

Pat Coleman

Greetings from the Great WhiteNorth on behalf of Canadian, and inter-national members. The snow is actuallybeginning to melt on the prairies andsoon we will be able to find our motor-cars!

This last fall was my first experienceat our annual BOD meeting in Chicago,and it was a refreshing event with a groupof very committed people, many for thelong haul. Please remember that yourthoughts and comments are always wel-come and you are encouraged to call oremail any time ([email protected] or204 668 8311). I would encourage eachof you to consider attending the meetingat some point and make some time toenjoy Chicago and the meeting.

This summer runs are planned insouthern Saskatchewan (Great WesternRailway – June 23 – 27) and northernOntario (Algoma Central Railway –July28 –31). These are both beautiful runsthrough very interesting and diverse ter-ritory. A reminder to our American mem-bers, these excursions provide greatrunning, and are close to your northernborder. There are also many excursionsin neighboring northern states – east,mid-west, and west, as well as Alaska.Take some time now to browse the ex-cursion list and make your choices.Warren Froese –Area 8

Greetings from the Far Corner. For Charlene's last edition as editor

I sent my contribution to the Setoff. Ithanked her for her years of dedicationand service as editor. Unfortunately, be-tween its arrival and the final layout, mymessage was misplaced, and was notprinted. I also encourage all of you tocontribute stories and information to ournew editor Wayne Parsons.

I have seen some of Wayne's prepa-rations for this edition and am excitedabout what he is doing. Let’s all supportWayne in his efforts as editor.

We have a lot of dedicated volun-teers besides the directors. There arecommittee chairmen, committee mem-bers and on all the trips, EC’s and theirhelpers. The two that do the most for ourorganization are our insurance represen-tative and the Setoff editor. Next timeyou see any of these volunteers, go out of

your way to thank them for their efforts.Good news; under the new EC certi-

fication program, Area 10 now hastwelve certified coordinators. Bad news;I hear complaints from all EC’s aboutparticipants arriving at events withoutdoing the advance paperwork. If you getin line at the set-on point without yourpaperwork being completed, be preparedto go back to the end of the line until it isfinished. You have been warned.

We have a lot of great events in theNW this year. The list is constantlychanging and being updated. To get thelatest information, go on line and checkthe schedule. One thing you will not findon the calendar this year is that theywould again like speeder representationat the Issaquah Train Depot Saturday,July 26. You can contact Tom Gilcrist206-719-5931 direct.

Since you have all worked hard onyour motorcars this winter and they arein tip top shape, we will have no breakdowns or accidents.

See you on the rails, Jim

A number of runs are being offeredin Area 11. All are our old favorites atSierra, McCloud, Skunk, CA Northern,and perhaps Niles. For those that thinkthey have seen it all because you ran onceon a line, you are missing the cama-raderie and joy of your fellow operators.

Unfortunately, we have been turneddown by CORP and AZ & CA. Thoseturndowns have resulted from decisionsby corporate owners of CORP and AZ &CA. So, talking to the local folks will notadvance our cause. Our NARCOA Pres-ident and I plan to visit corporate after theSeptember 2008 Annual meeting to dis-cuss how we can resolve the situation tothe satisfaction of both parties.

At McCloud, we believe the UP carsin storage near Upper Yard will be re-moved by the time of late the May run.We’ll be able to run from McCloud toBurney on Saturday. The McCloud runswill be at speeds to permit enjoyment ofscenery and safety of operation. The Mc-Cloud tracks not currently in operation,will be closely reviewed prior to theSWRC runs.

Sierra RR management reports the

Area NineAR, CO, KA, LA, MO,

OK, TXMark SpringerAnother spring is upon us, and of

course, that means it is time for anotherseason of operating our motorcars. It isgratifying to continue to see new mem-bers join the hobby and to have new peo-ple volunteer to participate in the hobby.I have seen rides for Texas, Colorado,and Oklahoma already scheduled. I alsohave heard of some rides in Kansas thatshould be announced soon.

This year is going to bring our hobbysome new challenges with the ever in-creasing cost of fuel. I certainly hope that

each of you will continue to be able to at-tend rides. I also hope that each affiliatewill do what they can to make the rides asaffordable as they can arrange.

Currently the Board of Director's hasbeen having some discussions about thecriteria used to certify new Excursion Co-ordinators. With several relatively newgroups in our area this is an especiallyimportant issue. Personally, having op-erating experience with several differentAffiliates and Excursion Coordinators isa plus. Having several years of experi-ence in the hobby is also a plus. Volun-teering to help on excursions is alsohelpful. Most importantly we need peo-ple who are organized, responsible, andinterested in running a safe ride. If youhave input on other criteria you wouldlike to see included or excluded, pleasecontact me.

Lastly, for many of us, we have notoperated our motorcars since last fall.The first rides of the season are when weneed to be especially careful. It is easyto get rusty and need a little bit of time toremember exactly how your car stops, ac-celerates, and handles rough track. Themost important safety item is a cautious,aware operator. Be safe.


Nominations,Elections

Carl Anderson

Director AtLarge

Bernie Leadon

RAILCAR WIDOWBy Mrs. Diana North

RAILCAR WIDOWBy Mrs. Diana North

Lewes, Delaware - Now, don’t bealarmed! My husband Mark is alive andwell. I know this because he answers hiscell phone! It all started a year ago. Afriend of mine invited Mark and my son,Jack, to the Amtrak Open House in Bear,Delaware. Yes, a “railcar” was on dis-play!

After that day, part of my familybegan disappearing before my eyes! So,you say there is an association of peoplecollecting old railcars, restoring them andgoing for a ride – ALL YEAR LONG!!Whoa!! A short time later, I got thatphone call from my husband saying:“Now don’t laugh”. Okay, he is backinghis trailer up our driveway with “some-thing” on it!? I know it is definitely made

of metal….but what the heck is it? “Andyou say there are two ‘somethings’ on thetrailer?” Mark is laughing, and I am ri-fling through our medical records tomake sure we are up-to-date with tetanusshots!

From that day forward, my familynow spends endless hours at the shoprestoring railcars. Mark has a new friendwith many connections, and an old friend

with a REALLY NICE SHOP!! Betweennew and old friends, parts and exact paintcolors, a motorcar is given new life toride the rails again.

This past November, I experiencedmy first excursion with this curiousgroup of people. Mark, Jack, Megan, andI, along with the group, started inGeorgetown, Delaware and rode to theCape May-Lewis Ferry on the DelawareCoast Line Railroad. Back and forth, upand down…stop and start with red flagsin and out. We bumped along familiarterritory that I had never really “seen” be-fore. For as many times I have taken mychildren to Lewes Beach, I’ve nevertrekked along a railroad to see Lewesfrom the “backside”.

We walked into town for lunch, andeven watched a man open a swing bridgewith a really big “key!” Afterwards, wereturned to the railcars for the trip backto the trailers, watching the swirlingleaves behind us.

Weekend excursions, “kitchenpasses” and endless phone calls with rail-car friends - I have become a “RailcarWidow”, and it’s okay.

Future motorcar operators Megan and Jack $orth sit on Dad’s A cars(built in 1947) that came from the Chessie System. Photos by Diana �orth

It is that time of the year when halfof NARCOA votes to elect board mem-bers to two year terms. This year allODD areas are voting, and there were nonew nominations from the membership.Thus all incumbent Board members arerunning unopposed. Nevertheless, yourvote is very important. The Board mem-bers look to see what percentage of peo-ple in their area voted. They each see thisas an affirmation of the work they aredoing in support of NARCOA. Pleasetake the time, when you get your hardcopy of the Setoff, to vote. Don’t let yourvote fall through the cracks.

Keith MacKey reports that Fer-romex did not approve a motorcar eventin Mexico’s Copper Canyon this year“due to new security rules.” This maybe due to a general deterioration in se-curity in northern Mexico. Ferromexsaid they would be happy to have us in-quire again in the future.

Skunk line tracks between Willits andNorth Spur clear of wash outs and fallentrees. Contrary to rumors, my sourcessay that the Sierra RR is not for sale.

PRO is sponsoring a CA Northernrun in late April. This is a great run asthe track has great visibility, and is invery good shape from its days as highspeed SP track.

For you 2-stroke fans, MOW issponsoring a belt car only run on theSkunk from Willits to Northspur, and re-turn.

Niles is being reviewed for futureruns with a different twist to avoid thenoise issue in Sunol. I will have more onthis RR in next issue.

Finally, please check out your carsbefore the season starts using the infor-mation in the inspection form article onpage 10. Sadly, I’ve seen operators drivethousands of miles to an event and nothave enough gas in their speeder to getout of the yard. Best regards,C. Patrick (Pat) ColemanWalnut Creek, CA


On a cold, snowy January 19, 2008,thirty very hardy people bundled up fromhead to toe and started on the 48 milejourney from Blue Ridge, GA (near theTennessee – North Carolina – Georgiaborder) south to Two Brothers BBQ inBall Ground, GA (near Canton).

We had decided to stop in two hoursto try to straighten our frozen bones andjoints. Our porta-potty, towed behind thelead car, was quickly attacked when wemade our first stop. We walked aroundstretching our legs, and enjoyed the snowflurries. As we continued south the snowcame down harder. The question “Arewe going to get home?” was being askedby many.

The BBQ at Two Brothers was goodas usual and just as we finally thawedout, (Oh No!) it was time to leave. Weall bundled back up in our coats, hats, andgloves. Some riders even had foot warm-ers taped to the outside of the boots tohelp keep their toes warm. Back out intothe blizzard we went and waddled backto our cars. Thank goodness we hadturned the cars before we ate. After pil-ing back into our cars we quickly startedour 48 mile journey home.

As we approached Georgia Marble

near the town of Whitestone, the lead carstopped for a rest break. After 1 ½ hoursof riding in the cold weather, everyonehad a great need for the porta potty.Susan Long, a Blue Ridge Scenic Rail-road volunteer known as the "HO GaugeConductor," because of her diminutivesize, bailed out of her car and headed forthe porta potty. However, Susan had onso many clothes that while she was shed-ding layers, two guys had time to jumpthe line in front of her!

Our trip back to Blue Ridge washelped by two members driving ahead byroad, and flagging all the crossings for us,saving lots of time. When we arrivedback into Blue Ridge and our smiles hadfinally thawed, all of us talked about oursnow ride, how much fun we had alongthe way, and how beautiful the ride hadbeen. Despite the weatherman's predic-tion of two inches of snow, we did getone inch. What A Day!

A tip for a winter trip – offer the girlsa second cup of coffee and they willwarm the seat first! There are manytypes of coffee: there is fancy coffee likeStarbucks, cheaper coffee like McDon-alds and then you have decaf and regular.However, when will somebody invent aslow moving coffee? Then we could gofurther between stops! Come and join usnext time on the Blue Ridge rails!

Bryson City, NC was the set-onpoint for the 2007 year-end Great SmokyMountain Railroad event near the Na-tional Park that straddles the eastern Ten-nessee and western North Carolinaborders. One thing that drew me to thisline was “A” cars are recommended andencouraged to participate. Meet Coor-dinator Tom Falicon allows belt cars, butmandates that they be towed over themountain peak so their belts aren’t dam-aged on the climb to Andrews. I broughtmy newly restored A-4-E hoping to tow acouple of cars over the mountain.

The first day of the run, December31st, took us 16.5 miles east towardDillsboro. The run, following the Tuck-asegee River, was a very scenic ridethrough the country side. During thesafety meeting we were told that the fa-mous train wreck scene from "The Fugi-tive" was filmed here and we were goingto stop at the site and have a quick look atit. I was enjoying the ride, which hasmany nice bridges and tunnels, when Irecognized the tunnel that Harrison Fordhad walked through during his getawayscene. I knew we were close and sureenough the crash site was just around thebend. Low and behold the train enginesand the buses were still sitting there.

We pulled up and got a wonderfulstory from one of the local film makerswho worked on the movie. The filmmakers spent 1.5 million dollars prepar-ing the scene with 17 cameras set up tocatch this one time shot. They had twolocomotives and six buses. They shot thebus rolling down the hill first. The railshot used two old locomotives that werepretty much stripped on the inside anddry so they wouldn't make a mess so

Winter Run In GeorgiaThe Ball Ground Adventure

By Anne Herron Hymen

Visiting“The Fugitive”Train WreckBy Jamie Haislip

Photos by Jamie Haislip

Photos by Anne Herron Hyman


close to the water. A real locomotive wasbrought in to push the train toward thescene and at the right moment they cutaway at 30 MPH and let err rip.

Out of camera range, the railroad in-stalled a siding switch and a stub track toguarantee the train would “derail” whenit hit the bus and slide off the track at theend. Additional pyrotechnics and a pitwere there to add to the excitement. Thecamera crew had a pool bet on how farthe locomotive would drag the bus downthe tracks. Since it had never been done,it was a wild guess on everyone's part.The local film maker (our story teller)claims that he won the bet.

Back on the move again we run therest of the short way down to Dillsboro.The GSMR excursion train soon arrives.It is really nice to hear the older EMDGP-9 diesels purr away there. Once backin Bryson City, Tom Falicon the EC pro-vided a wonderful New Years Eve dinnerat "The Station Restaurant". We pulledright up to the building, parked for thenight, and went in to dinner.

The next day, January 1st, we headwest and up the mountain to do the climb.The rail today gains one thousand feet ina twenty mile stretch. In one particularthree mile section the grade increases to5 percent! This is where the belt carsmust be towed up the mountain, and re-leased at the top. We follow the Nanta-hala River up to Lake Fontana where theline crosses over a nice, big, and high oldtruss bridge. The lake had been draineddown approximately 25 feet to allowmaintenance on the dam leaving houseboats far from shore. There were tunnels,and several smaller bridges to add to thescenery.

This section of the line is very beau-tiful and I can't wait to go back and do itagain. The mountain scenery, even inwinter, looked great and I highly recom-mend it to anyone. Thanks go to TomFalicon, and all the people at the GreatSmoky Mountain Railroad, for hostingthis run.

St. Marys, GA - Saturday, December8, 2007 dawned with heavy fog in thistown on the Atlantic Coast near the Geor-gia / Florida border. The excursion set-on point was at the Saint Marys enginehouse where a long strip of ground leveltrack makes it easy to do a casual set onwithout traffic problems. Today’s eventis on the 11 mile short line that runs fromthe local paper mill on North River inSaint Marys to the CSX interchange atKingsland, GA. The line has one 4 milespur to the Kings Bay Navy Base.

A couple of prospective membersarrived in time for the safety meeting,and were thrilled at getting the chance togo along with us for the day. One hadfound us through the NARCOA websiteexcursion listings, and decided to driveover and see what it was all about. Dur-ing the day several members took thetime to talk with them, and show themthe different makes and models of mo-torcars.

After the introduction of the railroadpersonnel, and discussions during thesafety meeting, several caps with theSaint Mary’s railroad logo were givenout, along with fudge for each car! Bythis time the heavy fog began clearingenough for us to begin our trip.

Arriving at the spur track going toKings Bay submarine base, we pausedfor a short break while a piece of track re-pair equipment was switched to a side-track. With the track clear, we proceededto Kings Bay. There we turned the cars

and headed back to the main line and onto Kingston.

After passing through Kingston, weagain turned and returned to restaurantrow, where we parked and scattered tovarious restaurants for lunch. Followinga long lunch break, we proceeded back toSt. Marys at a slow enjoyable pace arriv-ing back at the set-on point slightly aheadof schedule.

As usual, it was good to visit withmany old friends and meet some newones. A good day was enjoyed by all,without any incidents. Many thanks goto the St. Marys Railroad for allowing usto operate, and to their personnel for flag-ging the crossings. Thanks also to Ex-cursion Coordinators Jim Garner and JayBoggs of Southeast Railcar Operators forsetting up the ride.

Saint Marys RailroadBy Larry Crowe

Saint Marys RailroadBy Larry Crowe

Jay Boggs’s A6 and Larry Crowe’s A4 crossing trestle on St. Marys Railroad.Photo By Larry Crowe

WHEELSIn January 2008 Harsco Track

Technologies quoted the followingprices for Fairmont wheels:

20” Cast wheels - $1751.00 ea.20” Pressed wheels - $630.00 ea.16” Cast wheels - $1645.00 ea.16” Pressed wheels - $176.00 ea.14” Pressed wheels - $253.00 ea.

All prices FOB Cayce-West Columbia,South Carolina, USA. See web sitewww.harscotrack.com for contact info.

[[ttoolltteecc]] [[oossiieerr]]


The NARCOA motorcar inspectionform is on the web site under documentsand forms. Lets take a closer look, andsee what we can do to make everyone’sexcursion(s) more enjoyable.

The first two lines are directly re-lated to the excursion, you, and the caryou plan to operate. Fill these out alongwith your current rule book number, and

insurance number. Check off the itemsin the pre-inspection column as you workdown the form. Remember this is aguide, and does not limit you from goingfurther, and doing a check involvingmore than listed.ON BOARD

Charged Fire Extinguisher “ABC”two pounds: available at “Home Depot”

“Lowes” or “Target” under $20. Mountit in an accessible area, as you may needit, and fast! Be sure the unit already car-ried in your car, indicates fully charged.Read the instructions that accompany theunit for life expectancy. It’s a good ideato shake the extinguisher regularly tomake sure the powder inside is loose, andnot clumped together at the bottom.

First Aid Kit:available at “CVS”,“Rite Aid”, or “DrugFair” type stores foraround $15. It may beyou who needs theseitems; make sure allthe pieces are inside.If some of the supplieshave been used the kitis rendered semi-use-less.

Two Orangeor Red Flags: soundsobvious, but not everyparticipant last yearhere in the east met thisrequirement. The Vinylones, stapled to adowel, work fine, andcan be had for $3. Wedo some neat nighttimeriding, and I recom-mend flags with a re-flective strip on bothsides to help nighttimevisibility. You mightconsider adding a redsafety wand to yourflashlight. The newL.E.D. Light wands areavailable on the inter-net for around $17.

C u r r e n tNARCOA Rule Book:get the latest versionfrom the web site.Keep a copy of it in azip lock bag in yourmotorcar along withcopies of your rulebook certificate, andcurrent insurance card.You are required tohave a copy of all three

Pre-Inspection

Motorcar Inspection Form

Items Sat Unsat Rule

Excursion __________________ Location __________________ Date __________________

Operator Name _____________ Motorcar Make _____________ Railroad # (if available) ___

NARCOA Rule Book Certificate Number ______ NARCOA Current Insurance Number ______

I understand that “At all timeseach operator has the ultimateresponsibility for the safecondition of his/her motorcarbeyond any of the specifics ofthe rules and standards”. Ifallowed to operate in thisexcursion, I must correct anyunsatisfactory items indicatedin order to participate in futureexcursions. These safetychecks are not designed to beoverly restrictive, but are toinsure a safe and enjoyableexcursion for everyone.

I certify that I have inspectedthis motorcar and found it tomeet all NARCOA standardsas I have indicated on the Pre-Inspection column of this formand have determined that thismotorcar is in a safe conditionto operate on this excursion.

_____________________Operators Signature

_____________________Date

You will __________, Will not, __________, be allowed to participate in this excursion.

Reviewed by: ________________________ Date ______________________

Version 2.1 09/29/06

On BoardCharged Fire Extinguisher 2 lb (ABC) I-18First Aid Kit I-18Two Orange or Red Flags (16” sq) I-14Current NARCOA Rule Book II-10Operable Flashlight I-18Compatible Tow Bar with Pins I-10Horn or Bell I-16Proper Brake Lever Travel I-2Front of CarOperable Front Headlight I-12Secure Front Hitch with 3/4” to 1” Hole I-9Safety Glass or Polycarbonate Windshields I-3Left Side of CarLeft Brake Shoe Thickness - Front/RearBrakes Properly Adjusted I-2Brake Cotter Pins Installed ProperlyFront Wheel Thickness and Profile I-7Rear Wheel Thickness and Profile I-7Axle Cotter Pins Installed - Front/RearRear of CarWorking Rear Red Tail Light I-12Lever or Pedal Actuated Red Stop Light I-13Secure Rear Hitch with 3/4” to 1” Hole I-9Right Side of CarRight Brake Shoe Thickness - Front/RearBrakes Properly Adjusted I-2Brake Cotter Pins Installed ProperlyFront Wheel Thickness and Profile I-7Rear Wheel Thickness and Profile I-7Axle Cotter Pins Installed - Front/RearTurnTable - If InstalledTable Retracts min. of 2.5” above railhead I-19Safety Lock on hydraulic turntables I-19Audible Warning Device I-19Optional - May not be requiredMobile RadioUSFS Approved Spark ArrestorSpare fuel secured properly I-11Chock or ChainFront & Rear Lift HandlesSafety Vest/Shirt

before departure:USE THE INSPECTION FORM TO GET YOUR CAR READY

By Al Elliott


of these on excursions. Operable Flashlight: self-ex-

planatory. But you need fresh batteriesalso. Do Not Assume! We do spot checksfor working Flashlights.

Compatible Tow Bar with Pins: Ilike ¾” pins with 1” holes, they alwaysfit. Remember, a Woodings has thatheavy pipe ahead of the pinhole, and barsthat fit Fairmonts seldom work over thatWoodings pipe. Concerning tow bars,the rule reads "The ends of the tow barshall overlap the top and bottom of thehitch" Bars that do not meet this require-ment can not be used. The retaining clipthat goes through the pin, can comeloose, we tape the retaining clip to the pinto further secure it. When pushing a car,do so only until it is safe to tow it. Tow-ing is the preferred method, as pushingintroduces additional problems.

Horn or Bell: most operators over dothis. But, it’s better to be safe than sorry.Make sure your “noise” device is work-ing properly.

Proper Brake Lever Travel: this de-pends on the car model, and manufac-turer. Most cars should not move whenthe brake lever is in the first notch. Carsthat have a variation of this need to bedealt with accordingly. Bring it to theEC’s attention, if in doubt.FRONT OF CAR

Operable Front Headlight: self-Ex-planatory. I like two headlights, if onefails, there is a second.

Secure Front Hitch with 3/4” to 1”hole: see tow bar discussion above.

Safety Glass or Polycarbonate Wind-shields: two-piece laminate glass, or aPoly type material with no major cracks.Be on the safe side, replace cracked orchipped glass.LEFT & RIGHT SIDEOF CAR

Brake Shoe Thickness - Front/Rear:you are looking for full brake liner (castiron) to steel wheel contact, with nobrake shoe (wood block) showing wherethe brake liner contacts the wheel. If thebrake liners are thin, replace them to keepyour full braking function.

Brakes Properly Adjusted: this goesalong with the brake lever holding the carin the first notch. If one side is tighterthan the other, a brisk application of thebrakes makes the car “jerk” to one side.It’s not so easy getting them even, but itmakes a difference when stopping.

Brake Cotter Pins Installed Properly:use of the correct fastener, and proper ap-plication of the correct fastener, is cov-ered in the NARCOA Rules Book. Besure to check all pieces.

Front & Rear Wheel Thickness andProfile: NARCOA has a minimum thick-ness requirement of 1/8 inch for light andmedium weight cars, and 5/32 inch forheavy gang cars. The thinnest spot isusually at the flange. Use a set of wheelcalipers (available from the NARCOAcompany store) to check the thickness inseveral places around the wheel. NAR-COA has no specification for profile.However, for your car to track as de-signed, the profile needs to be taken intoconsideration. The wheel profile tool(also available from the NARCOA com-pany store) will tell you if your wheel is“flat” and worn.

Axle Cotter Pins Installed -Front/Rear: it’s not funny that I see a caror two each year without cotter pins, orwith copper wire, and an assortment ofother “retaining” material used. Checkand insure that the correct retainer, a cot-ter pin, is installed.REAR OF CAR

Working Rear Red Tail Light: atleast one tail light also known as a markerlight. This is not the stop light. Makesure the bulb is working. LED’s seem tolast a lot longer.

Lever or Pedal Actuated Red StopLight: this is an easily overlooked item.Make sure the light comes on, and turnsoff when it is supposed to. Get the switchpart number, so if it fails, you do not needto scramble for a replacement.

Secure Rear Hitch with 3/4” to 1”Hole: same as front hitch covered above.

Turntable Retracts giving a mini-mum of 2.5” above railhead: BE SURE,this measurement is taken with the car onRails. If you measure with car resting onflanges on a flat surface, you will needadditional clearance. You must take theflange height into consideration.

Safety Lock on hydraulic turntables:turntables that retract using hydraulicpressure require a positive retainingmechanism to hold / lock the ram in theup, or travel position. Why? When thehydraulic pressure leaks off, the TT willdrop. Remember, the pressure alwaysleaks off ... count on it!

Audible Warning Device: NARCOAhas added some additional informationconcerning alarms. They must be opera-

ble anytime the car is on RR property.This means no “cut out” switch stoppingthe unit from emitting an audible soundwhen the turn table is lowered on an ex-cursion.OPTIONAL

Optional gear may be required bythe local club, excursion coordinator, orhost railroad. This gear is announced inthe meet listing, or materials sent outahead of the event.

Mobile radio: capable of transmit-ting and receiving on the NARCOA fre-quency. Usually a hand radio, or simplescanner will not meet this requirement.

United States Forrest Service ap-proved spark arrestor: will have USFSstamped on the part. This is often re-quired on runs in the west.

Spare fuel secured properly: mostclubs interpret this to mean your sparegas can must be inside the body of thecar. See NARCOA rule 1.11 for more de-tail.

Chock or chain: use them when youstop to make sure the car does not roll.

Front & Rear lift handles: someclubs require these. Without them, rerail-ing a car is nearly impossible.

Safety Vest / Shirt: besides makingyou more visible when flagging, wearingone makes you look more professional toour railroad hosts. When buying a safetyvest on the internet, look at the ones forsurveyors. They have more pockets.

While the above is by no means, anin depth analysis of an inspection, it ismeant to jog the operators memory. I amsure there are additions that can be added.Open discussion is encouraged, as thesafer we operate, the better off the organ-ization, and its members will be.

Tuning up the engine, lubrication,and general maintenance should all bedone prior to “setting on.” Get under,and around your car, poke it here andthere, ask questions if you are not sure.Do all you can to not embarrass yourselfat the excursion with a car that will notstart, or has some problem with its me-chanical equipment. Different modelshave different areas of failure, this shouldbe taken into consideration during yourextensive mechanical inspection. Ulti-mately, the readiness of the car is up toyou the operator. You bear the final re-sponsibility of operating a safe reliablecar.

[[llooss>>ppiinnooss]]


The following items pertaining tothe NARCOA book of rules were dis-cussed by the board of directors at the an-nual meeting in Chicago on September28 and 29, 2007. These tentatively ap-proved changes and additions to theNARCOA book of rules were placed inthe Nov/Dec issue of the Setoff for re-view of the membership. The period forcomments has passed, and the Board ofDirectors has voted on final approval toeach section.

These changes are now effectivewith publication in this issue of the Setoffand will be incorporated in the NARCOARule Book.

ITEM 1I$TRODUCTIO$

Add wording to the Introduction ofthe rulebook that states “The official op-erating language of NARCOA is Eng-lish.”

ITEM 2Section IMOTORCAR MECHA$ICAL STA$-DARDS11. FUEL TA$KS

Auxiliary containers must be ap-proved by a recognized testing agencyfor the purpose of storing and transport-ing fuel. Auxiliary fuel containers mustbe secured to the car. Protection againstpuncture for the main and auxiliary tanksis highly recommended.

ITEM 3Section IMOTORCAR MECHA$ICAL STA$-DARDS19. TUR$TABLES.

Hydraulic turntables, includingOEM Fairmont turntables, must beequipped with a positive locking mecha-nism that will prevent the table fromdropping inadvertently. All turntable in-stallations, including electrically oper-ated turntables with positive gearengagement, must be equipped with afunctioning audible warning device thatnotifies the operator if the turntable is notfully retracted. The turntable, when fullyretracted, must be a minimum of two andone-half inches (2.5") above the railheadwhen the motorcar is sitting on the track.

ITEM 4Section IIMOTORCAR OPERATI$G RULES20. OPERATOR CERTIFICATIO$/I$SURA$CE.

All persons operating a motorcar orhy-rail vehicle on any NARCOA insuredexcursion must have successfully com-pleted the NARCOA rulebook examina-tion, obtained a NARCOA Certificate ofExamination, have current NARCOA li-ability insurance coverage through theNARCOA insurance program, and (ifthey joined NARCOA after June 1, 2005)have been or are in the process of beingmentored in accordance with the NAR-COA operator mentoring program. Allpersons operating a motorcar or hy-railvehicle on any NARCOA insured excur-sion must have a current Certificate ofExamination card and a current NAR-COA insurance card in his/her posses-sion. (Exception: persons designated bythe railroad on which the excursion isbeing run who are in the performance oftheir duties as railroad liaison / escort.)

ITEM 5Section IIMOTORCAR OPERATI$G RULES22. TOWI$G OF MOTORCARS,TRAILERS, OR OTHER EQUIP-

ME$TWhenever practicable, other motor-

cars, trailers, or other on-track equipmentthat needs to be towed must be pulled andnot pushed. This would apply to move-ments either forward or backward. If it isnecessary to push another motorcar,trailer, or other on-track equipment; itshall be done at a speed no faster than 10mph and for the shortest distance possi-ble to a point where the towing vehiclecan be placed in front of the other equip-ment. Equipment being pulled or pushedmust be coupled to the assisting motor-car with an approved tow bar, towhitches, and pins. The operator of a mo-torcar being towed should be prepared toassist with braking as necessary.

When an unoccupied piece of equip-ment or a piece of equipment that doesnot have independently operated brakesis being towed there shall be a safetychain applied between the motorcar andthe equipment in addition to the abovementioned tow bar. The safety chainshall be a minimum of 3/16 inch proofchain with a working load capacity of atleast 500 lbs. The chain shall be securedto a frame member or equally firm por-tion of the motorcar and equipment beingtowed and shall be so applied as to notcreate a hazard by hanging down or drag-ging the ground such as by wrapping ex-cess length of chain around the tow bar.

ITEM 6Section IVRULES FOR EXCURSIO$ COOR-DI$ATORS 4. OPERATOR CERTIFICATIO$/I$SURA$CE.

Excursion Coordinators, or their de-signee, must verify before the excursiondeparts the point of origin that all opera-tors have a current NARCOA approvedcertificate of examination, have validNARCOA insurance, and (if they joinedNARCOA after June 1, 2005) have beenproperly mentored in accordance with theNARCOA operator mentoring program.

NARCOA BOARDAPPROVES NEW RULES

Announcement By President Warren Riccitelli

NARCOA BOARDAPPROVES NEW RULES

Announcement By President Warren Riccitelli

RReessuullttss ooff vvoottee oonnnneeww rruulleess::

Area 1 – Riccitelli YESArea 2 – Williams YESArea 3 – Carpenter YESArea 4 – Falicon YESArea 5 – Moreman YESArea 6 – Brown YESArea 7 – Schneider YESArea 8 – Froese YESArea 9 – Springer YESArea 10 – Spicer YESArea 11 – Coleman YES

[[ccuummbbrreess]]


There is very little documentationabout the Fairmont turntables made forthe heavier A cars. The only drawingsyour Editor has seen are in the rare “A8Series C” Bulletin 892A. In that publi-cation the drawing of the turntable is aside view only with hardly enough detail

to identify parts. The exploded view ofthe hand operated hydraulic pump is welldone, but again is only good enough foridentifying parts. Today, any inquiry toFairmont for technical information is an-swered by someone who most likely wasnot there when motorcars were beingmanufactured. Fairmont’s employeeshave pride in the com-pany’s past products andhistory, but they have noexperience or resourceswith which to answer ourquestions.

Anyone wanting torestore and operate A carsin the hobby really needsto solve the turntableproblem. As Jim Spicerpoints out, the portableturntable made of tworails, and a center pivot beam is not suit-able for setting on at a road crossing. Anunder car mechanism of some kind isnecessary.

The two drawings on the followingpages were made using an original A-4turntable as the model. The OEMturntable used a hand operated pump tolower the plate and thus raise the car. Theweight of the car and the action of thesprings are used to retract the mechanism

back to the storage position. This designhas some compromises. Due to the lim-ited space under the car, a double actionhydraulic cylinder would be too large.

So, Fairmont used a single action hy-draulic cylinder, and relied upon springsfor final retraction of the mechanism.One good thing, the springs keep the

mechanism retractedeven if the hydraulicsystem is breached. Ifyou delete the springs,you’ll need a mechani-cal lock. Never-the-less, this is Fairmont’sbasic design, and assuch is the startingpoint for building yourown turntable. Use thedrawings carefully. De-cide for yourself if theinformation and materi-

als are useful and correct for your appli-cation. Remember that Fairmont appearsto never have made two turntables alike.

Thanks go to the anonymous mem-ber who did the drawings on the next twopages. He had an A-4 turntable fromwhich he took measurements. He wishesto remain anonymous because, although

he can accurately draw any actual objecthe has in front of him, he does not con-sider himself an expert on turntables.Jamie Haislip and Mark North used thedrawings as the basis to make two A-4turntables. Thank you Jamie for the pho-tos, and the introduction to the CAD ex-pert. - Editor

A-4-E TurntablePlans

Call ForSETOFF ArticlesThank you to all the members whohave provided materials for this issueof The SETOFF. As you read along,please take a moment to check theirbylines and photo credits. The dead-line for the July/August edition is June6, 2008 (a little early, because your ed-itor is leaving for a run). Please senditems to [email protected]. Arti-cles should be in Word format fileswith a .doc extension. Photos shouldbe sent as seperate attachments to e-mail in .jpg format. Please do notpaste photos into word documents.- Editor

Photos by Jamie Haislip

Posting Excursionson the NARCOA

Web PageExcursion Coordinators must send

event notices to [email protected] are a few do’s and don’ts.

DO: Include dates of the event.State where the event starts (is thatFranklin, North Carolina or Franklin,Ohio). Official name of the RR. Nameof the affiliate hosting the event. Set onlocation and times. Give the exact streetaddress for those of us with a GPS. Runschedule with dates and morning safetymeeting times. Total miles. Optionalequipment that is required such as radios.Name of Excursion Coordinator. Num-ber of cars. Cost of the event. Contactperson for registration . Link to a clubwebsite for more detailed informationsuch as hotels. Do your own spell check-ing. Send all your information in thebody of an e-mail as one paragraph (likethis one) without tabs, bold type faces, orother formatting. That will make KeithMackey’s “cut and paste” job easier, andget your listing posted faster.

DON’T include a lot of details likehow good the restaurant is, or the historyof the line. Don't e-mail a flyer. Extractwhat you want, and send it as e-mail text.Don't specify the names of the days of theweek as this has a high error rate. Onlygive the dates. Don’t include the webmaster in blanket e-mail announcements.Send a specific announcement to the webaddress. Keith never posts anything thathas not been sent specifically for publi-cation.

[[ccooxxoo]]


FFAAIIRRMMOONNTT AA -- 44 -- EE TTUURRNNTTAABBLLEE -- NNOOTT VVEERRIIFFIIEEDD

PLATE ONE - FOOT ASSEMBLY

USER MUST DECIDE THE UTILITY AND ACCURACY OF DIMENSIONS & MATERIALS


FFAAIIRRMMOONNTT AA -- 44 -- EE TTUURRNNTTAABBLLEE -- NNOOTT VVEERRIIFFIIEEDD

PLATE TWO - PISTON & BRACKET DETAIL

USER MUST DECIDE THE UTILITY AND ACCURACY OF DIMENSIONS & MATERIALS


Turning Fairmont Gang CarsSurvey of Turntables and Other Solutions

By Jim Spicer

So now you got that big sucker onthe track, but it’s headed the wrong way.Hopefully, I can help you figure a way toturn it around. This is not a “How To” ar-ticle. I simply want to supply you withenough information to get you starteddoing some research.

You need to be able to turn your carwith just you and your on board passen-gers. Asking others on the excursion tohelp lift and turn a heavy car will soonmake you very unpopular. Help is gener-ally available for turning but not for lift-ing. There are several methods you canuse to turn heavy gang cars besides justplain muscling them around. Fairmontprovided two types; the push/drive on

and the hydraulic lift. Both types havetheir advantages and disadvantages.

The advantage of the push/drive onis: there are some available, they workpretty well, and no modification to yourcar is required except some brackets tocarry them.

The disadvantages are the car is bal-anced on the turntable center beam andrequires some care to maneuver around. .Because of the center beam design, thecar cannot be turned at a crossing. Thedisadvantage is most apparent when set-ting on at a right angle crossing.

The hydraulic type (at right) is diffi-cult to find. They have a hand pumpwhich is easy to operate but takes time.If the hand pump has been replaced witha 12V electric hydraulic pump, then it’sjust a matter of pushing a button to liftyour car. Because of the location of thetransmission, the assembly may not beexactly at the balance point. They alsohave a small pivot point so care must be

taken when turning. If the turntable (TT)is installed away from the balance pointthe car can be quite heavy on one end andrequire several people to help turn it.

Some owners have installed a hardpoint or jack point near the balance pointand lift the car with a floor jack. Againthe down side is having to balance the carand turn. The up side of all these meth-

The OEM portable turntable consistsof two rails, a truss, and a supportbase. The long rails are carried eitheron the deck of the car or on side brack-ets. The rails have holes for inserting abolt to adjust the balance point. Withsome care, this turntable can turn anymotorcar, large or small.

Photos by Jim Spicer unless noted.

Photo by Ed Best

Above is an A-6/8 OEM turntable. Itmounts vertically and uses the socketin the center to rotate on a half ball ona board placed on ties or crossing atthe center of the car. The car is thenturned on the half ball. $o bearing justgrease / friction on the half ball. Belowis an A-4-E TT that has a base plate thecar rotates on. Both TT's have singleacting cylinders and use springs for thereturn.


ods is no physical lifting of a heavy car. Another down side is they do have

some risk when not turned carefully.Usually the turn is made on ballastedtrack with ballast sloping away at tieends. Stepping over the rail then walkingthrough loose ballast can cause tripping

on rail or having the ballast roll underyour foot. I have seen cars tilt precari-ously, sometimes to the point of losing it.One good helper is far better than agroup. If there are several inexperiencedhelpers they tend to fight each other.

Ed Best designed and built a jackand wheel arrangement (previous page)

that attaches to rear of his car. He used atrailer tongue jack with wheel attached.Cranking lifts the rear of car, then it canbe pushed around without manual lifting.The down side is it is slow, has to be usedon a level hard surface, and it does takesome effort to turn. The up side is it re-

quires no physicallifting, and on alevel hard surface itcannot get away.

Dale Brix de-signed and built asystem for turninghis A-3. I find Dale'sconcept innovativeand surprisinglysimple. It is a wholedifferent approachand solves the prob-lem of the transmis-sion being in exactlythe wrong place.

Dale installedtwo camper jacks atthe balance point on

his car. He built a simple turntable heplaces between the rails. He then rolls thecar over the portable TT, and lifts his carwith the camper jacks. Ihave never seen him turn,but he says it is easy tocenter up and turn. Theplus is, it works anywhereincluding when setting onat a crossing. He placestwo light channel ironsacross the track to makethe car easy to move andline up with the portableTT. The portable TT ap-pears to not be excessively heavy. For abearing Dale uses a 10" Mylar disc from

a Reese 5th wheel camper hitch. He pur-chased the disc and camper jacks atCamping World.

Before attempting to build or fit anypermanent turntable to your car there aretwo things you must do. NARCOA rulesstate there must be 2 1/2 inches clearancebetween rail head and bottom of TT. Youmust carefully measure the distance fromrail head to bottom of your transmission.You need more than the required 2 1/2”.When retracted the bottom plate will beunder the transmission. If you don’t havenearly three inches you must figure out away to get that amount.

You might be able to raise the en-gine/transmission assembly just enoughto give you the required amount. Nextyou must find the balance point (BP) ofyour car. This gives you the point to worktoward so your car will balance properlywhen lifted off the rails. To find the BP,lift one end of car, placing blocks ap-proximately in the center, then put a pieceof angle iron on the block. A few movesand you will have it balanced. Mark itwith chalk then record in your notes ex-actly how far it is from an axle to the BP.(See photo below).

Building a TT for a Fairmont A car isnot as simple as pulling out a drawingand spending some afternoon whippingone out. It appears that Fairmont didn’tbuild two cars exactly alike unless on thesame order. Each engine/transmissioncombination has a different under sideprofile.

Finally, never do anything to com-promise your car’s brake system. Motor-cars only have one means of stopping. Ifyou modify it and it fails, you are in bigtrouble.

In the next Setoff we will delve intoprincipal of a “better” turntable based onthe Beaver Cars.

Photos by Dale Brix

...never doanything tocompromise

your car’s brakesystem.

Determine the center balance point.

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NARCOA INSURANCEProgram History

By Tom Norman, NARCOA Insurance Administrator

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Farmrail in OklahomaBy Drake Rice

Clinton, OK - The Oklahoma Rail-way Museum (ORM), a NARCOA affil-iate, hosted a two day run on Farmrail inwestern Oklahoma January 19 and 20,2008. The first day was from Clinton toOkeene, OK, and back, on the old Friscoline for a total of 126 miles. The secondday was on the former Santa Fe Orientline from Sentential to Altus, OK, andback for at total of 71 miles.

Eight motorcars, 2 Hy-Rails, and 15members participated in the event. Thefirst day at the start the temperature was11 degrees and a couple of the cars hadproblems with moisture freezing in thefuel lines, but when the units were

warmed up, everyone was able to run. Onthe second day, the temperature at set-onwas 22 degrees and no problems were en-countered.

The trips were through the rollinghills in north central Oklahoma andthrough the flat southwestern part of thestate except for the Cut through the Gran-ite mountains at Lake Lugert. ORM andNARCOA appreciate Farmrail for letting

us enjoy their system and being a sup-porter of the Oklahoma Railway Mu-seum.

January 20th, the group pauses at Lugert Cut in the Granite Mountains alongAltus-Lugert Reservoir in southwest Oklahoma. Photo by Drake Rice

I’m busy processing liability insur-ance program applications for the 2008policy year. I’ve mailed out over 810 in-surance cards to date, and the 3/31/08 cutoff date is fast approaching. That meansI only have another 150 to 200 applica-tions to go! I’ve been volunteering tohandle the insurance since 1995, andhave seen quite a few changes over theyears. I thought maybe members wouldbe interested in a little history.

NARCOA has had a liability policycovering NARCOA and the membersince in 1989. Over the years, we havegone through at least nine different in-surance companies: Kemper, Transamer-ica, Reliance, General Accident,USF&G, Lloyds, Admiral, Essex, andDarwin. Railroad liability coverage isnot something that is handled by a lot ofcompanies. Most of the companychanges over the years were due to thecompany’s decision to exit the railroad li-ability business. One of the companiesdeclared bankruptcy. Coverage amountshave varied from $1,000,000 in 1990 toour current $10,000,000 per each occur-rence limit, with a $20,000,000 generalaggregate limit.

Participation by NARCOA membersinitially was 526 in 1995. That numberhas steadily risen to 983 in 2004. In 2005we saw our first decrease to 961, and to932 in 2006, before gaining in 2007 to984. The decrease in 2005 was due to myfailure to negotiate a new policy withLloyds before the end of our policy year.Insurance coverage was not in place untilMay 1st, and I think that put a damper onmember’s participation. Premiums permember have varied from $105 to as highas $187 per year for insurance. I feel thatour current premium of $150 is a goodvalue for the member.

Beginning March 6th 1995 westarted issuing Certificates of Insuranceto host railroads. These certificates addthe host railroad to our policy as an addi-tional insured. At policy year-end I sum-marize these and submit them to theinsurance company. Through 1/31/08NARCOA issued 2,061 certificates to414 different railroads. We average

around 158 certificates per year. Lastyear we issued 154 certificates to 99 rail-roads, of which 23 were new host rail-roads.

The Certificates of Insurance areprocessed by the Area Insurance Repre-sentatives. They include Hank Brown,Jim McKeel, Doug Stivers, Tom Falicon,Dick Wilhelm, and me. The reps are ap-pointed by the NARCOA Insurance Ad-ministrator. Each rep has a region thatthey cover, which helps spread the insur-ance workload around. The rep is re-sponsible for sending Certificates ofPermission to excursion coordinators.The Certificate of Permission is the formthat the railroad signs, approving an ex-cursion. The rep confirms that the ex-

cursion is being planed by a certified ex-cursion coordinator, and sponsored by aNARCOA approved affiliate. The repalso verifies that the excursion is postedin The Setoff, and /or listed on the NAR-COA website, before issuing the Certifi-cate of Insurance.

Over the past years NARCOA mem-bers have paid over $1,200,000 in premi-ums to the insurance carriers. Our claimshave only totaled around $40,000. Thisis a very good loss ratio, and now thatNARCOA has at least 14 years history ofliability insurance coverage, I hope thatwe can negotiate a lower premium in fu-ture years. Remember everyone ---- besafe out there.


NARCOA does not guarantee, certify or warrant that any mechanical equipment, modification, solution or device described inarticles or advertisements in the SETOFF are safe or suitable for any member’s needs or purposes. Technical articles are pro-vided for members’ consideration only. Readers are advised to do their own due diligence to determine the safety and suitabilityof any such equipment, modification, solution or device for their purposes, and are advised to seek outside expert advice.

Call forCalendarPhotos

The deadline for photos for the2009 calendar is October 15, 2008. Ingeneral, photographs taken in the lastyear are desired. Electronic submissionsare preferred. Send photos on CD toTheSETOFF Editor by mail. Please mark theenvelope “2009 calendar.” Photo files mustbe high resolution with .jpg extensions.Printed photos are welcome only if theoriginal negative is included. If requested,negatives will be scanned and returned.Otherwise, all materials are archived, andnot returned. Please include caption infor-mation about who, what, when,where, andwhy for each photograph.

117 MEMBERS PASS THEEXCURSION COORDINATORS TEST

The Three Most Missed Questions Answered HereBy Hank Brown, Chairman - Operations Committee

Thanks go to all the excursion coor-dinators that took the EC test recently.We had an excellent turnout and the re-sults were amazing. The average time ittook a member to complete the test was 2hours. Some members took up to 4hours, which meant everyone was look-ing for the correct answers. All the ques-tions were taken from the OperationsHandbook, Rule book, the NARCOAWebsite, or the Policy Handbook. TheBoard of Directors gave us the responsi-bility of creating the test at the boardmeeting last September. Most of themtook the test prior to it being mailed to thecurrent existing coordinators. The goalof the Operations Committee was for allexcursion coordinators to pass the testwith a perfect score, with an unlimitednumber of tries. Even if an excursion co-ordinator missed only one question, thecommittee wanted that member to knowwhere to find the correct answer. So, thetest was re-done until a perfect score wasachived.

Here are the three questions, in the

order of frequency, that were “re-done”the most.

Question 11 – “Who is ultimatelyresponsible for the inspection of motor-cars?” was the most missed question. In2006 the Board of Directors was lookingfor a way to reduce the liability to the ex-cursion coordinator and decided to putthe responsibility of inspecting a motor-car on the owner where it belonged, in-stead of on the excursion coordinator ordesignee. However, it is still very im-portant that an inspection of motorcars bedone just prior to an excursion. This willhelp members look for things that theymight have missed. Some of our affili-ates use stickers to place on the windowsof cars they have inspected. This helpsreduce the number of cars that need a“hard” look at future excursions of theirs.

Question 1 – “Whose rules and reg-ulations are the most important during anexcursion?” I believe the reason thisquestion was missed was the confusionbetween the railroad, and excursion co-ordinator position, and the way the rulebook is written. However, if you reviewpage 2 under RAILROAD RULES itstates the railroad may impose their ownoperating rules. Where these rules andstandards conflict with those in this rulebook, the more restrictive rules in termsof the safety of individuals and the pro-tection of property will prevail in all in-stances. Additionally, a railroad mayspecifically waive a NARCOA rule orrules in the interest of safety on its track.Remember we are guests of a railroad.

Question 9 – “Prior to each day of amotorcar excursion which 6 items shouldbe mentioned at a safety meeting?” Thisquestion was designed to see what the ex-cursion coordinator was saying at a safetymeeting. The answer is in the OperationsHandbook and the rule book, but is notclearly found. Therefore, we were tryingto see what the excursion coordinator

was doing. It is the intention of the Op-erations Committee to revise the currenthandbook and collate the answers fromeach test to come up with a minimumstandard requirement for a safety meet-ing. The answers given were very help-ful. Most of the current excursioncoordinators added their own informationin addition to what was in the handbook.

Editors note: Here are the answers TheSETOFF Editor gave to # 9:1. Review track authority & discusstoday's schedule2. Review following distances3. Grade crossing procedures4. Breakdown rules, towing/pushing5. Reverse movements6. End of day set-off or tie-down proce-dures. Also, introduce the rail road es-cort, and have the escort make theirdesired comments. Elicit from the escortthe location of spring or self guardedfrogs, and other hazards.

The current list of certified excursioncoordinators will be posted on the NAR-COA website around the middle of Feb-ruary. If you do not see your name,chances are you didn’t submit the test. Iwill be accepting tests throughout theyear either by email at [email protected] or by snail mail at

NARCOA622 Oak Street

Cottage Grove, WI 53527

However, after February 29, 2008anyone passing the test will have to bementored even though you have been anexcursion coordinator your whole life,unless the Board of Directors changes therules. Again, I would like thank every-one that participated in this testing pro-gram. I think we now have a moreinformed group of 117 excursion coordi-nators.

[[cchhaammaa]]


Please submit all excursions and ads directly [email protected]

The SETOFF downloads directly from the websitefor the most current information.

NARCOA Excursionsas of April 15, 2008

May 03, 2008 - TX posted 04/01 Texas State RailroadA one day excursion of the Texas State Railroad has been rescheduled forSaturday May 3, 2008. We will operate from Rusk Texas to Palestine andwill be operating along with the Railroads passenger trains. The trip willcover 50 miles round trip. This will be a NARCOA insured trip and allNARCOA rules will apply. All cars will be inspected and you must havea copy of your current rule book, 2008 insurance card as well as your Op-erators Certificate. You will be required to wear hard sole shoes (workboots) no exceptions. No home built cars will be allowed. The cost for thistrip will be $100.00/car which covers the railroad’s fee. The registrationdeadline is April 26, 2008. The coordinator for this trip will be John vonBriesen 713-689-4184 Email - [email protected] To register for thistrip send this form along with your check made payable to: John vonBriesen 10 Oak Court #3207 Houston Texas 77006

May 03, 2008 - O$ posted 03/27 St.Thomas and Eastern Railway NARCOA-insured motor car excursion on the 34 mile St. Thomas & East-ern railway will take place on Saturday, May 3, 2008. We will set-on inTillsonburg, Ontario beginning at 9 AM with an eastward departure sched-uled for 10 AM. We will make at least one round trip (68 miles) and pos-sibly more, if time permits. The cost of the run will be $60.00 Canadian or$65.00 U.S. This is a NARCOA insurance run ONLY and all NARCOArules will be in effect. This run is presented by Kenneth Annett-an indi-vidual member NARCOA affiliate. To register, please make a checkpayable to: “Kenneth Annett” and send to: Motorcar Run, 3483 ChurchStreet, Windsor, Ontario, Canada. N9E 1V6 [email protected]

May 03, 2008 - PA posted 03/01 Everett Railroad This will be our eighth year of coordinating rides on this railroad. In theprevious seven trips, the runs totaled about 60 miles each. We expect nearlythe same in 2008. The set-on is at Claysburg, PA which is located just offI-99 between Altoona and Bedford, PA. We will travel north to Hollidays-burg, turn the cars and travel south to Roaring Spring’s Railroad station,where we will take our lunch/restroom stop. Lunch will be available at thestation. Details will be sent to those who register. The station’s restroomand a portable toilet will be available. After lunch we will continue southto Martinsburg, back through the wye to turn the cars, and retrace our routeback to Claysburg. This excursion will be a great way to start the weekendfor those riding the Central PA Excursion’s ride on the Nittany & BaldEagle RR on Sunday May 4. This will be a Northern Central Railcar Assoc.excursion. NARCOA rules will be in effect. There is a limit of 40 cars.Cost is $45 per car. An application can be downloaded from our web site:http://wilmingtonnrhs.com/ncra/ Contact: Gary Shrey, 54 Adams Road,New Freedom, Pennsylvania 17349 Phone: 717-227-9628 E-Mail:[email protected]

May 04, 2008 - PA posted 02/09 $ittany & Bald Eagle Railroad Central Pennsylvania Excursions is pleased to sponsor a 1 day run on theNittany & Bald Eagle Railroad – Ride the approximately 70 miles RT ofthe Nittany & Bald Eagle Railroad from Bellefonte to either Tyrone orMill Hall and return if track is available. If not, we will ride the BellefonteSecondary. The exact itinerary will be set by the railroad that day due totrain traffic. Former Pennsylvania Railroad, lots of welded rail. Proof ofNARCOA insurance required, all NARCOA rules will be enforced. Reg-istration fee - $55.00. Note: All CPE rides are rain or shine. No cancella-tions due to weather or schedule changes. Hard soled shoes required, nosneakers or sandals. Children must be closely supervised at all times. Send

check to: Central PA Excursions, PO Box 145, White Deer, PA 17887.Questions: (570) 538-9050 or email [email protected]. Note – Satur-day will be a ride on the Everett RR.

May 10 - 11, 2008 - WA posted 02/19 Eastern Washington Gateway RR. Pacific Railcar Operators is pleased to announce a motorcar excursion overthe Eastern Washington Gateway RR (a division of U.S. Rail Partners)May 10-11, 2008. Set on will be at Wilbur, WA. On Saturday May 10th wewill run Wilbur to Cheney and return (152 miles round trip). This day willinclude a visit to the site of the Inland Empire Railroad Historical Society'snew museum at Reardan and an activity on site. Sunday May 11th we willtravel Wilbur to Cooley City and return (72 miles round trip). The runeast of Wilbur will be through the Eastern Washington scablands formedby the great Lake Missoula floods during the last ice age 15,000 years ago.All participants must have 2008 NARCOA insurance and current NAR-COA operator's cards. PRO membership is encouraged. All NARCOArules and guidelines are in effect. Spark arrestors are required on all cars.Packets with itinerary, lodging (RV) and restaurant information will bemailed upon receipt of payment. Run fee for the weekend is $215.00.Please make checks payable to PRO, but mail them to Jim Morefield, 1037Richardson, Lewiston, ID 83501. For more information contact Co-Ex-cursion Coordinators Jim Morefield, (208) 743-0802 [email protected] , Bill Taylor (406) 721-2351 [email protected] or SteveHealy (253) 630-9817 [email protected] .

May 17 - 18, 2008 - AL/MS posted 12/15 Columbus and Greenville RR - Luxapalila Valley RR - Greenville PortAuthority RR Saturday - Greenwood, MS to Greenville, MS 110 milesRT This is our first trip on these beautiful railroads. Saturday will be acombination of the Columbus and Greenville Railroad and the GreenvillePort Authority Railroad. We cross theMississippi Delta on top of one of thegreat Mississippi Levys overlooking the Mississippi Port of Greenville,MS. Our Saturdays set-on location is the origin of W.C. Handy’s first Bluessong, “ Where the Southern Crosses the Dawg” in Moorhead, MS..Sunday - Belk, Alabama to Steens, MS 52 miles RT Sundays run will bedown through the beautiful Luxapalila Valley, following the winding Luxa-palila River from Belk, Al all the way to Steens, MS. We will depart fromKennedy, AL.You must be a Narcoa member, have Narcoa insurance, andhave passed the rules test. All operators and passengers must wear a safetyvest/shirt while on railroad property. There is plenty of parking for yourautos, truck, trailers, and RVs. A mobile VHF radio is strongly encour-aged. The cost for both wonderful days is $150.00. There is a maximumcar limit of 35 cars. No refunds after April 17, 2008 unless I can find an-other car from the waiting list to take your place. Please make your checksout to Atlanta Railcar Transportation LLC, c/o Bobby Moreman - EC, 3520Cold Springs Ln, Chamblee, GA 30341-2036. Click here for a brochure.A confirmation letter will follow the receipt of your check. [email protected] More info at http://salembranch.nfshost.com/mo-torcar/

May 23 - 24, 2008 - CA posted 03/17 Amador Foothill Railroad Motorcars Operators West and the Recreational Railroad Coalition pres-ents the Ione Railfair and Vintage Motorfest. This is a two day event on theAmador Foothill Railroad in Ione, California. Participants will run a grandtotal of 100 miles on five roundtrip excursions including a Saturday nightsunset run. The run fee is $55 per car and early registration would be ap-preciated. Set-on will begin at 3:00 pm Friday ,23rd of May and there isRV parking on site @$10 per vehicle. The Railfair will include displays ofAntique RXR equipment from the California State RXR Museum and the


RRC. Also , there will be displays of antique agricultural equipment, an op-erating miniature Railroad,an antique bus and a Concord Stagecoach. ASaturday evening tri-tip dinner will be served and the cost is $15 .This isa Narcoa insured excursion,and all Narcoa rules will apply.For Railfair de-tails contact Dave Balestreri,2320 "E"street,Sacramento, Ca.. (H.916-444-6374, C.916 531 7536)email [email protected]

May 24, 2008 - IA posted 01/15 Iowa River Railroad Eldora, Iowa - The First Iowa Division will host a ride on this ex-M&StLline which runs from Marshalltown to Steamboat Rock, Iowa and northpast the ethanol plant towards Ackley. Mileage could be about 70 milesround trip depending on how far we can ride. We plan on possibly ridingthe line twice if time permits. Cost of this ride is $45 per car. The set ontime will be at 7:00am with an 8:00am departure. The set on location isabout 2 blocks north of the Hwy 175 crossing. Motels in Eldora are the Vil-lage Motel (641-939-3441) and the Eldora Motel (641-939-2232). Bothof these motels are small and family-owned so there is a limited numberof rooms at each so make your reservations early. Dave Pratt (515-674-3803) is the Excursion Cordinator for this ride. Contact Carl Schneider at515-967-5181 or e-mail [email protected] for more information. Thisis a Narcoa-insured ride and all Narcoa rules apply.

May 24 - 26, 2008 - CO updated 03/18 Creede Branch, Denver & Rio Grande Railway Historic FoundationSouth Fork-Creede, CO - 8th Anniversary and Tune Up Run. The RockyMountain Division invites you to celebrate the 8th anniversary of the pur-chase of the Creede branch by the D&RGHF from the Union Pacific, re-turning the Rio Grande name to this historic, and scenic property. This isa great low key run for mentoring new operators, and a great run to seehow your car runs in the mountains. The entire branch may not be acces-sible due to post winter track conditions, but we will arrange the run totravel somewhere between 60 to 80 track miles during these dates. Speederlimit for the run will be 25 Cost: $110 ($100 is a tax deductible dontation).Checks should be made to "Rocky Mountain Division". NARCOA rulesand insurance will be in effect. Spark arrestors will be required. Jon Keel-ing will be EC. Contact Philip Walters, PO Box 57, Mancos, CO 81328(970) 533-7177 or [email protected] Details and updates athttp://www.rockymountaindivision.com/creede_8th_anniv.htm

May 24 - 26, 2008 - ID updated 04/13 Camas Prairie Railroad - FULL - Waiting List OnlyPacific Railcar Operators is pleased to announce the third annual Memo-rial Day Weekend motorcar excursion on three branches of the formerCamas Prairie Railroad (CSP) on May 24, 25 and 26, 2008. The initial seton point will be at the headquarters of the Great Northwest Railroad inEast Lewiston, Idaho. A waiting list will be maintained on a first come –first served basis and late entries will be notified of their status on the wait-ing list. Run fees for the weekend are $295 and no refunds will be issuedafter May 1, 2008 unless the vacancy can be filled from the waiting list.Make checks payable to Pacific Railcar Operators and mail them to MeetCoordinator Steve Taulbee, 2206 Burrell Avenue, Lewiston, ID 83501.

May 24 - 26, 2008 - CO posted 02/09 Leadville, Colorado & Southern RR. The Rocky Mountain Division would like to invite you to the Leadville,Colorado & Southern RR for a three day Opening Weekend Celebration.This excursion starts in Leaville, CO and continues up above tree line at11,000ft, near Freemont Pass and the worlds largest Molybdenum mine atClimax. Come ride with us on the old Colorado & Southern roadbed andexperience the life above 10,000ft. This can be a demanding climate to bein. Please be aware of "Mountain sickness". This can effect folks who arecoming from "Down Below". Weather changes can happen very quicklyhere also. Please be prepared. NARCOA Insurance is required by all mo-torcars. All NARCOA rules will apply. Forest Service approved spark ar-restors REQUIRED. Cost: $100 per motorcar. Lodging and food are onyour own. Contact: Gus Mocilac [email protected]

May 28/29, 2008 (Wed-Thur) - Old Maine Central – Mountain Divi-sion/Conway Scenic Railroad.Join us with this old favorite. From Redstone to Sebago Lake we will travel

this line that has been out of service for ever twenty years. There are a fewpaved over crossings, but all are passable. An added event will be a stopat a railroad museum on the way. RT mileage is about 80 miles. No “A”cars or hy-rails allowed because of track conditions. On Thursday will travel the Conway Scenic Railroad one one of the mostbeautiful railroads in the country will be our host for a trip thru CrawfordNotch, the Willey House and Frankenstein Trestle. The scenic journey willover beautiful views of the White Mountains, the Presidential Range andMt Washington. RT Mileage is about 88 miles. Seton will be at Redstone.Seton and hotel info to be forwared upon reservation. Fee for both days is175.00. Listed CEC is Warren Riccitelli. For more information contactWarren Riccitelli (401) 232-0992 or [email protected] or AlElliott at ((732) 536-7460.

May 30, 2008 (Fri) - “The Railroad to the Moon…” With many re-quests from people running the Conway Scenic excursions, we haveworked a special deal with the Mt. Washington Cog Railway. Establishedover 100 years ago, this is the oldest cog railroad in the world, and still runson coal. The 37.4% grade offers no match for the best motorcars. We willbe passengers for this 2 ½ trip. This will over plenty of time to get to theHobo for the Friday chicken barbeque. Fee is 32.50 per person. ListedCEC is Warren Riccitelli. For more information contact Warren Riccitelli(401) 232-0992 or [email protected] or Al Elliott at ((732)536-7460.

May 30 - June 1, 2008 - $H posted 01/15 Hobo Railroad Paul G. Yorkis is coordinating the 20th Anniversary Hobo Railroad TrackCar Meet 2 day run over the Hobo and Winnipesauke Scenic RailroadsMay 30, 31 and June 1, 2008. This is the oldest continuous track car meetin the United States. Participants will travel approximately 95 round-tripmiles between Lincoln, NH and Weirs Beach, NH on Saturday and ap-proximately 50 miles round-trip on Sunday between Tilton, NH and WeirsBeach, NH. This event is open to all operators with the Hobo RailroadTimetable, State of New Hampshire Operating Rules, and NORAC rulesapplying. Every crew member is required to wear a safety vest. All carswill be inspected each day. The event fee of $75.00 per car includes onecar, operator and crew member. Optional costs include meals, shirts, vests,hotel, and fees for additional crew members. There is no car limit at thistime. This is a NOT a NARCOA insured event. For trip details contactPaul G. Yorkis, 7 Independence Lane, Medway, MA 02053. Tel: 508-533-4848 between 7:00 PM and 9:00 PM or email: [email protected].

May 31, 2008 - CA posted 04/10 California $orthern RR PRO is pleased to announce their annual Tracy to Los Banos Woolgrow-ers/Apricot Festival run on Saturday, May 31. The cost of this run is $120per car. The cost for lunch at the Woolgrowers is $17.00 per person. Pleasemake your check payable to PRO and mail it to Steve Paluso, 2878 RosarioCourt, San Jose, CA 95132. Please include a self-addressed, stamped en-velope with 58 cents postage. Since the tracks in Los Banos end about 3miles away from the Woolgrowers we have made arrangements for trans-portation to the Woolgrowers and back. If you have any questions, youcan email Steve at [email protected] or call between 1:00 pm to 7:30 pmat (408) 956-8070. No calls after 7:30 please. We need a 20 car minimumto make this run happen. Deadline for signing up is May 22.

May 31, 2008 - GA posted 03/29 Blue Ridge Scenic Railroad Blue Ridge, GA to Talking Rock, GA – Approx 55 miles round trip. Pic-nic Lunch in Talking Rock. NARCOA rules apply. Set on Blue Ridge atFire Station, South of Depot, at 8 AM, Safety Briefing at 9 AM. Do not seton until permission is given by EC. Price: $5.00 per car active Blue RidgeScenic Railroad Volunteers. All others $10.00 per car. Coordinators: CarlHymen (706-455-0492, Scottie Wershing (828) 644-5204, Ron Long (706)632-9736. Email: [email protected]

June 1, 2008 - CA posted 04/05 Sierra Railroad Sierra RR Oakdale to Jamestown, California and return. Run held run inconjunction with Steve Paluso’s Saturday May 31st PRO Woolgrowers


run to Los Banos on the California Northern. Cost $140.- per car. Pleasesend your check made out to Motorcar Operators West, include currentNARCOA numbers and a LSASE envelope before May 21st to: ChrisOgilvie 6676 Colton Blvd. Oakland CA 94611 (510) 339-1071 home (415)896-2644 office [email protected] 20 car minimum. All NARCOAlicenced and insured operators are welcome! NARCOA and MOW ruleswill apply.

June 7, 2008 - PA posted 02/09 Lycoming Valley Railroad Central Pennsylvania Excursions is pleased to sponsor a 1 day run on theLycoming Valley Railroad – Ride the 80 miles RT of the Lycoming ValleyRailroad from Williamsport to Muncy and Avis. Former Reading and NewYork Central Railroads. Proof of NARCOA insurance required, all NAR-COA rules will be enforced. Registration fee - $55.00. Note: All CPE ridesare rain or shine. No cancellations due to weather. Hard soled shoes re-quired, no sneakers or sandals. Children must be closely supervised at alltimes. Send check to: Central PA Excursions, PO Box 145, White Deer, PA17887. Questions: (570) 538-9050 or email [email protected]

June 8, 2008 - PA posted 02/09 Union County Industrial Railroad CPE is pleased to sponsor a 1 day run on the Union County Industrial Rail-road NOTE - THE TRACK FROM LEWISBURG TO MIFFLINBURGHAS BEEN LISTED FOR ABANDONMENT AND MAY BE TORN UPBY JUNE. THIS MAY BE THE CHANCE TO RIDE ON THIS 10 MILESOF TRACK. Ride the 25 miles RT of the Union County Industrial Railroadfrom New Columbia to Winfield, Mifflinburg and back. Former Readingand Pennsylvania Railroad. Proof of NARCOA insurance required, allNARCOA rules will be enforced. Registration fee - $30.00. Note: All CPErides are rain or shine. No cancellations due to weather. Hard soled shoesrequired, no sneakers or sandals. Children must be closely supervised at alltimes. Send check to: Central PA Excursions, PO Box 145, White Deer, PA17887. Questions: (570) 538-9050 or email [email protected]

June 7 - 18, 2008 - AK posted 08/15 Alaska Railroad FULL - Waiting List Motorcar Operators West is pleased to announce the Alaska Railroad Ex-cursion for June 7, 2008 through June 18, 2008. The excursion will takemotorcar operators and guests from Anchorage to Seward to Denali Na-tional Park to Fairbanks and return. Cost of the excursion is $5500 whichincludes railroad, lodging, bus shuttle, fuel, and affiliated fees. This is aNARCOA insured excursion, and all NARCOA rules will apply. For tripdetails please contact Dan Berg, 2017 Mule Creek Rd, Las Vegas, NV89134 (702) 341-8617 or email: [email protected]

June 12 - 18, 2008 - MT updated 02/13 Big Sky Adventure FULL - Waiting List Pacific Railcar Operators is pleased to announce its Big Sky Adventure IIJune 10-16, 2008. Participants will run over 5 different branches of threeunique railroads in Montana's Big Sky Country. They are Montana RailLink, Butte, Anaconda & Pacific (Rarus), and Central Montana Rail Inc.Certified Excursion Coordinator Bill Taylor, 917 Parkview Way, Missoula,MT 59803. For more information call (406) 721-2351 or email [email protected]

June 13 - 17, 2008 - CO posted 12/18 First Iowa Division June Tour - Colorado The Colorado tour cost is $475 with $100 tax deductible. A complete in-formation packet will be sent to those signing up. Contact Dave Pratt (515-674-3803) or Carl Schneider (515-967-5181) or [email protected] for further information.June 13 - San Luis & Rio Grande Railroad - Alamosa to Monte Vista, Col-orado & San Luis Central Railroad - Monte Vista to Center, Colorado Thisride will be a late afternoon and evening trip. Total miles for this run willbe 66 miles.June 14 - San Luis & Rio Grande Railroad - Alamosa – LaVeta, ColoradoWe will ride from Alamosa east over LaVeta Pass at 9242’. This will be atotal of 152 miles for the day.June 15 - Denver & Rio Grande Scenic Railroad - South Fork – Creede,Colorado, There will be one round trip on this line for a total of 44 miles

for the day.June 16 - 17 - Leadville & Southern Railroad - Leadville to Climax, Col-orado We will set on the evening of June 16th for a night run up the moun-tain on this scenic line which goes up to 11,300 feet at Climax and thenreturn to Leadville. We will then depart Leadville on the morning of the17th for a daytime run back up the mountain to Climax and returning toLeadville in time for the excursion train to run. Mileage is 11 1/2 mileseach way and very scenic so bring lots of film.June 18 & 19 - Travel Days for those participating in the Idaho/Washing-ton Tour. NARCOA-insured and all NARCOA rules will apply.

June 14, 2008 - MI posted 02/22 Minnesota Southern RailroadThe First Iowa Division is hosting a ride on the Minnesota Southern at Lu-verne, Minnesota. Set on will be at 6:30am and we will travel east throughMagnolia, Adrian, and Rushmore with a turn around at Agate Junctionwith the Union Pacific near Worthington. Upon our return to Luverne, wewill stop for lunch on your own. Total mileage is 90 miles for the day. Costof this ride is $30.. There is a Super 8 motel (507-283-9541) in Luverne.There is also a Comfort Inn (800-228-5150) in Luverne. Dave Pratt (515-674-3803) is the Excursion Coordinator for this ride. Contact Carl Schnei-der at 515-967-5181 or e-mail [email protected] for moreinformation. This is a Narcoa-insured ride and all Narcoa rules apply.

June 14 - 15, 2008 - I$ posted 04/06 Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum The HVRM will be giving public train rides during the North Judson, In-diana Mint Festival Days. Operators who participate with the festival willbe asked to give rides to the general public for Sat. and or Sun. Set on:7:00 to 9:00am (CENTRAL TIME). Exact schedule for rides will be sentas time approaches. Operators will have a private late afternoon run toLaCrosse or Malden on Sat. and a possible LaCrosse run on Sun. morningif schedule permits. NO CHARGE. All cars have the option of being storedin the engine house on Friday & Sat night. All NARCOA rules and regu-lations apply, Limit of 20 cars. A-cars welcome and are accepted for pri-vate runs. HVRM insurance will cover public rides. NARCOA insurancecovers private runs. Camping on grounds is permitted and Friday arrivalswelcome. For registration and all extra information “hotels and restau-rants” Contact Jon Schmidt, 17591 w15b Rd. Culver, IN 46511 (574-842-2948) or email: [email protected] Please send Rule Book andInsurance number when registering. Museum site. hvrm.railfan.net formore info and directions.

June 15, 2008 - $C posted 03/03 Great Smoky Mountains RR Tom Falicon would like to announce a NARCOA insured excursion on theGreat Smoky Mountains RR in North Carolina. Set -on will be in Andrews,NC and we will make two runs over the Red Marble Gap Grade with onerun going as far as Bryson City if time and train movements permit. On ourfirst trip over the mountain, two cycle cars will be able to try their luck atmastering the 5+% grade if they like! Total round trip miles will be a min-imum of 60 miles and a max of around 90 miles. Cost of this trip is:$85.00. For a sign-up form and more info, contact: EC, Tom Falicon, 1227Sawmill Creek Rd., Bryson City, NC 28713, 828-488-8063, [email protected]

June 21, 2008 - GA posted 03/29 Blue Ridge Scenic Railroad Blue Ridge, GA to Ellijay, GA – Approx 30 miles round trip. Supper stopin Ellijay. NARCOA rules apply. Set on Blue Ridge at Fire Station, Southof Depot, at 4 PM, Safety Briefing at 5 PM. Do not set on until permissionis given by EC. Price: $5.00 per car active Blue Ridge Scenic RailroadVolunteers. All others $10.00 per car. Coordinators: Carl Hymen (706-455-0492, Scottie Wershing (828) 644-5204, Ron Long (706) 632-9736. Email:[email protected]

June 21 - 22, 2008 - WV updated 02/02 West Virginia Central RR FULL - Waiting List Appalachian Rail Excursions is pleased to announce a motorcar run on theWest Virginia Central in Elkins West Virginia for June 21-22, 2008. Seton is at the Western Maryland Depot. For more info and registration: EC


- Paul S. Rujak Phone:304-670-4099, 786 Hudson Hill Road E-mail: [email protected] Weirton, WV 26062-5584

June 20 - 30, 2008 - ID/WA posted 12/18 First Iowa Division June Tour - Idaho/Washington.Cost of the Idaho/Washington tour is $585. A complete information packetwill be sent to those signing up. Contact Dave Pratt (515-674-3803) orCarl Schneider (515-967-5181) or e-mail [email protected] for fur-ther information.June 20 - 22 - Camas Prairie (Now Bountiful Grain & Craig MountainRailroad) - Lewiston, Idaho We will start this trip with a night run begin-ning at Lapwai which is east of Lewiston. This ride is 26 miles round trip.Day 2 will also begin at Lapwai and will consist of a 104 mile round tripto Kamiah and return. The third day will begin at Craigmont and traveldown the mountain to Culdesac and return uphill back to Craigmont. Thisline has tunnels and high bridges including Half Moon Trestle. Mileage isabout 40 miles round trip and we may be able to make this run twice if timepermits.June 23 - Washington & Idaho Railroad - Pullman, Washington We willstart our trip in Pullman and travel north to Marshall, WA. The cars will beturned and return to Palouse where we will ride east through Potlatch toHarvard and then return to Pullman. This ride is 212 miles round trip.June 24 - 25 - Wallowa Union Railroad - Joseph, Oregon There will be anight run of 30 miles round trip through the rugged canyons along thebanks of the Grande Ronde and Wallowa Rivers. Mileage for this ride is128 miles round trip.June 26 & 27 - Travel & Rest DaysJune 28 - St. Maries Railroad - St. Maries to Clarkia, Idaho This is a 152mile round trip ride through some very beautiful scenery in Idaho. Thetracks go over bridges, through tunnels, and logging camps following theSt. Maries River.June 29 - Pend Oreille Railroad - Cusick, Washington to Dover, Idaho Thisride will take us 84 miles round trip along the Pend Oreille River over theTacoma Creek Bridge and over a trestle that spans the Fox Canyon Dam.June 30 - Pend Oreille Railroad - Cusick to Metaline Falls, WashingtonFor our final day of this tour, we will riding along the Pend Oreille Riverto Metaline Falls. Mileage for this run is 84 miles round trip. NARCOA-insured and all NARCOA rules will apply.

June 23 - 27, 2008 - AB/SK posted 01/14 Great Western Railway. North Central Railcars, Ltd. is pleased to announce a 5-day motor car ex-cursion on the Great Western Railway in the rolling hills of southernSaskatchewan. This trip will follow the CN/ANY excursion in Albertaand includes some new GWR mileage. The trip will run between Assini-boia and Ogema (the former Red Coat Road and Rail), Assiniboia andCoronach, SK (ex-CP Fife Lake Sub) and between Assiniboia and Consul,SK. The trip will cover approximately 600 rail miles. The excursion feeof $325 (CDN) or $350 (USD) covers the railroad fee and miscellaneousexcursion costs. Participants will need to make their own lodging arrange-ments in Assiniboia (June 22, 23 & 24) and Shaunavon, SK (June 25 &26). For those interested in making the trip, please contact the excursioncoordinator for a list of potential hotels. Registration materials and com-plete trip details, itinerary, and maps will be sent upon receipt of the ex-cursion fee. This is a NARCOA insured excursion and NARCOA rulesapply. There is a 25 car limit. To register, send a check for $325 (CDN)or $350.00 (USD) (payable to North Central Railcars) to Michael P. Ford,7712 Carpenter Court, Plainfield, IN 46168-8035. For questions or fur-ther information, contact Mike at (317) 839-9320 or via e-mail([email protected]).

June 26 - July 10, 2008 - BC/OR/ID updated 03/04 Pacific $orthwest Tour. Verdant Valleys, Massive Mountains and New Rail - MOW is pleased tosponsor a TWELVE day tour including nine railroads in the Pacific North-west: Kelowna Pacific Railway (Vernon, BC) June 27 – 29, Okanagan Val-ley Railway (Vernon, BC) June 28, Kootenay Valley Railway (Nelson,BC) July 1 - 4, and Canadian Pacific Railway July 2 - 3, Idaho NorthernRR and Wallowa Union RR (La Grande, OR) July 6 & 8, Idaho NorthernRR (Fruitland, ID) July 9-10 and Modoc Northern RR (Lakeview, OR)July 12. Participants will travel approximately 1060 miles on 9 railroads

and approximately 990 road miles starting in southern British Columbia.MOW membership not required. All participants must have 2008 NAR-COA Insurance and current license number. Estimated trip fee of $1600.00per car. Participants are responsible for their own meals and lodging. Thereis a 25-car limit. This is a NARCOA insured excursion, and all NARCOArules will apply. For registration information and trip details visit the MOWwebsite or (after Feb. 6) contact Margaret Hope (604) 320-7613 mail to:[email protected]

July 4, 2008 - CO posted 12/19 San Luis & Rio Grande RR (LaVeta Pass) July 4th BBQ run. TheRocky Mountain Division invites you to: Set-on at LaVeta, CO and travelover the pass to Blanca, Co a distance of 42 miles. BBQ and meet withSLRG passenger train at Fir. Return to LaVeta the same day. NARCOArules and insurance will be in effect. Speeder limit will be 25 Cost: $125.00per speeder. Sweeps, wheel chocks, spark arrestors will be required. JonKeeling will be EC. Contact Philip Walters, PO Box 57, Mancos, CO81328 (970) 533-7177 or [email protected]

July 4 - 6, 2008 - WV posted 03/24 Petersburg WV Railshow Appalachian Rail Excursions LLC is pleased to announce that we willagain take part in the annual Rail Show at Petersburg WV July 4-6, 2008.Needed are ten participants to give rides to the public during the show. Allproceeds to go to WV Operation Lifesaver Kids Rail Camp. All cars andoperators must be NARCOA Compliant. Participants must be available toset-on on Friday July 4 and be able to stay until aprox 4PM on SundayJuly 6. Standard size cars only. For more info Contact John Gonder [email protected]

July 5 - 6, 2008 - CO posted 12/19 Creede Branch, Denver & Rio Grande Railway Historic Foundation.Days of ‘92. The Rocky Mountain Division invites you to: Set-on at SouthFork, CO, travel to Creede, CO, a distance of 23 miles, then return to SouthFork. The run will be the same on both days NARCOA rules and insurancewill be in effect. This will coincide with the Creede Colorado “Days of‘92” mining events and celebration. Speeder limit will be 25 Cost: $125.00per speeder for one day, $200 for both days. Spark arrestors will be re-quired. Jon Keeling will be EC. Contact Philip Walters, PO Box 57, Man-cos, CO 81328 (970) 533-7177 or [email protected]

July 11 & 13, 2008 - ID posted 03/26 Washington and Idaho Railroad. Pacific Railcar Operators is pleased to announce the WI&M / P&L branchexcursion on Friday, July 11 and Sunday, July 13, 2008 on the Washing-ton and Idaho Railroad. The set on point will be at the depot in Potlatch,Idaho. On Friday, we will travel from Potlatch to Palouse on the formerWI&M railroad and then from Palouse on the former Palouse and Lewis-ton branch of the Northern Pacific Railroad to Marshall and return, a totalof 138 miles. Sunday's trip will again travel from Potlatch to Palouse andthen we will turn our cars and go to the end of the track near Moscow,Idaho and return for a total of 74 miles. On Saturday, operators will havethe opportunity to participate in the Potlatch Depot Days benefit at no ad-ditional charge. Railroad fees for the two days are $125 and no refundswill be issued after July 7th, 2008. Make checks payable to Pacific Rail-car Operators and mail them to Steve Taulbee, 2206 Burrell Ave. Lewis-ton, ID 83501. NARCOA insurance, NARCOA Rules certification, PROMembership, spark arrestors and mechanically sound motorcars with allthe specified NARCOA equipment is required. Packets with itinerary, mo-tels, camping spots and maps will be mailed after payment is received. 30car limit. For more information, contact Meet Co-Coordinators SteveTaulbee, (208) 743-5430, [email protected] or Jim Morefield, (208)743-0802, [email protected].

July 12, 2008 - ID posted 03/26 PRO "Potlatch Depot Days" Benefit. Pacific Railcar Operators is pleased to announce its fifth annual "PotlatchDepot Days" Benefit Saturday July 12, 2008 on the Washington & IdahoRailroad (former WI&M) at Potlatch, ID. This will be held in associationwith a PRO excursion over the remainder of the W&I (former NP P&L) onFriday and Sunday, July 11th and 13th. That excursion is listed separately.


Saturday participants will be asked to give rides to Potlatch Depot Daysparticipants over eight miles of track. Profits go to the Washington, Idaho& Montana Ry Historical Society and its continuing efforts to restore thePotlatch depot. There will be no charge for participating in Saturday'sevent, but please notify the coordinator if you are attending. Informationletters will be sent with lodging and set on information on receipt of yournotification. All NARCOA rules and guidelines are in effect. Spark ar-restors are required. For more information call Excursion Coordinator BillTaylor at (406) 721-2351 or email [email protected] Mail notificationto 917 Parkview Way, Missoula, MT 59803.

July 19, 2008 - IA posted 01/15 Appanoose County Railroad Centerville, Iowa - The First Iowa Division announces a ride on the Ap-panoose County Railroad. Set on will be at 6:30am just south of the watertower in the southeast part of town with an 8:00am departure. We willtravel 35 miles north to Albia on parts of the ex-Rock Island Golden StateRoute, ex-Burlington, and the ex-Wabash line to Des Moines. This linealso crosses the IC&E Kansas City - Quad Cities mainline. Cost of the rideis $35. Motels are the Super 8 (800-800-8000) and Motel 60 (800-437-7271). Dave Pratt (515-674-3803) is the Excursion Cordinator for this ride.Contact Carl Schneider at 515-967-5181 or e-mail [email protected] more information. This is a Narcoa-insured ride and all Narcoa rulesapply.

July 19-20, 2008 - CO posted 02/09 Leadville, Colorado & Southern RR.The Rocky Mountain Division would like to invite you to the Leadville,Colorado & Southern RR.When it's hot down below, head to the top of theRockies! This excursion starts in Leaville, CO and continues up above treeline at 11,000ft, near Freemont Pass and the worlds largest Molybdenummine at Climax. Come ride with us on the old Colorado & Southernroadbed and experience the life above 10,000ft. This can be a demandingclimate to be in. Please be aware of "Mountain sickness". This can effectfolks who are coming from "Down Below". Weather changes can happenvery quickly here also. Please be prepared. NARCOA Insurance is requiredby all motorcars. All NARCOA Insurance is required by all motorcars. AllNARCOA rules will apply. Forest Service approved spark arrestors RE-QUIRED. Cost: $70 per motorcar. Lodging and food are on your own.Contact: Gus Mocilac [email protected]

July 19, 2008 - $Y updated 04/08 $ew York Susquehanna & Western Railway, Utica Branch The Volunteer Railroaders Association is pleased to sponsor a 1-day runover the NYS&W Utica Branch July 19, 2008. Participants will travel ap-proximately 84 round-trip miles between Sherburne, NY and Utica, NY.Operators and riders under 18 are not permitted by the railroad. The tripfee is $80.00 per car which includes the railroad's per car fee. There is a40 car limit. This is a NARCOA insured excursion, and all NARCOA ruleswill apply. This is a non-mentoring run. ECs for the trip are KC Smith andChris Vitz. For trip details contact the VRA at 80 Royal Avenue,Hawthorne, NJ 07506 Tel: (973) 238-0555 or email to:[email protected]. You can also sign up and pay for the trip with amajor credit card via our website at http://www.vratrips.org

July 20, 2008 - $Y Confirmed date - updated 04/08 Cooperstown & Charlotte Valley Railroad The Volunteer Railroaders Association is pleased to sponsor a 1-day runover the Cooperstown & Charlotte Valley Railroad July 20, 2008. Partic-ipants will travel approximately 30 round-trip miles between CooperstownJunction, NY and Cooperstown, NY. Lunch will be on your own in down-town Cooperstown, NY. Ample time will be provided for a lunch breakand a visit to the Baseball Hall of Fame. We will be stopping at conven-ient locations for bathroom breaks. Operators and riders under 18 are wel-comed by the railroad. The trip fee is $30.00 per car which includes therailroad's per car fee. There is a 20 car limit. This is a NARCOA insuredexcursion, and all NARCOA rules will apply. Mentoring will be permittedon this run via pre-arrangement. ECs for the trip are KC Smith and ChrisVitz. For trip details contact the VRA at 80 Royal Avenue, Hawthorne, NJ07506 Tel: (973) 238-0555 or email to: [email protected]. You canalso sign up and pay for the trip with a major credit card via our website

at http://www.vratrips.org July 26-27 – Upper Hudson Railroad ($Y)Nestled in the lower Adironicks in upstate New York, NERCA will againride the Upper Hudson Railroad which we last rode about eight years ago.Located north of Albany, this rode follows the scenic head waters of theHudson River. Our seton will be in North Creek on Saturday and Corinthon Sunday. Saturday the Upper Hudson Railroad’s beautiful museum andgift shop will be opened for us. Total RT mileage is 94 miles with two-thirds of it be ridden each day. Excursion fee is $150 and included the in-describable buffet at the 1000 Acres Dude Ranch on Saturday. For moreinformation, contact Warren Riccitelli @ (401) 232-0992 or [email protected]. or Al Elliott at ((732) 536-7460.

July 26 - 27, 2008 - PA posted 02/09 $orth Shore & Shamokin Valley Railroads.Central PA Weekend - CPE is pleased to sponsor a 2 day run on the NorthShore and Shamokin Valley Railroads– Saturday, July 26th, ride the 86RT miles of the North Shore Railroad from Northumberland to Berwickand back. Former Erie Lackawanna Railroad. Sunday, July 27th ride the 50miles RT of the Shamokin Valley Railroad from Sunbury to Mt. CarmelJunction and back. Former Reading and Pennsylvania Railroads. Saturdaynight dinner and tour at the Central PA Chapter NRHS White Deer TrainStation. $10 of the registration fee donated to the chapter. Sunday tour ofthe Lower Anthracite model railroad while in Shamokin. Proof of NAR-COA insurance required, all NARCOA rules will be enforced. Registrationfee - $70.00. Note: All CPE rides are rain or shine. No cancellations dueto weather. Hard soled shoes required, no sneakers or sandals. Childrenmust be closely supervised at all times. Send check to: Central PA Excur-sions, PO Box 145, White Deer, PA 17887. Questions: (570) 538-9050 oremail [email protected]

July 28 - 31, 2008 - O$ posted 03/05 Algoma Central Ry Great Lakes Railcars is pleased to sponsor a 4-day motorcar excursionover the line of the Algoma Central Railway (ACR) on July 28 throughJuly 31, 2008. All NARCOA members are welcome to participate. The ex-cursion will cover the 585 mile entire ACR line from Sault Ste. Marie toHearst, Ontario. The trip will start from the ACR Steelton Yard in Sault Ste.Marie and overnight in Wawa and Hearst during the four day trip. The ex-cursion fee of US$1350 includes all railroad fees, overnight accommoda-tions (3 nights) in Wawa and Hearst, bus transportation between HawkJunction and hotel in Wawa, box lunch for 3 days (Tues., Wed., Thurs) andmotorcar fuel. Complete Registration Package with all details will be sentupon receipt of the excursion fee. This is a NARCOA insured excursionand all NARCOA, Grea Lakes Railcar and Railroad rules will apply. Toregister, send a check for $1350 (Payable to Great Lakes Railcars) to: FredD. Lonnes, Excursion Coordinator, P. O. Box 92, Western Springs, IL60558-0092, email: [email protected]

August 02 , 2008 - WV posted 02/06 South Branch Valley Railroad A.R.E. would like to invite you to ride the SBV over a 102 mile RT routethrough the scenic Potomac River Valley of West Virginia from Petersburgto Greensprings and return. We will ride through the famous "TROUGH"to see Bald Eagles. and a beautiful river gorge. We will meet the PotomacEagle Scenic Train and stop a Romney for a break at the Wapacomo Sta-tion then on to Greensprings to turn and return to Petersburg. All NAR-COA rules apply. A.R.E. requires over the ankle hard soled shoes(workboots) at all times while on RR property. 40 car limit. Trip Fee is $65.00for more info contact: John Gonder, Appalachian Rail Excursions LLC,415 Levine Lane, Ruffs Dale, PA 15679 1512, 724-696-4544 6-8Pm [email protected]

August 03 , 2008 - WV posted 02/06 Western Maryland Scenic Railroad. Join us in August 2008 as we again ride this scenic mountain railroad. Sset-on at the engine house in Ridgeley, WV. Approximate round trip mileagewill be 34 miles. This excursion will be a great way to complete the week-end for those riding the SBVRR excursion on Saturday August 2. This willbe a Northern Central Railcar Assoc. excursion. All NARCOA rules willbe enforced. All cars will be inspected. There is a 40 car limit. Price for this


located in downtown Columbia. Take the Rangeline Rd. exit from I-70and drive south tol the T intersection with Rogers St. Turn left and the seton is about a half block in the Boone Co. Millworks facility. We will runthis line two times during the day. Each run is approximately 44 milesround trip so we will have a total for the day of about 88 miles. Cost ofthis ride is $40 per car. Dave Pratt (515-674-3803) is the Excursion Co-ordinator for this ride. Contact Carl Schneider at 515-967-5181 or [email protected] for more information. This is a Narcoa-insured rideand all Narcoa rules apply.

September 12 -14, 2008 - MI updated 02/09 Great Lakes Central RR FULL - waiting list only. Great Lakes Railcars, Inc. is pleased to announce a 3-day motor car ex-cursion on the Great Lakes Central Railroad (ex-TSBY) in Michigan’sLower Peninsula. This excursion will cover some track not previouslytraveled. The trip will start in Clare, MI and run south to Ithaca and returnon Friday, then northwest to Traverse City on Saturday, with return to Clareon Sunday. The entire trip will cover approximately 275 miles. The ex-cursion fee of $375 covers the railroad fee, overnight accommodations for1 night in Traverse City (Sat., Sept. 13, 2008), ground transportation inTraverse City, and other miscellaneous excursion costs. Registration ma-terials, complete details, itinerary, and maps will be sent upon receipt of theexcursion fee. This is a NARCOA insured excursion and NARCOA rulesapply. There is a 25 car limit. To register, send a check for $375.00(Payable to Great Lakes Railcars) to Michael P. Ford, 7712 CarpenterCourt, Plainfield, IN 46168-8035. Mike at (317) 839-9320 or via e-mail([email protected]).

September 13, 2008 - CA posted 04/10 Sierra RR Oakdale to Jamestown and return. The cost of the run is $140 per car.Please send your check payable to PRO to Steve Paluso, 2878 RosarioCourt, San Jose, CA, 95132 with a SASE. If you have any questions, youcan email Steve Paluso at [email protected] or call (408) 956-8070 be-tween 1:00 pm - 7:30 pm. Please no phone calls after 7:30.

September 13 -14, 2008 - WA posted 03/21 Pend Oreille Valley Authority Railroad. Pacific Railcar Operators is pleased to announce an excursion on the PendOreille Valley Authority Railroad September 13-14, 2008 in conjunctionwith Newport, Washington's "Pend Oreille County Heritage Days." Sat-urday morning the excursion begins on POVA's Newport-Dover sectionwhich was once a part of the Great Northern main line built in 1892 (58miles round trip). We will return around noon. Saturday afternoon partic-ipants are asked to help give rides to residents participating in the HeritageDays event at the Newport Depot. Sunday the excursion will continue onPOVA's Newport-Metaline Falls section operated by the Milwaukee Roaduntil 1980 and built by the Idaho, Washington & Northern (124 milesround trip). The cost of the excursion is $125. Preference will be given tothose who participate in the Heritage Days activity. Limit 30 cars. Totaltrack mileage will be approximately162 miles. All NARCOA rules andguidelines are in effect. Spark arrestors are required. Make checks payableto PRO, and mail them to Co-excursion Coordinator Bill Taylor, 917Parkview Way, Missoula, MT 59803. No reservations accepted withoutpayment. Fees are non-refundable after September 1st. For more infor-mation call (406) 721-2351 or email [email protected] or Co-ExcursionCoordinator Bob Shanklin at [email protected] .

September 19, 2008 - CO posted 12/19 Creede Branch, Denver & Rio Grande Railway Historic FoundationThe Rocky Mountain Division invites you to: Set-on at South Fork, CO,travel to Creede, CO, a distance of 23 miles and return to South Fork thesame day. Speeder limit will be 25 Cost: $125.00. NARCOA rules and in-surance will be in effect. Spark arrestors will be required. Jon Keeling willbe EC. Contact Philip Walters, PO Box 57, Mancos, CO 81328 (970) 533-7177 or [email protected] Note: we are working on a run on the SanLuis Central on September 20th for a run in between this run and the SLRGrun on the 21st.

excursion is $40 per car. An application can be downloaded from our website: http://wilmingtonnrhs.com/ncra/ Contact: Gary Shrey, 54 AdamsRoad, New Freedom, Pennsylvania 17349 Phone: 717-227-9628 E-Mail:[email protected]

August 16 - 17, 2008 - CO posted 02/09 Leadville, Colorado & Southern RR. The Rocky Mountain Division would like to invite you to the Leadville,Colorado & Southern RR.When it's hot down below, head to the top of theRockies! This excursion starts in Leaville, CO and continues up above treeline at 11,000ft, near Freemont Pass and the worlds largest Molybdenummine at Climax. Come ride with us on the old Colorado & Southernroadbed and experience the life above 10,000ft. This can be a demandingclimate to be in. Please be aware of "Mountain sickness". This can effectfolks who are coming from "Down Below". Weather changes can happenvery quickly here also. Please be prepared. NARCOA Insurance is requiredby all motorcars. All NARCOA Insurance is required by all motorcars. AllNARCOA rules will apply. Forest Service approved spark arrestors RE-QUIRED. Cost: $70 per motorcar. Lodging and food are on your own.Contact: Gus Mocilac [email protected]

August 18 - 24, 2008 - CO/$M updated 02/04 Cumbres & Toltec RR & Durango & Silverton RR - SOLD OUT 2008 NEW MEXICO/COLORADO 36" NARROW GAUGE TOUR onthe C&TS, Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Narrow Gauge Railroad and theD&SNG, Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad in New Mexicoand Colorado. Patrick “Smitty” Smith, An Individual Affiliate & EC. NOmentoring at this event. Trip fee of $675.00 per car. There is a 20 motor-car limit. Contact Smitty, 20799 Sumpter Stage Hwy., Baker City, OR.97814-7753 Phone # 541-524-9428 e-mail [email protected]

Answer to railroad puzzle: Cumbres & Toltec Scenic $G Railroad.Stations are listed East to West.

August 23/24 - $Y - Finger Lakes RailwayAs always, the Finger Lakes is going to be of those runs that we try tomake a little differt each year. For the past two years we have offered nightruns to the old Army Base in Kandaia. And we have had request to seewhat it looks like during the day. Saturday morning you will have yourwish. And in late morning we will head for Cayuga Lake and the sameBBQ as last year. Well venture out to Auburn and back for a rest in Genevabefore our ‘night run’ to the Army Base. Sunday, we will run from Genevato Victor on the new track that the Finger Lakes started operating last yearfrom the Ontario Central to Victor, NY. Included will be a box lunch fromthe BBQ caterer. Meet fee is 175.00. RT miles is 58 on Saturday an 60miles on Sunday. Listed CEC is Warren Riccitelli. For more informationcontact Warren Riccitelli (401) 232-0992 or [email protected] Al Elliott at ((732) 536-7460.

August 30, 2008 - MO posted 02/20 Ft. Leonard Wood Army Base RR Ft. Leonard Wood, Missouri The First Iowa Division has set up a ride onthe Army base at Ft. Leonard Wood, Missouri. Set on will be at 10:30 amwith a 12:00 noon departure. As you enter the fort from I-44, be in the leftlane and pull into the inspection area by the security check point. You willhave to go in the visitor center before proceeding through the vehicle checkpoint. Have an early lunch or bring snacks along as there won't be a stopfor lunch. We will make two trips on this 20-mile scenic line through theOzarks to the connection with the BNSF at Bundy Junction. Due to secu-rity issues, everyone will need a picture ID, vehicle registration, proof ofinsurance, and be prepared for a vehicle inspection. Cost of this ride is$30. Dave Pratt (515-674-3803) is the Excursion Coordinator for this ride.Contact Carl Schneider at 515-967-5181 or e-mail [email protected] more information. This is a Narcoa-insured ride and all Narcoa rulesapply.

August 31, 2008 - MO posted 02/20 Colt Railway Columbia, Missouri Come join us on this First Iowa Division ride whichruns northeast from Columbia to Centralia on an ex-Wabash track. We willset on beginning at 6:30 am and have a scheduled 8:00 am departure forthe first run. Our set on location is at Boone County Mill Works which is


September 21, 2008 - CO posted 12/19 San Luis & Rio Grande RR (LaVeta Pass) Fall Colors On LaVeta. The Rocky Mountain Division invites you to: Set-on at LaVeta, CO and travel over the pass to Blanca, CO a distance of 42miles through the beautiful Colorado fall colors. Return to LaVeta the sameday. NARCOA rules and insurance will be in effect. Speeder limit will be25 Cost: $125.00 per speeder. Sweeps, wheel chocks, spark arrestors willbe required. Jon Keeling will be EC. Contact Philip Walters, PO Box 57,Mancos, CO 81328 (970) 533-7177 or [email protected]

October 04 - 05, 2008 - CO posted 02/09 Leadville, Colorado & Southern RR The Rocky Mountain Division would like to invite you to the Leadville,Colorado & Southern RR. This excursion starts in Leaville, CO and con-tinues up above tree line at 11,000ft, near Freemont Pass and the worldslargest Molybdenum mine at Climax. Come ride with us on the old Col-orado & Southern roadbed and experience the life above 10,000ft. Thiscan be a demanding climate to be in. Please be aware of "Mountain sick-ness". This can effect folks who are coming from "Down Below". Weatherchanges can happen very quickly here also. Please be prepared. NARCOAInsurance is required by all motorcars. All NARCOA Insurance is requiredby all motorcars. All NARCOA rules will apply. Forest Service approvedspark arrestors REQUIRED. Cost: $70 per motorcar. Lodging and foodare on your own. Contact: Gus Mocilac [email protected]

October 11, 2008 - PA/$Y posted 02/09 Wellsboro & Corning Railroad Railroad is under new management – Not Confirmed – Ride the 70 milesRT of the Wellsboro & Corning Railroad from Wellsboro, PA to GangMills, NY and back. Former New York Central. Proof of NARCOA in-surance required, all NARCOA rules will be enforced. Registration fee -$55.00. Note: All CPE rides are rain or shine. No cancellations due toweather. Hard soled shoes required, no sneakers or sandals. Children mustbe closely supervised at all times. Send check to: Central PA Excursions,PO Box 145, White Deer, PA 17887. Questions: (570) 538-9050 or [email protected]

October 18 - 19, 2008 - $J posted 04/02 $ew York Susquehanna & Western Railway, Southern Division The Volunteer Railroaders Association is pleased to sponsor a 2-day runover the NYS&W Southern Division October 18 - 19, 2007. On Saturdaythe participants will travel approximately 100 round-trip miles betweenRiverdale, NJ and Warwick, NY. On Sunday we will run approximately 60round-trip miles between Riverdale, NJ and North Bergen, NJ. Operatorsand riders under 18 are not permitted by the railroad. Trip fee of $120.00per car includes railroad costs. Lunches will be deli sandwiches on bothdays for an additional $9.00 per person, per day. ECs for the trip are KCSmith and Chris Vitz. There is a 40 car limit. This is a NARCOA insuredexcursion, and all NARCOA rules will apply. This is a non-mentoring run.For trip details contact the VRA at 80 Royal Avenue, Hawthorne, NJ 07506Tel: (973) 238-0555 or email to: [email protected]. You can alsosign up and pay for the trip with a major credit card via our website athttp://www.vratrips.org

October 18 - 19, 2008 - GA posted 12/15 Georgia Southwestern RR Saturday: Shellman, GA to Eldorendo (Bainbridge), GA - 114 RT Miles -This former Georgia, Florida, and Alabama Railway, was one of the firstrailroads in south Georgia and originally ran from Bainbridge, Ga. to Cuth-bert, Ga. Your daily travel will take you through the Georgia farm citiesof Lynn, Eldorendo, Boykin, Colquitt, Damascus, Arlington, Talman, Edi-son, Carnegie, and Cuthbert.Sunday: Shellman to Dawson to Shellman to Eufaula, AL - 93 RT Miles- We will run from Shellman east to Dawson, turn and continue West backthru Dawson all the way to Eufaula, AL. We will cross the ChattahoocheeRiver at Georgetown, GA on a high bridge built in 1962. This former Cen-tral of Georgia trackage was competed in 1860. You will travel thru thetowns of Dawson, Cuthbert, Morris, Hatcher, Georgetown, and Eufaula,AL. Requirements: You must be a member of NARCOA, have NARCOAInsurance, and have passed the Rules Test. All cars will be inspected. AllNARCOA rules will apply. No refunds after September 18, 2008. All op-

September 19 - 21, 2008 - $C posted 03/19 Great Smoky Mountains RR This is our GSMR RAILFEST 2008 RUN where we give rides and displayour cars during the three day festival and then ride our motorcars in the lateafternoon/ early evening covering the entire GSMR line in segments overthe three day period. Set-on will be in Bryson City, North Carolina. Totalround trip miles for all days combined will be at least 100 miles. Come outand display your car and get to ride the GSMR at a reduced rate in mildweather. Cost for this three day event is: $50.00. For a sign-up form ormore info contact: E.C. Tom Falicon, 1227 Sawmill Creek Rd., BrysonCity, NC 28713 Phone: (828) 488-8063 or email [email protected]

September 19 - 21, 2008 - SD posted 03/18 Black Hills Central RRHill City, South Dakota. The Rocky Mountain Division invites you to theFall 2008 Black Hills Central RR motorcar ride. Cost: $45.00 per motor-car, 15 motorcarcar limit. Set on will be at 3:45 pm Friday, with a 6pm de-parture evening run to Keystone, SD. Keystone is approximately ten milesfrom Hill City. Saturday we will make two runs to Keystone during theday and Sunday we will have a morning run to Keystone followed bysetoff. Total track mileage for this excursion will be approximately 80miles. NARCOA Insurance is required by all motorcars. All NARCOArules will be applied. Checks should be made out to “Rocky Mountain Di-vision”. Contact: Lynn French email- [email protected] Mail- 38688 IndianHead Lane, Crawford, CO 81415 (970) 921-7700 More details can befound at http://www.rockymountaindivision.com/black_hills_2008.htm

September 20, 2008 - IA posted 01/15 Appanoose County Railroad Centerville, Iowa - The First Iowa Division announces a ride on the Ap-panoose County Railroad. Set on will be at 6:30am just south of the watertower in the southeast part of town with an 8:00am departure. We willtravel 35 miles north to Albia on a well-maintained combination of weldedand jointed track. This line also crosses the IC&E Kansas City - QuadCities mainline and we might see a train there. Cost of the ride is $35. Mo-tels are the Super 8 (800-800-8000) and Motel 60 (800-437-7271). DavePratt (515-674-3803) is the Excursion Cordinator for this ride. ContactCarl Schneider at 515-967-5181 or e-mail [email protected] for moreinformation. This is a Narcoa-insured ride and all Narcoa rules apply.

September 20, 2008 - CO posted 01/10 San Luis Rio Grande & San Luis Central Alamosa to Center, CO - The Rocky Mountain Division invites you totravel two railroads in the historic San Luis Valley. Set-on at Alamosa, COon the SLRG, travel to Sugar Junction at Monte Vista where we switchonto the SLC and travel to Center, CO then we return to Alamosa the sameday. The distance from Alamosa to Center is approx. 28 miles. Speederlimit will be 25 Cost: $85.00. NARCOA rules and insurance will be in ef-fect. Jon Keeling will be EC. Contact Philip Walters, PO Box 57, Man-cos, CO 81328 (970) 533-7177 or [email protected]

September 20 - 21, 2008 - $Y posted 04/02 $ew York Susquehanna & Western Railway, Syracuse Branch The Volunteer Railroaders Association is pleased to sponsor a 2-day runover the NYS&W Syracuse Branch September 20 and 21, 2008. Partici-pants will travel approximately 160 round-trip miles between ChenangoBridge, NY and Syracuse, NY over the two days. Saturday we will be run-ning roundtrip from Cortland, NY to Syracuse, NY where lunch will be onyour own at Syracuse’s famed Carousel Mall next to the CSX Chicagomainline which hosts many trains per day. Sunday we will run roundtripfrom Cortland, NY to Chenango Bridge, NY, lunch will be deli sandwichesfor an additional $9.00 per person. Operators and riders under 18 are notpermitted by the railroad. The trip fee is $120.00 per car which includes therailroad's per car fee. There is a 40 car limit. This is a NARCOA insuredexcursion, and all NARCOA rules will apply. This is a non-mentoring run.ECs for the trip are KC Smith and Chris Vitz. For trip details contact theVRA at 80 Royal Avenue, Hawthorne, NJ 07506 Tel: (973) 238-0555 oremail to: [email protected]. You can also sign up and pay for thetrip with a major credit card via our website at http://www.vratrips.org


erators and passengers must wear a Safety Vest/Shirt while on railroadproperty. A mobile VHF radio capable of receiving railroad frequencies isstrongly encouraged. Please make your check for $150.00 payable to: At-lanta Railcar Transportation LLC c/o Bobby Moreman - EC, 3520 ColdSprings Lane, Chamblee, Georgia 30341. Full refunds before September18, 2008. There is a strict limit of 35 motors and a waiting list will be es-tablished. [email protected] More info at http://salembranch.nf-shost.com/motorcar/

October 24 - 26, 2008 - UT posted 03/27 Heber Valley Railroad The Rocky Mountain Division invites you to come enjoy the scenic HeberValley Railroad as we travel through the Heber Valley, past Deer Lake andthrough Provo Canyon. There is a 35 car limit for this run; cost per car is$85. There will be four round trip runs from Heber City to Vivian Parkand back. Set on will be Friday afternoon at 5:00 pm. There will be a Fri-day sunset run. Saturday, there will be two runs, the first a sunrise run andthe second a noon run. There is a picnic ground available at Vivian Parkand gourmet Box lunches are available from the Railroad. The weekendwill wrap up with a Sunday sunrise run. Total track miles for the four runswill be approx. 128 miles. Spark Arrestors will be required. NARCOA In-surance is required by all motorcars. All NARCOA rules will be applied.Checks should be made out to “Rocky Mountain Division”. Contact: LynnFrench email- [email protected] Mail- 38688 Indian Head Lane, Crawford,CO 81415 (970) 921-7700 More details can be found at http://www.rock-ymountaindivision.com/heber_2008.htm

October 25, 2008 - IA posted 01/15 Iowa River Railroad Eldora, Iowa - The First Iowa Division will ride this ex-M&StL line whichruns from Marshalltown to Steamboat Rock, Iowa and north past theethanol plant to Ackley. Mileage is about 70 miles round trip. We plan onpossibly riding the line twice if time permits. Cost of this ride is $45 percar. The set on time will be at 7:00am with an 8:00am departure. The seton location is about 2 blocks north of the Hwy 175 crossing. Motels in El-dora are the Village Motel (641-939-3441) and the Eldora Motel (641-939-2232). Both of these motels are small and family-owned so there is alimited number of rooms at each so make your reservations early. DavePratt (515-674-3803) is the Excursion Cordinator for this ride. ContactCarl Schneider at 515-967-5181 or e-mail [email protected] for moreinformation. This is a Narcoa-insured ride and all Narcoa rules apply.

$ovember 1 - 2, 2008 - GA posted 12/15 Chattooga & Chickamauga RR Saturday: Central of Georgia Line. We will be traveling up a beautiful val-ley and cross the last ridge of the Blue Ridge Mountains just before Chat-tanooga. A portion of your trip will be through a part of the ChickamaugaNational Battlefield. Approximately 90 miles RT.Sunday: The TAG Line. Our motorcar excursions begins in the suburbs ofKensington and we will travel to Chattanooga and return. This will be onthe last remaining section of the Tennessee Alabama & Georgia Railroad(The TAG Line), which ran between Birmingham and Chattanooga. Ap-proximately 42 miles RT.Requirements: You must be a member of NARCOA, have NARCOA In-surance, and have passed the Rules Test. All cars will be inspected. AllNARCOA rules will apply. NARCOA approved Hi-Rail Vehicles OK.No refunds after October 1, 2008. All operators and passengers must weara Safety Vest or Safety Shirt while on railroad property. A mobile VHFradio is strongly encouraged. The cost for both days is $150.00. This yearI am not able to divide up the days as in the past. There is a limit of 35motorcars for this fall color adventure on rails. Please make your checkpayable to: Atlanta Railcar Transportation LLC c/o Bobby Moreman -EC, 3520 Cold Springs Lane, Chamblee, Georgia 30341. Click here for abrochure. No refunds after October 1, 2008. [email protected] info at http://salembranch.nfshost.com/motorcar/

$ovember 16, 2008 - $C posted 03/19 Great Smoky Mountains RRThis is our annual FALL OPEN HOUSE RUN where Tom Falicon hostsan open house with great food and plenty to see at his Bryson City shop/RRthe day before the run, (November 15th). Set-on will be at the Nantahala

Outdoor Center, North Carolina with a run westbound to Andrews wherewe’ll turn and run eastbound all the way to Bryson City. Total round tripmiles will be 68 miles. Cost is: $85.00. For a sign-up form or more info,contact: E.C. Tom Falicon, 1227 Sawmill creek Rd., Bryson City, NC28713, Ph; 828-488-8063 or email; [email protected]

December 06, 2008 - PA posted 02/09 $orth Shore Railroad CPE is pleased to sponsor a 1 day run on the North Shore Railroad – ANNUAL TOYS FOR TOTS RIDE - Ride the 86 miles RT of the NorthShore Railroad from Northumberland to Berwick and return. This is for-mer Erie Lackawanna track. As part of the fee for this ride, please bring anew, unwrapped toy with you for either a boy or a girl. The Toys for Totsfolks will be on hand to collect the toys. We hope to have good press cov-erage for this event. The public will be invited to bring a toy also and tosee your motorcars. There will also be prizes for the best Christmas themedecorated motorcars. Proof of NARCOA insurance required, all NARCOArules will be enforced. Registration fee - $55.00. Note: All CPE rides arerain or shine. No cancellations due to weather. Hard soled shoes required,no sneakers or sandals. Children must be closely supervised at all times.Send check to: Central PA Excursions, PO Box 145, White Deer, PA17887. Questions: (570) 538-9050 or email [email protected]

Each year the May / June issue of The SETOFF has the largest num-ber of excursion announcements. Due to space limitations, the ForSale and Wanted items could not be included. - Editor

[narcoa][company>store]

The clear plastic wheel profile is necessary to deter-mine if the wheel is flat, thin in the flange area, or haswear between the flange and the flat section of thetread. Use the wheel profile as your first step in diag-nosing “hunting” on the rails. Use two of the clearplastic wheel profiles to determine track gauge. Themetal caliper gauge is necessary to determine if youhave the required 1/8” minimum wheel thickness in theflange area. Plastic wheel profiles are $6 each plus$4.25 shipping. Metal wheel calipers are $10 plus$5.65 shipping. One profile and one caliper with ship-ping included is $20. Make checks payable to NAR-COA. Send to Hank Brown, 622 Oak Street, CottageGrove, WI 53527. Questions? Call Hank at (608)839-4939 or email [email protected]

See the website for Reproduction Fairmont Data Plates thatfit on your engine cover, and NARCOA Trainman BatteryLanterns. www.narcoa.org/accessories/accessories.htm

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Patrick W. SmithIndividual Affiliate

Hi, I am Smitty, an Individual Affil-iate Excursion Coordinator from BakerCity, Oregon. All I run anymore is 36”narrow gauge excursions. I am a retiredLocomotive Engineer from a Class 1 rail-road here in the Pacific Northwest. I havebeen railroading, and around railroads,

now for 40 years. I am the excursion co-ordinator for the Sumpter Valley Railway(SVRy), in Oregon, for the Durango &Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad

(D&SNGRR), in Colorado, and for theCumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad

(C&TS), in Colorado and NewMexico. I have been the EC forthe C&TS for approximately 12years, for the D&SNGRR for 10years and for the SVRy 7 years. Iwas also the first EC to arrange acouple runs on the Grand Canyon

Railway out of Williams, Arizona whenI lived in Arizona.

I no longer have any standard gaugeequipment, but I do have a few pieces of

narrow gauge: anM-19 called “TheSLIM PRINCESS,”2 - A-6’s, a 1930Model “A” FORDDepot Hack named“BUSTER,” a hand-pump car, a Veloci-pede, a Nordbergtrack spiker, and a1927 20 ton Ply-mouth, model HL-4,LP gas mechanicallocomotive. I havesold 4 narrow gaugeFairmont motorcars

that I once owned and restored.The Colorado and New Mexico

Railroads are by far the most scenic andbreathtaking in the United States. It wasvery difficult to get an excursion on theD&SNG. Every time I drove there (470miles one way) to talk with them for 3years they would listen to my spiel andpretty much laugh at me! My persistencefinally paid off and the group has had avery enjoyable time there every year. On

both the C&TS and D&SNG I have hadmultiple contact persons with changes inpersonnel, but the good safety recordkeeps the doors open. I am proud to men-tion that the Narrow Gauge Gang’s safetyrecord is impeccable and that goes a longway with the narrow gauge railroads I amthe EC on, as that safety record is alwaysbrought up each year by the railroadswhen I re-negotiate for the year’s runs.

I keep an e-mail list of individualsthat have, or are interested in, narrowgauge motorcars. My friend DudleyNewman, in Arizona, and myself startedthe NARROW GAUGE GANG. If youwould like your name added to the list,contact me at [email protected]. Seeyou on the rails!Smitty

Motorcars on the famous “High Line” rock cut atmile post 469 above the Animus River on the D&S$GRR.

The westbound C&TS train from Antonito approaches thegroup waiting on the siding at Osier, mile post 318.

$arrow Gauge Gang founders “Smitty” and Dudley $ewman with Smitty’s M-19

“Slim Princess.”“Buster” Photo by Smitty. Other Photos by Editor.

The SETOFF - NARCOA · 2009. 8. 18. · The SETOFF May / June 2008 Page 3 NARCOA Officials From The...

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Transcript of The SETOFF - NARCOA · 2009. 8. 18. · The SETOFF May / June 2008 Page 3 NARCOA Officials From The...