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Ridge Lines Voice of the Ridge Live Steamers
February 2015 Dundee, Florida
CALENDAR RLS Work Day Saturday February 7, 2015 Big Boots & Western Monday-Sunday February 7-15, 2015 Central Pasco & Gulf Thursday-Wednesday February 12-18, 2015 Largo Central RR Saturday-Friday February 14-20, 2015 RLS Work Day Saturday February 14, 2015 Scheduled Board of Director’s Meeting Trade Winds & Atlantic RR Saturday February 21, 2015 Manatee Central RR Thursday-Wednesday February 19-25, 2015 Ridge Winter Meet Thursday – Sunday February 26-March 1, 2015
FLS Annual Meeting at Ridge Saturday February 28, 2015 RLS Annual Meeting, 2 pm Sunday March 1, 2015
Northeast Florida Live Steamers Sunday-Sunday March 1-8, 2015 RLS Work Day Saturday March 7, 2015 Sebring Systems (Tentative) Friday-Sunday March 13-15, 2015 RLS Work Day Saturday March 14, 2015 Scheduled Board of Director’s Meeting Ridge Spring Meet Friday – Sunday March 27-29, 2015 Pot Luck Dinner Saturday, 6 pm March 26, 2015 RLS Work Day Saturday April 11, 2015 Scheduled Board of Director’s Meeting RLS Run Day Saturday April 25, 2015 RLS 4th of July Run Saturday July 4, 2015 RLS Fall Meet Friday – Sunday October 23-25, 2015 RLS Christmas Run Saturday December 12, 2015 Card Order Session Saturday January 2, 2016 Card Order Session Saturday January 16, 2016 RLS Winter Meet Thursday – Sunday February 25-28, 2016 RLS Spring Meet Friday – Sunday March 25-27,2016
OPERATIONS ON THE RIDGE, Two card order operating sessions were held
in January on the Ridge Lines Track. On Jan. 3, six freight crews and two passenger trains worked the railroad from 9:00 A.M. until after 3 P.M. and putting the railroad back in the storage barns lasted until dark. The yard crew put out 16 trains as the freight trains worked four branch lines and an interchange track.
On January 17, 42 operators gathered in the morning and worked 5 branch lines and the interchange track. Bob Moutray did a superb job as dispatcher and yardmaster Bob Hill put out an
(Continued on Page 3)
Bob Babcock and crew heading for the Can Yard.
Electronic Distribution. Help the Treasurer and the Secretary/ Editor to save money, and time. If you do not already get the newsletter e-mail, please e-mail me at [email protected] with your e-mail address. Please be sure to add me to your mailbox so that I won’t be blocked. Please be assured that only RLS mail will be sent to you and it will be as a “blind copy” to prevent anyone else gaining access to your computer. In addition, and very important, please advise us if your e-mail address changes.
General Membership Meetings will be held the fourth Saturday of each month, unless otherwise noted. They will be held at the pavilion after lunch. This is to satisfy the Requirements of Article 1, Section 4 of the Ridge Live Steamers By-Laws. Board of Director Meetings are scheduled on the second Saturdays of every month, subject to cancellation with at least one weeks notice by the President. This is to satisfy the Requirements of Article II, Section 3, Paragraph (1) of the Ridge Live Steamers By-Laws.
Name Badges. Please wear your name badges when at the track, especially during run days, so that we may all learn the names of members we don’t know, and new members may get to know us. Additional, or new, badges may be purchased for $6.50. The Florida Live Steamers is an umbrella organization that coordinates the railroad activities around the state. If you don’t belong, it is time you did. If you do belong, dues are due. $20.00 a year should be mailed to FLS, 9111 Erie Lane, Parrish, FL 34219.
Emporium. The Emporium has been restocked with the popular sizes in T-shirts, Polo shirts and Denim shirts. Just place you orders with the Emporium Manager (Allen Newcomb) and the shirts will be delivered at the pavilion on the following Saturday.
Election of Officers for 2015. At the December General Membership meeting the Nominating Committee presented the following slate for 2015 Officers. They are: President, Rollin Patrick Vice President, Tim Meyer Secretary, Allen Newcomb Board of Directors: Richard Dobler, Fred DeLoach During the December and January Membership meetings the floor was open to nominations from the floor, there were none. At the Annual Meeting, Sunday, March 1, 2015, the Secretary will cast one ballot for the slate.
Newsletter of the Ridge Live Steamers, Inc. Board of Directors President: Bruce Rauch Phone: 863-427-9426 E-Mail: [email protected] Vice President: Chris Forte Phone: 321-728-9744 E-Mail: [email protected] Secretary: Allen Newcomb Phone: 863-665-0482 E-Mail: [email protected] Treasurer: John Forte Phone: 863-588-2169 E-Mail: [email protected] Director (2013-2014): Rollin Patrick Director (2013-2014): Foster Bond Director (2013-2014): Fred DeLoach Director (2014-2015): Mort Tiley Director (2014-2015): Jim Burby Director (2014-2015): Tom Pfister Past President: Richard Dobler Newsletter Editor/Publisher: Allen Newcomb Submissions: Ridge Lines welcomes articles, news items, digital photos, and other contributions. Please contact the Editor.
Membership: Anyone interested in joining the Ridge Live Steamers should contact the Secretary.
(Operations On The Ridge, Continued) Operating sessions begin a week or so ahead of time when new waybills are printed and laminated and train orders are reviewed and made up. This year 10 new industries were added with the completion of the track work at Hays Hill. Then, the day before, a crew of 5 or 6 get all available freight cars out of storage barns and move them to the yard where cards are matched with every car. Then cars are
Tim Meyer and his 10-wheeler make a switching move.
spotted around the layout so that revenue moves can begin on the day of operation and boxes for each branch are installed. The real excitement begins about 3 o’clock as operations slow down. That is when the cars are sorted in the yard by owner and taken back to the storage barns. submitted by Rich Dobler
Next year’s operating schedule is set soon and everyone is welcome to participate.
Harvey Ulch and John Bortz work the yard on a FA-2.
John Bortz and crew switch Pine Level. Crews receiving their orders
Ridge Lines OPERATING SESSION Jan 17, 2015 Railroaders from all over have converged on the Ridge Lines today for the second and final
operating session of the year. Time Table and Train Orders rule the railroad on this day and block signals convey track occupation rather than authority. No joy rides today, all of us have a specific job to do and must blend in with the rest of the railroad. It's a big operation, too. Nine locals are out on the road along with four interchange jobs and those two first class passenger trains running on their timetable. As long as they stay on their schedule, all else must clear for the two hot shots. And don't forget the yard guys making and breaking the trains. Elston Yard will keep at least one heavy switcher at work all day long building the departing trains out of arrivals under the supervision of two yardmasters and the dispatcher. Over and over they drill the arrivals into the yard ladder after the road crew cuts off caboose and pulls power ahead to the ready track. Then they make up the next departure for the next available crew. Sounds complicated, right? Yep, just like the full-sized railroads once did, Ridge Lines trains move cars to and from the destinations around the line using clearance cards, train orders and waybills. Each conductor receives a clip board with Clearance Form A and specific 19s and 31s. There is a First Class TimeTable and also an individual waybill for each revenue car on the train. And on the back is a track diagram complete with all the sidings and spurs. Yardmaster tells each departing crew to simply follow the orders, drop off five cars to the destinations on their waybills and pick up the five cars whose waybills are in the train order stand out on the line at the stop we are working. Sounds simple, right? Yep, sure is for experienced freight guys, but what about passenger guys and visitors who don't know this road well? Well, we can have fun, too! Maybe make a bunch of extra moves or even bring in the wrong car (or two) while we learn the shortcuts (like how many cars will fit into a run around or why that facing point switch isn't a trail) the hard way, but we are railroading now and at the end of the day I'm glad I drove over and 'signed the list'. I've joined two turn jobs as rear end brakeman, an interchange job as conductor and conducted a sweep to finish up. Met some new friends today and caught up with a few long time ones, too. Strange thing, though, when I get home and tell Mrs. Caboose about my day she can't beleive that I did all that for NO pay! Best regards, caboose Mikey.
Switching Decision at Ridgeville Mathew Bales, Youngest Brakeman
INTRODUCTION TO REAL RAILROADING, by Tony Windsor In 1944 back in Elmwood Park, Illinois, when I was 8, my father had a layout of 3 track American Flyer trains in the basement. The neighbor across the street had Lionel trains. About 5 blocks North the real railroad had 4 tracks running West out of the Chicago yards to Moline, Illinois. Being young and stupid I decided to hop aboard a slow moving freight train doing 5 mph,for a fun ride. The train speeded up to 40 mph, too fast for me to jump off. So I hung on and worked my way to the tender and steam locomotive by riding the tops of the 8 cars behind the tender. I was too small to jump from car to car and had to climb up and down between cars. That took a lot of time to do, especially with the couplers bashing about. I finally made it to the locomotive and said, “Hi!” to the Engineer and Fireman, boy were they aghast!! They told me that they were not stopping until they got to Moline, Illinois, about 140 miles Westward. I had about $7.50 in my pocket. I’m rich, so I thought. The engineer let me shovel coal and clean the windows in the cab and explained all the gauges and valves. In a few days we reached Moline. They showed me the way to the Hobo camp where I could bed down for the night, and in a few days they would be heading back to Chicago. They would signal with 4 toots on the whistle for me to climb aboard and head back to Elmwood Park and Chicago. Life in the Hobo camp was quite an experience in itself, with 30 to 40 guys camping out in the “Super Boonies,” fortunately it was August and nice warm weather prevailed. The Hobos told me that during the Winter months it was piure Hell living out doors in the rain and snow. May guys comitted suicide. The bears ate the dead and left the living alone. It was too much work to dig a hole and bury the dead. Of coarse all their clothes and shoes were removed, Bears like clean meat. I repeated this neat adventure in 1945, 1946, 1947 and 1948 at the age of 12, I decided that I was too old to do these railroad shenanigans and went on to other adventures. When I reached the age of 18 I applied for a job at the railroad companies but was turned down because of being hard of hearing. My brother came out head first, two years later I was born and came out of my mother feet first. Maybe that had something to do with the hearing problem. Back in the forties hearing aids were in their infancy stage and were not all that good reproducing the human voice, mechanical sounds came in fairly clear. The hearing aid was the size of a pack of cigarettes and the two size D battery packs were worn on my belt. The hearing aid was a free gift form Zenith Radio Company of Chicago with parameters of feedback from me and my parents. This went on for four years with Zenith and I went through 6 hearing aids as field tester for Zenith. Todays hearing aids have shrunk so much that a person can easily lose them with a really hard sneeze. NEW YEAR’S 2014 PICNIC. Again, the New Year's Day Picnic was a success with over 40 people attending. There was lots of good food, perfect weather, laughter, and fun. Everyone enjoyed train rides, visiting with others, and good will, Some of the people were saying that noon is a bit too early on New Year's Day so the consensus for next year is to have the meal at 2:00 pm. Have a terrific new year, everyone! -Judy Ulch
President’s Page
By Bruce M. Rauch
Our biggest event of the year will soon be upon us: the Winter Meet. Following up on a great 2014 meet, Dana Bliss will again be the Meet Superintendent. As the hosts of the biggest meet in Florida, we will have many jobs for our members to do. Whether staffing the registration area or emptying trash, all jobs are necessary and important. Please don’t wait to be asked to do something – volunteer. See Dana for assignments or ask a busy person if they need help. Just giving another member an hour off will be most appreciated. One activity feature of the meet that can offer surprises is the Switch Yard Sale (SYS). The SYS is your opportunity to sell surplus, unused railroad (any scale) equipment, tools, railroad collectibles, or other hobby related items. It is not a place to sell your old toaster or other household items. If in doubt, check with me before bringing large items to the sale. As always, RLS will keep 10% of the sale price with a minimum commission of $1.00 per item. This avoids having a box full of items that you want to sell for 25¢ apiece. Of course, you are free to set up your own canopy and table to sell your own items and keep the entire sale price. Anything not sold through the SYS is not subject to the 10% commission. See the “Terms and Conditions” for the SYS below. On another page you will find a form to be filled out detailing the items you are bringing and the selling price you want to get. Just print the form and complete it as you assemble the treasures you want to sell. Additional forms will be available at the SYS. Have you see the expansion on Hay’s Hill? I counted twelve (12) industry sidings up there making it one of the busiest areas on the property during card-order sessions. The new area was well used during card-order sessions on January 4 and 18. See Rich Dobler’s article for details on this activity.
Switch Yard Sale
Terms and Conditions
1. Items brought for sale on consignment should be railroad or hobby related. 2. The Yard Sale manager has the right to refuse to accept any donated or
consignment item for any reason. 3. If you bring an item to sell on consignment, 10% of the selling price or $1.00
(whichever is greater) will be retained by RLS as commission. 4. You may donate an item for sale. 100% of the sale price goes to RLS. 5. You must establish a suggested selling price for any donated or consignment
items. You may indicate a minimum selling price for consignment items. 6. Any consignment items not sold must be picked up by the consignor as soon
as possible at the end of the meet. RLS will not be responsible for items remaining beyond the close of the meet.
7. Consignment items may not be brought to the club prior to the first day of the meet.
Ridge Live Steamers, Inc.
Switch Yard Sale
The items listed below are being left with the manager of the RLS Switch Yard Sale
On CONSIGNMENT As a DONATION to RLS
(CIRCLE ONE)
I agree to allow RLS, Inc. to retain 10% of the sale price of any items sold on consignment as a sales commission with a minimum commission of $1.00 per item. I further agree that RLS, Inc. shall not be responsible for any unsold items that I do not take back by Sunday afternoon of the Meet weekend. I agree that any donated items may be used, sold, or disposed of by RLS, Inc. at the discretion of the Switch Yard Sale Manager and/or the RLS Board of Directors. Item # Description Suggested Minimum (for SYS selling price selling price mgr use) _______ /_______________________________/ $____________ / $_____________ _______ / ______________________________ / $____________ / $_____________ _______ /_______________________________/ $____________ / $_____________ _______ / ______________________________ / $____________ / $_____________ _______ /_______________________________/ $____________ / $_____________ _______ / ______________________________ / $____________ / $_____________ _______ /_______________________________/ $____________ / $_____________ _______ / ______________________________ / $____________ / $_____________ Member’s name (please print)_____________________________________________ Phone #___________________________Email_______________________________ I agree to the terms and conditions of the RLS Switch Yard Sale for the items listed above. Signed__________________________________Date_______________
(RLS SYS form 10/09)
