Newsletter of the Northern California Division of the Train Collectors Association

Transcription

1 Newsletter of the Northern California Division of the Train Collectors Association Richard White, Editor The 2016 Cal-Stewart Meet will be held on March 6, at the San Ramon Marriott Hotel (same as in 2015). There will be a banquet on the evening of the 5th. September 2015 PRESIDENT S MESSAGE By Bob Nichelini As you read this, summer is over and train collecting season starts again. We have had a rather difficult summer with meet schedules and last minute changes. As a result attendance has been limited. But all that should change with the winter months rapidly approaching. The Lafayette venue, while well liked by most, is expensive and does not meet our needs when meet attendance is low. We considered cancelling some summer meets but the majority of members with whom we spoke wanted to keep the regular annual schedule. Unfortunately, while the church hall price is right, the facility is limited. We will immediately start working on a schedule for next summer and hope to do better. For the foreseeable future we will be back at our Lafayette Veterans Memorial Center home base. I attended the National TCA Convention and Board Meeting in Somerset, NJ, in June. The event was well planned and we had an opportunity to visit the location of the Lionel Factory in Hillside, NY, where the real #193 Industrial Water Tower still stands. It was equally interesting to drive through the New Jersey towns that provided names for Lionel s well know series of passenger cars Maplewood, Livingston, Hillside, Chatham and Irvington. History See the Express in Living Color on the Nor-Cal website, at Pride Lines Donald Duck from the 1995 TCA Convention in Seattle. really comes alive when you see it in person. At the Board meeting, multiple motions designed to curtail National TCA office and museum activities, were defeated, but a balanced budget for next year was not adopted. There is no question in my mind that National dues will need to be increased if the organization is to continue delivering the same level of services to members and retain the quality of its publications. But we are in a wait and see mode as the budget has been placed in the hands of the Executive Committee pending final recommendations. No organization can survive if it continues to deliver services that cost more then the revenue it takes in. As a result of the Board s apparent inability to adopt a balanced budget (and other related issues), National Treasurer Bob Mintz has resigned. I think this is a major loss for TCA and the end results are unclear. In my judgment, Bob has done an excellent job of identifying financial problems and recommending corrective action. But he was often at odds with the Association s elected leadership. Unfortunately, Nor-Cal only has one vote when it comes to National TCA matters. Only time will tell what direction TCA will take at the National level. Bob Nichelini, Nor-Cal President Upcoming meets: Sept. 12, Oct. 10, Nov. 14 and Dec. 12, all at the Lafayette Veterans Hall, 3780 Mt. Diablo Blvd., Lafayette. The December meet, with lunch, is for members and their families/so s only. Meets begin at 9:30 AM. For directions to the Lafayette Veterans Hall, see the map on the website.

2 AT THE JUNE MEET IN LAFAYETTE Page 2 At left: In the trading hall. Above: Mark Boyd was expounding on the future of TCA on the need to look forward rather than backward! This is Gary Espinosa s Carette Storkleg 1-gauge live steam loco, from It s a 2-2-0! This is Gary Espinosa s Bing Victoria clockwork, 1-gauge loco, from 1909 or so. Another Gary Espinosa loco, A Bing 4-4-0, in 1-gauge, clockwork, from 1910 or so. The loco has been expertly repainted, including the red lining. This American Flyer set from the 20 s is in its original set box. This Bing 4-4-0, is 1-gauge, electric (high voltage 220 v.) from It is Gary s also. Gary recently obtained these four locomotives from an auction, with telephone bids. FREE back issues of the TCA Quarterly, 1970 on. Pick up at my place in Moraga. Richard White

3 More from the June Meet Page 3 Above: Prototype for #2011 Tahoe Queen flatcar for 2011 TCA Convention, proposed but not produced. Owned by Mark /Boyd. At left: These are Mark Boyd s TCA Convention Cars: Yellow boxcar Chicago; red hopper Clearwater, Fl; Blue boxcar Pittsburgh 1965; Orange tank car Pittsburgh; White boxcar Disneyland; Green caboose TCA West Coast Convention Richard Zanotti displayed this Biller (U.S. Zone, Occupied Germany) train. It s clockwork (the engine goes into the engine house, a key is inserted through the roof of the engine house to wind the locomotive. The dome on the hood of the loco is pushed in sequentially to control the loco s direction). Although the train runs on HO track, it is more scaled for O-gauge! This set could be used on an O-gauge layout, portraying a small narrowgauge industrial railroad! Ed Guldner brought in this Lionel O-gauge Outfit #242E from It belonged to his wife s grandfather. The set consists of a 259E loco and 603 and 604 cars. Gary Espinosa obtained this Marklin clockwork O-gauge loco, from the 1920 s, on ebay. THE JULY MEET AT ST. LUKE S No photos, but see the minutes of the meeting on Page 4. The Board thought that the membership should be able to read these minutes. Guest at the June meet, and new train collector, Laurie Grube (L), age 101, is conversing with Chuck Shaffer.

4 Please read this Page 4

5 AT THE SEPTEMBER 8 MEET AT ST. LUKE S CHURCH Page 5 Nor-Cal Secretary Mark Boyd writes: [This] was our second summer meet at St. Luke s. Not many folks showed up, but I shared some of experiences traveling recently in England and Scotland. The only officers present were myself and Rich White. We had a good time sharing as a group, but it was sad to say good bye to Mike Rekasis, as this was his last meet before relocating to Tennessee. Mike will be missed. John April has sold his house in Orinda and, with his wife, is relocating to St. Louis, to be with his family. Losing John is a huge loss for Nor-Cal, but I hope to see him occasionally at York. I will stay in touch. We hosted two potential members: Andrew Theobold from Livermore, and Stephen Block from Berkeley. They said they were very interested in joining. I m planning on resuming the Nor-Cal lunch gathering beginning in September. We will probably meet on the first or second Tuesday of each month. I will be providing more information as I develop the itinerary. We will visit an outdoor layout in San Leandro, and return to Ed Jelich s layout in Walnut Creek. I have a couple more ideas, so look for those in a future . At left: Gary Espinosa at his table, demonstrating his Marx operating airplane. At right: a close up of the airplane pylon, in the shape of a skyscraper. This is probably prewar. Below: Gary also brought in these Lionel OO Gauge items: #003, 2-rail scale-detailed Hudson, #0017 caboose and #0015 tank car, (1939 to 1942). At Left: A Lionel U.P. Big Boy and NYC Hudson, on the ready track, on the layout shown on the following pages.

6 A BEAUTIFUL, FULLY DETAILED LAYOUT Page 6 Above: Owner-Operator John P. at the controls. These photos show the care and attention to detail that have been lavished on this O-gauge layout. The layout uses Lionel FasTrack, and is DCC command controlled. There are multiple operating accessories. There are many special scenes, with dozens of O-gauge people. Note the subway!

7 Page 7 From upper left, clockwise: (1) A Lionel Big Boy heads a consist of UP passenger cars, on the upper level. (2)(3) Scenes in the town, with ceramic buildings (4) Lionel Santa Fe AC6000 and Lionel UP/WP SD-70AC (5) MTH subway train at the underground station, and (6) This well-detailed scene shows bathers enjoying the beach along the river. These three (3) cabinets were custom-built to furniture-standards. The exterior areas are birch (satin Varathane finished) and the shelves are Douglas Fir (grooved for O-gauge trains). The backing is 1/8 plywood. The shelves and backing are painted semi-gloss white. The front panels are overlapping, sliding plexiglass sheet. Each cabinet is 48 inches wide by 38 inches high, with six shelves for trains. They were designed to be bolted together, as shown, or they can be used separately. They are dustproof! They were designed to be bolted to the wall studs (all bolts included). They offer COMPLETE SECURITY FOR YOUR TRAINS IN (Shown slightly separated for clarity) THE EVENT OF AN EARTHQUAKE!! These cabinets are offered at $200 each, or $550 for all three. (Another three are also available).pick up at Richard White s place in Moraga. Classified Ad: Custom-Built Train Display Cabinets

8 Just Trains Largest Selection in the East Bay Friendly help for the young and the young at heart O-scale, O Hi-Rail and Tinplate, G, HO, N and Z 9650-H Imhoff Drive, Concord Tuesday-Saturday 10-5:00 PM Joan Saunders, Owner Sunday 12-4:00 PM Website: (925) FAX: (925) Submit address and changes to Mark Boyd, mark.boyd54@att.net