APRIL 23, 2018 ■■■■■■■■■■ VOLUME 38 ■■■■■■■■■■ NUMBER 4 Happy 47th Birthday to Amtrak! 13 The Semaphore 17 David N. Clinton, Editor-in-Chief CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Southeastern Massachusetts…………………. Paul Cutler, Jr. “The Operator”…………………………………Paul Cutler III Cape Cod News………………………………….Skip Burton Boston Herald Reporter……………………… Jim South 24 Boston Globe & Wall Street Journal Reporters Paul Bonanno, Jack Foley Rhode Island News…………………………… Tony Donatelli Amtrak News……………………………. .. Rick Sutton “The Chief’s Corner”……………………… . Fred Lockhart PRODUCTION STAFF Publication………………………………… …. Al Taylor Al Munn Jim Ferris Bryan Miller Web Page …………………..………………….… Savery Moore Club Photographer………………………………..Joe Dumas Guest Contributors………………………………..Ken Buck, Doug Buchanan, John Walther The Semaphore is the monthly (except July) newsletter of the South Shore Model Railway Club & Museum (SSMRC) and any opinions found herein are those of the authors thereof and of the Editors and do not necessarily reflect any policies of this organization. The SSMRC, as a non-profit organization, does not endorse any position. Your comments are welcome! Please address all correspondence regarding this publication to: The Semaphore, 11 Hancock Rd., Hingham, MA 02043. ©2018 E-mail: [email protected] Club phone: 781-740-2000. Web page: www.ssmrc.org VOLUME 38 ■■■■■ NUMBER 4 ■■■■■ APRIL 2018 CLUB OFFICERS BILL OF LADING President………………….Jack Foley Vice-President…….. …..Dan Peterson A Boyhood Dream ………14 Treasurer………………....Will Baker Chief’s Corner ...... …….….4 Secretary……………….....Dave Clinton Chief Engineer……….. .Fred Lockhart Contests ................ ………..4 Directors……………… ...Bill Garvey (’18) Clinic……………..……….6 ……………………….. .Bryan Miller (‘18) ……………………… ….Roger St. Peter (’19) Editor’s Notes. ….….....….16 …………………………...Gary Mangelinkx (Int.) In Memoriam……………..3 Members............... …….....15 Memories ............. ………..5 ON THE COVER: TOP: #449, the Lake Shore Potpourri............... ..……...7 Limited, at Hinsdale, MA, 2009. (Dave Clinton). BOTTOM: “40th Anniversary Display Train” at Running Extra ...... …..…..16 Palmer, switching onto NECR rails, 2011. (Kevin Burkholder) Amtrak’s P42 “Genesis” locomotives have served as the “workhorse” for Amtrak, since 1992, as long 2 as the F40PHs which served from 1976-2004. Richard A. Kozlowski May 6, 1942-April 4, 2017 Our friend “Dick” passed away, due to complications with Parkinson’s disease, while in the area, after traveling to participate in our Spring Show and Open House in March. I met “Dick” during my first Show as a member, in March 1979. In fact, for several years in the ‘80s he stayed at my house, (along with his friend Dick Davis, who was also an Honorary Member at the time) while attending our Shows, since he had a long drive from his home in Saratoga Springs, NY. He stayed with Al Taylor and Doug Buchanan for the past 30+ years. Such a likeable and generous fellow, not to mention a great modeler. He was the first to have sound-equipped locomotives. He would bring a unit, which would plug into the South Division cabs (Weymouth) and would make railroad sounds come out of his specially-equipped locomotives—and this was in the DC era of model railroading. Dick was never a Regular Member of the SSMRC but he always supported the Club, year after year. He was always willing and ready to help members with their locomotive lighting and painting. In fact, many of the ECL-painted equipment was done by Dick over the years and donated to the Club. Besides attending every spring and Fall Show, Dick attended our Summer Pool Parties at Jim South’s and brought interesting RR slides to show after the eats. Dick’s contribution to the party was his famous, fresh melons for desert. He was a great photographer, too. In later years, trips to Amsterdam, NY, with Doug Buchanan, and others, were frequent and “fruitful” for catching the action. His favorite railroad was the Delaware & Hudson, which was very close to his home and of which he had many models. I feel very fortunate to have acquired a beautiful sound-equipped, painted and weathered (by Dick) D&H Challenger, which he sold several years ago when he was “thinning the herd”. Dick was proud of that railroad, which stayed out of Conrail and which he railfanned frequently over the years. He shared his railfanning activities with several members of the Club, including a never-to-be-forgotten cab ride in the famous Alco PAs with Al Taylor from Mechanicville to Portland and back. Being around the railyard frequently, Dick got to know the crews and arranged and shared special trips like that. Dick was born in Troy, NY and lived in Scotia, NY, when he first started coming to the Club. It is unknown how he got started visiting the SSMRC but he was made an “Honorary Member” sometime in the early ‘70s. He was also involved with the Adirondack Live Steamers and would occasionally attend the “tugboat roundup” at Waterford, NY, on the Hudson River. He was a member of a model railroad group that met at various members’ homes, where they would work/operate on their railroads. He was an active participant in the Red Cross Disaster Relief Teams for a number of years and active in his Church of St. Peter. He was also an animal lover. His wife of over 50 years, Mary, had to be a “Saint”, to put up with all his railroading! He also leaves a daughter, Theresa, and two sons, Scott and Brendon, four grandchildren and his brother, Robert. Dick touched many lives during his visits with us, and always made us laugh at him and his “Pollack” jokes…and at ourselves, too. His attitude towards the hobby will be missed; his friendship and smiling face will be missed. He was always smiling when trains were involved. I’m sure there is a special place for him past the “Pearly Gates” at that big model RR in the sky. Rest in peace, my friend. We shall never forget the fun you gave us. David N. Clinton 3 the realistic finished product. I have asked this FORM 19 ORDERS before and will continue to ask, because we have a lot of track to ballast: please give some of your personal time and help out with the ballasting, BUDGET COMMITTEE MEETING Savery will be glad to teach you his methods if you have not ballasted before, it is not that difficult. You Monday, April 23rd, 8 p.m. just need to take your time with it and do a few feet APRIL B.O.D. MEETING th at a time. Enough said, but please help out, it’s Monday, 30 8 p.m. your railroad. DECODER/EQUIPMENT TUNE-UP CLINIC The Narrow Gauge Committee, since before the rd Thursday, May 3 8 p.m. show, has been putting in time on that part of the MAY BUSINESS MEETING railroad to finish some trackwork, repair some Monday, 7TH 8 p.m. turnouts and improve reliability in the yard area. MAY NEWSLETTER DEADLINE The yard lead may have to be rebuilt to make it Saturday, May 26th reliable. MAY B.O.D. The Trackwork Committee has been installing Thursday, May 31st 8 p.m. turnouts on the Trolley line. New roadbed had to be installed first in some areas before the work could begin, but is now progressing very well. As mentioned before, the original plan was revised to CONTESTS add more industries to make it more interesting, rather than having trolley cars just making loops. Congratulations to Roger St. Peter on winning this The area can be an extension of the Larson local month’s 50/50 Raffle! job or cars can be forwarded to the trolley line and an electric motor (locomotive) can switch out the FOR May, to celebrate Amtrak’s 47th birthday, we industries. will have the traditional Beech Grove Shops cake The Electrical Committee continues to make and prizes will be related to Amtrak. Question: improvements. They have separated some of the What airline did Amtrak’s present CEO and original LocoNet cables into separate runs to president come from and what is his name? improve performance and make problems easier to Any paper works or answer forms on top of old trouble-shoot. Work continues on the work in wood display case in the train room. Don’t forget Middleton installing the “model boards” in the your name and good luck! operator’s pit for the Yardmasters. I want to mention that a few weeks ago part of the railroad did not start up. When Bob England looked at it the first thing he did was shut down the main power switch and turned it back on and everything was Fred Lockhart fine. We have experienced this before with just one Starting out this month with my usual updates: booster. If you find this condition or a circuit breaker The Scenery Committee continues to work on the that is shorting for no reason, shut down the power, Cedar Hill engine terminal Scenery work, if done wait about a minute and turn the power back on. right, is a slow, tedious process; building up the Hopefully, that will take care of it. Every once-in-a- land form so the track does not look while we get a fluke in the electronics. Really! If that like well profiled mainline track is a does not work, call Bob. chore and when it is done all you I think that covers it for this month. Any questions have is a blank canvas. Ballasting or feedback, I would like to hear from you. the track is also very time- Fred Lockhart consuming and tedious, especially Chief Engineer around the turnout points so they don’t get glued in place. We, the Club, are fortunate to have a leader of the Scenery Committee in Savery, who has the patience and ability to do this work and guide others to achieve 4 Group called “Over the Hudson” receives $8 million SEMAPHORE MEMORIES from State of NY to let contracts to turn New Haven RR Poughkeepsie Bridge into walkway, after many years of lobbying and promotion.