June 2012 Issue - Page 1 Tehachapi Loop Railroad Club s Newsletter G Gauge Railroaders Story by Rick Passalacqua Pictures by Marlan Woodside For those interested in a larger model railroad experience, TLRC member Rick Passalacqua has an offer you can t refuse. He has established the East Kern G Gauge Railroaders. This is a club, gathering, meeting or any kind of group interested in getting together and playing, learning and helping others with G gauge trains. Anyone interested in doing this can meet at his home on the third Wednesday of the month until further notice. The eventual plan is to meet at various members homes whenever they need help, or to teach the group members, or to just run trains. There will be no officers or formality. Rick will send monthly updates either by mail or email. If you want the updates by mail, then bring a book of stamps, otherwise no fees involved. John Bell and Dennis Keck have also volunteered their homes for meetings. Don t worry about members coming to your home if you are not ready for anything. The group can always meet at.rick s house in Bear Valley Springs on the third Wednesday of each month from 10:00am to 4:00pm or till whenever, depending upon the fun level. Access to the community is through a guard gate with a pass, so you must coordinate with Rick to gain access. His contact information is 661-821-7277 or email judypas@sbcglobal.net. This is a chance to get motivated about trains and to get help for from friends that share your passion! These pictures are from a December 2005 TLRC tour of member layouts, so you will have to take Rick up on his offer to see what he has done over the last six or seven years!!!
June 2012 Issue - Page 2 More of the G Gauge Railroaders Story by Rick Passalacqua and pictures by Marlan Woodside Rick s layout has over 1,000 feet of track with three separate but connecting loops with sidings. It is track powered. He admits to having a lot of work to do with it. Future plans are for adding one or two more loops and setting up buildings and lighting. He also admits that it will never be completely done because he always seems to get new ideas. The layout is currently runnable and anyone can bring their own equipment over to run on his layout. This is also a chance to just sit and enjoy watching G gauge trains running down the tracks. Warmer days are coming and each of the layouts are in a setting that offers a relaxing opportunity to enjoy the hobby of railroading. In this picture you can see John Bell s Mallet locomotive pulling a string of logging cars. These pictures are also dated back to 2005 and if you have kept up with John, he has had many projects over the years. So the whole Bell Mountain complex has changed over the years and I am sure that John would welcome the added help and attention of other G Gauge enthusiasts to bring his current layout back to the condition shown in these pictures. The picture at left reflects the vision that John had when he selected the property he calls home. Note the foreground with his G gauge track running into the background of the 1 to 1 scale railroad that just happens to also be in his neighbor hood. If you attend the TLR crew change dinner in July, you will get a chance to see this view that John has so graciously shared over the years. I sadly admit that I have yet to take the opportunity to view Dennis Keck s layout, so I have no pictures to share of his operation. But that s Rick s point in getting this group together..sharing the hobby!
June 2012 Issue - Page 3 A Day in Los Angeles by Rail for $15 Picture and story by Marlan Woodside Currently the folks at Metrolink and Metro are making AN- OTHER offer you can t refuse! From 7:00pm each Friday till Midnight Sunday, you can purchase a Metrolink weekend pass ticket for $10 that will afford you the opportunity to ride ANYWHERE Metrolink trains run. So you are only limited by your endurance and the matching of the other Metrolink trains available at your destination. One that I want to try is to leave Lancaster at 9:00am, arrive at Los Angeles Union Station (LAUS) in time for a fifteen minute delay till the San Bernardino Metrolink train departs. Upon arriving at the former Santa Fe depot in San Bernardino, you will find that the excellent museum will be open on every SAT- URDAY (no Sundays) for a few more hours and you can then return back to LAUS with enough time to have two departures for Lancaster. So this allows for more viewing of the activities around the LAUS area. So that covers the $10, what about the other $5 of the $15? Well that is just in case you want to explore the METRO connections at LAUS. This can either be by RAIL or by BUS in exploring the vast Los Angeles (LA) area. With a $5 DAY pass, good until midnight of the date of purchase, this ticket will allow you to ride the Metro Red line to the Hollywood area, the Blue line to Long Beach, the Gold line to Pasadena in one direction and East LA in the other direction, the Expo line to Culver City via the Exhibition Park area of LA (Science Center, Natural History Museum, IMAX theatre), and the vast array of buses that cover many other areas of LA. You are only limited by your time and sense of adventure. There is free parking at either the Lancaster or Palmdale Metrolink stations and you can start as early as 6:00am and return as late as 11:00pm. Unfortunately, while the Kern County Regional Transit bus schedule I checked will get you from the Tehachapi K-Mart parking lot to the Lancaster Metrolink station in time to START your adventure, it does NOT support a matching RETURN to Tehachapi. The schedule would only give you a couple of hours in Lancaster before having you be on the last bus from Lancaster to Tehachapi. We should plan plan a group trip in the near future! Above on the left is the Metro Day Pass for LA rail and bus travel and on the right is the Metrolink weekend Pass. Metro in LA is part subway and part above ground light rail. The ticket kiosk B option is for the paper ticket (above) and then the next screen B option is for the Day Pass.
June 2012 Issue - Page 4 Time for a new Board and Conclusion to Stationmaster s Report The club greatly appreciates the service of the current board. Being a volunteer is a thankless job, so a richly deserved thanks to those that served the past year. So now is the time for voting for a new board. Great job by Phil Cornyn, Mario Terrazas and Wilson James in generating a list of officers for us to vote on at the June meeting. Remember, write ins will still be accepted as long as that person is willing to serve and carry out the responsibilities of the office. Thanks to those choosing to run for office! Stationmaster Report concluded from Page 6 8. New Business (Concluded): B) Annual Dues: (Concluded): Annual Dues: can be credited appropriately. C) Guest Speaker: Brewster Bird from Operation Life Saver will be our guest speaker at the June meeting. As a courtesy to Mr. Bird, please arrive early and get situated so the presentation can be given first, and Mr. Bird may choose to then leave or stay for the business part of the meeting. D) Crew Change Dinner: Rick will check with John Bell to see if he wants to host this year s dinner. Otherwise, we will look into a local restaurant. The dinner will be from 1:00 4:00, 25 30 people, and the club will pay for a portion of the dinner. 9. Roundtable Discussion: A) Open House at Rick Passalacqua s: Rick will be hosting an open house at his home on Wednesday, May 16 th. See flyer for details. Call Rick if you are going to attend so that he can get you a gate pass. B) Thunder on the Lot: The Lancaster Garden Club will be exhibiting at the AV Fairgrounds on June 9 th and 10 th. They will be in the Van Damm Building. Sunday is Family Day, you pay for parking, but admission is free. C) The Big Train Show: There will be an all scale train show with vendors at the Ontario Convention Center June 2 nd and 3 rd. (AVNS will be one of the exhibitors.). 10. Upcoming Events: A) June 9 th TLRC monthly meeting Saturday 10:00am at Kelcy s Restaurant. This is an election meeting, please participate in voting for your 2012-13 Board and also time to pay your dues, check to TLRC for $40 (single member) and $70 (family membership) or cash in a marked envelope. B) June 9 th and 10 th Thunder on the Lot, AV Fairgrounds. Lancaster Garden Club exhibiting. Admission Free on Sunday. C) June 12 th Friends of the Depot General Membership meeting with Guest Speaker Joe Verne, Tuesday evening 6:00pm at the Tehachapi depot. D) August 18 th and 19 th - TLRC train show. West Park Activity Center. Saturday 10:00am 5:00pm, Sunday 10:00am 4:00pm. E) September 8 th and 9 th - Great Train Expo, Orange County Fairgrounds, Costa Mesa. Admission $7.00 plus parking. F) September 15 th and 16 th - Twenty Mule Team Days, Boron. Antelope Valley N Scalers (AVNS) will be exhibiting. 11. Superintendent: Theresa Bruno adjourned the meeting at 11:14am. As recorded and submitted by Debra Howard, Stationmaster
June 2012 Issue - Page 5 TLRC Business Meeting Stationmaster s Report 1. Superintendent Theresa Bruno called the meeting to order at 10:08am. 2. Members/Guests: 12 members, 3 guests Liz Ayala, and Kent and Paul Rutter (former members who will be rejoining in June). 3. Stationmaster s Report: Mike Bruno made a motion to approve the April 2012 minutes, Rick Passalacqua seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. 4. Paymaster s Report: Mike Bruno made a motion to pass the April 2012 paymaster s report, Ron Snyder seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. 5. Committee Reports: May 12th, 2012 at Kelcy s Restaurant A) Publicity: We received good publicity for the April show. Since our show coincides with Mountain Festival, we will be competing for people with the other activities going on. Andy Maffei will be presenting a clinic on airbrushing at the August show. Mike Schmidt will check with the Chamber of Commerce regarding entering the caboose in the Mountain Festival parade. We will need a couple of people to ride in the caboose. If there is a wide interest from members, we will draw names. Rex Welker has volunteered to tow the caboose. His daughter will make signs advertising the show. B) Promotions: Louise Bailey reports that she ran out of post cards and bookmarks at the last show. She has reordered these items. She also needs 5. Committee R e p o r t s : (Concluded) B) P r o m o t i o n s : (Concluded) child-sized shirts for the next show. Permission was given to move forward with this purchase. Ann Tuma had good merchandise sales with two of our members donating half of their proceeds back to the club. The Friends of the Depot (FOTD)/TLRC Bake Sale was a huge success bringing in over $140.00 after dividing the proceeds 50/50 with FOTD. The raffle broke even, and we gained a new member, Dean Smith. At the August show, TLRC will hold its own for the Bake Sale. FOTD will have their own activities going on at the Depot. Proposed changes; sell water only, move Bake Sale table to area in front of kitchen between both entrances and move the TLRC sales table next to promotions table. Rex s daughter will make postersized signs, and Rex will approach Coca-Cola about donating their products to us as a nonprofit organization. C) Hospitality: Ann will send a card to Dave Hubbard s family expressing the club s sympathy after his tragic death. Theresa will be undergoing knee surgery in May; Ann will send the appropriate card. Ann brought it to our attention that she has been funding the purchase and mailing of cards. The club agreed that she should submit receipts and be reimbursed for her expenses. D) Membership: Theresa reports that with the addition of our new member, Dean Smith, we are now at 40 members. E) Historian: Rex Welker thanked Louise for her recent contribution of articles. F) Loop Editor: Marlan Woodside continues to encourage members to contribute to the (Continued) Stationmaster s Report Continued on Page 5
TLRC Business Meeting June 2012 Issue - Page 6 Stationmaster s Report March 17th, 2012 at Kelcy s Restaurant 5. Committee Reports: (Concluded) F) Loop Editor (Concluded): newsletter. (Remember, Theresa or Marlan are willing to help you with editing if you wish to submit an article.) Marlan also shared his adventure on the new Expo Line. He would like to see this as a group trip. Perhaps we could take the transit bus from Tehachapi to Lancaster, coordinating with the Metrolink schedule. He suggested that we might enjoy the museum area of Felipe s Restaurant (near LAUS) and their wall of S-gauge trains G) Show Coordinator: This position is still open. Theresa has volunteered to coordinate for the August show. Debra will get a definite answer from Antelope Valley N Scalers (AVNS) by the June meeting. If they are going to participate, she will provide space requirements. 6. Scale Chair Reports: A) N Chris Howard reports that the club layout will be at the show. B) HO Mike Bruno reports that the HO layout will be at the show. C) Toy Trains Doug Pickard reports that the Toy Train layout will be at the show. D) G Rex Welker reports that the G gauge layout will be at the show. 7. Old Business: A) Board Nominations: We will be voting at the June meeting. At this time the nominees for 2012-13 are as follows: Rex Welker for President, Mike Schmidt for Vice-President, Linda Gordon for Treasurer, Debra Howard for 7. Old Business (Concluded): A) Board Nominations (Concluded): Secretary, Wilson James for 1 st Inspector and Marlan Woodside for 2 nd Inspector. If you are interested in running for office, please contact Phil Cornyn, Mario Terrazas, or Wilson James.. B) Promotional Sign: The promotional sign has been installed, you can check out the Club logo and meeting time and place at the Welcome Home Tehachapi sign near the corner of Tehachapi Blvd and Dennison on the East side of town within the railroad right of way. C) Mountain Crossing: The building has been demolished. It is reported that it will be replaced by a strip mall with three restaurants. 8. New Business: A) Donation of Magazines: There are magazines being stored in John Bell s building. A motion was made by Marlan Woodside, seconded by Mike Bruno, to donate the train magazines (non-modeler) to the Depot s library with the exception of the Mainline Modeler collection. The motion was passed unanimously. The magazines that will remain with the club will be inventoried and placed in plastic containers to preserve them. Rex and Mike B. will go through the magazines and evaluate their condition, make an inventory list and publish the list on the TLRC website B) Annual Dues: Theresa reminded us that dues are due in June. The amount is $40.00 for an individual and $70.00 for a family membership. If you are paying by cash, place it in an envelope with your name on it so that your account (Stationmaster Report concluded on page 4)
From the desk of the Paymaster Mike Schmitt, the following reports are provided for your review June 2012 Issue - Page 7 TLRC FINANCIAL REPORTS You are reading a special edition of the Tehachapi Loop Railroad Club newsletter. (You didn t want to read our financials anyway, did you?) We hope you enjoy reading about our activities and hope your interest in our club has been ignited such that you might consider joining in the fun with us! We are a non-profit organization that fosters the interests of our members in the hobby of railroading and modeling of railroads as well as seeking out railroad adventures to further our understanding and love of trains. We put on an occasional show or two as well over at West Park in Tehachapi and meet the second Saturday of each month at Kelcy s Diner (across the street from the Depot) in Tehachapi. Stop on by we d love to have you join us. To learn more, visit our website, send us an email or contact one of our board members or any member of the club! All this information is displayed on page 8 of this newsletter.
TLRC OFFICERS Superintendent Theresa Bruno n/a Dispatcher Linda Gordon 661-822-7777 Stationmaster Debra Howard 760-559-7380 Paymaster Mike Schmitt 661-821-5271 1st. Inspector Wilson James 661-823-1665 2nd. Inspector Marlan Woodside 760-373-4765 ADMINISTRATORS/CHAIRPERSONS Activities: Scale Chairs: Conductor Ann Tuma N Chris Howard Historian Rex Welker HO Mike Bruno Hospitality Ann Tuma Toy Trains Steve Pruitt Loop Editor Marlan Woodside O Vacant Membership Theresa Bruno G John Bell Web Designer Jack Fowler Promotions Louise Bailey Publicity Mike Schmitt Ways & Means Vacant Event Coordinator Vacant Website Address: www.tehachapilooprailroadclub.org TLRC Email Address: tlrc_club@hotmail.com June 2012 Issue - Page 8 Loop Editor s Corner Hope everyone is enjoying the Spring time in Tehachapi and the surrounding area and are getting out doing some railroading. Appreciate Rick Passalacqua sharing his G Gauge article and hope members take him up on his offer. Hope you can attend the Operation Life Saver presentation at the June meeting and appreciate Phil Cornyn setting this up for the club. It is actions like Rick s and Phil s that add to the TLRC experience. Speaking of that, great to see those that volunteered to staff the slate of officers for the coming year, your vote counts and write ins are accepted. All of this is not free, so make sure you are ready to pay your member dues at the June meeting. The TLRC has used these funds to cover train shows, purchase items for the club like the caboose and cover club operating expenses. Thanks for your support and hope you find TLRC membership worthwhile. Happy Training!!! Marlan Tehachapi Loop Railroad Club Monthly Newsletter of the Tehachapi Loop Railroad Club Post Office Box 876 Tehachapi, CA 93581 Table of Contents G Gauge Railroaders...Page 01 More G Gauge Railroaders...Page 02 A Day in LA on $15...Page 03 New Board...Page 04 Stationmaster Report...Page 05 Stationmaster Report...Page 06 Paymaster Report...Page 07 Officers & Contacts...Page 08 Next Meeting Date: 9 June 2012 @ 10am Location: Kelcy s Restaurant 110 West Tehachapi Boulevard