In a deal announced October 14, shortline holding company RailAmerica will acquire RailTex creating the world's largest shortline and regional freight railroad company. The combined mileage of the two companies will exceed 12,500 route miles of track representing 51 separate shortline and regional railroad operations in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Australia, and Chile. RailAmerica currently operates the West Texas & Lubbock Railroad over about 100 miles of ex-Santa Fe branchline trackage west of Lubbock. (From Jeff Ford, The Semaphore, The news letter of the Texas Panhandle Railroad Historical Society, December 1999, page 2).
The first official LMRA auction will take place at the February 7 meeting. Anything of railroad interest is fair game including old track, turnouts, rolling stock, books, kits built or not built, etc. Don't forget to fill in the auction form enclosed in last month's newsletter (extra copies will be available at the meeting). For the auction to be successful we need bidders and biddees. Please bring some stuff and a little money!The rules of the auction are printed on the back of the auction form. They are as follows:
The owner of the item to be auctioned will bring the item to the auctioneer together with the auction form. The owner will fill in the following items on the auction form:
The auctioneer will fill in the item number. He will also issue a card with a number on it to each bidder.
The auction will be conducted in the "classical" format with the auctioneer attempting to sell the item at the highest price possible. He will first read the item description to the club and note the minimum bid, if any. He will hold up the item for the group to see. The item may be passed around to the group if requested.
The bidders will all have a card with a number on it. They will use this card to bid. If interested in an item, the bidder must hold the card high in the air so the auctioneer can see it. KEEP IT IN THE AIR UNTIL YOU
WISH TO STOP BIDDING. Do NOT raise and lower your card. Just keep it up until the price exceeds your comfort zone.The winner is the last bidder with his card in the air.
The auctioneer will note the number of the winning bidder on the auction form and the amount of the winning bid. He will subtract the percent of the hold for the club and calculate the remaining amount due the seller. The winner then claims his item, pays the price to the auctioneer, and the seller gets that amount less the percentage that goes to the club.
For example: the seller places a boxcar with a minimum bid of $5.00 and the minimum
10% going to the club with the auctioneer. The boxcar eventually sells for $10.00. The auctioneer notes the winning amount of $10.00 on the auction form and also notes the amount of $1.00 (10%) going to the club. The seller receives $9.00 from the auctioneer ($10.00 - $1.00 = $9.00).When the auction is over, the buyer brings his money to the auctioneer. The auctioneer then pays off the sellers less the percentage going to the club.
The canisters Kodak film comes in have small indentations in the bottom. If you flip the canister over you can use that small pit to hold cyanoacrylate glue to make it available to the tip of your toothpick.
DUES ARE DUE!
Sadly, it is that time of the year again. Dues for the year 2000 membership in the LMRA are, once again, $12.00 for single persons and $18.00 for families. Please pay your dues at the February meeting (the treasurer will be at his ususal table) or you can just mail them to the club at Lubbock Model Railroad Association, PO Box 53674, Lubbock, TX 79453. Like thanks.
The Lubbock Model Railroad Association joined forces this fall with several other local clubs for what was billed as HubCon III. The other groups were sci-fi folks and those who reenact Medieval times, but all with an interest in, among other things, model building. Thanks to the effort of Ron and Jan Kutch, we were able to have Brian Kampschroer, from NMRA HQ, join us for a wonderful weekend of running trains and learning about judging. Brian graciously treated us not only to clinics on judging but everyone who attended also learned a tremendous amount of model building. Several of our NMRA members who entered the model contest earned points toward national certificates. Brain also managed to speak so enthusiastically about model railroading and the NMRA that he signed up some new members and handed out several brochures. Everyone was certainly delighted to have met him and visited with him. We had the HO modular display up and running all weekend and that attracted a lot of visitors. Some folks even came just to see the trains, not bothering with the movie stars from Star Wars (and they offered quite stiff competition so we were pleased about that). All in all, it was a wonderful weekend, even if we did find ourselves in unusual company! (From Nancy B. Reed, The Marker Lamp, Vol. 45, No. 4 (Winter 1999), page 6.)
STUFF FOR THE AUCTION
At the time this publication was taken to press, the editor was aware of the following items available for the auction on February 7.Several pieces of Atlas track
Joe Works HOn2 gondola (kit)
Woodland Scenics mailboxes
Model Masterpieces - The Gazette (built)
Model Railroader - Building an HO Model Railroad with Personality
Kalmbach Books - Model Railroading with John Allen
Walthers 1996 HO catalog
Guts, Gravel and Glory - Clairemont, Texas Jail, circa 1890 (built)Plus much more!!
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
The new board of directors for the year 2000 are as follows:
President, Bob Anconetani,
Vice-President, Ron Kutch,
Treasurer, David Lamberts,
Secretary, Garon Cagle,
Librarian, Homer Morrow.
Also serving on the board are Margie O'Neil and Ron Warner.
David Lamberts will takeover as editor of the monthly newsletter Staying on Track.
WINGS & THINGS
Robert Marsten has a new item in stock in the store. It is a Life-Like proto 2000 Mallet. This mallet is a 2-8-8-2 and is factory painted and lettered for the AT & SF and is numbered 1791. I went to see it - it's a beauty. If it was narrow gauge I would have bought it! Robert says it runs like a Kato. Go take a look.Mallets are articulated engines consisting of two locomotive engines hinged together with a single boiler. Mallets were originally built in Europe, but in 1904 Alco built the first one in the U.S. for the B&O. Eventually, about 3000 articulated engines were built in this country and most of these were Mallets. [Model Railroader Cyclopedia - Volume 1, Steam Locomotives; edited by Linn H. Westcott, Kalmbach Books, 1960, p. 235]
RENT
Bob Anconetani met with Adam Pardue, the Student Pastor of Highland Baptist Church and decided that a rental fee of $15.00 per month would be fair and reasonable for the use of their excellent facility. The treasurer will forward a check to the church every six months for $90.00 to pay for the rent. At current projection, this will NOT result in an increase in our monthly dues, but don't etch that in granite.
BARCELONA COURT OF LUBBOCK
The club layout was set up over the New Years weekend at the Barcelona Court of Lubbock on the South Loop. Setup was on Friday afternoon and takedown was on Sunday afternoon. The club showed the layout as part of the hotel's New Year's Carnival. Turnout was good and several of the club's new "business" cards were passed out. Thanks to all who helped with the set up and the running of the trains. The treasurer asked the manager of the hotel for a small donation to the club to help defray the time and effort of so many club members.
PROGRAMS
The programs for the year, administrated by Ron Kutch, will be printed in their entirety in the next newsletter. February's program is the auction.
Staying on Track is published monthly by the LMRA - David Lamberts, editor. Visit us on the Internet at http://www.railserve.com/lmra, E-mail me at mailto:DWL1944@cs.com, Our mailing address is: PO Box 53674, Lubbock, TX 79453