The SETOFF - NARCOA · 2012. 11. 1. · The SETOFF is the official publication of the North American Railcar Operators Association (NARCOA) and is published bimonthly to pro-mote

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SSEETTOOFFFFThe Official Publication of NARCOAThe Official Publication of NARCOANorth American Railcar Operators Association North American Railcar Operators Association

Nov / Dec 2011 Nov / Dec 2011 Volume 25 No. 6Volume 25 No. 6

Ten days in the rockiesTen days in the rockies

Fairmont birth recordsFairmont birth records

narcoa annual meeting minutesnarcoa annual meeting minutes

Page 2 The SETOFF Nov / Dec 2011

On The Cover: Mark Springerleads the group across atrestle just south of Silver-ton CO. on the D&SNGRR

The

SETOFFVolume 25 - No 6

The SETOFF is the official publication of theNorth American Railcar Operators Association(NARCOA) and is published bimonthly to pro-mote safe legal operation of railroad motorcars,and to encourage fellowship and exchange ofinformation among motorcar enthusiasts. Mem-bership in NARCOA is $36 per year and in-cludes a subscription to The SETOFF. Pleasesend a check made out to NARCOA to:

Mark Hudson, MembershipP.O. Box 321, Dry Ridge, KY 41035.

[email protected]

Brian Davis, SETOFF Editor5626 Chadwell CircleRavenna, Ohio [email protected]

Leon Sapp, Assistant EditorJan Taylor, Assistant EditorJamie Haislip, Contributor

The SETOFF is printed byGreg Kightlinger, GEK Printing

All subscriptions, address and emailchanges must go to the Secretary.

All materials for publication must go to theSETOFF Editor.

Materials received by the 15th of even num-bered months will appear on the 1st of the nextodd numbered month subject to editing andavailable space. Please include your e-mail ad-dress and phone number. Electronic submis-sions are preferred. Text files must have either.doc or .txt extensions. Photo files must be highresolution with .jpg extensions. All materialsare archived and not returned. We cannotreprint copyrighted material without written au-thorization or proper attribution. Letters to the Editor must be signed and in-

clude an e-mail address or phone number forauthentication. All such letters will be printedas discussed in the NARCOA policy book.For more information about NARCOA, the

safe legal operation of motorcars, or to findNARCOA affiliates, please see:

www.narcoa.org

© Copyright 2011 - NARCOA. All rights re-served. Reproduction, by any means, in wholeor part, by any party, is strictly prohibited.

NNAARRCCOOAA OOffffiicciiaallssNNAARRCCOOAA OOffffiicciiaallssPresident: Bernie Leadon Vice-President: John GonderSecretary: Mark Hudson Treasurer: Tom Norman

Area 1 Director (ME, NH, VT, NY, MA, CT, RI) Warren Riccitelli (401) 232-0992 [email protected]

Area 2 Director (NJ, PA, DE, MD) John Gonder (724) [email protected]

Area 3 Director (IN, Lower MI, OH) Jeff Levengood (330) [email protected]

Area 4 Director (WV, VA, KY, NC, SC, TN) Bernie Leadon (615) [email protected]

Area 5 Director (MS, AL, GA, FL) Bobby Moreman (770) 457-6212 [email protected]

Area 6 Director (MN, WI, IL, Upper MI) Bob Knight (815) [email protected]

Area 7 Director (ND, SD, NE, IA) Carl Schneider (515) 967-5181 [email protected]

Area 8 Director (Canada, World outside U.S.) Warren Froese (204) 668-8311 [email protected]

Area 9 Director (AR, CO, KS, LA, MO, OK, TX) Chris Weaver (303) [email protected]

Area 10 Director (WA, OR, ID, MT, AK, WY) Bill Taylor (406) 721-2351 [email protected]

Area 11 Director (CA, NV, UT, AZ, NM, HI) Wayne Parsons (805) [email protected]

Director-at-Large (non–voting) James (Jim) D. Hopkins (864) [email protected]

Director-at-Large (non–voting) Mark B. Sorensen [email protected]

Nominations, Elections Carl Anderson1330 Rosedale LaneHoffman Estates, IL [email protected]

NARCOA Insurance Administrator Tom Norman (406) 722-3012 1047 Terrace View Drive Alberton, MT 59820 [email protected]

Rule Book CertificationTest Al McCracken 2916 Taper Avenue Santa Clara, CA 95051 [email protected]

The SETOFF Editor Brian Davis (330) 554-4480 [email protected]

NARCOA Webmaster Keith Mackey (352) 347-0770 [email protected]

NARCOA Forum ModeratorRich Stivers (408) [email protected]

Committee Chairs:

Judiciary ChairJim Spicer (541) 344-3079 91375 Coburg RdEugene OR 97408 [email protected]

Safety ChairBob Knight (815) [email protected]

Rules ChairJim McKeel (316) 721-4378 [email protected]

Operations ChairBill Taylor (406) [email protected]

Affiliates .......Dave Verzi [email protected] Motorcars ......... Tom Falicon Communications ..……...…. Bernie LeadonFRA ........................................ Ron Zammit

[email protected] Forms ......................... Mark Springer

[email protected] HudsonDocuments...........................Wayne ParsonsHyRail Committee..................Tom Falicon

[email protected]

SNARCOA Radio Call Sign: WPHT745

Channel 1 – 151.625 MHzChannel 2 – 151.505 MHzChannel 3 – 158.400 MHz

Page 3The SETOFF Nov / Dec 2011

In This Issue

PPrreessiiddeenntt’’ss MMeessssaaggeePPrreessiiddeenntt’’ss MMeessssaaggeeBBeerrnniiee LLeeaaddoonn

Hi there- We have just completed ourAnnual Meeting and Board of Directorsmeeting. The new slate of Officers includemyself as president, John Gonder as vicepresident, and Tom Norman and MarkHudson were re-elected as Treasurer andSecretary, respectively. A huge thanksshould go out from each of us to WarrenFroese, who has served us a president thesepast two years, and Tom Falicon, who de-parts as VP, and also was a past president.Luckily for me, Warren will serve anothertwo year term as Area Eight Director, andTom Falicon will continue doing Excur-sion Coordinator continual training. I willrely on their experience going forward, aswell as the current Board members.Tom Falicon has also finished his termas Area Four director, replaced by me, andJim Spicer has completed his term as AreaTen director, replaced by Bill Taylor. Jimcontinues ably as JC Chair.I have also appointed the two Director atLarge candidates nominated by Warren,who are Mark Sorensen, from Nebraska,and Jim Hopkins, from South Carolina. Ilook forward to working with them all.And thanks again to all departing Direc-tors, which include Margaret Hope ofBritish Columbia, who ably served as Di-rector at Large these past three years. OK. Let’s talk about who and whatNARCOA is. We are an extremely diversegroup of people who love railroads, andlove to operate our own small railcars andhyrails on track. NARCOA is the non-profit organization of which we are mem-bers, and one of its principal functions isto obtain and maintain liability insurancecoverage sufficient to give railroad man-agers confidence to allow us as guests ontheir private industrial property. This con-fidence is enhanced by our detailed Rule-book, Judicial Committee review ofproblems and assignment of points, whichcan result in removal of a member from theprivilege to participate in associationevents, as well as our experienced Excur-sion Coordinators, and Affliates.I’d like to pull several words and phrasesout of the above paragraph to highlight:“private industrial property”, and “privi-lege”.

One major difference between our hobbyand many other activities is that we dependon access to private industrial property. IfI want to drive a car or truck, I can do so onpublic roads, built and maintained by gov-ernment from tax receipts paid by the pub-lic. If I want to fly an airplane, I can do soin the public airways, if I have passed thequalifications. If I want to operate a boat, Imay do so on the public waterways, sub-ject to not very many requirements.However, the public sector does not pro-vide access to railroad track. Almost allrailroad track is owned by private indus-trial companies, which use them for indus-trial purposes. Nothing about the right ofway, or other physical property whereNARCOA typically operates, is designedfor the public to use. Our motorcars andhyrails were built for railroad track and in-frastructure maintainers and inspectors.They were intended to be used in a railroadindustrial environment, and we still holdexcursions in that environment, with per-mission from the private owners. The next word I want to highlight is“privilege”. It is a privilege, not a right,that we have access to these private rail-roads. This privilege has been won overmany years of building up a reputation forsafe operation. Many diligent volunteersover more than twenty years did the hardwork of approaching railroads, creating re-lationships with managers, and operatingsafe excursions. Many short lines are nowowned by regional owners, and I have hadthe experience myself of being told that wegot final approval to run on a railroad inTennessee, because another short lineowned by the same corporate owner hadhad a long good relationship with NAR-COA in Montana. But this long distanceinfluence can happen in the negative sensealso. What we do in one locality impactseveryone across North America!Another important word is “responsibil-ity”. We each are granted the opportunityto operate our own little motorcar or hyrailon track at our excursions. We haveslightly more than 1000 insured Operatorsevery year who buy the insurance. EVERYone of us who are insured operators have apersonal responsibility to focus on safety,

Masthead ......................................2NARCOA Officials .....................2President’s Message ....................3Area Director Messages ..............4Mentors ........................................7Annual Meeting Observations .... 7Annual Meeting Miuntes .............8Passing the Hat ..........................13Ten Days in the Rockies ............14What I Learned .........................17Clearing the Mainline ................18Light Maint Forman Memories..20First Railroad Maintenance Car .22NARCOA Excursions................24EC Tech......................................25Supplier Listings ........................27Company Store ..........................28

and diligently operate our rail vehicles atALL TIMES. I urge you all to re-read the Rulebook pe-riodically. Also understand that there maybe items in the Policy Book or OperationsManual that apply to you, depending onwhat activity you are involved in. Weshould all make an effort to be familiarwith these documents, even if they do notcurrently apply to us. The point is that the ability to obtain andmaintain insurance comes down to everysingle one of us being personally responsi-ble. I urge you to embrace that responsi-bility, and also to lend a helping hand toanother operator who may be strugglingwith something. I believe this applies tosafe operation as well as mechanical as-pects. If you believe that someone on anexcursion you attend is operating in a lessthan safe manner, and they do not respondto a gentle suggestion, that you immedi-ately inform the Excursion Coordinator,and get the matter discussed and improvedas soon as possible.Thanks for listening, and I hope to meetyou on the rails over the next year.bernie leadon

Area FourKY, NC, SC, TN, VA, WV

Bernie Leadon


This is my first Area Four column, and itfeels weird that Tom Falicon is not writingit. He has always been a big proponent ofwriting a Setoff column every Setoff issueto Area Four members. I visited with Tomand Mugz a month or so ago, and had din-ner with them in their spectacular house onthe mountain. He’s really busy being theRoadmaster for the Great Smoky Mt. RR,and was ready for a break from NARCOA.He ain’t goin’ far tho- he will continueworking with ECs on continual education,and making runs everywhere better andsafer. And he’ll still put on runs on theGSMRR, so we can go visit and run thatbeautiful track along the river. Area Four members had the highest per-centage of participation in the election toreplace Tom, at 48.2%- 67 voted out of 139members. That’s pretty good, and let’s en-courage our buddies to vote next time- itsimportant.Jim Hopkins was the other person on theballot, and I’m happy to report that he hasbeen appointed NARCOA Director atLarge by the new NARCOA president,who happens to be me. Tom Falicon nom-inated Jim for the job, and I was happy to

Area Two(DE, MD, NJ, PA)

John Gonder

Area Three(IN, Lower MI., OH)Jeff Levengood

First let me start by thanking all of you inmy area for the support you gave me in theelection for Area 2 Director. With yourhelp , I was able to capture the position fora second term with “O” opposing votes. Iwill continue to strive in representing yourfeelings and interests in the hobby.At this time, I am reflecting back on thepast year, and getting ready to go toChicago for the annual NARCOA meeting.Many topics have come up this year fordiscussion and it should prove to be a busyand surprising meeting. The economy hasplayed a big role in the success of our ex-cursions with several having to be can-celled due to lack of participation. Ipersonally cancelled one and had verypoor attendance at all the others I hostedthis year. Some of that, I feel due to con-flicts with other large excursions in theNortheast Region. A question has come tomind that perhaps you can help me withand that is, Are you folks tired of the sameruns being offered year after year? Wouldyou prefer to have these runs held perhapsevery other year? This would allow moretime to explore some of the newer runs thatare coming available or that perhaps youwant to volunteer to get involved and helpus find and confirm new runs. Obviouslyno one wants to upset a Railroad by skip-ping a year, or to give up a run completely.On that note, Isn’t it also a bad omen toshow poor attendance at a run that has sup-ported the hobby for a long time. This is aproblem that the coordinators are nowdealing with. I know that I had to do somefancy explaining to the RR’s as to why lastyear we had waiting lists for our trips andthis year we couldn’t even come close tofilling the trips. Thank goodness they un-derstood that It was other factors not theRR”s fault. Here in Area 2 and Area 1 & 3we are lucky enough to host more runsthan most other areas combined.For the members that is fantastic. For thecoordinators it can be a scheduling night-mare.I would like to thank all the folks thatstep up behind the scenes to make theseruns go. Starting with the assistant coordi-nators. These folks rarely ever get credit,yet they do a lot of work and perform

many duties at an excursion that the coor-dinators just don’t have time to do. (Checkin and out, inspections, communica-tions,etc.) Then there is the infamous dutyof pulling the Potty Cart. Not a job mostwould do, but all to important to forgetabout. And last but certainly NOT Least,The wives and girlfriends that come alongand end up helping with anything they can,including flagging. The last 18 years inthis hobby has taught me a great respect forany group of people that can work togetherand help each other as the folks I have metin the motorcar hobby. My hat’s off to allof you! Be safe, enjoy life. See you on therails!John GonderDirector Area 2

I am writing this after arriving homefrom the annual BOD meeting in Chicago,and by the time you read this, the motorcarseason will be for the most part over. Asof this writing there have been only a cou-ple of minor problems in our area, and thatmeans you are doing your job to keep uson the rails. Chris and I have not been ableto attend as many meets as we would haveliked to, since we have been kept close tohome because of a family illness. We wereable to attend Mike Ford’s meet in Michi-gan and had a good time in spite of therain. We also attended several meetscloser to home and had a great time oneach of them. I also want to thank thoseEC’s in my area for doing a good job andrunning safe and enjoyable meets.Indepth details of the BOD meetingshould be found elsewhere in this copy ofthe SETOFF . Some areas of interest toyou will be the FCC radio mandate, mem-bership for family members, and hitch pinrequirements. There was some discussion as to how wecan attract new members to our hobby. Doyou have any suggestions? When meetinga new member I usually ask how theyfound out about the motorcar hobby andwhat attracted them to participate. I havenever been an advocate of recruitment. Iwould rather people find us, because of

their interest in what we do.As we look forward to next year we need

to remember that our future depends onyou. Your complete attention and alertnessat all times will insure that we are doingour part to keep this hobby going andgrowing. It is of the utmost importancethat each of us understands and obeys thedirections given at the safety meeting andobeys the rulebook. If you are in doubt asto the meaning or intent of any rule or in-struction it is your responsibility to getclarification. Again, I want to thank each of you foryour support and for doing a great job onthe rails. As winter approaches, it’s timeto think about the improvements and main-tenance that our motorcars require. I lookforward to seeing you on the rails soon.

Jeff Levengood Area 3


Area NineAR, CO, KS, LA, MO, OK, TX

Chris Weaver

I’ve just returned from my second NAR-COA board meeting, and as always, it wasa busy two days. We had over 35 items onthe agenda this year and added severalmore over the course of the meeting. Youshould find the minutes elsewhere in thisedition; please read them over as they givea good idea as to the state of the hobby. Ifyou have any questions, please let meknow.Second, as we store our cars for the win-ter, don’t forget that this is a good time tostart on the larger maintenance projectswe’ve been putting off throughout the year.Personally I need to finish the suspensionon my M-19, and I have an idler pulley thatneeds attention. We should all try to showup at the first spring run with a car that isready to go and well maintained. Everyoneon the run, especially the ECs, will appre-ciate our efforts.Speaking of ECs, NARCOA certifiedfour new ECs in 2011 and three of themwere in Area 9. This is great news for us -ECs are the ones that keep NARCOAgoing. Putting on runs can be a thanklessjob. First, there is all the organization andplanning upfront, and then you are on thehook to solve whatever problems happenon the day of a run, and try to keep every-one happy at the same time. So, ECs de-serve our thanks and gratitude, and I’mhappy to welcome some additions to our

make it happen. Jim does a lot for thehobby in his neck of the woods, and I ama strong believer that any time someonewants to work in a volunteer organization,we need to find them a job. Now Jim willbe a second Director from Area Four, andwill be working with me to make NAR-COA better, and help Area Four members. Please let Jim or myself know your con-cerns, and we will try to help you. A member contacted me several monthsago about the fact that no runs are happen-ing in Virginia. What we need to do is findsome members in that local area who haverailroad contacts, or have done the researchon who to approach, and then work onmaking effective presentations to thoserailroads. If someone needs to be trainedas an Excursion Coordinator, we can helpwith that also. Thanks for having confidence in me tosucceed Tom. Bernie

Well it is very unfortunate that our 2011motorcar excursion season is windingdown. But …….we did have a very goodrun on the Eastern Illinois Railroad (EIRR)at the end of September. EC RichardHinds always puts together a great runfrom Brocton to Neoga, IL and this yearswas no exception. Due to permission withthe track warrant, we were able to run extratrack miles North to the CSX diamond inMetcalf. Dave Hawley reported, at thesetoff, that his GPS recorded 99.6 miles forthe run. With the threat of heavy rain andthunderstorms all day, we lucked out withonly a few light showers. The group alsodid the EIRR a favor by finding a bad railpull-apart and reported it to the railroadmain office.As the EIRR run was a Great Lakes Rail-car run, so also was Mike Ford’s run at theend of August on the Indiana NortheasternRailroad. This was a two day excursionwith an overnight stay in Coldwater, MI.Not bad when you tie down your speeder50 feet from the back door of yourovernight hotel! The two day run had greatweather and covered 144 miles with 25

Area SixMN, WI, IL, Upper MI

Bob Knight

motorcars.Check the website as there are two moreruns close to Area 6. The first one isOVR’s new Kokomo, IN excursion beingorganized by Jamie Samuell on Nov 12th &13th. The run is a two day event coveringapprox 100 miles on the Winamac South-ern Railroad. (this is a US Rail’s KokomoIndiana Division property) The second isthe annual Christmas run with Santa onNov 26th. This run operates on the IndianaTransportation Museum between No-blesville and Tipton, IN. Again, pleasecheck the NARCOA website for full de-tails.Keep it safe on the railsBob Knight, Area 6

area!For those of you in the U.S., have ahappy Thanksgiving with friends and fam-ily. See you in 2012!Chris Weaver Area 9

NARCOA’s Area 10 has had only threedirectors in its history: Tom Norman, JimSpicer, and as of the October NARCOABOD meeting - me. Tom and Jim havedone terrific jobs during their tenure rep-resenting the PNW’s interests. The goodnews is that both remain involved - Tom asTreasurer and Insurance Coordinator, andJim as Judicial Committee chairperson.Thank you to both of them for their contri-butions to our hobby. I also want to thankthe over 100 Area 10 members who votedin the last election. Members’ communica-tion and support is crucial to our organiza-tion’s health, and I encourage you tocontact me at any time you have an issuethat needs clarification or addressed. Ipromise to get back to you as soon as I can.I also promise to do my best to continueTom and Jim’s good work.Area 10 encompasses a huge geographi-cal region stretching from Alaska toWyoming. We are lucky that we have ECswho are willing to put on runs despite thelong distances involved. We are also luckythat our members are supporting those runsin record numbers. While we have losttrackage due to flooding, hard economictimes, railroad policy shifts and abandon-ments, we are fortunate that hundreds ofmiles, which pass through some of the na-tion’s most beautiful country, remains opento us. PRO, our most local affiliate, hashosted several runs this year. Thank youPRO ECs Rich Wilkins, Terry Wade, SteveGadd, Steve Taulbee, Bob Shanklin, JimMorefield, Tom Norman and Brian Loftinfor doing the hard work necessary to makethese runs happen. Similarly, thank youMOW and ECs Marg Hope and ChrisBaldo for putting on an outstanding Alaskatrip. If I have missed anyone, please for-give me.

Area TenWA, OR, ID, MN, AK, WY

Bill Taylor

See Area 10 report, Page 6


Area ElevenCA, NV, UT, AZ, NM, HI

Wayne ParsonsSeveral members had suggestions fornew operating methods at road crossings.As your area representative, I took ideasfrom Bill Owen and Chris Ogilive to theNARCOA board meeting where they werediscussed. Area 11 member John Kingtraveled to Chicago at his own expense topropose adding shunts to our wheels. Theboard listened respectfully to his presenta-tion and examined the sample exhibit hebrought. I also proposed a new crossingmethod called “stop, wait, and go”(SWAG) where cars doing a “stop and go”would wait until the car behind had ar-rived. Each car would advance only whenthe next car had arrived and taken over theflagging duty. Using this flag and advancemethod would add to crossing safety be-cause the motorcar ahead would bestopped. The group could keep movingwithout the five to ten minute cycle in-volved with setting a shunt or sending flag-gers forward. This SWAG idea appealedto the Area 1 and Area 2 directors who aregoing to try it on some eastern events.The board reviewed all aspects of theNARCOA rulebook and operations bookand reminds us all about Rule 5 that saysmotorcars do not have the right-of-way atgrade crossings. “Motorcars must be pre-pared to stop short of all grade crossingsand proceed only when safe to do so.” Theboard reviewed the operator testingmethod and timing of renewals. The next

Nationally, we have had some serious in-cidents this year. They serve as a warningthat our hobby has some inherant dangers,and operators need to continue to remainvigilant and keep their motorcars in goodrepair. Fortunately, as of this writing, noneof these incidents have occured in Area 10.That speaks well for PNW operators.Keep up the good work.As we go into Fall, remember to servicethose cars before you put them away, putsome stabilizer in the fuel, and look yourcar over for necessary repairs so that it isready to go in the spring.

Bill Taylor - Area 10 Director

safety test will proceed as scheduled in late2012 for the 2013 operating season. TheBoard reviewed the safety and educationprograms that have been initiated in thelast few years. Those improvements in-clude the excursion coordinator test andmentoring program, the EC Tech talk col-umn in The SETOFF, and the EC newslet-ter distributed by e-mail on a regular basis. We do not yet have insurance for thecoming year,which is not unusual at thispoint in the year, but our current under-writer is exiting the railroad insurancebusiness for reasons unrelated to NAR-COA. This is also not that unusual, and theboard is optimistic that the issue will re-solve soon. On the other hand, the bestway to maintain insurance coverage is tonot have incidents. That is up to every op-erator every moment you are on the rail.In summary, the board as a whole believesthat our rules, testing, mentoring, on-goingeducation, operating procedures, and judi-ciary process are sound. Over the last year, I worked on revisingthe NARCOA by-laws. The goal was tobring the paper document into line withour actual practice. NARCOA conductsone annual meeting open to all paid mem-bers where the board of directors conductsassociation business. The meeting mayproceed if a quorum (that is a majority) ofsix board members is present. The boardnow has clear authority to conduct busi-ness by e-mail. The Judiciary is added asa permanent committee to examine rules

violations. The Board approved the newby-laws and made one change. Followingthe annual election the board will vote bye-mail - sometime in late July - for officersto serve during the upcoming year. Thiswill enable the new President, prior to ar-riving in Chicago, to prepare the meetingagenda and nominate at-large board mem-bers.At the request of one Area 11 member, Iasked the board if they wanted to reviewthe election procedure (approved last year)where the director candidate with the mostvotes wins even if that number is not a51% majority. Roberts Rules of Order re-quire that on re-votes all candidates remaineligible, not just the top two vote getters.In NARCOA’s case, this re-voting processis handled by mail with time growing evershorter before the next meeting. There wasno support among the board to change the“highest number of votes” wins found inArticle 5, Section 2, “...Election Proce-dures”. The only rule change involves limitingthe “bent-pull pin” (see photo below) tohorizontal use in securing receiver hitchesfound on a few “A” cars. Because it can(and usually does!) fall down through thehitch, this pin must never be used in a ver-tical application of any kind at anytime onany motorcar.

See you on the rails!Wayne

Area 10 report, continued:


In the process of preparing the annualmentoring report for the 2011 NARCOAboard meeting, the Safety Committeewould like to recognize the members thathave made the mentoring procedure workvery well. The enclosed listed membershave taken the time to work with new andreturning members and have been a greathelp to the EC’s during an excursion. Wereceive well founded comments abouthow well the mentor has worked with thenew operator and the personal time eachmentor has taken to help the new memberwith the process of motorcar operations.To date they have mentored 77 new andreturning members to our hobby for the2011 season.They are as follows:Alan Wilber, Carl Hymen, WilliamKrasselt, John Martin, Al McCracken,Gordon Piercy, Randy Baldwin, JamesHaislip, Ed Summers, Dean Grole, DavidMassa, Christopher Vite, Ken Annett,Mark Gunton, Desmond Praetzel, GaryTyson, Debbie Hughes, William Bain,Dean Mark, Gaston Drolet, CarlSorensen, William Delmar, Ken Cresey,Bob Knight, Edward Michal, Carl Van-derspuk, Jim Garner, William Thompson,Carl Schneider, Douglas Gary, GaryShrey, Karl Klantz, Michael Sholtis,Steve Taulbee, Mike Phelps, Myron Mal-one, Al Eliott, Warren Riccitelli, Jeff Le-vengood, Paul Goldzung, Scott Herring,Leland Stewart, Laurens Edwards, MarkGunton, James Groover, George Church,Donald Holst, Dave Verzi, David Pratt,William Schertle, Joseph Murphey,Daniel Phipps, Tom Thomas, Karl Hov-anitz, Frank Glatzl, Steve Paluso, KenMarty, Ron Long, Art Clark, ChrisOgilvie, Robert Edgar, David Lake,Thomas Correa,

Many thanks,Robert L Knight,Chairman Safety Committee

Mentors

I’ve seen the statements that all members were welcome at the Board ofDirectors annual meeting. Was this really true, or just so much hype? I de-cided to find out.

Having been in NARCOA for over ten years, and been on runs up anddown the East Coast, I knew four of the Area Directors. But I realized thatI knew nothing about the doings neither in the central part of the countrynor on the West Coast.

I booked my airline flights and made reservations at the hotel where themeeting would be. As a courtesy, I sent an e-mail to NARCOA president,Warren Froese, to say that I would be at the meeting. I got an e-mail backsaying that I was very welcome at the meeting.

The meeting was scheduled to start on Friday morning, so I flew out toChicago on Thursday. Thursday evening was spent meeting directors andcommittee chairs informally downstairs in the lounge.

Friday morning the meeting was called to order at 8:00 AM sharp. Theroom was set up with tables arranged in a circle. I was invited to sit at thecircle with everyone else. There were directors, committee chairs and vis-itors like myself all sitting at the tables. The first order of business was theelection of a new president. Bernie Leadon took over as the new presidentand assumed control of the meeting. The published agenda was followedin a very ‘no nonsense’ and professional manner. Every discussion wasbased on the issue, never on personalities – impressive. Although I couldnot vote, I was encouraged to participate in discussion. The meeting pro-gressed throughout the day with a short break for lunch. At 5:00 PM themeeting was adjourned for the day. Then everyone went to the local Chi-nese buffet for dinner. After dinner it was back to the hotel and time forbreakout committee and sub-committee meetings.

Saturday saw the resumption of the meeting, with Executive Committeestarting at 7:30 {in closed session to discuss judicial matters - editor}, andthe general meeting commenced immediately thereafter. The meeting con-tinued processing agenda items through conclusion about 11:00 AM. I waspersonally thanked for coming to the meeting and was invited back tomeetings in the future. I may just take them up on that offer.

Attending the meeting, I saw how things really worked. What could havebeen a ‘good ole’ boys’ get together turned out to be a very professionalmeeting of directors representing the concerns of their area members. Ipurposely did not mention here the issues discussed at the meeting, I’ll letthe Area Directors do that; I just wanted to report an outsider’s observa-tions.

Dick Forde

My observations of the Annual Meeting

Dick Forde


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Approved Minutes of the MeetingCalled to order by Warren Froese, President, on Fri-day, October 14, 2011, at 8:15 A.MDirectors and Officers in attendance:Warren Riccitelli – Area 1 DirectorJohn Gonder – Area 2 DirectorJeff Levengood – Area 3 DirectorBob Knight – Area 6 DirectorCarl Schneider – Area 7 DirectorWarren Froese – President and Area 8 DirectorChris Weaver – Area 9 DirectorWayne Parsons – Area 11 DirectorBernie Leadon – Director-at-LargeTom Norman – Treasurer

Certification of ElectionsElections results – Even election areasArea 2 – John GonderArea 4 – Bernie LeadonArea 6 – Bob KnightArea 8 – Warren FroeseArea 10 – Bill TaylorMotion by Bernie Leadon to approve the election ofBoard of Directors2nd by John Gonder. Without objection, approval ofthe motion.

Election of OfficersPresidentBill Taylor nominated Bernie Leadon to serve asPresident.2nd by Warren Riccitelli. There were no additionalnominations for President. Without objection, BernieLeadon elected to serve as PresidentVice-PresidentWarren Riccitelli nominated John Gonder to serve asVice-President.2nd by Warren Froese. There were no other nomina-tions for Vice President. Without objection, John

Gonder elected to serve as Vice-President.SecretaryBob Hastings nominated Mark Hudson to serve asSecretary.2nd by Bob Knight. There were no other nominationsfor Secretary.Without objection, Mark Hudson electedto serve as Secretary.TreasurerJohn Gonder nominated Tom Norman to serve asTreasurer.2nd by Bill Taylor. There were no other nominationsfor Treasurer. Without objection, Tom Norman electedto serve as Treasurer.Sergeant-at-ArmsBernie Leadon appointed Jim McKeel to serve asSergeant-at-Arms.ParliamentarianBernie Leadon appointed Wayne Parsons to serve asParliamentarian.Directors at LargeBernie Leadon appointed Jim Hopkins of Area 4 andMark Sorensen of Area 7 to serve as Directors at Large

Meeting minutesWarren Froese moved that the minutes of the Octo-ber 2010 NARCOA Annual Membership Meeting beapproved as reviewed by the Board of Directors.2nd by Wayne Parsons. The motion was approvedwithout objection.

Review of committee reports.Affiliates Report– Warren Froese for Dave VerziTreasurer and Insurance Reports – Tom NormanMembership – Bob Hastings for Mark HudsonMember Database – Chris Weaver/ Bob HastingsElections – Carl AndersonJudiciary – Warren Froese for Jim SpicerRules – Jim McKeelRulebook Certification – Warren Froese for Al Mc-Cracken.


Safety – Bob KnightOperations – Bill TaylorCustom Built Motorcars – Warren Froese for TomFaliconCommunications – Bernie LeadonForum – Bernie Leadon for Rich StiversWebmaster – Keith Mackey

Old BusinessAffiliate Committee report.Three new Affiliates were submitted for considera-tion.Les Draisineurs Associes du QuebecCanadian Atlantic Railcar Operators AssociationWayne ParsonsWarren Froese moved to approve the new Affiliates2nd by Chris Weaver. The motion was approved with-out objection.

Excursion Coordinator ReportBill Taylor agreed to add Tom Falicon to JudiciaryCommittee reviews to be able to share safety issueswith all Excursion Coordinators. Bill moved that allECs must have an email address to ensure timely com-munications.2nd by John Gonder. The motion was approved with-out objection.Bill Taylor commented that the Excursion Coordina-tor list was shrinking. He made a motion that theBoard of Directors and Affiliates adopt a program toidentify and foster new ECs and to forward EC candi-dates to the Affiliates for further encouragement.2nd by Warren Froese. The motion was approvedwithout objection.Bill Taylor also moved that the Board of Directorsadopt a policy to remove an EC-in-training if they donot complete the mentoring process within one year.2nd by Warren Froese. Vote taken: 0 voting in favor ofthe motion. 10 opposed to the motion. Motion fails.

Radio UpdateWarren Froese commented that the present date forFCC conversion of all radios to narrow band is Janu-ary 1, 2013. He moved that all NARCOA radio trans-

mitters must be in compliance with the FCC NarrowBand Mandate by the effective date of the Mandate.2nd by John Gonder. The motion was approved with-out objection.

Membership ReportThe Membership committee has accepted the task ofdeveloping and recommending a New Member cam-paign to reverse the declining NARCOA membershiptrend.Wild Apricot Membership database - the member-ship committee recommended:- Adopt the WA database as the primary membershipsystem- Continue to use the Excel spreadsheet as a backupuntil audits are completed- Change Board members and other volunteers toread-only access- Membership committee to retain full administratorrights to WAMotion by Wayne Parsons to adopt the recommen-dations of the membership committee.2nd by Warren Froese. The motion was approvedwithout objection.

Bylaw revisionsWayne Parsons presented a summary of proposedchanges to the NARCOA Bylaws.Extensive deletions have been made eliminating pro-cedures for special and general membership meetings.This brings the bylaws into line with the current prac-tice of holding one NARCOA annual meeting open toall paid members. Specifically deleted are Article 3,sections 9 through 12 and all of Article 12. The old Ar-ticle 13 is re-numbered as 12. In addition, adequate no-tice of the annual meeting is deemed to be given tomembers and directors if the meeting time and placeare published in the SETOFF. All references to quo-rums are stated in terms of having a majority of theBoard of Directors present. The word “e-mail” hasbeen inserted as necessary to reflect the acceptance ofmodern communications as used for Board of Directorand Committee meetings. Under Article 5, Section 3 –the Judicial Committee is added as a permanent stand-ing committee with the purpose of examining rules vi-olations. Language in Section 3 also permits the Board


to take disciplinary action outside the Judicial Com-mittee. Under Article 11, Section 6, paragraph (b) –the member appeal process has been deleted. In Sec-tion 7, paragraph (e) has been changed to allow mem-bership lists to be kept in an on-line database, and alsosupplied as EXCEL spreadsheets. Article 5, Section 1now says that the Executive Committee shall consistof the entire Board. The nomination and election pro-cedure has been consolidated in Article 5, Section 2. A motion was made by Wayne Parsons to adopt thechanges to the NARCOA Bylaws as presented.2nd by John Gonder. Vote taken: 9 voting in favor ofthe motion. 0 opposed to the motion. Motion adopted.Area Director Warren Froese was not present for thevote.

ew BusinessMember John King made a presentation to amendcurrent NARCOA policy concerning the matter ofshunts and the use of automatic warning deviceswhenever approved by Host Railroads. This is so thatif the host railroad requires that feature, it may be eas-ily ‘turned on” in each car. John brought an exampleof one such modification.

Carl Anderson stated that the 2012 NARCOA An-nual Membership meeting would be held on Septem-ber 28 & 29, 2012 at the Sheraton O’Hare AirportHotel, 6501 North Mannheim Road, Rosemont, IL60018. John Gonder and Keith Mackey requested thatalternate locations be investigated for the 2013 meet-ing. The matter was left open.

Rules Committee – Hitch PinsA discussion was held on acceptable and unaccept-able hitch pins. Jim McKeel recommended that animage of any unacceptable hitch pin be added to theRules.Wayne Parsons discussed the danger of a “bent-pull hitch pin that can fall through a 1” tow bar hole.Jim agreed to return Saturday with a new proposal.

Warren Froese led a discussion about operators andriders in ill health that would not be able to properlyparticipate in a NARCOA excursion. It was decidedto reaffirm the Board position of support of any Ex-cursion Coordinator to exclude anyone deemed unfitto participate in a NARCOA excursion.

Warren Riccitelli proposed that any motorcar over5200 pounds be excluded from NARCOA excursionsbecause of the added difficulties of set-on, set-off, re-railing, etc. that occurs with heavy cars. The ensuingdiscussion resulted in the Board supporting any Ex-cursion Coordinator who excludes any motorcardeemed unacceptable to meet the conditions of the ex-cursion. It is the responsibility of the EC to make anysuch restrictions known in the excursion posting.

Warren Froese led a discussion about liability con-cerns re riders vs paid passengers on NARCOA andnon-NARCOA excursions. It was decided to have adiscussion with our insurance agent to determineNARCOA liability.

Wayne Parsons stated the Fairmont Company has do-nated the records of motorcar construction to the Mar-tin County Historical Society. Wayne proposed thatNARCOA make a donation to the Historical Society tohelp defray the expenses of storage and protection ofthese records. Meeting attendees pledged over $2500and Wayne will solicit the NARCOA membership foradditional donations.

Warren Froese led a discussion about the potential ofso-called ‘closed’ excursions. The Board emphasizedthat all NAROA excursions should be open to allmembers. Each excursion must be posted on the NAR-COA web site in order to qualify for insurance cover-age.

Spousal membershipWarren Froese led a discussion concerning the issueof spousal membership. Tom Norman stated that theNARCOA insurance policy covers the member,spouse and immediate family. At present, the mem-bership dues cover the member and rulebook certifiedfamily members.Warren moved that every person who wishes to op-erate a motorcar on a NARCOA excursion must be apaid NARCOA member.2nd by Jeff Levengood. Vote taken: 6 voting in favorof the motion. 4 opposed to the motion. Motionadopted.

The SETOFF Nov / Dec 2011 Page 11

relationship to passengers and paying passengers arenot appropriate.

Tee Shirt Sale reportJohn Gonder provided a report on NARCOA tee shirtsales. An anonymous donor provided $1200 to pur-chase 144 shirts with the NARCOA logo. Net profitsfor NARCOA from the sale of 81 shirts is $1222.99.Tom Norman will check with the accountant to verifythat the sale of safety shirts does not impact NAR-COA’s tax-exempt status. The Board authorized Johnto use $500 to place an order for an upgraded designshirt.

Bernie Leadon reappointed all existing committeeChairs. There were no objections. Leadon proposed thecreation of a new Documents Committee. The purposeof the Document Committee is to periodically examineall organization documents in order to simplify, clarify,and harmonize them, so that they most efficiently con-vey the intended information and requirements to theintended audience. The Document Committee mem-bers will include a Chairperson, the Rules CommitteeChair, Operations Committee Chair, Webmaster, Com-munications Committee Chair, and others as required.The Documents Committee will develop suggestedimprovements to organization documents, and presentthem to the Board of Directors for consideration. TheDocuments Committee does not supersede memberCommittees. It serves a coordinating function. Bernieappointed Wayne Parsons to chair the committee.There were no objections to the proposal.

Leadon stated that there is need to create a Hy-Railcommittee to address the increased interest in Hy-Railsby the membership. Bernie appointed Tom Falicon asChair, with Keith Mackey, , Doug Gentles and FredLonnes as committee members. There were no objec-tions to the proposal.

Warren Froese led a discussion of the purpose of theNARCOA Member insurance policy (formerly calledPlan “B”). The NARCOA Association insurance pol-icy (formerly Plan “A”) covers the railroad, the Asso-ciation, and the member on NARCOA sanctionedexcursions. The Member policy (formerly Plan “B”)covers the member during transport and set-on/set-off

Presidential election processWarren Froese stated that it was a problem waitinguntil the annual membership meeting to elect new of-ficers. Bernie Leadon read a proposed replacement ofArticle 4, Section 2, paragraph 2 - “In August of eachyear, following the completion of the annual Area Di-rector elections, and prior to the next annual meeting,the sitting Board of Directors will validate the AreaDirector election results. Then after a minimum of oneweek, the Directors whose terms did not expire dur-ing this election, and the Directors Elect, shall elect aslate of Officers Elect (President, Vice President, Sec-retary, and Treasurer), who will take office at the nextannual Membership Meeting, immediately after theseating of the Directors Elect, which is the first orderof business. The term of the previously elected Boardof Directors and Officers will not end until the begin-ning of the annual Membership Meeting, and the seat-ing of the new Directors Elect. Each officer shall holdoffice for a one-year term unless he or she resigns, oris removed, or is otherwise disqualified to serve, oruntil his or her successor shall be elected and quali-fied, whichever occurs first.”Warren Froese moved to accept the new paragraphas read by Bernie.2nd by Bob Knight. Vote taken: 10 voting in favor ofthe motion. 0 opposed to the motion. Motion adopted.

The meeting was recessed at 5:00 P.M until Satur-day, October 15, 2010.

Saturday, October 15, 2011

Bernie Leadon, President, called the meeting to orderat 8:00 A.M. All Officers and Area Directors werepresent with the exception of Bobby Moreman - Area5, and Mark Hudson, Secretary. Bernie called for aclosed session of the Board of Directors plus BobHastings, acting Recording Secretary, for the purposeof a Judiciary Committee review. The closed sessionended at 8:55 A.M. The annual meeting resumed at9:10 A.M.

Warren Froese commented about NARCOA insur-ance coverage. NARCOA is a hobby, not a business tocarry paying passengers. Members must have a close


for a NARCOA excursion and during non-NARCOAexcursions. Tom Norman will investigate the cost ofMember insurance (formerly Part “B”) when the 2012insurance negotiations are completed and will reportto the Board of Directors.

Bernie Leadon proposed to change the Operator Cer-tification program from a recertification every 4 yearsto a recertification every 2 years. After discussion, itwas agreed to postpone any action until the 2012NARCOA Annual Membership meeting

Keith Mackey proposed that the NARCOA web siteExcursion page be changed to contain a concise, stan-dardized format of the basic information of an excur-sion and include a link to the web site of the hostingAffiliate or Club for further detailed information. Anychanges, updates or cancellations would be docu-mented on the web site of the Affiliate or Club. Thiswould provide the membership with more timely in-formation and reduce the effort to compose the Ex-cursion list for both the NARCOA web site and theprinted Setoff. The proposal was discussed and ap-proved.

Area Director election processWayne Parsons commented that, in the 2010 Boardelection, one Area had three candidates, none of whomreceived 51% of the vote as required by Robert’s Rulesof Order. At the 2010 meeting the Board changed theby-laws so that the candidate with the highest numberof votes is declared the winner. Wayne asked if the

Board wished to review that action. The item was dis-cussed and no action taken, i.e. no change was made.The new by-laws just approved still have highest num-ber of votes is the winner.

Term LimitsCarl Anderson proposed that the Director at Large benominated to serve a 2 year term. The item was dis-cussed and no action taken.

Hitch Pin language changeJim McKeel presented additional language for theNARCOA Rule Book that more clearly defines unac-ceptable hitch pins. SECTION I - 10. TOW BARS &PINS. “…Swivel lock” hitch pins and “bent” hitchpins (see diagram examples below) are not allowedwith the exception that the “bent” hitch pin can beused in a horizontal application to secure a hitch in-sert into a hitch receiver. …”A motion was made by Warren Froese to approve theRule book change.2nd by Mark Sorensen. The motion was approvedwithout objection.

By consensus, the meeting was adjourned at 11:40A.M., October 15, 2011.

Respectfully submitted,Robert D. HastingsActing Recording Secretary

Motorcar Operators West's excursion closes the day with an evening meet with the northbound Surfliner at the Santa Maria ValleyRailroad and Union Pacific Railroad interchange yard in Guadalupe, California – photo by Dan Berg;


Chicago, IL – October 15, 2011. Twenty attendees at the NARCOA annual meeting, along with Great LakesRailcars, pledged a total of $2550 to the Martin County Historical Society (MCHS) in Fairmont, MN. TheMCHS, founded in 1929, is preparing a room just off their main library to receive the Fairmont Railway “birthpapers” that contain the build information for all motorcars built in the town.Lenny Tvedten, Executive Director of MCHS, and Area 11 Director Wayne Parsons began discussions in Julyabout how NARCOA could help the Pioneer Museum. Tvedten detailed upgrades to the room that include newlighting, drywall, installing a ceiling, carpeting, paint, and purchasing a new table and chairs. A local electri-cian will do the electrical work on a “time and materials” basis. All the rest of the $2500 estimated cost is formaterials with labor provided by museum volunteers. Parsons proposed that NARCOA make the donation andthen ask our members for donations to recover the money. President Bernie Leadon suggested we “pass thehat” at the meeting. Within minutes, the entire sum had been pledged. Checks on hand total $1050 with the restmailed to Wayne by people when they get home.When notified of the pledges, Mr. Tvedten expressed his appreciation to everyone. In addition, he says thatthe Milwaukee Road Historical Association has also donated $250 to the effort. This brings the total amountabove original estimates and provides a nice cushion for cost overruns. NARCOA members who would also liketo donate to the Pioneer Museum should send their donations to:

Martin County Historical Society 304 E. Blue Earth Ave. Fairmont, M 56031-2865Once Parsons receives all the pledges made at the meeting, he will send the checks to MCHS and publish a listof donors and amounts in the next SETOFF. Members who make donations directly to the MCHS can write“Birth Papers” in the memo and we will publish those names too. For more about the MCHS see www.fairmont.org/mchs/

PPaassssiinngg tthhee HHaatt RRaaiisseess $$22555500MMoonneeyy ffoorr BBiirrtthh PPaappeerrss

By Wayne Parsons

Harsco Track Technologies employee Wayne Brummond examines the Fairmont speeder “birth records” in the company’s recordsroom - photo by Wayne Parsons


TTeenn DDaayyss iinn tthhee RRoocckkiieessFFoolllloowwiinngg tthhee RRoouuttee ooff tthhee DDeennvveerr aanndd RRiioo GGrraannddee

Dan Page

The Denver and Rio Grande railroad started as a nar-row gauge line running from Denver in 1870 andserved mainly as a transcontinental bridge betweenDenver and Salt Lake City. The Rio Grande carriedmostly coal and other minerals from the Rockies andoffered passenger service as well. The railroad becamethe epitome of mountain railroading, with a mottoof “Through the Rockies, not around them” andlater “Main line through the Rockies.” The D&RG op-erated the highest mainline rail line in the US, over thecontinental divide and the famed routes throughthe Moffat Tunnel and the Royal Gorge. At its height in1890, the D&RG had the largest operating narrowgauge railroad network in North America.The Denver and Rio Grande railroad no longer oper-ates. The only remaining operational narrow gauge railfrom this once great railroad are two segments, oper-ated by heritage railroads that run passenger steam ex-

cursions. One runs from Chama New Mexico to An-tonito Colorado and operates as “Cumbres and ToltecScenic Railroad” and the other is called the “Durangoand Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad and Museum”and operates between those two Colorado towns.These two railroads hosted NARCOA excursions ontwo consecutive weekends in August which coincidedwith their summer rail festivals.Cumbres and ToltecMore than 50 people and over 20 railcars from sevenstates – as far away as California in the West and Ohioand Ontario Canada in the East – met in Chama NewMexico to ride the Cumbres and Toltec. The steamyard and shops at Chama are most complete and wellpreserved of any in the US. The yard has authentic re-stored rolling stock from the original railroad. Therailroad’s motive power is all 2-8-2 Mikados that were


built for the Denver and Rio Grande. All of thesethings are open for folks to walk around, photographand admire. From Chama, the line meanders eastthrough the mountains along the New Mexico-Col-orado border, crossing it eight times on the 64 milerun to Antonito.We set on Saturday afternoon, August 13 after in-spections and a safety meeting at the Chama Yard.NARCOA affiliate Heart of the Heartlands spon-sored the run and our EC was Jim McKeel. BecauseJim is a longtime volunteer with the Cumbres andToltec and has been employed by them as a conduc-tor for the last four seasons, he also served as our rail-road host. We departed on Sunday beautiful skies at8 am. From Chama, the railroad runs northeast andcrosses the Chama River and begins a four and a halfdegree climb that lasts about thirteen miles that endsat Cumbres, where the line crosses the continentaldivide at 10, 015 feet. After crossing the CascadeTrestle (137 feet) we arrived at Osier, where the rail-road operates a restaurant for its passengers. Westopped at Osier for a morning break. During thethree days on this railroad, we had two breaks and

two lunch meals there over the three days and the foodwas great.From Osier we continued on towards Toltec. This isperhaps the most scenic section of the railroad, as it hugsthe mountains and climbs 600 feet above the river to pro-vide spectacular vistas of the Toltec Gorge,. We passedthrough three tunnels on the way to Toltec siding (9,276feet), where we met a passenger train headed for Osier.Descending from Toltec, the vegetation begins tochange. Here the line turns generally west and descendsinto the desert. The beautiful green Aspen groves are re-placed with scrub as the line enters a much drier climate.We turned and headed back at the Bighorn wye.On day two, Monday August 15, we departed Chamaafter our safety meeting at 8:30 am and ran the entireway to Antonito, the end of the line. We arrived at An-tonito just before 4 pm and turned on the station looptrack, about 45 minutes ahead of the passenger train. Westayed overnight at a motel next to the station.The following morning, Tuesday August 16, was ourlast day on the Cumbres and Toltec. After our safety

ABOVE - EC Jim McKeel supervises a meet at Toltec Pass on the C&TRR: LEFT - Ted and Rita Possecross Cascade Trestle on the C&TRR. - All photos by John Brown

Continued on page 16


meeting, we departed Antonito and climbed back toToltec and on to Osier for lunch and then pushed on toCumbres. At Cumbres we received word of a specialtrain headed up from Chama. The railroad was run-ning a special train of was the restored freight cars nor-mally on display in Chama for photographers. Wemeet the train at Lobato and then went on to Chama, ar-riving at 3 pm. We all were safely setoff in less than anhour and on our way.Jim McKeel has run over 90 of these excursions since1992. We owe Jim a debt of gratitude for his hard workas an EC and also as the NARCOA rules committeechairman. His quiet, professional leadership has beenoutstanding. Thanks Jim!Durango and SilvertonSadly, the narrow gauge track between Chama andDurango was abandoned and completely removed by1971. We left Chama with our speeders in tow andheaded to Durango, about a three hour drive.Like the Cumbres and Toltec, the Durango and Sil-verton operates with vintage rolling stock and 2-8-2Mikados as a heritage passenger line. Set on was inSilverton the following afternoon. Silverton is thenorthern terminus of the Durango and Silverton. ECPhilip Walters led the excursion. Roadmaster RobertManore and pilot Troy Lass were our railroad hosts.After set on, we ran a test run to Elk Park, about sixmiles south, and returned to Silverton to ensure allspeeders were operating well. We turned at the wye

and were ready to go for the next day.On Friday, August 19, we departed at 5:45 am afterour safety meeting. As Silverton is at 9300 feet, it wasnot only dark this early, but it was also only 47 de-grees! We proceeded south from the station andcrossed the Animas River that has, over the last mil-lennia, carved the deep, narrow valley the railroad fol-lows to Durango. We stopped at Tall Timber for abreak and then traveled on towards Rockwood. Justbefore Rockwood is the famous “High-Line” sectionof the railroad that runs along high cliffs. We turnedat the Rockwood wye and ran ahead of several trainsmaking their way up to Silverton, including two spe-cials – a “Galloping Goose” and the Eureka-Palisadesengine that was visiting for the rail fest. After this 55mile run, we arrived in Silverton, turned at the wye andwere tied down by noon, ready to enjoy the trains ar-riving behind us.On Saturday we repeated the run to Rockwood, meet-ing several trains and returned by 2 pm. That eveningwe enjoyed the annual Parade of Trains. On Sunday,we undertook our final run to Rockwood and headedback towards Silverton. On the return run, we en-countered a severe thunderstorm with pea sized hail asthe Rockies threw one last challenge at us. Fortu-nately, we returned safely and were all set off by 11am. EC Philip Walters did a great job under difficultcircumstances planning and leading this excursion.Philip has been part of the volunteer cadre at theD&SNG RR since 2001. He served as a US Forest

Service “Rail Ranger” on boardthe Silverton trains from 2001 until2010. He even played Santa Clauson the very first licensed Polar Ex-press operated by D&SNGRR ona warm D&S train on a snowynight some years back. It is peo-ple like Philip who make ourhobby possible.Both of these excursions werememorable and are a great tripback in time to when the Denverand Rio Grande ruled the Rockies.

EC Jim McKeel controls trafficat the spectacular Toltec Gorge.photo by John Brown


WWhhaatt II lleeaarrnneedd oonn MMyy FFiirrsstt NNaarrrrooww GGaauuggee RRuunniinn tthhee RRoocckkiieess - Dan Page

Earlier this year, my partner and I purchased a nar-row gauge railcar. We got to run it in August. I wantto share my experiences with anyone considering anarrow gauge excursion on the two major narrowgauge railroads in the west. I believe that high altitude,narrow gauge running in the Western US is perhapsthe most challenging kind of operating you can do inNorth America. If the bachelors degree of rail speed-ing is passing your certification test and being men-tored, then the master’s degree of our hobby issuccessfully completing your first high altitude, nar-row gauge run. These runs are challenging for severalreasons. First, the most familiar and longest narrow gauge runopportunities in the western lower 48 are the Cumbres& Toltec and the Durango & Silverton. These rail-roads are located in the Rocky Mountains of NewMexico and Colorado, so the runs are conducted inhigh, mountainous terrain. Both runs are at least 7500feet above sea level along their entire routes with somepasses running over 10,000 feet high. The high alti-tude puts great stress on both the operator and thespeeder - both people and their machines have reducedperformance at high altitudes. Engines produce lesspower and need to be managed carefully; people areadversely affected by the thin air as well. When theexcursion description says “Experienced and alert op-erators with motorcars in good mechanical conditionplease; ensure that your motorcar is ready for high al-titude operation (up to 10,015 ft. elevation) and that itwill be able to pull an extended 13½ mile 4% grade,”the EC is serious.Secondly, both of these railroads are operating scenicpassenger lines that run several steam passenger trainsdaily during the summer months. This means thatNARCOA excursions share the rails, using timetablesto operate safely. It is wonderful meeting a steam trainat a mountain pass, but this also requires us to followour railroad host’s direction to be on the siding, clearof the main, at a specific time. Breakdowns are im-mediately towed. You must keep up with group.Finally, some railroads are now requiring that oper-ators pass both a written test and urine test for illegaldrugs. The written test is five pages long (open book,thankfully!) but you need review 80 pages of materiel

to pass it. The drug test screens for only illegal drugs.Those of us taking a number of prescription drugs hadno problem with this test.So if you are lucky enough to be able to participate ina narrow gauge excursion on these railroads, whatshould you do to prepare? Here are my recommenda-tions:Your railcar needs to be in tip top condition. You carwill be inspected like it has never been before. If yourcar has been modified with anything out of the ordinary,especially in regard to the drive train, you need to talkto the EC ahead of time. Start and run the engine ofyour car when you arrive at high altitude before you seton. The rigorous conditions we operate in are the rea-sons for these precautions.Equally important, you need to assess your own readi-ness to operate at high altitudes. Do you have any med-ical issues like breathing problems, vertigo, or panicattacks? If so, you need to speak with your doctors andfollow their advice. Remember, you will be above 7500feet for the duration of the runs – ten days if you do bothback to back.Are you an experienced operator? Can you start yourcar from a dead stop on a steep grade? Can you handlecarburetor problems such as vapor lock or adjusting itfor high altitudes? If the answer is no to any of thesequestions, you need to consider riding with an experi-enced operator first. Talk to the EC ahead of time aboutthese issues.Carry key spare parts for your car, with emphasis onthe ignition and fuel systems. On the run, my fuel pumpfailed and flooded the crankcase with motor oil. Thiswas probably a result of the altitude. I needed a newfuel pump, two changes of engine oil and new sparkplugs. Others on the run generously provided thesethings, but I will carry them next time. An experiencedmember of our group even had a new electric fuel pumpto offer me!These runs are scenic and beautiful and I wish everyNARCOA member could experience them. If you andyour car are ready, I highly recommend these excur-sions. Aafter you have successfully completed them,you can say you have your master’s degree in railspeeding.


Sadly, the demise of the motorcar on America’s rail-roads also brought an end to two other railroad icons:the motorcar shed and the motorcar setoff. Althoughnot many are left, the sheds seem to have fared a littlebetter and a few can still be found in use for storage.And those that have survived are as eagerly sought bythe hobby photographer as are the few remaining rail-road depots. The setoff, on the other hand, had no use-ful purpose after the motorcar left and were eitherremoved or simply allowed to return to the elements.But in their day, there seemed to be one somewhere insight just about any place you happened to be out onthe main line.

When it came to meeting trains the motorcar had fewif any rights at all. The foreman or inspector was ex-pected to know what opposing movements he facedand be off the track well before the trains arrival. Thatis not to say surprises did not occur. Often an indi-vidual or gang would be working against a scheduleknown as a “motorcar sight” which was given to themearly that morning at their originating station. Duringthe course of the day that ‘sight’ could change. With-out frequent updates a motorcar operator could becaught and had to clear the track quickly. For a smallone or two man car, that usually did not present a prob-lem. For a larger gang car, it did. It could be done butwith great difficulty and getting the machine back onthe track again was equally difficult and required thecombined effort of the whole gang to accomplish. A single worker, such as a track inspector, could re-move a small motorcar just about anywhere especiallywith later motorcar designs which were equipped with

skids. This often encouraged the dangerous practice of“running by smoke,” That is, waiting until the trainwas actually in sight before removing the car. It wasgenerally understood on most railroads that if a manhad his motorcar struck, he was fired. Sadly, nearlyevery Railroad Magazine of the day would tell of oneor more men killed while trying to get their motorcaroff the track in front of a speeding train. Railroads provided motorcar operators many placesat which they could remove their machine from thetrack. Of course nearly every road crossing could beused but if the motorcar was blocking a lane of trafficand was struck by an automobile, it was the railroadthat would be picking up the bill. The best solutionwas a dedicated short platform at a 90 degree angle tothe track. Usually one was provided at each milepostor, as some railroads elected, at every even or oddnumbered milepost. The idea was to keep the machineand all its tools reasonably close to the work site. A pre-fabricated center section was provided be-tween the rails of the main line to help in turning thecar and planks or rails laid for the setoff. On some rail-roads where Centralized Traffic Control was in effect,

Clearing the Main Track -The Motorcar SetoffLLeeoonn SSaapppp


a setoff could be connected to signal system so the dis-patcher would have an indicator light showing that thesetoff was occupied and the motorcar was thereforeclear of the main track. Additional motorcar setoffs were usually providednext to bridges, tunnel entrances and other high mainte-nance locations. Setoffs were also constructed near sid-ing switches where trackside telephones were availablefor communication with the train dispatcher. When a gang planned long periods of maintenance ata particular location, temporary setoffs were easily con-structed using cross ties. These were particularly usefulwhen a compressor or generator was required as partof the work. Some of the heavier carts were equippedwith small solid iron rollers to aid in the process. But the need for a permanent setoff anywhere has sim-ply gone away. Few remain on any railroad and thosethat do are in poor repair and deteriorating rapidly. Anyrestoration of the track and roadbed usually found themplowed aside and their bits and pieces relegated to thescrap pile.


Light Maintenance Foreman MemoriesKevin Decker

I have spent the last 32 years working the rails in themountain region of British Columbia. My introductionto the “Speeder” as we so fondly called it occurred onthe CN mainline 2 miles from the rustic cabin that mywife and I built the previous fall. It came as a result ofa very intensive job interview consisting of two lifechanging questions.The questions were posed to me by the Roadmaster,the man in charge of the section of railway near whereI lived. Question one, “Are you the fellow looking fora job on the railway? I answered “yes” Question two,“Are you a Hippie or a Farmer” Now I understand theimportance of such a question but I did not fully com-prehend the consequences. With my best respectfultone I answered: “Well I am a farmer!” He replied“that’s good I don’t hire No Hippies!” For years afterthat I was called “farmer”The next morning found me standing beside the trackawaiting the Foreman who I was told would pick me upand take me to work.

The sound on that crisp spring day was unforgettable.I could hear a ringing sound somewhat like a bell andyet seemingly to come from the rail itself as if it wassinging.Then around the curve it came. Small steel wheelssliding on steel rails, yes sliding as they were trying tostop. Several rugged looking fellows yelled out’ YouBetter get on, we have a job of work to do”. That ishow it began. The Fairmont motor car would then be-come my place of work, the machine that carried mytools and transported me along some 16 miles of CNmainline that became my Section.In reading the Setoff newsletter I was at first initiallyamazed at how many people think riding a Motorcar isso much fun. I wondered how many people actuallyworked with one all year round. Now in the world ofhigh tech Hyrail trucks filled with the most unique hy-draulic tools I have come to miss the speeder daysgreatly.


Those of you who have never ridden a Motorcardown the rails at –42 Degrees Celsius just haven’t fullylived. All the motorcars I rode in had a basic climatecontrol system. This means that however hot is wasoutside it was hotter inside, and no matter who cold itwas outside it was always colder inside the motorcar. Anine hour work day in the winter often meant that theliners of my heavy winter boots were frozen to the in-side of my boots. In the early 1980s I learned that therereally was something colder in the winter then theSpeeder. I discovered this when I accepted a position asa track patrolman on a “rail bike” this infernal con-traption had a triangular aluminum frame with twomain steel wheels and one idler wheel and of course aseat and handlebars and pedals and sprocket and chain.My new mission sounded simple enough, ride up anddown a 10 mile section of track looking for fallenrocks, broken rails, trees and snow slides. Yes I rode itall winter too! Some 30 plus miles each night with atrain Line up.I could take the bike off almost anywhere if a trainapproached. Pedaling a rail bike in winter requires thatone maintain a speed that is fast enough to generatesome body heat but not enter into the wind chill mode.After several years of this and after developing im-pressive thigh muscles I acquired the roadmaster’s twoseater Fairmont speeder. I also acquired an assistant onsome nights. Unfortunately one had to dig out the setoff stands before getting the speeder off so Line upstook on a whole new meaning as did a very accuratewatch. Coming home in the early morning I wouldthrow back the timing leaver andthe old sputtering dragon wouldfire on open cylinder and flameswould shoot from under myhelpers seat and the sleeping littlevillage would know that the patrol-man were coming home.One of my greatest regrets hap-pened after we moved to high railtrucks and the old speeder sat for-lorn and neglected behind the toolhouse. It was soon hauled off forscrap.A braver man than me wouldhave perhaps taken it home andthrown a tarp over it. I will foreverregret that I did not. Desperate cold

and intense heat aside, there is truly no other experi-ence quite like ‘pinging’ from side to side down thetracks chasing the knuckle of a westbound train. Mindyou, now that Track Unit Speed applies and Track Oc-cupancy Permits have added the much needed safetyaspects to the job. The days of ‘Speeding” down themainline headed for the tool house, planning to take off15 minutes before the first train arrives, and lookingover at the foreman as he taps his watch and puts it tohis ear and wondering when did it stop. The secondthought that fills the mind is the very first Motor carlesson. On my first day on the Job they told me. “Neverjump until just before speeder hits the train! Because ifyou jump early all those steel tools will be coming yourway in a great hurry.” I never had to ‘jump’ but I doknow several who have.Now I am working in a Ford F500 hyrail truck onover 90 miles of track. In less than 50 days I am Pullingthe Pin as they say as my railway time is done. Goneare many of the men and machines of the line up andfield phone days. I will miss it but maybe now it is timework with toy trains and perhaps find me a speeder tofix up.I do however wonder if I had said I was a “Hippie”whether any of these adventures still have taken place.Kevin DeckertLight Maintenance ForemanBritish Columbia, Canada

All photos by Kevin Deckert


Who built the first railroad motorcar? Ask any groupof motor car buffs that question and you will probablystart a fight. Although several manufacturers wouldclaim to have been first, sorting through the tangle ofearly publications can be confusing and few historiansagree on a single candidate. Although many trade mag-azines from the 1880's and 1890's have survived, fewbothered to comment onwhat was considered anewfangled toy. And, thosethat did usually referred tothem in an almost cynicalway. They failed to givemuch in the way of detailand often neglected toname the inventor or eventhe railroad where the carwas testing. Many of theentrepreneurs who an-nounced their intentions to build cars were only fishingfor financial backers and few actually built anything atall. What follows are those manufacturers that at onetime or another were in contention for the title of beingfirst. The Connelly Brothers built a small four wheel carpowered by a naphtha engine in 1886. For the next tenyears they tried to interest street railways in the littlemachine as a small locomotive to pull passenger cars.Although this was the first instance we know of wheninternal combustion was applied to a rail car, their en-gine was far too unreliable which doomed their designto an early demise. Apparently it never occurred tothem to try and attract the maintenance of way market. William Patton designed a mechanical transmissionin 1887 and went looking for something to put it in. In1890, with the backing of George Pullman, he pur-chased a 10 HP Van Duzen engine and built a smallfour wheel rail car. He too went after the street railwaybusiness and ignored the freight railroads altogether.He had a little more success than Connelly in sellinghis idea but not much and his machine never reallyreached the status of a true production model. In a 1903 interview D. C. Stover would claim that hehad constructed the first true inspection car back in

1892 for a Division Superintendent on the Illinois Cen-tral Railroad. However, no corroborating evidence hasbeen found to support his claim. No contemporarypublications, even those of the railroad itself, makemention of such a car. Even if Stover did build a carat that early date it would have been little more than aone-of-a-kind experiment. He did not start his Stover

Engine Works until 1893and the first official refer-ence we can find to a rail-road motor car is in his1896 catalog.A short article in the Jan-uary 1893 issue of TheRailroad Gazette stated thatthe Motter ManufacturingCompany of SpringfieldOhio had begun producing

a small gasoline motor car and that several had alreadybeen successfully tried on southern railroads. How-ever no contemporary Motter catalog mentions such acar. It may be that the experimental models did not ex-cite enough interest for the company to continue withdevelopment. The railroad writer Bob White would state in a 1942issue of Railroad Magazine that Buda had built the firstproduction motor car in 1893. Indeed this author hasoften quoted that source. Further research has raisedserious concerns about the validity of the claim. Budadid not issue a catalog of motor cars until well after theturn of the century and, sadly, Mr. White did not statehis source of information. There is some question as to when Kalamazoo actu-ally built their first motor car. The earliest referencewe find appeared is an advertisement and article in an1896 issue of the magazine Locomotive Engineeringwhich reported that Kalamazoo was shipping a twohorse power motor car to Australia and another eighthorsepower car to Mississippi.Fairbanks-Morse, who controlled the Sheffield lineof products, would later claim to be "First on the railsand still first". However, their powered velocipedewas not advertised until 1896. Perhaps their claim tobeing" first" was based on the hand-powered, three

The First Railroad Motor CarLeon Sapp


wheel velocipede of George Sheffield which first hitthe market in 1879. So, who was really first with a production car? Theearliest manufacturer we can positively identify witha massed produced motor car was the Daimler MotorCompany in 1894. Mr. Gottlieb Daimler was a Eu-ropean inventor who had been a close associate ofNikolas Otto who had invented the first true internalcombustion engine. In 1889 Daimler patented a small andvery successful two-cylinder, four-cycle,water-cooled gasoline engine. He con-tracted with Steinway, the famous pianomaker, to market his engine for pleasureboats, carriages and rail cars with the in-tention of marketing them in Europe. Daimler had lost his first wife and re-married in 1892. Steinway convinced himto make his honeymoon a working trip andexhibit the railway car at the 1893Chicago World’s Fair. Steinway furnishedthe wooden body for the car and probablyexpected to share in any success of theventure. Although we have an illustration, little was givenin the way of mechanical details other than the en-gine was of two horse power and was purported tocost only two cent a mile to operate. About all wecan determine from the drawing is that Daimler putall the machinery in a metal modular box attached tothe back of the car. According to several reports the

car operated on a short exhibition track and generatedsome encouraging interest even if it failed to record asale.Not to be put off, the following year Daimler foundedthe ‘Daimler Motor Company’ and arranged to producea smaller and lighter inspection car with a tubular steelframe, large wire spoke flanged wheels and his samemodular, two HP engine unit. The car weighed only 500

pounds which enabled two men to lift it onand off the track. His patented coolingprocess was one of the first closed loop sys-tems designed to conserve water. The engineran at a constant RPM and through pairs ofinterlocking wheels gave two speeds of 7 and15 MPH. The car was manufactured in Kala-mazoo, Michigan and could accommodatethree individuals.Daimler was successful in selling the newmodel and he was still being listed in the 1900Railway Purchasing Agent's Directory as a“manufacturer of motor inspection cars.”However he died in March that year andshortly thereafter the company he had

founded ceased production of his little railway car inorder to concentrate on building automobiles. Still, theycould rightfully claim to have been in production since1894 with an honest-to-goodness railroad motor car, twofull years ahead of the competition. Who knows what we will find tomorrow in some dustyold collection of catalogs and periodicals. But for now atleast, let’s give our vote to Daimler.

The 1894 production car

built for six years in Kalamazoo,Michigan by

Daimler Motors

Seating for threeincluding theoperator

Top speed, 15 mph


ovember 5, 2011 - CA Eagle Mountain RailroadFinal railroad approval pending. Eagle Mountain RR is locatednear Desert Center, CA eighty miles east of Palm Springs. Tworound trips ). Set-on at 8:00AM behind the High School near theKaiser Mine and operate to the rail wash out 2 miles below I-10.21 miles one way, total of 84 miles for the day all on welded rail.$140. To register send your e-mail address, cell phone number,name and home address, car model, NARCOA certification andinsurance numbers. Make checks payable to Southwest Railcarand mail to Wayne Parsons, 3161 Country Lane, Simi Valley, CA93063. Event packet with all information and forms will be sentto your e-mail middle of October. Questions? Please contact theEC.

ovember 12, 2011 - GA Blue Ridge Scenic RRBlue Ridge to McCaysville, approx 26 miles round trip. Supperstop in McCaysville. Set-on Blue Ridge on house track at thedepot at 4 PM, Safety Briefing at 4:45 PM. Do not set on untilpermission is given by the EC. Price: $5 per car active Blue RidgeScenic Railroad Volunteers. All others $10. No car limit but pleasecall or email if you plan on coming on the ride. Coordinators: CarlHymen (706-455-0492), and Barry Vincent (in-training).

ovember 12 - 13, 2011 - OH Winamac Southern Railway US Rail's Kokomo Indiana Division on both days. Approx 120miles round trip. Set on is to be announced in confirmation letterto be sent this fall. OVR policy book required. All operators mustbe NARCOA certified. For more information please seewww.ohiovalleyrailcars.com

ovember 12 - 13, 2011 - H- 7th Annual Snowflake Excur-sionConcord to , NH. Event fee includes excursion, overnight accom-modations and a continental breakfast. 146 miles. $305 and in-cludes hotel in Lincoln, NH on Saturday night. HY-Rails bypermission only. Reflective vests are required. EC: Warren Ric-citelli / Al Elliott. For more information please contact WarrenRiccitelli, (401) 232-0992 or [email protected] Immedi-ate reservations may be made by visiting our website -www.nerailcar.com

ovember 12 and 13, 2011 - Blacklands Railroad Day 1 - approx. 130 RT miles Greenville toWinfield, TX & re-turn. Day 2 - approx. 67 RT miles Greenville to Sulphur Springs,TX & return. Sturdy shoes, reflective vests and long pants re-quired. All cars must be pre-registered prior to arrival. Mentoringby permission only. Hyrails welcome. $80.00 (covers both days)includes railroad fees. Trip informationand registeration contactMyron Malone (EC in T) 5306 Kayway Dr Greenville, TX 75402,903-454-8307, or Leland Stewart 10057 Palomino Canyon Con-

verse, TX 78109 210-863-5397.

ovember 26, 2011 - I Indiana Transportation MuseumThe annual Christmas run with Santa on the Indiana TransportationMuseum between Noblesville and Tipton, IN. Set on in No-blesville, IN at the Indiana Ductile Foundry parking lot on south8th street. We will begin set on at 8:00 A.M. and depart at 9:00A.M. Trip fee is $35.00 which does not include lunch. For furtherinformation, please e-mail Andy Sargent

ovember 19-20, 2011 - Farmrail RailroadDay 1 - Clinton, OK to Sayre, OK, 103 miles RT. Day 2 - Sentinel,OK to Altus 65 miles RT. Set Saturday at 8:00 A.M .in Clinton, Seton Sunday is 9:00 A.M. in Sentinel. Total cost for the Farmrail tripis $70.00. Detailed trip information will be available after Sep-tember 6, 2011. EC is Drake Rice (405)478-3225 [email protected]

ovember 26, 2011 - CA Annual Southwest Railcar TurkeyRun80 mile round trip, Willits to Fort Bragg and return. Set-on tenta-tively scheduled between 7:00 and 8:30 a.m. at Willits depot. It isstrongly suggested that you have a mobile radio with all NARCOAfrequencies, we will be operating on NARCOA channel #2 Muf-fler and a spark arrestor required. Mentoring permitted only withprior arrangement with Ed Best. No Hy-rails. $150.00 includestwo lunches per car, additional lunches $12.00 each. Checks toSouthwest Railcar, Ltd. Applications should include Name & mail-ing address, phone numbers (home & cell), email address, includecertification and insurance card number, and Model of the motor-car. EC Tom Phair. Check and application information should bemailed to Ed Best, 146 Via Copla, Alamo, CA 94507 who is han-dling all applications and communications for this run. Ed can alsobe reached at 925-837-7690 and [email protected].

December 3, 2011- PA - orth Shore RailroadANNUAL TOYS FOR TOTS RIDE – Ride the 86 miles RT of theNorth Shore Railroad from Northumberland to Berwick and re-turn. Please bring a new, unwrapped toy with you for either a boyor a girl. There will also be prizes for the best Christmas themedecorated motorcars. $55.00. Note: All CPE rides are rain or shine.No cancellations due to weather. Hard soled shoes required. Chil-dren must be closely supervised. Send check to: Central PA Ex-cursions, PO Box 145, White Deer, PA 17887.(570) 538-9050 oremail [email protected] for information.

December 10, 2011 – TXCapitol Metro TransportationKingsland, TX to Scobee Spur, TX – Approx. 25 miles RT. (Addi-tional mileage as time allows). This will be a cleanup ride to clearflange ways, weeds, and brush to prepare the line for the 2012 runs.

Please submit all excursions and ads directly [email protected]

The SETOFF downloads directly from the websitefor the most current information.

NARCOA Excursionsas of Oct. 16th, 2011


Bring weed trimmers, loppers, and grubbing hoes. Fee: $25 membership to Rail-road Partners, Inc. Additional RPI safety rules will apply. Do not set on until per-mission given by EC. Set on 8:30 am at Antlers Inn in Kingsland. Pleasepre-register so we may plan accordingly and know who to notify in case of can-cellation. Set on location may change. Excursion Coordinator: Leland Stewart10057 Palomino Canyon converse, TX 78109 210-945-9268 home 210-863-5397cell. RPI website.

Excursions Held On A Regular Basis

Heart Of Georgia–West RailroadAugust 1, 2011 thru January 31, 2012. HOG West Railroad will be having NAR-COA Motor Car runs and workdays. From Richland, Ga. to Omaha, Ga. on vari-ous dates from Contact Will Thompson E.C. 229-723-8231 Home or229-359-5701 Cell Or E-Mail [email protected] Click HERE for de-tails and map.

2011 Season - First and Third weekends of each month - C - Red Springsand orthern Railroad Railcar Operators of the Carolinas (ROC) invites youto ride 12.5 miles on the Red Springs & Northern Railroad in Red Springs. Lo-cated near Fayetteville, NC and 17 miles west of Lumberton / US 95 and Hwy 21.NARCOA rules are in effect. Trips are mainly on Saturday, starting in Red Springsand going north to Parkton, NC and return. Cost is $25/day or ROC membershipof $90/year. Contact person: Carey Boney – EC, 1605 Powers Road, Wallace, NC28466. Tel. 910-285-7489 or [email protected]

February 1, 2011 - January 31, 2012 - PA - Stewartstown RailroadThe Northern Central Railcar Association is offering to NARCOA members, Ex-cursions on the Stewartstown Railroad from New Freedom, Pa to Stewartstown,Pa. on various dates between February 1, 2011 thru January 31, 2012 Call DeanL. Grote Excursion Coordinator at 717-637-7647 or e-mail [email protected] for details.

February 1, 2011 - January 31, 2012 - PA - orthern Central RailroadThe Northern Central Railcar Association is offering to NARCOA members, ex-cursions on the Northern Central Railroad from New Freedom, PA to York, PA,on various dates between February 1, 2011 through January 31, 2012. Call DeanL. Grote Excursion Coordinator at 717-637-7647 or e-mail [email protected] for details.

PLEASE OTE: Advertisement of an excursion at the NARCOA Web Site does not constitute re-sponsibility by NARCOA and/or its officers nor the NARCOA Web Site managerfor event conditions. Excursion attendees must exercise caution in the observanceof safety conditions and rules and must accept full responsibility for themselves,their guests, and their equipment when attending any event.

Information excursion coordinators Excursion organizers must advertise their events on the website. "THE SETOFF"editor will copy these ads. Do not send a separate notice to "THE SETOFF". In-clude details of the trip such as time, schedule, total mileage, costs, restrictions,and conditions for attending. Please send all excusion annoucements [email protected] Please follow the standard format for the submissions. The adswill be copied from the web page on the Setoff deadline dates listed below.

SETOFF deadlines are: February 15, April 15, June 15, August 15, October 15, December 15

BBYY TTOOMM FFAALLIICCOONN

EC

TE C H

Grade crossings are where NARCOA meetsthe road. Each crossing; regardless of size re-quires the undivided attention of the operatorpassing through it. NARCOA has an operat-ing rule that was written to assure safe passageover all crossings when this rule is followed.NARCOA Motorcar Operating Rule #5 readsas follows:5. GRADE CROSSINGS. Motorcars donot have the right-of-way at grade crossings.Motorcars must be prepared to stop short ofall grade crossings and proceed only whensafe to do so. Be prepared to stop for vehiclesand pedestrians that may run around crossinggates or flaggers. Check flangeways for ob-structions and make sure that you have roomon the other side of the crossing before pro-ceeding. Automatic grade crossing signals willnot ordinarily be activated. When they are ac-tivated however, the protection may be limitedbecause waiting traffic expecting trains maynot see motorcars and may ignore warningsignals. No motorcar may enter a grade cross-ing until it is safe to do so. Horns shall not beused as s substitute for the crossing rulesabove.EVERY EC must make a renewed effort toassure that EVERY operator on their excur-sions complies with Rule # 5. Compliance tothis rule is everyone’s responsibility. If anotheroperator observes the car in front of them notcomplying with NARCOA grade crossingprocedures, please call it to the attention of theEC or assistants immediately. EC’s please re-view rule #5 at all your job briefings/safetymeetings and make sure that all attendees un-derstand this rule and the importance of fol-lowing it throughout the entire excursion day.This is one of the most important EC TECHcolumns I’ve written. Please understand thatthere is no wiggle room here. 100%, completecompliance to rule number five at every gradecrossing is our only choice!


The SETOFF Nov / Dec 2011

If you are a supplier of motorcar parts, and wish to be included here,please contact [email protected]. �o endorsement is made of theproducts, services, or vendors. All listings are for member’s con-sideration only, and are at the discretion of the Editor.

Atlantic Rail Cars / Warren Riccitelli, [email protected] 39 Jacksonia Drive, North Providence, RI02911 phone: (401) 232-0992 Fax: (401) 231-7073. Brake Shoes, brake liners, and brake parts for most cars.Carey Boney, [email protected] or Carey Boney, 1605 Powers RD. , Wallace, NC 28466 phone910-285-7489. Engine parts for RQ,QBA,ROB,ODB, ROC and parts for F-4,C-5,F-6 and C-8 carburetors. Frameand some body parts.Brown Railroad Equipment / Dan Brown, www.brownrr.com. 4 Amersham Court, Glen Carbon, IL 62034.(618) 288-6698. The entire remaining Fairmont factory inventory of motorcar parts was bought by Brown whenFairmont stopped making speeders in the early 1990’s. Web site has NOS inventory look up by part number.Over 200 cars for sale. Se hable espanol. Railroad Motor Car Resource Library / Doug Cummins, [email protected] 1146 W. 27th St. Independ-ence, MO 64052-3222. Library of rail motorcar manuals, performance sheets, parts lists, maintenance instruc-tions. H & H Mfg. CO. [email protected] (707) 887-7181 Full service machine shop and Mfg. of aftermarket Fair-mont parts. Large supply of new and used Fairmont and Onan parts including transmissions, engines, brake anddrive sprockets. Frame and aluminum door and side panels.Assorted rail speeder project cars for sale.Tom Falicon [email protected] 1227 Sawmill Creek Rd, Bryson City, NC 28713 ph: 828-488-8063 after six.Fairmont Billet Shift Knobs.Fredericksburg Shops, [email protected] or leskingmotorcars.com or 209 Creamery Rd., Fredericksburg,Ohio 44627, phone: 330-465-0713 2PM-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 LesKing & Company.Doug Heinmuller, www.dhrc.clco.us P.O. Box 111, 153 Bobbin Mill Rd, Lunenburg, VT 05906, phone 802-892-6144. Former ONAN dealer has many Fairmont and ONAN parts. Complete engine & transmission re-building. 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. USAmade. These are the famous grain dryer coils. $80.00 each. Shipping $10.00 via priority mail Randy 785-632-3450 or www. fifthaveinternetgarage.comL&S Speeder Repair and Restoration [email protected] 17504 438th Ave., Henry, SD 57243 phone(605)532-3470. Custom motorcar trailers - will build to your specifications.Dave Myers at: [email protected] or 928-380-7056 MT-19 Temporary Axle splint. Fairmont transmissionsprockets, and special sprockets of interest when re-powering a car with non-Onan engines.Tom Phair [email protected] phone (925) 820-4159 Complete line of the David Clark Company Intercom sys-tems and railroad type Motorola Radios; new double chain sprocket kits, large inventory of NOS Fairmont parts.Some motorcars for sale.

Suppliers

ARCOA does not guarantee, certify or warrant that any mechanical equipment, modification, solu-tion or device described in articles or advertisements in The SETOFF are safe or suitable for any mem-ber’s needs or purposes. Technical articles are provided for member’s consideration only. Readers areadvised 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

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The SETOFF Nov / Dec 2011

[[>>nnaarrccooaa__ccoommppaannyy__ssttoorree]]Wheel Inspection Tools

The clear plastic wheel profile is necessary to determine if the wheel is flat, thin inthe flange area, or has wear between the flange and the flat section of the tread. Usethe wheel profile as your first step in diagnosing “hunting” on the rails. Use two ofthe clear plastic wheel profiles to determine track gauge. The stainless steel caliperis 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 includ-ing s/h. Stainless steel wheel calipers with laser printing (they’ll outlast your grand-son!) are $30 each including s/h. One plastic profile and one stainless steel wheelcaliper go for $35 including s/h. Two plastic profiles and one stainless steel wheelcaliper caliper are the best combination for $40 including s/h. The new calipers havea bold mark at the 1/8” minimum. Shipments outside the USA are becoming moreexpensive, so add to the list price: $5 for Canada, and $11 for the rest of the world.Make your check payable to NARCOA, and mail to Warren Riccitelli, 39 JacksoniaDrive, North Providence, RI 02911 E-mail questions to: [email protected]

Please note: each item is shipped fromthe person in charge of that particularproduct. Profits from Company Store

sales go to �ARCOA.

ARCOA LanternsNARCOA has received another order ofTrainman's lanterns produced by StarHeadlight and Lantern. They are model292 featuring a bright halogen lampalong with a conventional bulb. A stan-dard 6 volt lantern battery is required(not included). The body is orange plas-tic with the NARCOA name, motorcarlogo, and "Safety First" imprinted. Thelamps are effective for night signaling,and make great presentation items forour railroad hosts. Cost is $29.00 eachplus $8.00 shipping for the first lanternand $2.00 s/h for each additional lanternper order. Make your check payable toNARCOA, and mail to Jeff Levengood2189 Oak Tree Dr., Dover, Ohio 44622phone 330-343-3407

Reproduction Fairmont Data Plates

These plates fit on the engine cover.They are correct for late 1930's to late1960's cars. M9 M14 M19 S2 ST2 A3A5 59C - maybe others. $6.00 perplate except Membership plate whichis $3.00. Include SSAE with onestamp for each plate (Three Plates perenvelope maximum) to: Richard C.Ray, 5 Hemlock Place, Randolph, NJ07869 All Profits go to NARCOA -Make checks out to [email protected]

ARCOA Tee ShirtsShow your support for NARCOA bywearing one of the new NARCOATee Shirts. Available in either AshGray, or Safety Green. High qualityGilden Extreem Cotton shirts. Shortsleeve with the NARCOA on Trackemblem on the left front and theNARCOA .ORG emblem on theback in black screen print. Sizes:adult, from med-3xl. No kids sizes atthis time. All proceeds go to NAR-COA. $20.00 each, includes postageto U.S. To order send your requestwith sizes and color to: John Gonder415 Levine Lane, Ruffs Dale, PA15679. Make check out to NAR-COA. US funds only. Canadian or-ders please include $5.00 extraper/shirt for additional postage andcustoms.

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