Page 6 - February 2019 Club Car

NILES CANYON RAILWAY

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - President’s Report - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The 2018 Train of Lights has finished for doing. This will allow Trains readers to get reached Sunol, we fought our way through
another season and it was fantastic. My familiar with our Operations before plan- the train so he could get some sunset shots
sincerest thanks to all the volunteers who ning to visit us. Elrond is also a first-class of the train while it was in Sunol for the lo-
worked so tirelessly to make it the success photographer, and he was documenting comotive end switch. Then it was back to
it was. Aside from the complaints early on the many fabulous sites presented to him. Niles, in the dark. I think he took well over
about the event being sold out, there were When Elrond arrived at Brightside he 1000 photos just on the round trip!
only a few minor issues with our patrons, lucked into another crane job. The newly We rode the deadhead run back to Bright-
all handled exceptionally by our volunteers. painted saddle tank for the #3 was being side, where he partook in the feast that is
We all know, without our volunteers, none reinstalled on the locomotive, completing provided for the crew, and the spirit and
of this would happen. another big step on getting her re-fired. camaraderie that was evident. We left the
Now we need to move on to the excite- Our steam department volunteers brought train as it went to Sunol. Elrond was still
ment that is building for our Celebration of him up to speed on the #3, the #4, and the going to do some chasing to take photos of
the Sesquicentennial of the Completion of plans for the Skookum when it arrives. the train from the highway before returning
the Transcontinental Railroad. I have been We then visited the car shop, where he to his home in Watsonville.
working on developing these activities and was brought up to speed on the SP9010 I should see his submission around the
we will be moving into the full blown plan- restoration, and he was also able to watch end of the month. We are hoping this will hit
ning stage. My activities have focused on the restoration work on the Yosemite Val- the newsstands and subscribers mailboxes
building the buzz for our events with the ley 330, which was taking advantage of the in early April. Also, Sam Richards, a local
communities where we serve. This is not TOL lull to have the car in the Car Shop. reporter I have spoken with before who
just with the movers and shakers of local Elrond was very pleased to see all the now also writes for Trains NEWSWire, was
communities like Sunol and Niles, but ex- new paint jobs. The WP713, GP7, SP1195 asked to do an article about the restoration
tended communities like Pleasanton and SW900, the M200 Railbus, and of course of the SP9010. You should be able to find
Oakland, Alameda County and Sacramen- the recently completed Arizona and East- both of the NEWSWire articles on line.
to, but also with the larger Railfan commu- ern 435 Combine. Elrond bemoaned the I expect our press coverage to increase
nity. fact that he missed the morning light which exponentially as word of our efforts gets
As a direct result of our Press Release would have really highlighted the new paint out. I am also expecting great local support
and schedule distributed late last year, on the locomotives. and really exceptional turnouts for these
Trains Magazine’s online news feature Over lunch we discussed some of the events, the Specials as well as the regular
NEWSWire announced the schedule of issues we are constantly dealing with, and Sunday runs.
events, including breaking the news that some things were discussed off-the-record We will need a lot of volunteers to pull
the Skookum would be running in Niles but would help him see WHY we do what this off within the time frame. Even if you
Canyon during 2019. Thousands of rail- we do. After lunch we drove down to the have few railroad skills, we will need liter-
fans now know what we were up to. Shortly big curve on the highway, and I pointed out ally a hundred docents to help our visitors.
thereafter I was contacted by Elrond Law- the location where the famous 1866 pho- Some visitors will just need someone to
rence, who is a contributor for Trains Maga- to of the WP commissioner’s train was lo- point them to the bathrooms and tell them
zine. He was instructed to contact us about cated. He wanted to see the famous wall where to go for their tickets and to board
writing an article for an upcoming issue of there, but sadly it was terribly overgrown. the trains. This is the kind of job that is crit-
Trains Magazine. We set up a time, and I (Since then, our arboreros have gone out ically important, and you can be brought up
spent the entire day with him on Saturday and done some tree trimming and brush to speed in a matter of minutes. It is a great
December 28th. Elrond lives in Watson- whacking in the area. They will continue to way to log volunteer hours, which are valu-
ville, so he has visited us before, to see work until a significant portion of the wall able to earn TOL tickets.
what we are doing and to ride our trains (he will be visible, hopefully showing a few In order to have enough experienced
was here for the Big Lift when we changed of the buttresses that make it so unique. volunteers I need YOU to come out and get
the trucks under the Krauss-Maffei SP9010 Hopefully we can recreate a modern ver- the experience you will need. Remember,
locomotive), and he also rode our last reg- sion of that first train in the canyon photo.) none of our volunteers had experience un-
ular Sunday train back in October. He is fa- We then climbed aboard the TOL and til they came out and actually did the job.
miliar with us, and our equipment. This trip walked it from end to end. Elrond spoke These jobs are all ‘learn by doing’ jobs. We
was to really dig into what we are doing and with many of the volunteers preparing the have volunteers who will help you learn
get the whole story. train and was really pleased to see the en- what is required and share their methods
This will be a major article in Trains (8 thusiasm they all brought to their work. We and processes which have been honed
pages) and it will be the first time an article tried to stay out of the way as much as we over countless hours.
focusing on PLA and the NCRy will be pub- could, but he did get a first-hand look at As always, if you would like to discuss
lished there. While we get mentioned from how much effort was required to pull this any topic in further detail, please contact
time to time in the Railroad Press, we have off. me by phone at 925.447.7358 or by email
never been focused on like this. The arti- We rode the train down to Niles and he at president@ncry.org
cle will not just focus on the Train of Lights was photographing all the way. He docu-
or our upcoming 150th events but will be mented our passengers boarding process, Respectfully submitted
more about who WE are and WHAT we are and the whole trip up to Sunol. When we Henry Baum
Page 6 Pacific Locomotive Association February 2019