Nov. / Dec Why am I getting Points? NARCOA Annual Meeting Minutes

Transcription

1 The SETOFF The Official Publication of NARCOA North American Railcar Operators Association Nov. / Dec Volume 24 No. 6 Remote Power Cars Why am I getting Points? NARCOA Annual Meeting Minutes

2 The SETOFF Volume 24 - No 6 The SETOFF is the official publication of the North American Railcar Operators Association (NARCOA) and is published bimonthly to promote safe legal operation of railroad motorcars, and to encourage fellowship and exchange of information among motorcar enthusiasts. Membership in NARCOA will increase to $36 per year beginning Jan. 1, 2011, and will include a subscription to The SETOFF. Please send a check made out to NARCOA to: Mark Hudson, Membership P.O. Box 321, Dry Ridge, KY membership@narcoa.org Brian Davis, SETOFF Editor 5626 Chadwell Circle Ravenna, Ohio setoff@neo.rr.com Leon Sapp, Assistant Editor Jan Taylor, Assistant Editor Jamie Haislip, Contributor The SETOFF is printed by Greg Kightlinger, GEK Printing All subscriptions, address and changes must go to the Secretary. All materials for publication must go to the SETOFF Editor. Materials received by the 15th of even numbered months will appear on the 1st of the next odd numbered month subject to editing and available space. Please include your address and phone number. Electronic submissions are preferred. Text files must have either.doc or.txt extensions. Photo files must be high resolution with.jpg extensions. All materials are archived and not returned. We cannot reprint copyrighted material without written authorization or proper attribution. Letters to the Editor must be signed and include an address or phone number for authentication. All such letters will be printed as discussed in the NARCOA policy book. For more information about NARCOA, the safe legal operation of motorcars, or to find NARCOA affiliates, please see: Copyright NARCOA. All rights reserved. Reproduction, by any means, in whole or part, by any party, is strictly prohibited. On The Cover: Eagle Mountain Railroad mile post 31 near Desert Center, CA. At one time there were three earthen bunkers here for tool and speeder storage. Thieves are stealing the steel rails used for the roofs. Photo by Wayne Parsons. NARCOA Officials President: Warren Froese Vice-President: Tom Falicon Secretary: Mark Hudson Treasurer: Tom Norman Area 1 Director (ME, NH, VT, NY, MA, CT, RI) Warren Riccitelli (401) warren.riccitelli@verizon.net Area 2 Director (NJ, PA, DE, MD) John Gonder (724) up3706@msn.com Area 3 Director (IN, Lower MI, OH) Jeff Levengood (330) jlevengood@roadrunner.com Area 4 Director (WV, VA, KY, NC, SC, TN) Tom Falicon (828) raildawg@gte.net Area 5 Director (MS, AL, GA, FL) Bobby Moreman (770) moreman@mindspring.com Area 6 Director (MN, WI, IL, Upper MI) Bob Knight (815) railbuff@indianvalley.com Area 7 Director (ND, SD, NE, IA) Carl Schneider (515) motorcarl@mchsi.com Area 8 Director (Canada, World outside U.S.) Warren Froese (204) wsfroese@shaw.ca Area 9 Director (AR, CO, KS, LA, MO, OK, TX) Chris Weaver (303) CPWeaver@gmail.com Area 10 Director (WA, OR, ID, MT, AK, WY) Jim Spicer (541) jimarea10@aol.com Area 11 Director (CA, NV, UT, AZ, NM, HI) Wayne Parsons (818) wparsons@ix.netcom.com Director-at-Large (non voting) Margaret Hope (604) mhope@lionsgate.ca Director-at-Large (non voting) Bernie Leadon (615) leadon@reallysmall.com Nominations, Elections Carl Anderson 1330 Rosedale Lane Hoffman Estates, IL ca636@aol.com NARCOA Insurance Administrator Tom Norman (406) Terrace View Drive Alberton, MT alb4961@blackfoot.net Rule Book CertificationTest Al McCracken 2916 Taper Avenue Santa Clara, CA alnethie@alnethie.com The SETOFF Editor Brian Davis (330) setoff@neo.rr.com NARCOA Webmaster Keith Mackey (352) narcoa@comcast.net NARCOA Forum Moderator Rich Stivers (408) rich@stivers-bros.com Committee Chairs Judiciary Chair Jim Spicer (541) Coburg Rd Eugene OR jimarea10@aol.com Safety Chair Bob Knight (815) railbuff@indianvalley.com Rules Chair Jim McKeel (316) cp2123@cox.net Operations Chair Bill Taylor (406) wtaylor@bresnan.net Committee Chairs Affiliates... Dave Verzi Custom-Built Motorcars... Tom Falicon Communications Bernie Leadon FRA... Ron Zammit Legal Forms... Mark Springer Membership...Mark Hudson SNARCOA Licensed Radio Call Sign WPHT745 Channel MHz Channel MHz Channel MHz Page 2 The SETOFF Nov / Dec 2010

3 Thanks to all who attended and contributed to the Annual meeting held in Chicago Oct 1 and 2. The minutes of this meeting are printing herein for your perusal. For your information there were no rule changes this year. There were some changes to the Operations Handbook, to provide guidance to EC interactions. The membership committee together with the communications team have put a lot of hard work into upcoming changes to the way we keep track of membership information and the opportunities you have to renew your membership on line. They are a very talented and resourceful group of people who have made a huge contribution to our hobby to bring about these improvements. Please be patient and thoughtful as you negotiate these changes. We are all here to help you learn to make use of these new tools. You will read much more of this elsewhere in the Setoff. We have voted as a board to increase membership fees to $36 (from $30) beginning January 1, 2011 as well as increasing Certificate of Insurance fees to $60 (from $50) on the same date. The reason for this is to increase our reserve to a safe amount (approx $45 50,000) over the next two years. We have slowly decreased our reserves during some of the last 4 years, thus we decided to make this move. We understand that this may be difficult for some of our members, but at the same time must charge what it costs to run our President s Message Warren Froese hobby. We feel that we are still getting good value for our dollars when you consider the opportunities this hobby brings you to ride the rails, and the quality of information we receive via the Setoff, the website, and beginning November 1, the new database. At the same time we are working to limit the amount spent on your Annual meeting by making sure that all committee work is done via phone, , and conference calling. We have also been able to decrease the length of the meeting such that we only need two nights lodging in Chicago (versus three in the past). We will also continue to work to be sure that we take advantage of the lowest possible airfares for this meeting. I want to encourage each of you to consider the ways that you make this hobby a great experience. You contribute through your participation in excursion planning and preparation, attending excursions, promoting our hobby in your areas of influence, and volunteering your time in the day-to-day activities of NARCOA and your local affiliate. In all we do our demeanour, attitude, and communications are of utmost importance. The way we interact with each other and railroad staff is crucial to our being welcomed back to the rails. Always remember that it is not about me, but about us. This approach will generally solve all potential issues for which we often create rule and policy changes. Your attitude of safety in all we do never stops being significant. Beware if you are riding in a new car, or on new rails that your speed should be lower than what you would normally expect. Finally I wish all of our Canadian members a belated happy Thanksgiving, and extend those same wishes to our American members. Spend some time considering the many significant gifts you have been given. One of those just happens to be riding in a motorcar! Warren In This Issue Masthead...2 NARCOA Officials...2 President s Message...3 Directors Messages...4 From The Editor...5 Why am I Getting Points!?...7 New Insurance Representative... 8 Insurance Renewal Information...9 Eagle Mountain Excursion...9 Remote Power Cars...10 NARCOA 2010 Annual Meeting Minutes...12 Moving NARCOA Forward...16 Mentoring, Quebec Style...17 Riding With Joe...18 Turntable on an S A Step Back In Time Part RPI In Action...22 NARCOA Excursions...23 Supplier Listings...27 Company Store...28 The SETOFF Nov / Dec 2010 Page 3

4 Area Two (DE, MD, NJ, PA) John Gonder Greetings from Western PA. Having just gotten back from the NARCOA meeting in Chicago, I thought that I would touch base with a few highlights from that meeting. I won t get into the minutes because they will be printed elsewhere in this issue. There has been discussion about territories again due to some folks claiming that others are stepping on their toes in setting up runs. There are no territories and no sacred no contact zones. If you are going to try to set up a run, and have a contact in mind, perhaps you could send an or note to the coordinators in that area asking if they have or have not contacted that railroad. If they haven t your clear to go ahead, if they have then you should not proceed until discussing what has been done with the coordinator that has made contact. We ll call this good coordinator etiquette. The board discussed and felt that it was necessary to raise dues to $36.00 next year. This is primarily to cover insurance costs that are not reflected in your insurance bill. Also it will allow us to keep providing the nice color calendar that you receive each year. The insurance administrator for our area (Dick Wilhelm) has decided to retire. I would personally like to thank him for serving us for many years. I will be taking over for him on February 1 st, At that time I will handle your run insurance. There will be new forms etc. that will be distributed to the coordinators as soon as they are available. The cost of hosting a run for the insurance has also gone up to $ This is to offset the retention fees required by the insurance company. Look for an article from Tom Norman explaining this. Our new database is up and running. You can access it at the website under Membership. Log in and request a password, then you can edit your profile info. You will also be able to renew your membership or buy insurance with your credit card. This info will be private and only available to the administrators of NAR- COA. As winter approaches, please think about the mechanical condition of your speeder. Now is the time to clean it up, do all necessary repairs. Put in gas stabilizer, and grease it up. It will appreciate your efforts and be ready for you in the spring. See you on the rails! John Gonder Area Three IN, Lower MI, OH Jeff Levengood Hello to all the members of region 3. As your newly elected Representative I want to thank Dave Verzi for all his hard work in the past. Each of us in this area owe him a lot of gratitude for his efforts, his hard work and dedication to the hobby. Dave continues to be the Chair of the Affiliates Committee. I now have the first board meeting behind me. The meeting went well and moved along smoothly. Not many changes to report, mainly a dues increase. One of the other duties that I took on was handling the lantern sales for NARCOA. Bud Stych wrote to inform that Chuck Lee had passed away. While not a member of area 3 Page 4 The SETOFF Nov / Dec 2010 some may be familiar with him. His obituary can be viewed at %20Lee.htm. As the excursions wind down for winter I would like to remind everyone to keep safety as their main focus. I do want to thank everyone who supported me in the election. Please call or your concerns, updates and questions. Jeff Levengood Area Four KY, NC, SC, TN, VA, WV Tom Falicon Hi Area Four members! As I write this, Mother Nature is painting our trees with breath taking colors and our first frost had stopped the onward march of the mountain kudzu. It is time to start thinking about sharing love and fellowship with friends and family during the holiday seasons. There are still plenty of great motorcar events to attend before the winter has its way with us. I still have a few more slots open on my November GSMR/Ed Kimball Memorial run. If you d like to honor the life and times of Ed Kimball or if you ve never been rail gating you better get in touch with me soon. A key part of this excursion will be the fact that we are taking a rolling kitchen, or Rail-B-Q along with us on the excursion and we will be cooking a tasty meal of all of us during our lay-over. See more details on the NARCOA site. Our Board meeting once again went very well this year. We reelected Warren Froese to be our president for Since the position of the president demands quite

5 a bit of personal time, I agreed to take on the job of vice-president in order to work with Warren to help split the workload. We both look forward to working for each and every one of you in 2011! We welcomed three newly elected Area Directors at our meeting, Jeff Levengood Area 3, Wayne Parsons, Area 11 and Chris Weaver, Area 9. Each man was a definite asset to our meeting and we are all happy to have these three guys aboard. Please take the time to read Warren s Presidents letter. Due to the crappy economy even NARCOA is having trouble meeting its financial responsibilities. Warren has outlined our plans and changes for 2011 and I m sure you all agree that the NARCOA hobby is still a great value and more fun than you can have at most other hobbies. That s it for another year of motor caring. Have a great Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years; we will talk again next year. Tom Falicon Area Six MN, WI, IL, Upper MI Bob Knight Greeting to all the members of Area 6. This issue is for the Nov/Dec time frame...happy Holiday as Thanksgiving is just around the corner and Christmas will be here before we know it!!! The annual meeting was a great event in the life of NARCOA as it gave the opportunity for all of your leadership to gather and discuss issues that should make for a better and safer hobby.you will be getting the complete report later in this issue thaanks to the speed of our new secretary, Mark Hudson. For some information, current president, Warren Froese, has agreed to serve another year as president and Tom Falicon as vice president. One of the key items was a presentation by Don Page, membership committee member, and assisted by Bob Hastings, Mark Hudson and Keith Mackey who gave a presentation of a new online database that will combine all of the information concerning NARCOA members, committees, excursions coordinators, mentored members just for a starter. This committee has spent countless hours on this project and you will be informed in the near future by this committee how it will apply to you. There was quite a discussion concerning our radios and all the government changes coming in the next few years. The bottom line in this discussion was you should not purchase wide band radios that will not work on future narrow band requirements. In the fall of 2011 you will be notified of a date for implementation by NARCOA so we will be compliant with the FCC. More meeting items will be reported to you in the future. As a personal note, it was great to have Area 6 member Bob Wonderling of Lake Villa, IL join the meeting and listen to the discussions. Carl Anderson, also from Area 6 did all the hotel arrangements for the meeting besides being the nominations and election chairman. At the time of this writing I just received news that Richard Hinds of Springfield, IL is planning to have an excursion on the Eastern Illinois Railroad on Sunday, Nov 14th. This run is a round trip from Brocton to Neoga, IL. Watch the website for more updates. We have just received notice and welcome new members Larry and Pam Nelson of the Sandwich, IL area. They have really bitten the bullet by joining the hobby with an A car! We also welcome Scott Maplethorpe of Antioch, IL as he has now been mentored and is ready to join some future excursions. Please continue to focus on safety at all times as you ride the rails this fall. You have made it a safe season and we want to end the years on that safe note! See you on the rails soon. Bob Knight From The Editor Brian Davis Another speeder season is now behind us, at least for those of us in the snowbelt who do not own a speeder with doors and a heater. Ahead of us is the season for maintenance and repair. I for one am planning to give my trailer an extensive going over to make certain there are no problems lurking in the suspension or wiring. There have been a few instances this year where potentially dangerous problems have been found, and I want to echo those who say get under there and make sure everything is secure. Reread Dean Mark s article from the July/August issue for guidance folks. Have a happy holiday season! We ll see you on the rails! Brian Davis The SETOFF Nov / Dec 2010 Page 5

6 Area Ten WA, OR, ID, MT, AK, WY Jim Spicer We have just returned from the Board of Director s meeting in Chicago. Usually all the directors write in this edition of the Setoff about the decisions made by the BoD. I will get that out of the way now Insurance to stay about the same, $110. We are slowly depleting our resources, so dues will increase to $36. Review of Judiciary Committee history and policy; no changes. Warren Froese runs a very open but tight meeting. We reviewed a lot in the day and a half we were in session. If you want more info about the meeting, you should find it in this Setoff. If not, e mail me with questions or comments. With Pat Coleman s retirement from the BoD, Terry Wade has been appointed as a member of the Judiciary Committee. Bill Taylor remains as Operations Chairman and a Judiciary Committee member. With Tom Norman as treasurer and insurance, the NW is well represented on the BoD. This year, two days in Chicago were enough and we were ready to hit the road West. After taking Amtrak for the last two years, Pat and I decided to drive this year. We took a southern route with some sight seeing going east, and a direct route home. A total of 5,310 miles. In the last six years we have met a lot of great NARCOA people. It is always nice to see them in Chicago. However, as with most trips, getting home is the best part. Jim Area Eleven AZ, CA, HI, NM, NV, UT Wayne Parsons Participation in the recent elections was 56% up from 35% two years ago. This was the first time that three candidates ran for the same Board seat. Thank you to everyone who voted and for your support of NARCOA. The clubs in Area 11 did not have any new business they wanted brought up at Chicago. From Chicago I sent all three club Presidents a quick summary of the decisions made. Those decisions are announced in other articles here in the SETOFF. Here some items that I supported and why. First, NARCOA is burning through its working capital due to increasing expenses, and with the upcoming insurance renewal, needs to establish an insurance reserve. This insurance reserve is to pay the initial $2500 deductible for incidents. The member would then repay NARCOA, but the deductibles are due at once. The board unanimously approved increasing dues to $36 beginning January 1st and raising the cost of excursion insurance certificates to $60. It will take two years to slowly build up the needed insurance reserve and stabilize the working capital level. After this is accomplished at the end of 2012, the $36 dues level should be enough for expenses going forward. In an effort to reduce expenses the board will shorten the annual meeting and the number of nights for hotel rooms. Second, there is one change to the operations manual. Due to some nasty events in the Midwest, the gentleman s agreement to consult with the EC who operated on a railroad in the past has been put in writing. The visiting affiliate must now consult with the Area Director before approaching a railroad. The Area Director will consult with the home affiliate or EC before giving permission to proceed. The goal is to not disrupt established relationships, keep railroads from being bombarded by requests from many sources, and give negotiations in progress a chance to bear fruit. See section 6 in the operations manual. Third, was review of Judicial Committee policy. Under consideration was the question of how to charge points for multiple items. Suppose an incident happened where someone required hospitalization greater than 24 hours. The operator would get 8 points. However, would the operator get 16 points if two people were so injured? I supported this concept. The majority of the board did not and the JC policy was left unchanged. Finally, we have lost C. W. Chuck Lee, aged 76, who died on September 19, 2010 just after returning home from the Cumbres & Toltec event. His wife Marj (Mc- Connell) and son Ken Lee were at his side. Chuck served as a Professor of Management at California State University, Dominguez Hills from 1970 until his retirement in A fan of both music and railroads, Chuck started in the hobby around 2000 and has been very active since. He traveled as far away as Australia to ride speeders. A moment of silence was observed at the Eagle Mountain safety meeting in honor of Chuck. Wayne Page 6 The SETOFF Nov / Dec 2010

7 Why am I getting Points? Jim Spicer, Judiciary Committee Chairman Lets start with a brief description of how the Judiciary Committee (JC) operates. When there is an incident it is reported to Tom Norman, insurance administrator. Tom then sends a copy to JC Chair. JC Chair reviews the incident and sends notice to the persons involved that the incident is under investigation. The JC Chair may have questions for the involved persons or the EC. These will be included with answers in the material sent to the judiciary committee. After discussion the committee will vote on an assessment of points and send that recommendation to the Board of Directors. The board will receive a packet of all material related to the incident from incident report, to questions with answers and the JC recommendation. The NARCOA board of directors will review all the material and make the final assessment of points, if any. Unlike the FRA or FAA, the NARCOA Judiciary committee does not have the ability to send a person to the scene to investigate incidents. All we have to go on is the incident report and answers to questions we ask of persons involved. The system is therefore based on results not cause. There are currently nine members on the JC, three each from the west, the midwest and the east. We have a diverse group representing all geographic areas. Most incidents are handled by . A review of last years incidents: All Judiciary Committee business is confidential. As chairman I can only write generalities. As usual our most common incidents are collisions. This year we had four compared to six last year. The other common incident is derailments. This year we had two, one of which was serious, injuring three riders. We also had one misconduct report involving a noninsured operator. This gives us a total of seven incidents compared to 13 in the previous year. Hopefully this is a trend not a spike. This year at the board of directors meeting Tom Norman gave a good summary of the history of JC. This was followed by a review of all policies. In the end it was decided the current policies are working and no changes were made. At last years meeting the board of directors decided that they would take a hard line concerning collisions. If you bump the car ahead you will get one or more points. This does not include hand shoved cars when instructed to close up. If you derail and your car has damage, expect one or more points. The lesson to be learned is to look ahead and pay attention to your position in line and track conditions. Approach sharp curves, crossings and switches with caution. Speed is always a factor in derailments. If you derail at slow speed your car will probably not be damaged. If you derail at track speed you can expect the car to turn sideways, if open, eject the occupants and bend an axle, points will follow. As the operator of the car the ultimate responsibility is yours. There is an average of ten or less incidents per year. With a thousand in the insurance program that is less than one percent. Points are not life threatening, no one wants them and the board does not like to assess them. The good news is they will go away in three years. I would recommend that everyone read the JC Policy. It is only seven pages, located on the NARCOA web site under Documents and Affiliates. If you have questions or concerns e mail me or your area director. All directors and committee chairman are listed under the same Documents and affiliates heading on the web page. Pay attention to the track ahead and be safe. Jim Spicer JC Chairman The SETOFF Nov / Dec 2010 Page 7

8 New Area Insurance Representative Named tom Norman, NARCOA Insurance Administrator I m pleased to announce that John Gonder has agreed to assume the position of NARCOA Area Insurance Representative for the northeastern United States. John is replacing Dick Wilhelm who is retiring from the position. I would like to thank Dick for his assistance over the previous fifteen years. As an area insurance rep, Dick was responsible for providing Certificates of Permission to excursion coordinators in thirteen states in the northeast and three Canadian provinces. When the excursion coordinator completed the Certificate of Permission and had secured the railroad official s signature, Dick would verify that all information was correct and then issue the Certificate of Insurance to the host railroad. Dick has agreed to stay on and process any Certificates of Permission for the 2010 insurance year which ends January 31, John will begin processing Certificates of Permission for the 2011 insurance year which begins February 1, Excursion coordinators in the Northeast should contact John Gonder for Certificates of Permission and Insurance for runs occurring 2/1/11 and later. Thanks again Dick for a superb job. There are six area insurance reps that perform these duties. Besides Certificates of Permission and Insurance, they have insurance application forms, NARCOA Agreements and other insurance documents. They can help answer insurance questions and offer help with host railroad contacts. Also the area insurance reps are members of the NARCOA Insurance Committee. Each area insurance rep is responsible for certain states and provinces. Excursion coordinators should contact the rep for the state or province that the excursion is in. This is not critical though, as any area rep can help you. If an area rep is on vacation or cannot be reached, it is perfectly acceptable to contact any other rep. Current NARCOA Area Insurance Representatives are listed below: Mike Ford, 7712 Carpenter Court, Plainfield, IN Phone: (317) (Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Manitoba, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Ontario, Quebec and Wisconsin). Jim McKeel, 9742 Yosemite Court, Wichita, KS Phone: (316) (Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Texas.) Tom orman, 1047 Terrace View Drive, Alberton, MT Phone: (406) (Alaska, Alberta, British Columbia, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, Oregon, Saskatchewan, South Dakota, Washington, and Wyoming) Doug Stivers, 1544 Fuchsia Drive, San Jose, CA Phone: (408) (Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah). Tom Falicon, 1227 Sawmill Creek Road, Bryson City, NC Phone: (828) (Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee). John Gonder, 415 Levine Lane, Ruffs Dale, PA Phone: (724) (Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Newfoundland, New Brunswick, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Nova Scotia, Pennsylvania, Prince Edward Island, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, and West Virginia). NARCOA currently charges a $50 Meet Setup Fee for each Certificate of Insurance issued. These fees help cover the costs associated with the insurance program. At the 2010 NARCOA Board meeting, the fee was increased to $60 for Certificates issued for the 2011 insurance year. News from Up North Club RailCar Quebec has done eight runs in 2010, one long run and seven small ones. Next year at the end of May, we shall do a run from Matapedia to Gaspe & return within four days, and there will be seven other small runs done in Quebec. Louis-Francois Garceau Club RailCar Quebec, President. Page 8 The SETOFF Nov / Dec 2010

9 Insurance renewal 2010 tom Norman, NARCOA Insurance Administrator NARCOA s Railroad Liability Insurance Program is in place for The liability insurance is required in order for a member to operate at a NARCOA insured excursion. The liability policy year is 2/1/11 to 2/1/12. Insurance applications are inserted in this issue of The Setoff, or mailed with the NARCOA calendar. The insurance premium for 2011 is $110. Please return applications early, so you will have your new insurance card by 2/1/11. Remember! 2010 liability coverage will expire 1/31/11. Many NARCOA members participate in our second insurance program and buy insurance to provide physical damage coverage for their motorcars. This program is entirely optional, and it is up to the member to determine if it is appropriate for them. Since the current policy is good through 3/31/11, applications are not yet available. If interested, look for a future article in a later issue of The Setoff. Again, this coverage is optional and should not be confused with the liability insurance program that is required in order for a member to operate at a NARCOA insured excursion. Eagle Mountain By Wayne Parsons, EC October 9, 2010 Eagle Mountain, CA. Fifteen motorcars participated in the first ever NARCOA run on The Eagle Mountain Railroad (EMR) once used to haul iron ore from the southern California desert to a steel mill at Fontana, CA in Riverside County. EMR constructed, in 1946, runs 52 miles from the mine to the Ferrum interchange with the Southern Pacific (UP) at the Salton Sea. Operations using 100 car trains ceased in Storms in 2005 caused wash outs and track upheavals near the half way point at Summit (MP 25) cutting the line in half. Southwest Railcar Ltd was welcomed by Kaiser Ventures LLC railroad host Bob Kimber. Steve Gardner was the escort Wildlife Biologist, a position required because the railroad passes through the endangered Desert Tortoise habitat. Set-on was near the mine at mile post 49 with two round trips south to the washed out track at mile post 27.5 for a total of 86 miles for the day. In places the track had heavy brush growing between and alongside the rail. The group passed near a Colorado River Aqueduct pumping station along the west side of the tracks. To prevent vibration from trains, the tracks cross the buried concrete aqueduct on a bridge at the bottom of Caution Hill (so named for a runaway train). The SETOFF Nov / Dec 2010 Photos by Wayne Parsons Above: Rest stop at the bunker-like speeder and tool sheds (MP 31) visible from Interstate 10. Below right: Wildlife Biologist Steve Gardner explains the escape ramps located every 300 feet for 52 miles. Desert Tortoises caught between the rails walk the fence line and tip into the chutes created by spreading two ties. The desert scenery was beautiful with Ocotillo cactus and small wildlife such as lizards and ground squirrels visible near the line. A coyote paced the lead car for half a mile on the afternoon run! Thank you everyone who provided extra seats for the many guests. Thanks to Richard Nelson, Blair Van Vliet, and everyone else that helped with set-on. Ideas for future events on the EMR include a barbeque and night run. Page 9

10 Once Manufacturers had sold Top Railroad Management on the idea that motorcars were economical transportation for their track employees they began working on giving the machines a wider role in railroad maintenance. Even in the age of handcars, mowers, discers and other attachments had been used but they were largely limited to a short reach from the rails. One of the first to tackle the idea was Buda who had developed an opposed cylinder engine and friction drive for their large gang size cars. With a crank shaft parallel and a cross drive, friction shaft perpendicular to the rails it was a simple task to put a Morse Taper Shaft on the ends of each giving four convenient attachment points for flexible shafts. It was an immediate hit, especially with Bridge Gangs who employed them in a variety of roles. The Buda taper shafts were great for powering such things as rail drills, saws and grinders but, flexible shafts were problematic. They needed lubrication, usually with remote power cars by Leon Sapp graphite which was expensive and they could not be bent more that about 30 degrees without serious wear inside their sheath. Still, they gave a much needed flexibility to the trackman they had not had before. By the turn of the Twentieth Century pneumatic and electrical tools had become portable enough to be used for sawing rails, driving spikes, tamping ties and a multitude of other tasks. But they all needed power and they needed it to be p o r t a b l e. And, both air compressors and Electrical G e n e r a t o r s u s u a l l y needed more oomph than the small motor car engines could muster. Soon several companies began marketing large compressors and generators mounted on a dedicated trailer. They worked well powered by their own gasoline engines. But, they were heavy and extremely difficult to manhandle on and off the track and therefore were usually limited to large production gangs. Manufacturers started looking for other ways to meet the need. The Northwestern Motor Company had adopted the powerful Ford four cylinder engine for its larger gang cars and with its nominal 40 horse power it could easily power a small electrical generator as well. But packing all that under Page 10 The SETOFF Nov / Dec 2010

11 rupture. But they were also dangerous if frayed or cut which was a real possibility out on the track. Pneumatic was safer, generally more powerful and lighter but harder to move around. The smaller engines used by other companies were not left out completely. Some were The Euclid Electric & Mfg. Co. still stout enough for limited applications. In 1931 the narrow engine tunnel along with a transmission was asking a bit Fairmont-Mudge was able to mount much so the obvious answer was to a small compressor and air tank on move the motorcar with electric a large gang size car which they power as well. Already there were marketed as their Model M22. some experimental gas-electric and Once the car was positioned near diesel-electric locomotives proving the work site the endless belt was the idea would work. One of their shifted from the drive pulley to the first efforts was their 1926 Model compressor pulley. The car was a 550-EP with the EP obviously hit with paint gangs but trying to standing for Electrical Power. use the machine to power any of the That same year another and little known manufacturer, The Euclid Electric and Manufacturing Company, would come out with an elegant little machine which also used electrical power to both move the car and operate machinery. Jackson and others had begun to market electric tie tampers which began selling well. Earlier attempts to build electric tools had not been entirely successful. They tended to be heavier than their pneumatic counterparts and not that reliable. Chicago Pneumatic had been building track tools since the turn of the century and had their tools perfected to a much lighter and easier to handle design. It was a trade off. Electrical cords were easier to move around as opposed to the stiffer pneumatic hoses and they were less likely to large track tools such as tampers quickly exhausted its limited capacity. Others would follow with their own designs but eventually so many specialized machines were being built that attempting to make the motorcar into a Swiss Army Knife able to do everything became futile. Today a mechanized track gang may have as many as twenty specialized machines, each doing one or at the most two jobs. Modern compressors and electrical generators are both lighter and smaller and capable of far greater capacities than their historical counterparts. But, one man with one machine doing one thing at a time has proven more economical. The SETOFF Nov / Dec 2010 Page 11

12 North American Railcar Operators Association Annual Meeting, October 1 & Approved Minutes of the Meeting Called to order by Warren Froese, President, on Friday, October 1, 2010, at 8:00 A.M.. Directors and Officers in attendance: Warren Riccitelli Area 1 Director John Gonder Area 2 Director Jeff Levengood Area 3 Director Tom Falicon Area 4 Director Bobby Moreman Area 5 Director Bob Knight Area 6 Director Carl Schneider Area 7 Director Warren Froese Area 8 Director Chris Weaver Area 9 Director Jim Spicer Area 10 Director Wayne Parsons Area 11 Director Margaret Hope Director-at-Large Bernie Leadon Director-at-Large Mark Hudson Secretary Tom Norman Treasurer Certification of Elections Motion by Bob Knight to approve the Board of Directors election 2 nd by John Gonder By consensus, approval of the motion. Election of Officers President Bob Knight nominated Warren Froese to serve as President. There were no additional nominations for President. By acclamation, Warren Froese as President Vice-President Bobby Moreman nominated Tom Falicon to serve as Vice-President. John Gonder nominated Wayne Parsons to serve as Vice-President. There were no other nominations. Vote by the Board of Directors elected Tom Falicon as Vice-President. Page 12 The SETOFF Nov / Dec 2010 Secretary John Gonder nominated Mark Hudson to serve as Secretary. There were no other nominations. By acclamation, Mark Hudson elected to serve as Secretary. Treasurer Warren Riccitelli nominated Tom Norman to serve as Treasurer There were no other nominations. By acclamation, Tom Norman elected as Treasurer. Sergeant-at-Arms John Gonder nominated Jim McKeel to serve as Sergeant-at-Arms. There were no other nominations. By acclamation, Jim McKeel elected as Sergeant-at- Arms. Parliamentarian John Gonder nominated Margaret Hope to serve as Parliamentarian. There were no other nominations. By acclamation, Margaret Hope elected to serve as Parliamentarian. The conference call held on June 24, 2010, concerning implementation of Wild Apricot was discussed and summarized. Review of and summarization of the following committee reports. Treasurer and Insurance Reports Tom Norman Membership Mark Hudson Member Database Bob Hastings Elections Carl Anderson Judiciary Jim Spicer Rules Jim McKeel Safety Bob Knight Operations Bill Taylor Custom Built Motorcars Tom Falicon Affiliate and Excursion Coordinator Written report

13 submitted by Dave Verzi was reviewed. By consensus, approval of Bobby Moreman as an affiliate. Rulebook Certification Presented by Warren Froese on behalf of Al McCracken. Communications Bernie Leadon Webmaster Keith Mackey (At the request of the Communications Committee) Motion by John Gonder to approve a total of $864 for a software update for the NARCOA web site. 2 nd by Margaret Hope Motion passed with no one voting against. Each director will communicate with Keith Mackey if they wish to have a web mail address. Old Business There was no additional discussion concerning affiliates other than in the Affiliate Committee report. There was no additional discussion concerning excursion coordinators other than in the Excursion Coordinator report. Judicial Committee Review A discussion was held concerning policy implementation when an incident occurs. Motion by Warren Riccitelli to refer to the rules committee for review: Adding points for multiple injuries during an incident. Adding an item in the point system when a person is thrown from a motorcar during an incident. 2 nd by Wayne Parsons. Vote taken: 2 voting in favor of the motion. 5 opposed to the motion. Motion fails. Radio License / Hardware Discussion led by Tom Falicon. FCC will notify the secretary of narrow band implementation. Most of the current radios and hardware will not work on narrow band frequencies. The Board of Directors need to set a date for member implementation of narrow band implementation because after Jan. 1, 2013, current radios and hardware not working on narrow band will be illegal under FCC regulations. By consensus, to place the following on the NARCOA website: Members should not purchase wide band radios. In the fall of 2011, the Board of Directors will give members a date for narrow band implementation by NARCOA. Update given by Warren Froese of radio use in Canada. At present there is no viable option for radio licensing in Canada. Dan Page, membership committee member, gave a demonstration of the Wild Apricot web based software which included: A PowerPoint of membership committee work. A demonstration of the Wild Apricot software and how members will be able to use the software to update member information. By-Law update was discussed.1) Changes in Article 1 discussed. Motion by John Gonder to change the wording of: Article 1, Section 1; Article 1, Principal Office to reflect the change in the NARCOA address of: NAR- COA, PO Box 321, Dry Ridge, KY Article 1, Section 2, Registered Office to reflect the change in that firms address to: The Company Corporation, 2711 Centerville Rd., Suite 400, Wilmington, Delaware Article 1, Section 3, Other Offices to reflect Kentucky due to the change in the NARCOA Principal Office address. 2 nd by Bob Knight. Voting: 11 in favor. 0 against. Motion carried. Other changes/updates needed to the By-Laws were discussed. Motion by Wayne Parsons for a committee to review all of the By-Laws and bring recommendations back to the meeting on Saturday, October 2, nd by Bobby Moreman. Voting: 11 in favor. 0 against. Motion carried. Warren Froese, President, appointed Margaret Hope, Wayne Parsons, and Brian Davis to review the By- Laws and report back on Saturday. Wording of the Elections / Voting was discussed. Wording will be discussed during the meeting on Saturday, The SETOFF Nov / Dec 2010 Page 13

14 October 2, ew Business Continuity in the officers serving the NARCOA membership was discussed. Couples Membership discussed. By consensus: Couples insurance application and coverage will remain the same. Couples / Family membership proposal will be submitted on Saturday, October 2, Revision of Operations Manual, Section 6.1 was presented by Bill Taylor and discussed. Motion by Wayne Parsons, to approve a revision of Operations Manual Section 6.1 as presented including the Clearing House Form for excursions as presented. 2 nd by Bernie Leadon. By consensus, to table the motion until Saturday, October 2, The meeting was recessed until Saturday, October 2, 2010, at 3:55 P.M. Warren Froese, President, called the meeting to order at 8:00 A.M., Saturday, October 2. All Area Directors and Officers were present at the beginning of the meeting. Chris Weaver left the meeting at 8:00 on NARCOA board business and returned at 8:15 am. Page 14 The SETOFF Nov / Dec 2010 Continuation of ew Business. A vote was taken on the seconded motion by Wayne Parsons concerning a revision to the Operations Manual Section 6.1. Voting: 6 in favor. 4 Against. Motion carried. Area Director Chris Weaver was not present for the vote. The new NARCOA promotional / informational PowerPoint and video was presented by Bernie Leadon and Keith Mackey. Printing of the NARCOA Rulebooks and Rulebook update stickers was discussed. It was presented that new rulebooks cost $1.15 each to be printed for 1000 or more, and the update stickers cost 75 cents to print plus the cost of handling/shipping the envelopes. Motion by Bobby Moreman to: Cease printing of the NARCOA Rulebook for en masse distribution; Encourage members to download and print PDF copies from the NARCOA website; and For those who want a printed copy of the NARCOA Rulebook to send $5 to the secretary, while supplies last. Voting: 10 in favor. 1 against. Motion carried. There are no changes to the NARCOA Rulebook recommended at this time. The need for a Railroad Communication Team was discussed. By consensus, to allow Warren Froese, President, and Keith Mackey, NARCOA Webmaster, to work with the Area Directors to organize the NARCOA membership based upon expertise and then develop a page on the NARCOA website. Use of conference calls as a means for the Board of Directors and Officers to communicate as a group was discussed. By consensus, to continue to use conference calls as needed. Tom Norman, Treasurer and Insurance Administrator presented a proposal from the insurance company for It was recommended that members be charged $110 for liability insurance for It was presented that the insurance company is requesting changes to the NARCOA insurance policy description and application. By consensus, approval of the recommendations as presented. Membership dues and budget was 2011 was presented and discussed. Motion by Bobby Moreman to: Increase the insurance certificate to $60 effective Feb. 1, Increase membership dues to $36 effective Jan. 1, nd by Margaret Hope. Voting: 10 in favor. 1 opposed. Motion carried.

15 Other Business Deadlines for articles for the Setoff was discussed. Motion by Margaret Hope to make the deadline for the Setoff for all articles and submissions to the 15 th of the month prior to issue production. 2 nd by Wayne Parsons. Voting: 11 in favor. 0 opposed. Motion carried. The benefits of publishing the annual NARCOA Calendar was discussed. By consensus, to keep producing the NARCOA Calendar. The various lists were discussed. By consensus: The official list will be maintained in Wild Apricot. The roster and the EC Insurance list will continue. Wording to the By-Laws concerning election of officers was discussed. Motion by Margaret Hope to add wording to Article 3 (Board of Directors), Section 1 (Qualifications) to read: A member becomes Area Director on winning the highest number of votes amongst all candidates in that area. Tom Norman will make the revisions in the By-Laws. 2 nd by Bob Knight. Vote: 11 in favor. 0 against. Motion carried. Couples membership discussed. By consensus, there will be only one name listed on each membership. Warren Froese made a proposal concerning the term of the NARCOA president and the addition of a new officer, President-Elect. After discussion, the proposal was withdrawn for consideration. Expenses to be paid to Area Directors and Officers for attending the annual NARCOA meeting was discussed. By consensus: Mileage will be paid for those Area Directors and Officers driving to the meeting at the current IRS reimbursement rate. In the future, motel/hotel rooms will be paid for Directors and Officers for two (2) nights only(thursday and Friday). For those Area Directors and Officers flying commercial airlines to the meeting to reserve the cheapest flight possible and to reserve as soon as possible. Any Area Director and Officer who rents a car for the meeting must pay for the car rental and all parking fees. The committee appointed on Friday, October 1, 2010, to review the By-Laws made a report. By consensus, for the committee to work during the year to make suggestions for additions, deletions, and revisions to the By-Laws to the Board of Directors. Wayne Parsons presented concerns about the lack of motorcar inspections being completed at some events. Warren Riccitelli questioned the certificate of insurance from railroads at non-naroca events. Tom Norman is in negotiations with the insurance company concerning that topic. Bob Knight inquired about insurance for affiliate officers and directors. Tom Norman indicated in 2011 there is no such coverage available through NAR- COA. Bob Knight requested clarification on the possibility of errors and omissions insurance for NARCOA Directors and Officers related to affiliates. This is not provided by NARCOA. Dates for the annual meeting were discussed. By consensus, the NARCOA Annual Meeting will held on October 14-15, 2011, pending approval of the dates by the hotel. Warren Froese questioned the reason for affiliates with their own rules and by-laws. The item was discussed and no action taken. By consensus, the annual NARCOA meeting was adjourned at 10:42 A.M., October 2, Respectfully submitted, Mark D. Hudson Secretary The SETOFF Nov / Dec 2010 Page 15

16 Moving NARCOA Forward New Online Membership System Offers Improved Service to Members Dan Page At the 2010 Board of Directors meeting, NARCOA your , address, phone number and other identifying data to serve you more efficiently. We will not sell President Warren Froese noted that the mission of the board is to deliver the hobby to our members improved every year. With this task in mind, the board is used only within NARCOA to provide services to or rent your information to anyone. Your information approved the implementation of a new online membership system. This new process will streamline servploys state of the art security procedures to protect your you, he said. Secondly, the new online system emice to NARCOA members who are renewing their privacy, similar to online banking. membership or changing their address or preferences for the SETOFF delivery. The system also allows new members to join instantly on line. This implementation decision follows six months of work by the NARCOA membership committee to create the new membership system. You may recall reading about this project earlier this year in the SETOFF. The Board established the goal for the online database system, which is to create a single integrated on line database for all NARCOA membership information. The new system would allow for data integrity and continuity as well as reduced workload for NARCOA volunteers. To accomplish this goal, the membership committee had to collect information held in several places, such as membership rosters, insurance data, and operations, certification, and affiliate information. All of this information was then entered into a new online system. Then a period of testing and checking the system followed. The board reviewed the progress in June and again at the annual meeting. Following these reviews, the project received the green proceed signal to go live as of November 1, While the new system requires an address and internet access for use, Warren was quick to note that the current methods in use for membership renewal and address changes will remain as an option for all members. Renewals and address changes will still be accepted by regular mail by the ARCOA secretary. Postal delivery of a paper copy of the SETOFF remains available to all members as well. NARCOA President Warren Froese made two additional points about the new membership system. First, he noted that all members should know that NARCOA respects our member s privacy. NARCOA solicits Page 16 The SETOFF Nov / Dec 2010 These security procedures are important since the new system will allow members to pay their dues by credit card or PayPal. When a member opts to pay this way, a new page is opened with a secure connection starting with https, indicating an encrypted connection where it is safe to enter your credit card data. Director of Area One, and former NARCOA President, Warren Riccitelli said this about the new system: I pushed for this data base over the past five years and am glad to see it come to the membership. With its main new features like joining on line and paying via credit card or PayPal, I will be able to see a new member instantly. As an Excursion Coordinator, I will be able to have more and correct information on attendees. And other features will be added as we go. We will never have out of date member information again and we can communicate to our members all at once and much more efficiently. While the system has been successfully tested, the Membership Committee recognizes that there may be some initial issues with using this new system for some members. The following NARCOA members have generously volunteered to help other members who have problems using the system. They can be reached as follows: Bob Hastings: bobhastings3@gmail.com Dan Page: dan.h.page@gmail.com Chris Weaver: cpweaver@gmail.com Members are encouraged to try out the system. You can provide feedback to the membership committee at membership@narcoa.org. For more information and instructions on how to try this new system, select the Membership button on the menu bar at the top of the website. Thank you.

17 Mentoring Quebec Style by Adrianne Weiss I have to say that my chance to get mentored on a NARCOA excursion in Quebec along the St. Lawrence River was simply fantastic! As you would imagine, I was a little nervous because this was the first time that I had actually operated a rail speeder. The only previous experience that I had was riding with my Dad and my brother. A few days before the Quebec trip, I had a chance to sit in the speeder with my Dad. He gave me a short lesson about how to start and operate the car while it was parked in his driveway. My brother also talked to me about the rulebook, inspection forms, and other NARCOA procedures. Still, I was afraid that I was really going to make a fool of myself once I got on the rails. The prospect of operating the rail car with an EC in the right seat made me very nervous. And the fact that I am a woman made me feel that I would be scrutinized more closely. I was to be mentored on the first day of a three day run in Quebec, May 22, After the safety meeting, I met with the excursion coordinator, Louis-François Garceau. He checked my insurance card and my certification card and said I was ready to go. Mr. Garceau then said that since my brother was an experienced operator, he could ride with me and Mr. Garceau would observe us from his car which immediately behind us. I was in luck! My nerves were instantly calmed! The scenery along route was beautiful and interesting. I was able to experience riding through several different kinds of switches, crossings, and bridges, and small towns. At the lunch stop, Mr. Garceau spent some time critiquing me and questioning me about several important aspects of operating rail cars. After our conversation, he signed my forms and I became one of NARCOA s newest rail car operators! What a great feeling! The remaining two days of the excursion were spectacular ride in Quebec, along the St Lawrence, with beautiful mountains and tunnels. I spent most of the time trying to recall my high school French lessons! This was an experience I will never forget. I want to thank Mr. Garceau, my Dad, Harvey Page, and my brother, Dan Page, and everyone on the excursion who helped and encouraged me as I was mentored. It was great experience and I looking forward to many more with my new NARCOA friends. Motoring along the St. Lawrence - photo by Gary Shrey The SETOFF Nov / Dec 2010 Page 17

18 PROMOTING THE MOTORCAR Being a member of NARCOA and two other rail related hobby groups, I notice the age group of the people attending at each event. The average has to be somewhere in the range. We ain t getting any younger! We need to promote our hobby to all kinds of people, especially young adults. One thing that I have done to give people information about our hobby is to develop a four inch by six inch index card which includes two things. On one side is a picture of my motor car and a paragraph titled, What Is This Thing? The short description below the title is taken from the FAQ s & Answers page on the NARCOA web page. The other side of the card includes a list of items completed to restore my specific motor car. Listed are such things as the original railroad ownership, type of motor, transmission description, bodywork completed, parts used, etc. It also includes the NARCOA web site address. This card was easily word processed on my computer and printed on my ink jet printer. When HOBBY by Mark Hudson Mark Hudson answered questions at "Walton Old Fashion Day." people ask, What is that thing?, I pull a card out and give it to them while talking about my MT-19. This past spring, I began to think of what I could do to further promote our hobby and NARCOA. It just so happens that the city I live near, Dry Ridge, KY, hosts an antique car show each month May through September. Also, in July 2010, a local auto parts store was celebrating their 30 th anniversary in business. This store just happened to be in beautiful downtown Dry Ridge and right in the middle of the street that is closed for the car show. It is also the store where many parts for my motor car were purchased. Working with the store management, they invited me to display my motor car in front of their store during the car show in July. The LN 199 was shined up, placed on the trailer, and unloaded in a prominent space in front of the auto parts store. A lot of people stopped by to take a look. Debbie and I answered a lot of questions and many information cards were handed out. Many people were surprised to see an antique railroad machine next to those shiny antique automobiles. This past September, a nearby town, Walton, KY, held their annual Old Fashion Day. Three of us got together for a railroad display. My two Page 18 The SETOFF Nov / Dec 2010 buddies, Denny French and Allen Jones, have a modular HO railroad. (They also have motor cars!) They showed off their model railroad inside while I displayed the motor car outside the entrance to the building. Again, many people, young and old, were able to see the motor car and ask questions. One particular young adult came by and indicated he works for Norfolk Southern and had never seen a motor car. Grabbing the opportunity, he received one of the information cards and we discussed the hobby. He seemed really interested in our hobby and the NARCOA web site. During these two events, I estimate that 300 to 400 people were exposed to our hobby. Children, teenagers, young adults, middle aged adults, and seniors all came by, looked at the car, and asked questions. Both events were enjoyable and many of the info cards were given out. As secretary for NARCOA and chair of the membership committee, the need to recruit new members from the next generation is paramount to keep the history of our cars alive and to keep the hobby going. The membership committee is looking for ideas to promote our hobby and NARCOA. If you have done something to promote our hobby or have an idea that would help, please contact us at the following address: membership@narcoa.org. Our committee will discuss these ideas and bring them to the NARCOA Board of Directors at our next annual meeting.

19 stuck in rail traffic on the NYS&W photos byjamie Haislip It was an uneventful trip until someone in the YS&W left a pair of engines on the main line and we had to wait for them to get the loco s out of our way. (See S units in top photo.) As a result, the approaching train was forced to stop and hold until the speeders crossed the bascule bridge and went into the yard (can you see the ticked off crew in CSX loco?). We have to wait for a #%$* speeders!? Maybe not the message we want to send, but these things happen.- Editor The SETOFF Nov / Dec 2010 Page 19

20 A STEP BACK IN TIME - PART 2 Well it s a year later and a second project is almost complete. My first writing told of a velocipede that I scratch built from various plans. This part will tell the tale of a motorized version. The velocipede got its standard gage maiden run up on the Delaware & Ulster Railroad in BY JOHN LEDDEN JR. Arkville, NY. For the most part all went well except I ended up changing the gearing to around 2 ½ to 1 vs. the 3 to 1 ratio I originally had. Karen and I tried pumping it up the 3% grade and made it about a mile when we decided to turn around. The new gearing worked well out on the Bucksgahuda & Western 2ft. Page 20 The SETOFF Nov / Dec 2010 gage later in September, but I was not brave enough to try the loop again. While up on the D&U run, we met a fellow NARCOA member who had an M-9 that did not have its original motor when he purchased it. He instead installed a Greyhound 6.5 hp motor (Honda knockoff) and a go-kart clutch. The car did not have reverse, but was easily turned. This little car hauled him and his son up the 3% grade with no problem. Over the weekend we discussed his gear ratio, where he bought the motor and clutch and how much power the little motor had. The more we discussed it, the idea popped into my head that this little motor would be perfect for my next project. As soon as we got home I started laying out the idea on paper. I started with same basic frame design from the velocipede. Hubs were welded up for the main frame side, motor and clutch were ordered, and the Ash was purchased. In no time the basement was again filled with sawdust. Right away I realized that the deck would have to sit higher to clear the motor. After reading up on the various advertisements on the motorized velocipedes, I decided to follow the practice of front wheel drive. I also wanted a locking brake on this car and fashioned it after a standard motorcar but for only 2 wheels instead of 4. The car progressed in the 2ft gage version until it was ready for paint. It was then taken apart, painted and re-assembled in the standard gage version. Since the

21 car does not have an alternator, a garden tractor battery was installed under the deck, a 4 LED brake light was mounted under the main side and an old hand lantern was wired in for a headlight. The battery will run the headlight and tail/brake light combo for 12 hrs without dimming. By the time the D&U run came around the car was ready for a trial run. We started out with the run up the 3% grade to Highmount. This part of the line has 3 driveway crossings and 1 road crossing in 10 miles. It is also currently out of service due to a bridge needing work. We took the rear just in case there were any issues with the car that would hold anyone up. We loaded up the toolbox and chainsaw in the tool tray for extra ballast on the outrigger, put the pup in the tool tray and away we went. The car handled well through the yard. Soon we were out on the main and starting to make our way up the grade. The little motor had plenty of power. I kept the power down as I got a feel for the car looking for tracking issues. We had no problem keeping the rest of the pack in sight. The group stopped at Fleishmann s and after giving the lead a thumbs up we continued up to Highmount. We were approximately 1 mile from the top of the hill when a poor design flaw finally showed up. I had installed an idler sprocket to route the chain around the cross frame for the motor. The torque managed to bend the bolt over dropping the chain. I decided to tie the chain up in place and radioed our situation to the lead car. I advised him that we would coast the 3 or so miles back to Fleishmann s and wait for the group there on the siding to be towed back to Arkville. The car tracked very well on the silent ride back down the hill. By the time we got down to the west end of the run around the rest of the group caught up to us. The little M- 9 that had started this idea ended up towing us back the remaining 6 miles. Again the car tracked very well while being towed. Wheels showed even wear on all 4. The car as a whole impressed many participants. After kicking around various ideas we decided to run a jackshaft across to both frame rails on the main side to mount the idler sprocket. Unfortunately that could not be done until after we returned home a week later with the car. The car has since had the modification done and has now been set up in the 2ft version to try it out on the B&W RR. This project has been fun to build. I by no means am a master carpenter or machinist. I had to enlist my local welding shop to weld up the brake shaft and axle hubs. Brake handle, shoes, eye and yoke for the brake rigging all came from Dean Mark. The throttle handle and wheels were extras lying around. Most other parts came from Tractor Supply and or Pep Boy s. Having a little open car is fun. The car is a dream to operate. Just 2 controls gas and brake that s it. It s very quiet. No clutch to worry about. No timing, fuel mix or belt to adjust. It also appears to be a miser on fuel. For 9 miles of pulling the 3% grade it only dropped the fuel level ¾ of an inch in the 5 deep, 1 gallon fuel tank. A reverser may be added later on but to me that takes away from the original cars that started this hobby so long ago. I don t think I would ever take this car on a long run but I have plenty of short line roads including the one I work for to play with it on. The nicest part of the whole design is that it s multi-gage and for the most part easy to change gages. I just change out the outrigger and tool tray. John All photos by the Author. One of the photos intended for this story was inadvertantly used in last issue s Part 1. The SETOFF Editor regrets the error. The SETOFF Nov / Dec 2010 Page 21

22 Spotlight On An Affiliate RPI Mike & Donna Harris represented Railroad Partners Inc. at the Big Texas Train Show held at the George R. Brown Convention Center Oct. 16/ in Houston, TX. The show was sponsored by the Gulf Coast Chapter NRHS. Mike & Donna greeted visitors and provided information regarding RPI, motorcars and the trips we take. NARCOA and Operation Lifesaver also represented. Mike's newly restored M-9 and matching trailer were on display. As a 'touchable' display among about 20 operating model railroads, it was an instant hit with children. Total attendance was in excess of 10,000 with 6,008 paying the $8 entry fee (children under 16 admitted free). The two most heard comments were "What is this?" and "This is cool!" The first was answered with the "What is this thing?" card reprinted from the NARCOA website. Our answer to the second comment was it absolutely is!. Mike fielded answers to about a dozen serious inquiries about the motorcar hobby. Mike Harris Page 22 The SETOFF Nov / Dec 2010

23 ovember 06-07, AL T Tennessee Southern Railroad Sold Out - Waiting List Overnight in Florence - Columbia, Tennessee to Florence, Alabama and spend the night in historic downtown Florence. Approx. 150 RT motorcar miles on former L&N and CSX line. (Hampton Inn in Florence the night of November 6th and transportation to and from railyard for two persons is included in trip fee - other hotels are your responsibility.) You must be a member of NARCOA, have current NARCOA Insurance, have current Rulebook Certification Card, and have been mentored. Experienced operators only, no mentoring on this run. All cars will be inspected. All NARCOA rules will apply. Additional rules: A-cars and hyrails by permission only. Safety vests/shirts, long pants and over-the-ankle work boots are mandatory. A mobile VHF radio capable of receiving railroad frequencies is strongly encouraged. There is an 18 car limit. Please make your check for $275 payable to: Fallen Flag Excursions LLC c/o Jim Hughes, 407 Fellers Lane, Smyrna, TN Phone jhughes@pipeline.com for registration form, or download at ffxx.home.pipeline.com. No refunds after October 6, Excursion Coordinators: Paul Goldzung, Jim Hughes and Bernie Leadon. ovember 06-07, H - Sixth Annual Snowflake Excursion For our sixth year, NERCA will be working in conjunction with two great railroads, the New England Southern & Hobo Railroads for an exciting and beautiful late fall excursion in the White Mountains. This late in the year, we are playing with Mother Nature and the potential of winter weather. This is a welcome change from the heat and humidity of the annual Hobo June run. Seton will be in Concord, NH and travel north thru Tilton, Laconia, Weirs Beach, Meredith, Plymouth, and Thornton before arriving for our overnight stay in Lincoln. Event fee includes excursion, overnight accommodations and a continental breakfast. Total mileage approximately 146 miles. Event fee is $290 and includes hotel in Lincoln, NH on Saturday night. This event is sponsored by NERCA. NARCOA insurance and rules apply. All payments / cancelations are required 30 before the excursion. Equipment Restrictions/Requirements: HY-Rails allowed by permission only. NARCOA insurance and rules apply. Reflective vests are required. No cars will be able to operate with sanders and use of manually applied sand will not be tolerated. The event is sponsored by NERCA. Event Coordinator: Warren Riccitelli / Al Elliott. For more information please contact warren.riccitelli@cox.net Warren Riccitelli, 39 Jacksonia Drive, North Providence, RI NARCOA Excursions as of October 16th, 2010 Please submit all excursions and ads directly to narcoa@comcast.net The SETOFF downloads directly from the website for the most current information. ovember 06, PA - Middletown & Hummelstown Railroad Join us as we ride this former Reading Railroad line from Middletown, PA to the US 322 crossing just outside of Hummelstown, PA. This scenic excursion and freight railroad has a little over 7 miles of track. We will make several trips on the line. We expect to do at least one run through Middletown to the NS connection. It has been many years since we have ridden these rails, but we always had a great time. Lunch will be available within a short walking distance. This will be a nice way to start the weekend for those riding the Eastern Berks Gateway Railroad on Sunday November 7, This is a NARCOA event. All NARCOA rules will be observed. Cost for the day is $20 per car. There will be a 25 car limit. Call or for an application, or send name, address, phone and cell numbers, address, exam number and insurance number and payment to: NCRA, 54 Adams Road, New Freedom, Pa Information or application-contact Gary Shrey. GShrey@aol.com Home phone: Cell phone: ovember 07, PA - Eastern Berks Gateway Railroad Permission has been granted for a speeder excursion on the Eastern Berks Gateway Railroad. To our knowledge, this is the first NARCOA excursion on this railroad. The railroad runs from Boyertown, PA to Pottstown, PA. It s what is left of the former Reading Railroad s Colebrookdale line. I am told it s a very scenic railroad that goes through a lot of wooded area. They have 8.6 miles of track that we expect to run several times. This will be a nice way to complete the weekend for those riding the Middletown & Hummelstown RR on Saturday November 6, This is a NARCOA event. All NARCOA rules will be observed. Cost for the day is $25 per car. There will be a 25 car limit. Call or e- mail for an application, or send name, address, phone and cell numbers, address, exam number and insurance number and payment to: NCRA, 54 Adams Road, New Freedom, Pa Information or application-contact Gary Shrey. GShrey@aol.com Home phone: Cell phone: ovember 12-14, GA - Heart Of Georgia West RR Richand Georgia Pigfest - Friday 12th. Richland to Union 40 miles round trip. 8:00-12:00. Saturday 13th, motorcar displays, public rides from depot to US /4 mile roundtrip. Sunday 14th, Richland to Union, Georgia, 40 miles round trip. Eating and motel near set on site, campsite beside tracks, power and water, no sewage. All 2 cycles must have US Forest Service approved spark arrestor installed. All participants must attend safety briefings and wear reflective safety vest. All NARCOA rules apply. SERO affiliate. No cost to participate. Click HERE for more details and maps. EC Larry Crowe, H: , C: or clh1@planttel.net EC in training Will Thompson H: , C: or cwthompson@windstream.net EC Dave Ferro H: The SETOFF Nov / Dec 2010 Page 23

24 ovember 13-14, OK - Farmrail Railroad Overnight trip on Farmrail. The Oklahoma Railway Museum is sponsoring a motorcar ride on Farmrail Railroad, Meet Coordinator: Drake Rice drake.rice@cox.net This ORM Affiliate is sponsoring a two day trip will be on the Farmrail Railroad. This will be an overnight trip, staying in Enid at the Ramada Inn; rate will be $79.00 plus tax, the Farmrail rate. We will travel northward on the ex-frisco trackage on Saturday and return to Clinton on Sunday. Total over the two days will be approximately 194 miles. You must be a museum member $30, seniors 65+ $25, forms are available at the museum website. Saturday, November 13, 2010 Clinton, OK to Enid, OK 97 miles one way. Start Set On: 7:30 AM; Departure: 8:30 AM; Approximate Enid Arrival: 5:00 PM. We will proceed north to Okeene where we will have lunch at the local restaurant, which is three blocks from the tracks west. This segment of the line is 63 miles. Following lunch we will continue northward to Enid, where we make contact with the Railroad Museum of Oklahoma and precede another 2 miles to the museum where motor cars will be parked inside the museum grounds fence on museum track for the overnight period. Hyrails will be set off at the museum and we will use them for transportation from the museum to the motel. Following our Museum visit there we will proceed to the Ramada Inn for dinner at the restaurant and the overnight stay. Again, transportation from the museum and return will by the Hy-rails vehicles. Sunday, October 14, 2010 Enid, OK to Clinton, OK total of 97 miles Start up and warm up: 8:00 AM; Departure 9:00 AM; Approximate return 5:00 PM. On Sunday will stop in Okeene around 11AM for lunch. After lunch we will continue on to Clinton with a rest stop at Fay. The Store will not be open, but we will have a port-a-pot with us. Cost: $20.00 Donation to the Oklahoma Railway Museum; $50.00 to Farmrail. Total Cost: $70.00 covers both days. Must be a member of ORM; Valid NARCOA insurance card and operator s certificate required and NARCOA rulebook 6.3 in effect for this event. All wanting to participate will need to notify EC Drake Rice drake.rice@cox.net no later than Thursday, November 4. You will also need to contact the Ramada Inn ( ) and make your reservations, mention are part of the Farmrail Group to get the discount price. The railroad requires both an amber light on their unit and a reflective vest. Coordinator is Drake Rice (405) or drake.rice@cox.net ovember 14, C - Great Smoky Mountains RR Ed Kimball Memorial Run - Join us to celebrate the life and times of NARCOA Area Four pioneer Ed Kimball. There will be an open house/cookout at my shop near Bryson City, NC on the afternoon of the 13th and a minimum of 60 round trip miles will be run on the GSMR on the 14th. Another part of this multi-faceted event will be the maiden voyage of Chris Helmer s Rail-B-Q Wagon. Chris will be firing up the grill and treat us all to a tasty trackside cookout for our lunch break in Andrews, NC. There will be no GSMR New Year s run this year so this will be the last GSMR run for This run will sell out fast so sign up soon! Cost is $ Contact: EC, Tom Falicon to be sent a sign-up form or raildawg@gte.net Page 24 The SETOFF Nov / Dec 2010 ovember 19-20, GA - St. Marys Railroad DATE CHA GE - Motor car excursion on the St. Marys Railroad, St. Marys, GA. Tenative late afternoon run Friday November 19th, Saturday November 20th,2010 will motor between St. Marys and Kingsland via Kings Bay Spur 28 Miles. Stopping for lunch (Restaurant of your choice) Cost of excursion $50.00 Caboose ride in afternoon $10.00 per person (12 person minimum). if caboose ride not operated the $10.00 will be refunded). Motels available I-95 and Highway 40 junction, Kingsland,Ga. All NARCOA rules apply.excursion coordinators Jay Boggs (Boggsrr@Bellsouth.net) Jim Ganer (JGrrman@att.net). ovember 20, GA - Blue Ridge Scenic RR Blue Ridge, GA to McCaysville, GA Approx 26 miles round trip. Supper stop in McCaysville. NARCOA rules apply. Set-on Blue Ridge on house track at the depot at 4 PM, Safety Briefing at 5 PM. Do not set on until permission is given by the EC. Price: $5.00 per car active Blue Ridge Scenic Railroad Volunteers. All others $10.00 per car. There is no car limit but please call or if you plan on coming on the ride. Coordinators: Carl Hymen ( ), Scottie Wershing and Ron Long. carlsmotorcars@yahoo.com ovember 27-28, GA - Heart Of Georgia West RR Saturday from Richland to Union and return. 40 miles round trip. Leave at 8:00 return to Richand at 12:00 Sunday from Richland to Union and return, 40 miles round trip. Leave at 8:00 return to Richland at 12:00 Eating and motel near set on site, campsite beside tracks, power and water, no sewage. All 2 cycles must have US Forest Service approved spark arrestor installed. All participants must attend safety briefings and wear reflective safety vest. All NARCOA rules apply. SERO affiliate. $75.00 each car for the weekend, cost is for one day or all 3 rides. Click HERE for more details and maps. EC Larry Crowe, H: , C: or clh1@planttel.net EC in training Will Thompson H: , C: or cwthompson@windstream.net EC Dave Ferro H: ovember 27, CA - Skunk Train Willits, CA to Fort Bragg, CA and return on same day. 78 miles round trip.- 80 miles roundtrip - Inquiries and applications will be handled through Ed Best ed-best@comcast.net. Mailing address is 146 Via Copla, Alamo, CA Run fee of $ per motorcar includes box lunch for two people per motorcar. Additional lunches $10.00 each. Excursion Coordinator - Tom Phair. Applications accepted now. Checks payable to SWRC. See or for additional details. Please indicate on check the run you are applying for. All motorcars operating on Skunk Train tracks must be equipped with a muffler. Noise abatement is a condition of operating required by the railroad management. We have been given instruction by railroad management that all motorcars will make no more noise than a standard MT-19 or MT-14. Operators attention is drawn to the NARCOA Rulebook Introduction that reads The railroads on which we operate may impose their own requirements. December 03-05, OR - The Holiday Express The Oregon Pacific Railroad has invited us to provide speeder rides to the public during this event being held on their tracks in Portland Oregon. This free event is your chance to help raise funds

25 for a new home for SP4449 and SP&S 700. This will be a non NARCOA event with insurance provided by the OPR, however operators must hold a current NARCOA licensed and have run several NARCOA events. For complete details contact Guy Howard ghoward@efn.org or call :00-22:00 pst after 28/09/2010. December 04, PA - orth Shore Railroad ANNUAL TOYS FOR TOTS RIDE Ride the 86 miles RT of the North Shore Railroad from Northumberland to Berwick and return. This is former Erie Lackawanna track. As part of the fee for this ride, please bring a new, unwrapped toy with you for either a boy or a girl. The Toys for Tots folks will be on hand to collect the toys. We hope to have good press coverage for this event. The public will be invited to bring a toy also and to see your motorcars. There will also be prizes for the best Christmas theme decorated motorcars. Proof of NARCOA insurance required, all NARCOA rules will be enforced. Registration fee - $ Note: All CPE rides are rain 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, PA Questions: (570) or firefighter5@jlink.net December 04-05, GA - Heart Of Georgia West RR Richand Georgia to Omaha Georgia Workdays. Saturday from Richland to Union workday. Leave at 8:00 AM return to Richand at 5:00 PM. Sunday from Richland to Union workday, Leave at 8:00 AM return to Richland at 4:00 PM. Bring your own brush clearing tools and lunch. 41 miles round trip. Eating and motel near set on site, campsite beside tracks, power and water, no sewage. All 2 cycles must have US Forest Service approved spark arrestor installed. All participants must attend safety briefings and wear reflective safety vest. All NARCOA rules apply. SERO affiliate. $25.00 each car. Limit of 7 cars Click HERE for more details and maps. EC Larry Crowe, H: , C: or clh1@planttel.net EC in training Will Thompson H: , C: or cwthompson@windstream.net EC Dave Ferro H: installed. All participants must attend safety briefings and wear reflective safety vest. All NARCOA rules apply. SERO affiliate. $25.00 each car. Limit of 7 cars Click HERE for more details and maps. EC Larry Crowe, H: , C: or clh1@planttel.net EC in training Will Thompson H: , C: or cwthompson@windstream.net EC Dave Ferro H: December 18-19, GA - Heart Of Georgia West RR Richand Georgia to Omaha Georgia Workdays. Saturday from Richland to Union workday. Leave at 8:00 AM return to Richand at 5:00 PM. Sunday from Richland to Union workday, Leave at 8:00 AM return to Richland at 4:00 PM. Bring your own brush clearing tools and lunch. 43 miles round trip. Eating and motel near set on site, campsite beside tracks, power and water, no sewage. All 2 cycles must have US Forest Service approved spark arrestor installed. All participants must attend safety briefings and wear reflective safety vest. All NARCOA rules apply. SERO affiliate. $25.00 each car. Limit of 7 cars Click HERE for more details and maps. EC Larry Crowe, H: , C: or clh1@planttel.net EC in training Will Thompson H: , C: or cwthompson@windstream.net EC Dave Ferro H: January 08-09, GA Heart Of Georgia West RR Richand Georgia to Omaha Georgia Workdays. Saturday from Richland to Union workday. Leave at 8:00 AM return to Richand at 5:00 PM. Sunday from Richland to Union workday, Leave at 8:00 AM return to Richland at 4:00 PM. Bring your own brush clearing tools and lunch. 45 miles round trip. Eating and motel near set on site, campsite beside tracks, power and water, no sewage. All 2 cycles must have US Forest Service approved spark arrestor installed. All participants must attend safety briefings and wear reflective safety vest. All NARCOA rules apply. SERO affiliate. $25.00 each car. Limit of 7 cars Click HERE for more details and maps. EC Larry Crowe, H: , C: or clh1@planttel.net EC in training Will Thompson H: , C: or cwthompson@windstream.net EC Dave Ferro H: December 10-12, OR - The Holiday Express The Oregon Pacific Railroad has invited us to provide speeder rides to the public during this event being held on their tracks in Portland Oregon. This free event is your chance to help raise funds for a new home for SP4449 and SP&S 700. This will be a non NARCOA event with insurance provided by the OPR, however operators must hold a current NARCOA licensed and have run several NARCOA events. For complete details contact Guy Howard ghoward@efn.org or call :00-22:00 pst after 28/09/2010. December 11-12, GA - Heart Of Georgia West RR Richand Georgia to Omaha Georgia Workdays. Saturday from Richland to Union workday. Leave at 8:00 AM return to Richand at 5:00 PM. Sunday from Richland to Union workday, Leave at 8:00 AM return to Richland at 4:00 PM. Bring your own brush clearing tools and lunch. 42 miles round trip. Eating and motel near set on site, campsite beside tracks, power and water, no sewage. All 2 cycles must have US Forest Service approved spark arrestor January 22, 2011 OK - WT&J RR (preliminary announcement only) This is a tentative one day excursion on the Wichita, Tillman and Jackson from Burkburnett, Tx to Tipton, OK and return. This will be the first ever excusion on this historic former Wichita Falls and Northwestern (MKT RR) line. Coordinator is Drake Rice (405) or drake.rice@cox.net. Contact Drake if you intend to be part of this excursion and final details will be furnished. Paperwork is expected to be completed within the next few weeks and all plans firmed up. Round trip will be approximately 94 miles January 22-23, GA Heart Of Georgia West RR Richand Georgia to Omaha Georgia Workdays. Saturday from Richland to Union workday. Leave at 8:00 AM return to Richand at 5:00 PM. Sunday from Richland to Union workday, Leave at 8:00 AM return to Richland at 4:00 PM. Bring your own brush clearing tools and lunch. 46 miles round trip. Eating and motel near set on site, campsite beside tracks, power and water, The SETOFF Nov / Dec 2010 Page 25

26 no sewage. All 2 cycles must have US Forest Service approved spark arrestor installed. All participants must attend safety briefings and wear reflective safety vest. All NARCOA rules apply. SERO affiliate. $25.00 each car. Limit of 7 cars Click HERE for more details and maps. EC Larry Crowe, H: , C: or clh1@planttel.net EC in training Will Thompson H: , C: or cwthompson@windstream.net EC Dave Ferro H: January 29-30, GA - Heart Of Georgia West RR Richand Georgia to Omaha Georgia Workdays. Saturday from Richland to Union workday. Leave at 8:00 AM return to Richand at 5:00 PM. Sunday from Richland to Union workday, Leave at 8:00 AM return to Richland at 4:00 PM. Bring your own brush clearing tools and lunch. 47 miles round trip. Eating and motel near set on site, campsite beside tracks, power and water, no sewage. All 2 cycles must have US Forest Service approved spark arrestor installed. All participants must attend safety briefings and wear reflective safety vest. All NARCOA rules apply. SERO affiliate. $25.00 each car. Limit of 7 cars Click HERE for more details and maps. EC Larry Crowe, H: , C: or clh1@planttel.net EC in training Will Thompson H: , C: or cwthompson@windstream.net EC Dave Ferro H: September 7-23, AKAlaska by Motorcar Full - Waiting List Motorcar Operators West invites you consider touring Alaska by Motorcar September 7 23, Experienced Excursion Coordinators, Chris Baldo and Margaret Hope are planning this once in a lifetime tour covering virtually every piece of rail in the Alaskan Railway system, The almost firm itinerary for this excursion heads north from Anchorage with layovers in Denali National Park and Fairbanks, then heads south with layovers in Talkeetna and Seward. This tour includes a morning run through the tunnel to Whittier total mileage 964. Cost estimates are Lodging - $3,500, Nine days on rail with Alaska RR - $2,850/car. Additional tour expenses about $150. We are working on transportation options; none are inexpensive. If you would like to receive a detailed itinerary and join our mailing list, please contact Margaret Hope mhope@lionsgate.ca and ask to be added to the list of those considering participating. Approximately 50 participants are already on this list. We anticipate an October 1, 2010 date for registration ($1000 of which $350 will be non-refundable.) Marg Hope, Motorcar Operators West, Excursion Co-coordinator, Pacific Northwest Tour Alaska (604) mhope@lionsgate.ca each year including; Halloween freight train and Christmas light train (motorcars pulling trailers). We ride over a 1000 people each year. Location is between Parkton and Red Springs, NC 15 miles off I-95 south of Fayetteville, NC. Annual open house is March 13th at Parkton depot. For info and application: tomstallings@coastalnet.com Railcar Operators of the Carolinas (ROC) invites you to ride 12.5 miles on the Red Springs & Northern Railroad in Red Springs. Located near Fayetteville, NC and 17 miles west of Lumberton/US 95 on Hwy 211. NARCOA rules are in effect. Trips are mainly on Saturday, starting in Red Springs and going north to Parkton, NC and return. Cost is $25/day or ROC membership of $90/year. Contact person: Carey Boney - EC, 1605 Powers Road,Wallace, NC Tel: or careyboney@embarqmail.com February 1, January 31, PA Stewartstown Railroad The Northern Central Railcar Association is offering to NAR- COA members, Excursions on the Stewartstown Railroad from New Freedom, Pa to Stewartstown, Pa. on various dates between February 1, 2010 thru January 31, 2011 Call Dean L. Grote Excursion Coordinator at or dizzydean55@embarqmail.com for details. February 1, January 31, PA - orthern Central Railroad The Northern Central Railcar Association is offering to NAR- COA members, excursions on the Northern Central Railroad from New Freedom, PA to York, PA, on various dates between February 1, 2010 through January 31, Call Dean L. Grote Excursion Coordinator at or dizzydean55@embarqmail.com for details. Excursions Held On A Monthly or Bi-Monthly Basis 2010 Season - First and Third weekends of each month - C Red Springs and orthern Railroad 24/7 Motorcar Riding - Come join the fun helping to preserve 12.5 miles of railroad. We are the Red Springs Northern Foundation (nonprofit) and The Railcar Operators of the Carolinas (NARCOA affiliate). We own, maintain, and operate motorcars on 12.5 miles of railroad in eastern North Carolina. For $90/year you can join us. We have NARCOA motorcar rides on 2 weekends each month. Other times motorcars operate under the Foundation s insurance for work activities. We have several fun raisers Page 26 The SETOFF Nov / Dec 2010 Early morning on the YS&W, photo by Jamie Haislip

27 Suppliers If you are a supplier of motorcar parts, and wish to be included here, please contact setoff@neo.rr.com. o endorsement is made of the products, services, or vendors. All listings are for member s consideration only, and are at the discretion of the Editor. Atlantic Rail Cars / Warren Riccitelli, warren.riccitelli@verizon.net 39 Jacksonia Drive, North Providence, RI phone: (401) Fax: (401) Brake Shoes, brake liners, and brake parts for most cars. Carey Boney, Careyboney@embarqmail.com or Carey Boney, 1605 Powers RD., Wallace, NC phone Engine parts for RQ,QBA,ROB,ODB, ROC and parts for F-4,C-5,F-6 and C-8 carburetors. Frame and some body parts. Brown Railroad Equipment / Dan Brown, 4 Amersham Court, Glen Carbon, IL (618) The entire remaining Fairmont factory inventory of motorcar parts was bought by Brown when Fairmont stopped making speeders in the early 1990 s. Web site has NOS inventory look up by part number. Over 200 cars for sale. Railroad Motor Car Resource Library / Doug Cummins, rrstuff@hawaiihost.us 1146 W. 27th St. Independence, MO Library of rail motorcar manuals, performance sheets, parts lists, maintenance instructions. Tom Falicon Raildawg@gte.net 1227 Sawmill Creek Rd, Bryson City, NC ph: after six. Fairmont Billet Shift Knobs. Fredericksburg Shops, fredshops@earthlink.net or leskingmotorcars.com or 209 Creamery Rd., Fredericksburg, Ohio 44627, phone: PM-6PM EST. Newly manufactured motor car parts and accessories. Many original producers identified, and their parts are again for sale. Shop also does car repair. Formerly Les King & Company. Doug Heinmuller, P.O. Box 111, 153 Bobbin Mill Rd, Lunenburg, VT 05906, phone Former ONAN dealer has many Fairmont and ONAN parts. Complete engine & transmission rebuilding. For a detailed list of parts available, see website. Model T coils for 2-cycle cars Epoxy sealed in heavy duty plastic case. Moisture and vibration proof. USA made. These are the famous grain dryer coils. $80.00 each. Shipping $10.00 via priority mail Randy or www. fifthaveinternetgarage.com L&S Speeder Repair and Restoration heatmor@itctel.com th Ave., Henry, SD phone (605) Custom motorcar trailers - will build to your specifications. Dave Myers at: dave@redspeeder.com or MT-19 Temporary Axle splint. Fairmont transmission sprockets, and special sprockets of interest when re-powering a car with non-onan engines. ewman Machinery, OUT OF BUSINESS. Dudley Newman writes that he still has a few parts left that he is selling on railspeeders.com, but otherwise he s out of business. Please, only call him in response to one of those ads. Tom Phair tom@phairs.net phone (925) Complete line of the David Clark Company Intercom systems and railroad type Motorola Radios; new double chain sprocket kits, large inventory of NOS Fairmont parts. Some motorcars for sale. ARCOA does not guarantee, certify or warrant that any mechanical equipment, modification, solution or device described in articles or advertisements in The SETOFF are safe or suitable for any member s needs or purposes. Technical articles are provided for member s consideration only. Readers are advised to do their own due diligence to determine the safety and suitability of any such equipment, modification, solution, or device for their purposes, and are advised to seek outside expert advice. B The SETOFF Nov / Dec 2010 Page 27

28 [>narcoa_company_store] Wheel Inspection Tools The clear plastic wheel profile is necessary to determine if the wheel is flat, thin in the flange area, or has wear between the flange and the flat section of the tread. Use the wheel profile as your first step in diagnosing hunting on the rails. Use two of the clear plastic wheel profiles to determine track gauge. The stainless steel caliper is necessary to determine if you have the required 1/8 minimum wheel thickness. One plastic wheel profile is $11 including s/h. Two plastic profiles are $17 including s/h. Stainless steel wheel calipers with laser printing (they ll outlast your grandson!) are $30 each including s/h. One plastic profile and one stainless steel wheel caliper go for $35 including s/h. Two plastic profiles and one stainless steel wheel caliper caliper are the best combination for $40 including s/h. The new calipers have a bold mark at the 1/8 minimum. Make your check payable to NARCOA, and mail to Warren Riccitelli, 39 Jacksonia Drive, North Providence, RI questions to: warren.riccitelli@verizon.net Want the Spotlight on your Affiliate Club? The SETOFF Editor wants to hear from you! I would like to have your Club on this page next issue! Please note: each item is shipped from the person in charge of that particular product. Profits from Company Store sales go to ARCOA. ARCOA Lanterns NARCOA has received another order of Trainman's lanterns produced by Star Headlight and Lantern. They are model 292 featuring a bright halogen lamp along with a conventional bulb. A standard 6 volt lantern battery is required (not included). The body is orange plastic with the NARCOA name, motorcar logo, and "Safety First" imprinted. The lamps are effective for night signaling, and make great presentation items for our railroad hosts. Cost is $29.00 each plus $7.00 shipping for the first lantern and $1.50 s/h for each additional lantern per order. Shipping is free on case lot orders of 12 lanterns. Make your check payable to NARCOA, and mail to Jeff Levengood 2189 Oak Tree Dr., Dover, Ohio phone Reproduction Fairmont Data Plates These plates fit on the engine cover. They are correct for late 1930's to late 1960's cars. M9 M14 M19 S2 ST2 A3 A5 59C - maybe others. $6.00 per plate except Membership plate which is $3.00. Include SSAE with one stamp for each plate (Three Plates per envelope maximum) to: Richard C. Ray, 5 Hemlock Place, Randolph, NJ All Profits go to NARCOA - Make checks out to NARCOA. ray_r@rocketmail.com Page 28 The SETOFF Nov / Dec 2010