Official publication of the>v Pacific Southwest Railway Museum Assoc., Inc.

EC. 1975 NUMBER 119

ay every happiness and joy oe yours

af ffiis (^ firisfmas c^

HOME, ?AST!

Word has been received that the land en whichthe Museum's historic old La Mesa railway station

now sits will be offered for sale on December 2nd,and it is hoped to be sold in 90 days. As a result,

the building must be moved to temporary ousrters untilour planned museum site can receive it. Tentative arrange-

rents have already been irade with an El Cajon house mover to move the stationbuilding for a special low thrice.

The 189̂ wood frame building, planned to be the central structure at ourpermanent site, is approximately 10' wide by ?0' lone; (including an openportico at one end). Any storage site rust be relatively secure to preventextensive vandalism. President Pennick recently inspected the buil>-~ino- atits nresent site in L-Reside an ' posted notices on it i-roclairin^ its owner-ship by PSR1IA. There have been reports of neorle mer-sur ing the building inorder to arrange for its "movement" to "Pine Valley", etc.] *Je have no ideawho these neonie night be, but won't they be surprised w'^en a complaint isfiled chr.rginir them with theft; Vfe have o signed Fill of Sr.le to prove ourlegal ri^ht to the building.

If you hr.ve any vacant land or any ideas, let T)icv Ferin.ick (^63-2276)know as soon a_s possible! V7e cr-n ' t take a chance on losing this historicstructure!

F':JRTC SFECI'L A

PSRI'A^s annual charter trr.in tour from l-'e-icali, Baia Calirornia toPuerto Penasco, S'-nora on November 15th v.-ss a 1^-car, 7fO passenger, 300-milerail extravaganza. The sustained popular ity of this yearly fund -reiser hasboth amazed and gratified the Fuseum staff. It h--s become somewhat of atradition in Southern California and has obtained the well-earned reputation

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isto

oneitsA

is due

of a well-organized, well-managed,enjoyable, fun trip at a reasonableprice. Bargains are hard to findnowadays, and the Puerto excursion

of the last, which contributespopularity.tremendous amount of gratitudeExcursion Committee Chairman

Eric Sanders and assistants B.V.Parks,W. Vernon Cook and Ronald Milot, aswell as the other train, bus, andstaff volunteers, without whose gen-erous and diligent efforts the tripwould not be possible. These hard-working members have managed to sur-vive the mind-boggling list of detailsattendant to an activity of this sizeand thereby enrich the coffers of theMuseum without any personal compensa-tion other than the satisfaction ofa job well done. To all of you,ladies and gentlemen, a heart-felt"Thank You". Your efforts are too-often taken for granted.

Consist of the train includedthe privately-owned "Mexicali Hose"and "Maria Elena", and Pullmans"Tecate" and "Cuahtemoc", togetherwith an open-doored baggage car anda Pullman-Buffet, in addition to thecoaches. Sore genuine interest wasaroused among some of the passengersby the old heavyweight Pullman"Tecate". It was about the samevintage as the flapper-era "MariaElena".

EDITORi Dick Pennick, 958>* Upland Street, Spring Valley, CA (^63-2276)CIRCDlATIONl Ron Zeiss

REPORT is published monthly by the Pacific Southwest Hallway MuseumAssociation, Inc., P.O. Box 12096, San Diego, CA 92112. The associationIs • chartered California non-profit organization of persons, young andold. who share an Interest In railroad operations, travel, and history.An IBS exemption certificate allows tax-deductible contributions to theassociation. KBIBERSHIPi voting member (18 or over), $10. Contributingmember (non-voting, any age). »3. Membership Includes subscription toREPORT. Contributions of articles and news items from the membershipare encouraged.

(V6J-2276)

(23>t-0555)

PSBMA. Inc. OFFICERS A DIRECTORS

Presidenti Richard E. Pennick

Vice Presidenti W. George Geyer

Secretary! Frieda R. Butler

Treasurer i David C. Hobson

Directors i H. Chalmers Kerr,John B. StodelleRonald I. MllotHerbert G. Kehr

Association telephone; 280-1781

BACK ISSUES i A limited supply of back Issues is available at 25 cents acopy. Send a stamped, self -addressed envelope for a list of ill backIssues available.

Jr. (ch) (291-'*787)

. 'FROM THE CABby Dick Pennick, President

MUSEUM LAND SITE DECISION NEAR

Progress continues to be madeon PSpiMA's goal to have a permanenthome by the end of the Bicentennialyear 1976.

A special meetin~ of the LandCommittee was held on Tuesday, No-vember iPth to discuss a counter-proposal which, if anproved by theBoard of Directors, will be submittedto the owners of the Campo propertybefore Christmas.

The nroposed 30-acre site, aflat, scenic parcel one mile east ofthe village of Cameron Corners, hasmore than 1000 ft. of frontage onState Highway Q̂ f and is accessible toInterstate 8 via Buchrr-n F.npings Rd.The S~n ^iero anr1 /ri/.ona "astern Hy.has alrer.cy inc.icp.ter; a will in-nessto install ?. switch an? s^ur track toserve a site in the CamrxD area somovement of the Museum's rail equip-ment from the various storage areasto the property could be effected withminimum difficulty and expense.

It hr.s been made clear to every-one intimately involved with the Mu-seum's land acquisition that develop-ment of a public museum as we proposeis not a minor undertaking. The costin terms of money and effort are sig-nificant. Therefore, as we have saidbefore, once land, is obtained and de-velopment begins, PSRMA will be cata-pulted onto a new plateau, a transitionthat will require some major adjust-ments and an entirely different atti-tude toward the Museum, your Museum.

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In 3 fiscal sense, the venture bog-pies the mind. This is not to saythe project is impossible. Far fromit. But it does mean that our pastideas and attitudes regarding Museumfuno.in? are going to take a beating.It's going to be "put up or shut up"time for PSRMA., but if \re get thesupport of our members and the com-munity that has been expressed inrecent years, then, God willing, wewill buil'-"1 "America's' finest Rail-way Museum".

1976 ANNIKL DINNER PLANTED

The highlighlight of PSRMA'ssocial calendar, the annual instal-lation banquet, will be Sunciay,February 1st aboard the popularRueben E. Lee, a simulated Mississi-ppi riverboat on Hnrbor Island inSan Diego Bay.

Menu for the evening will bedelicious prime rib of beef, sup-plemented by a complete bar, elegantsurroundings, and another outstandingprogram. Mrs. Tanja Winter, Chair-nerson of the U.S.-China PeoplesFriendship Association, will present"The "^reedom Railway", a sound, colorfilm about the construction of the.lust-completed 1200-mile Tan-ZamRailway in Africa. This excellantfilm, produced, directed and filmedby Felix Greene, former head of theBritish Brordcasting System in NorthAmerica, and the Peoples Republic ofChina, was released earlier thisyear. The railroad stretches fromDar es Salom, Tanzania to KopiriM'Poshi, Zambia and was formallyopened just before the recent Thanks-giving holiday. The line boasts 300bridges, 21 tunnels, and I'+O differ-ent stations. More than 50,000 men,both Chinese and Africans, were in-volved in its construction.

A flyer and ticket reservationform will appear in the JanuaryREPORT, but make your plans now totake nart in this most enjoyableeveninp of pood f~>od and entertain-ment.

Honor Boll

The Museum thanks the followingmembers and f r ien"s whose generouscontributions have furthered thegoals of PSRMA during the month ofNovember:

Mm. Jean-Claude I'ontay, Rondy,France (donated steam, whistle from ascrapned French national Rys. 1LKL Rsteam locomotive).

Frazee's, TUl Ca.i'on - Jim F.lnore,Mgr. (donated restoration supplies forcar 1509).

FREEDOM TRAIN TJI DATE

Lots of rumors are flying about101 different things involved with theFreedom Train, most of them untrue,everything from "The rroject will beabandoned clue to lack of funds" to"Steam, nower won't be used in SouthernCalifornia". Latest reports from theAFTF refute these rumors and many more.There wcs a nroblem i-rith one of thedriver tires recently on the steamer,but all 8 drivers were removed endturned in IJ .P. ' s Omaha shops, whichcorrected the nroblem. Freedom Trainengineer Dnyle McCormick reoorts theex-Daylight enpine runs like a Swisswatch.

Apparently, the successful andrelatively 'trouble-free operation ofthe steamer hrs opened the eyes ofrailroad skeptics all alonrr the way,and this may pave the way for moresteam operations on ma jo r western rail-roads in corning years.

The train left Reno for Sacramentovia Donner Pass on Wednesday night,November 26th. It will then move toSan Francisco, San Jose, and /resno,presently scheduled to ar ive at thelatter city on December 19th. The trainis scheduled to leave Fresno at 1 a.m.on Monday, December 22nd. The run toPomona will be essentially non-stop,arriving at S.P.'s "-.'est Colton yardabout 12:30 that afternoon, and Pomonaby 1 p.m. or so. This is the onlyscheduled run fur inp daylight hours inSouthern California, so if you plan to

get pictures of the train in oper-ation, plan to make the trek to thatstretch of S.P. track between Bakers-field and Pomona (the portion northof Bakersfield will be run too earlyto get decent photos). Many fans arealready making plr.ns to motorcadethe train along thir stretch. Re-member, December 22nd is the firstday of Christmas vacation for students.The routine from Fresno to Pomona willbe S.P. mainline via Bakersfield, thefamous Tehachapi L6op near the townof that name, Mojave, Lancaster, Palm-dale and the new Palmdale cutoff,Saugus, San Fernando, Burbank-Glendal.e,L.A. yard, S.P. mainline to Pomona.Diesel helpers must be used on thisrun due to the grades, but should becut in behind the steamer.

The train is scheduled to be atPor.ona Dec. 23rd to 6 p.m. Dec. 2*fth;Santa Barbara; Long Beach; Anaheim;then San Diego, where the train isdue to arrive In the wee h-urs of themorning on Wed., Jan. lU-th. The dis-play will be open to the public at2 p.m. at Hiramar Naval Air Stationthe same day. Remember, no privateautomobiles will be allowed on basethat day. You must ride a specialshuttle bus from the San Diego area.PSRMA plans to have tickets available($2.00 adults? (!1*.00 children under12 yrs.) for its members. Advanceticket reservations must be made, socontact Herb Kehr, 5̂51 Bannock Ave.,^an Diego, 92117. Please include astamped, addressed envelope along withyour check, for the return of yourtickets. Cn the evening of Jan. 17thor 18th, the train will backtrack toSan Juan Capistrano where it will beon display from 12 noon the followingday plus one additional day. Moreprecise scheduling will be announcedin January REPORT. In the meantime,any last minute schedule changes canbe had by calling the local Bicen-tennial office at 23̂ -1976. Specialnote: Any interested person is per-mitted to ride in the train's obser-vation car at no charge, subject tospace availability. Your editor hopesto have more information on this later.

Membership

by Herb Ruiz

As of November 23rd, PSRMAmembership numbered 23̂ terrificpeople! A large share of the creditfor this sudden increase is due EricSanders, whose brainchild it was tosend excursion questionaires to eachperson on our large, but stagnant,mailing list. Many of the returnedquestionaires resulted in memberships.

Editor's notet Due to snacelimitations, <^nly the names and phonenumbers nf new members "re shown. Ifyou are a member and. would like theaddress of any other member prior tothe next official roster, contactPersonnel Director Herb Ruiz at6̂3-3269, or drop him a self-addressed,(stamped envelope.

New Applications 'ReceivedCwen Acers M-66-5B12Jack BlockR. L. Bradley 27̂ -8137Louis G. Chernov-Carl Clive 233-6990Art ColemanJoyce Dedman MtO-3806Bernice P. Duckworth 22̂ -6130Estelle & Sam Feinstein

(213) 375-638̂Steve Huebner (2,3,̂ ,7)5̂ 0-9271Mrs. Henrietta J. Kecskes

298-3332George B. KriegElizabeth LabordJames E. LyerlaGardner ?. MarstonMrs. Joan McAdams 222-7039Duncan McKellar 7̂ -1511I.L. MarkelWalter M. Merrill 7̂ 8-1978John E. FicholsHenry W. Patrick (213)28̂ -̂ 0William H. PetersonMrs. Edwin A. ReeveNick Roth 5̂ 6-9397Tom Savickas 628-7228

Ada la Ida M. StanleyMarlene S. SteffenStan StokesSanford H. StoneAlbert & Kelba Walla ck

8̂7-6 596Robert Weir 7̂ 3-1695Jerry Windle *f 6 5-6 596John X. Woodruff

Address ChangesArthur L. Dominy2060 Balboa AveDel Mar, CA 9201*4-

A. Greenwell377? Eagle St̂ , S. D. CA 92103

Jim Ho His1981 Lilac Ln., Apt. BAurora, 111. 60606

John F. Stevens6!+92 Fenestra Ct., Burke, VA22015

John B. Stodelle0̂0 Willard Av.,Brawley, CA92227

John Will715 Ada St.,Chula Vista, CA92010

Delete Following Member

Ms. Jean Babbitt

BOCK DISCOUNTS TO MEMBERS

Member Dan l-'arnell, a dealer inrail books, will extend a 20$ dis-count on any railbook in print toall members of PSRMA. Among recentofferings is Dave Myrick's firstvolume of "Railroads of Arizona",a tremendous research effort. Danhas taken delivery of several copies,so if you've been waiting for thisone, here's your chance. Dan's phoneis 582-6737.

OCTOBER BCOTH HCSTED

Member Herb Kehr, PSRMA PublicRelations Director and new Secretary,hosted our booth at the GrossmontShopping Center in October. Youreditor had inadvertently left this

item out of last month's issue. Herbreports many Museum brochures weregiven out during the day. If youenjoy meeting people and talking tothem about PSRMA, give Herb a call at273-107̂ . Younger visitors to thebooth enjoyed ringing the authenticsteam locomotive bell on display. Thebell was donated by Scrap Disposal,Inc.along with our 188*+ Rock Island swi-tcher.

Booth dates for 1976 have alreadybeen reserved. The fourth Saturdayof each month from January throughOctober are set aside for our use.This booth is a cheap and easy wayfor the Museum to obtain valuable andnecessary public exposure.

PORT HusriEMs LEASE C.K.'DThe Museum owns two 1910-vintage

wooden flat cars, complete with trussrods and arch bar trucks. They havebeen stored by the Naval ConstructionBatallion at Fort Hueneme since theirdonation by the Navy several years ago,pending either storage in San Diego ormovement to our museum site. The siteis several miles west of the town ofOxnard, Calif. Recently, the Museumwas granted an additional 5 yr. leaseon the storage space. It is hoped thatthe cars, whick cannot be moved on theirown wheels because of the obsolete brakesystem and trucks, can be moved to SanDiego County before the present leaseis up.

"TRADING PCST" SECTION DT1E

To help offset the increasing costof publishing your newsletter, a"Trading Post" section will begin withthe January issue. This will offer anopportunity for members to buy, sell,or trade items they have or want. Ratesare as follows: 50 words or less, $2.00per ad, 5 cents per word over 50. Nocharge for name, address, and telephonenumber. p]ease print or type your adand send, with a check or i loney order,to: Dick Fennick, editor, PSRMA REPORT,958*f Upland St., Spring V-.lley, CA 92077.Phone: (71*0 ̂ 63-2276.

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AMYCNE SUPERSTITIOUS?

^Jhile going through some Museumrecords recently, President "Dick Pen-nick came across an interesting fact:our Shay #3 steam locomotive was lastused in regular service on Friday,the 13th of October, 1961. ' The ex-logging engine was later donated toPSRMA on (guess what?) Friday, the13th of January, 19671 Oh, yes: asif that wasn't enough, the 196? cal-endar was identical to the 1961 cal-endar. You could go a step furtherand ^oint out that the locomotivewas painted black. It's also quiteprobable a black cat crossed thetracks in front of the train haulingthe Shay to San Diego. Anyone remem-ber when the Shay arrived in S.D.?Was it on a Friday, the 13th?

ection Gangby Dick Pennick, Sup't.

1509 ROOF FLAYS "DIRTY TRICK"

Those of us involved with re-storation of car 1509 have been lessthan satisfied with the way the newasphalt roof coating has weathereda dirty brown. Supt. Dick Fennickcontacted the manufacturer's Cus-tomer Service representative inL.A. and exnlained the oroblem. Asof this writing, arrangements arebeing made by the C.S.R. to assessthe problem, effect a cure, andprovide enough additional materialto complete the job at no cost tothe Museum. Staff hopes there isan easy and speedy solution to theproblem.

OLD CAFE-OBSERVATION TAKP.S SHAPE

Under the capable guidance ofRestoration Captain Larry Rose, car1509 is at last shoving some veryreal signs of reversing the years ofneglect by nrevious owners.

"Restoration sessions at the car,parked just inside the Pacific High-way fence at the Marine Corps Recruit

Depot, are held each Saturdayfrom 9 a.m. to V p.m. Although muchprogress has been made, much impor-tant work remains to be done. Atten-dance has fallen off womewhat overthe last few months, for somewhatover the last few months, for somereason, at a time when help is neededthe most to get the car ready intime for display during the earlypart of next year. In spite of theresponsibilities to my family of 5and a heavy schedule of museum andother extra-curricular activities,I still manage to contribute at leastone Saturday a month to 1509. Itisn't that difficult if you programyour schedule to accomodate it. Thebest way I8ve found is to first de-cide that you are going to contri-bute at least one day a month.Secondly, go to your wall, or appoint-ment calendar and circle that day(or days), setting it aside for 1509.Lastly, don't allow anything to inter-fere with this day. You have set itaside for this one purpose, and bygum, you are going to that restorationsession on tha t day come hell-fire ordamnation] Try it. I think you willfind it works great] We will bepleased to have you, and the Museumwill be imporved by the contributionof your time. Helping during Novemberwere Ron Zeiss, Jack Linn, Ken Helm,and Larry Hose.

DONATIONS SOUGHT FOR PAINT

A major U.S. paint manufacturerhas been approached, for a donation ofthe necessary coatings to repaintboth car 1?09 and the ex-Co r. s Baysteam locomotive for our Bicenten-nial ̂exhibit next year. Should theMuseum be unsuccessful in obtaininga donation from industry, which hasbeen collectively deluged with requestsfor Bicentennial donations during thepast year or so, we would very muchappreciate sufficient cash donationsto nurchase the paint. Enough paintto cover a total area of approximately2600 S.F. with one coat of primer andtwo coats of finish will be required(approx. 50 gallons). Contact DickPennick (>+63-2276) Tf interested inmaking a contribution.

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RESTCRATTON MTES SET 70R 1?09

If you enjoy wirking with yourhands, plan to attend one or moreof the restoration sessions at Car1509 at the Marine Corps RecruitDepot. Saturday dates planned forDecember and January are as follows:Dec. 6,13,20,27 and Jan. 3,10,17,2*,and 31. Additional dates may bescheduled. Contact Restoration Cap-tain Larry Rose (^69-306^) if youplan to attend. The weather maycancel some sessions during the rai-ny months, so it 's wise to check withLarry first . These sessions are ofcourse or>en to female members and.friends, too. Brine your lunch andplan to s^end the day.

»

CCOS BAY LOCO TTSKDS DOORS

One of the required restorationitems for our ex-Coos Bay Timber Co.2-8-2T locomotive is a new set ofwooden cab doors patterned after theoriginal ones that were removed bythe Georgia-Facific-owned propertyyears ago. Your Superintendent willhave complete construction drawingsavailable soon, so if you're inter-ested, give me a call at 1*63-2276.

AHDUND THETURNTABLE

SACTA -''E: A new Chicago - LosAngeles all-piggyback freight willbear the weel-known name of a formerpassenger train: "The Chief".

AMTRAK; A spokesmen for the NationalRailroad Passenger Corn. (Amtrak)sayr; 2 more daily trains will beadded to the nresent 3 trains oper-ating between San Diego and L.A.early next year. They will operateduring key commuter times end will

be furnished jointly by Amtrack andthe three counties served. The newtrr.ins will hove 8 cars each. Stopsare nl?nned for Del Mar, Oceanside,San Clemente, San Junn Cardstrano,Santa Ana, Antheim, and :.''u] lerton.Additional stops in Mission Viejo-El Torn may be added when a facilitycan be constructed, according toArthur Lloyd, Southern Calif. Regional'Sales Mgr. (S.D. Union).

S.D. & A.E.; 7incily found my noteson the new Roo disaster: his name isDonald Skaff.

RTF-TRACK; Good news from the South-west Rrilroad Historical Society,Dallas, Texas: they are planning a-top-quality reprinting of their long-sold-out Santa .?e motive power ex-travagr .nza, Iron Horses of the Santa7e Trail, by E.D. 'Torley. ? 'ore than5,000 conies of the 600-plus nagework were sold when the book firstappeared more than 5 years Ego. Youreditor was fortunate to obtr. in a copyat that time and can "herefore vouchfor its quality. SRH~ wil.1 hove ex-clusive distribution r i g h t s , and thenumber of copies n r j ^ 4 . e d "ill defi-nately be limited, a c c - ^ r ' i n g to SRHS'snewsletter, The Clenr&nce Card. Costwill be 13 .̂50 ^lus *,1.50 for postageand handling if m n i l f to the U.S.,Canada, or Mexico. . ^ '-.ting shouldhave olready begun r.y : .ie time youread this, and the Society hopes tohave a limited number available byJanuary. Orders are being acceptednow by the Switchman's Corner, c/oRoland Peterson, 7226 Wentwood Dr.,Dallas, Texas 75225. Please includea stamped, self-addressed envelope sonotification can be mode when book isready. Oreorge S t rnza ' s car leftEl Cajon the week of 11/17 for OakRidge, Term. Old Hervyveight ob-servation "La Contesa", a sister toour 1?09, was in town :Tov. 10th loadedwith people. Word has it this isformer "La Marguerite de Ore", aFinisy Ipun-Time car now owned by agroup of Santa Barbara school teachers.

Detroit, Michigan nlans to revivestreetcar service along a proposednew river front development, using 2old ex-Lisbon, Portugal narrow-gauge

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cars. The project, financed by thenon-profit Michigan Transit Museum,is hoped to be operational by Aprilor May, 1976.

TRAIN SERVICEBETWEEN

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12.UOJ1iiuioCNo.'.'

Dec. 2; Directors' meeting, SDT&SBank, 7:30 p.m. (291-̂ 787)

Dec. 6; "Restoration session, car 1509MCRD, 9-lt p.m. (̂ 69-306̂ )

Dec.13; Restoration session, car 1509Dec.20; PSRMA incorporated 12 years

ago today.Dec.20; Restoration session, car 1509Dec.25; Christmas holiday.Dec,27; Restoration session, car 1509Jan. 3; Restoration session, car 1509Jan. b; Directors' meeting, SDT&S

Bank, 7;30 p.m.Jan.10; Restorrtion session, car 1509Feb. 1; Installation dinner, Reuben

E. Lee, Harbor Island.

"Which one is the command module?1

PSRMA REPORT3906 Mt. Everest Blvd.San Diego, CA 92111

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