THE DISPATCHER S SHEET G O L D E N G A T E R A I L R O A D M U S E U M January 2009 On Track to a New Year Members Meeting Jan 10, 9:30am 2979 Lounge Brightside Yard.
January 2009 Dispatcher s Sheet PUBLISHER: Ron Vane EDITORS: Ron Vane, Dave Roth STAFF PHOTOS: Ron Vane Board of Directors Dave Hensarling, President 650-283- 1877, president@ggrm.org Garrett Brisbee, Vice President 408-438-0504 Laura Bajuk, Secretary Ron Vane, Treasurer 650-369-0133 Rvane@Evactron.com Jim Bunger, 415-971-5012 Doug Debs Mark Gleason Cris Hart 415-467-2287 Dave Varley 408.644.5992 Dave Roth, Operations Mgr. 510-367-8595 DaveRoth@ggrm.org Dave Varley, 2472 Chief Mechanical Officer Jim Kyser, Diesel Shop Manager Cris Hart, Number 4 Jim Bunger, Oakland Severn Edmonds, Lounge Car 2979 Laura Bajuk, 650-858-3469 Phillip Bewley Office Manger Directors Elections. The nominating committee of Ron Vane and Laura Bajuk is pleased to announce that Jim Bunger has agreed to serve a another term as a director and has been nominated for the member elected seat. This year only one member elected seat is up for election. Nomination petitions signed by 15 member will be accepted by the committee until January 10 if you wish to run against Jim. Office Manager and Membership Secretary We are pleased to announce that Phil Bewley has joined the office staff in Redwood City. As soon as he is trained he will pick up the duties of office manager and Membership Secretary. Membership renewals have gotten behind recently. A membership renewal notice included in this newsletter if your renewal is due or past due. January 10 Members Meeting 9:30 am 2979 Brightside Yard in 2979 We will have a short meeting to discuss the projects we have currently going on and what projects will be upcoming. Come see the 2979 s new interior, paint and rebuilt vestibule. Memberships: Friend $25, regular-$40, Sustaining $75, Patron $150 Associate (for limited incomes) $25 plus volunteer hours: $ Please accept my tax-deductible gift to the GGRM $ Total... $ Name Check enclosed Visa or Master Card Address CC# Expiration date email Phone Signature All donors of $25 or more receive a subscription to our newsletter so you may follow our progress. Make check to Golden Gate RR Museum. Send to: GGRM Membership Secretary, 1755 East Bayshore Road, Suite 19A, Redwood City, CA 94061
2008 A Year in Review David Hensarling, President GGRM Thanks to the support of our members the GGRM has once again had a fantastic year. In 2008 we were able to accomplish a great deal due to our focus and determination. It will put us on a good footing in starting 2009. After over 5 years of work, SP 2472 is once again an FRA compliant locomotive and out operating for the benefit of the public. The completion of that project is a major milestone for us both financially and in the scope of the project we undertook. Thanks to your support the museum was able to complete the FRA 1472 day inspection as well as perform some necessary boiler work. At a cost of over $300,000 it represents a major fundraising effort as well as thousands of volunteer hours. We are proud of what we have accomplished. We were also fortunate to host two events with 2472 on the NCRy in conjunction with our friends at the Pacific Locomotive Association. These two events were profitable for both organizations and also helped continue our own mission of presenting living SP railroad history to the public. We have already announced three operating sessions for 2009 at the NCRy!
2008 also marked the return to service of our SP Lounge Car #2979. This was also a major effort costing over $50K to complete with a full court press at the end by our volunteers. After an absence of over 40 years, it returned to revenue service this December as a charter car for the NCRy Train of Lights. I m sure you have been following the reports of our progress in past newsletters, so you know how much work went into making it happen. We have some loose ends and a paint job to finish before we can call it complete. Dave Roth Photo However, we should not forget that we accomplished many other things in 2008 as well. We saw the completion of a major amount of work on SP141 Oakland as well as work to Blue Card our GE center cab switch engine # 3 that has now been renumbered as #9 to avoid conflict with PLA s Robert Dollar #3. I am also happy to announce that the GGRM will be releasing an Official Video that has been professionally produced and edited thanks to the generosity of the Emmy Award wining team of Don and Vicki McCuaig at Journey Films. An ad to order your own copy is in this newsletter and they will also soon be available for order on our website (as well as a short trailer video). I ve written a separate article in conjunction with our Operations Manager, Dave Roth and our CMO Dave Varley about what projects we are looking at for 2009. They will be presented greater detail at our January membership meeting. In addition, it will be a time for your own input. If you can t make it please feel free to write me in advance at president@ggrm.org or at our office US mail address. In our haste to get things completed sometimes a Thank You is forgotten. I want to reiterate my own thanks to each and every one of you for your support. It takes all of us working together in order to make progress. I look forward to seeing everyone out for our work weekends in 2009. - DH
2009 GGRM Projects Overview David Hensarling, President and Dave Roth, Operations Manager After stopping work on all our other projects in the latter half of 2008 to focus on completing SP 2979 in time for the NCRy Train of Lights, we wanted to let everyone know what was in store for 2009. The big projects are done for now and now we have some smaller projects for preservation and to make the rest our collection presentable. This is the short list of projects and we will be talking more about them at the monthly membership meeting as well as taking questions. SP 2979 Complete Two Tone Grey paint scheme and remaining mechanical items including A/C and electrical work. SP141 Oakland Completion of A/C and Heater work, completion of crew restroom, repainting in the current paint scheme, and other minor mechanical items. Harriman SP Coaches Roof Weatherproofing in order to correct deteriorating roof while more formal restoration can be planned. SP 293 Repair of the blind end deterioration, some minor roof work, and new paint. SP 6378 (F7) Restarting of the prime mover and initial work on nose and lower body panels. UP 5901 Minor body and window work and repainting in the City of San Francisco paint scheme. -Cont. next page.
Holiday Lounge Brings Christmas Smiles. By David Roth By all accounts, everyone who chartered the 2979 as the Holiday Lounge on the Train of Lights had a great time. Groups ranged from families and friends, a church group, company parties and two railroad clubs. The car was an ideal venue for groups looking for a fun place to party together and enjoy the festive atmosphere of TOL. As the train left the depot, the fluorescent lights would be turned off and the Christmas lights on the ceiling twinkled like a starry sky. The bar was well used and was always the focus of activity. There seemed to be trays of food everywhere. For its first operation in 48 years, the car performed flawlessly. The new generator powered not only the 2979 lights and heaters, but also the caboose in the train. The funds raised by the charters will help support GGRM and PLA projects in 2009. Thanks to members who severed as attendants and mechanical support. Rich Alexander, Ralph Bennett, Leigh Bradbury, Jim Bunger, Severn Edmonds, Dave Hensarling, Richard Hofmeister, Cynthia Glenn and Joel Jaffe, Jim Prettyleaf, Anne and Dave Roth, Steve Rusconi, Ted and Claudia Unruh, Jeff Weeks and Roy Wullich. 2009 Projects continued: All this work will take the help of each of us at GGRM. In addition it will require us to embark on a fundraising campaign to cover the costs of the restorations. Each of our 2009 projects will be broken down into sponsorable items and each sponsor will be recognized on a plaque on the equipment. If you are interested in helping on a specific project the names of each of the project managers will be available at the membership meeting and will also be posted on our website. Some projects will require specialty skills that the museum will be seeking out. Please look for those and if you know someone who could help, do let us know. As you can see this is quite a list. Based on our progress and teamwork in 2008 we have what it takes to get this list done. So,please take time to consider how you can help.
2009 Events Overview In 2009 operations will become and important part of our activities as the 2972 will be operated for special events and the 2979 lounge will be available for charter service on the Niles Canyon Railroad March 27 2979 Niel M. Vodden Lounge Dedication. Work continues on the car to prepare it for the formal dedication in March. March 28,29 Spring Steam in the Canyon with 2472. The canyon has a whole different look in spring. The weather is cooler, hills are green and the flowers are starting to bloom. May 23, 25 Memorial Day Steam with 2472. Details to be announced September 12,13 Fall Steam in the Canyon with 2472. A new look for the 2472 will be the highlight of this event. October 3 60 th Anniversary UP 5901 Tr 101-102 RPO October 1 marks the 60 th anniversary of the inauguration of RPO service on train 101-102, the City of San Francisco by our UP 5901 postal car. Work will begin soon to paint the car back to UP Armour Yellow. Several Museum Train events are also planned for May, June, July and August. Watch the web site www.ggrm.org for dates. Order your copy today. $19.95 plus 5.00 shipping CA add 1.65 sales tax. Special Members price: $22.00 tax and shipping included, Ship date Feb. 1, 2009 GGRM 1755 East Bayshore Rd, 19A, Redwood City, CA 94063
THE DISPATCHER S SHEET Monthly News from the Golden Gate Railroad Museum 1755 East Bayshore Rd. Suite 19A Redwood City, CA 94063 FIRST CLASS MAIL