STAYING ON TRACK
Jan and Ron Kutch attended the summer meeting of the Lone Star Region in Austin. Jan was kind enough to write up some material on her experiences for our newsletter. Thanks Jan!
The LSR "Capital City Limited" took place in Austin from June 22-25, 2000. Ron and Jan Kutch and Will Jensen attended from Lubbock. Several other families from Amarillo, Midland, and Odessa attended, with Virgil and Virginia Young being the only elder statesmen. Will was able to connect with the North Dallas group and has offered his experienced services to them. Next year's meet will be at the Harvey Hotel, Dallas Fort Worth Airport.On Thursday evening those not operating were treated to a presentation by Sherolyn Lanford, a recognized expert builder and miniaturist, whose work had been in Dollhouse Miniatures Magazine. Her detailed room boxes were displayed and we ALL got to make a 1" scale Memory Table.
Railroad clinics on Friday and Saturday included:
Black Bear Construction's "Trestle Building Experience."Al Boos' "Tanks for the Memory."
Jim Hinds' "Car Lighting Techniques, including N scale." Tommy Holt's "Photography and Lighting."Holts' clinic included an update on digital photography, and how he built his own studio and layout building. You can see his work in the July 2000 Model Railroader.
TrainSource of Houston's "Update on DCC," "Tree Building," and a "Bonsai Clinic." Ben Pearlman's "Car weathering."Ben also told us about the benefits of NMRA membership, including free research by the National library.
Friday evening Jan operated on John Collier's HO Terminal RR of New Orleans; a single car garage size representation of 1948 Louisiana. There were lots of switching opportunities.
Layout tours found most of us from District 5 at David Barrow's Cat Mountain. While others peeked in and said "No Trees?", we were inspecting each grain elevator and station. Yes, it is as big as Model Railroader says. David models the Santa Fe terminating in the Lubbock East Yard. He is featured on the cover of the September 1999 Model Railroader. Cat mountain is the street David lives on, not a feature of the layout, as some of us have been told.
We also saw Chuck Ellis' Great Northern and Pacific, which has been featured in magazines in the past. Floor to ceiling plaster mountains and lots of Fine Scale Miniatures buildings fill his basement. Chuck has recently given over maintenance of the layout to 2 younger men, who had it up and running beautifully. They have even installed lighting controlled by a key chain remote.
Rather than the traditional banquet, we were treated to a ride on the Austin and Texas Central RR This is a tourist attraction well worth the time and effort, if you are in the area.
Due to an early flight Sunday, we are unable to report on any business conducted.
I received a new catalog this week from the Pentrex Railroad video company. I have never seen one of these before. Their inventory of videos is unbelievable. I will bring the catalog to the August meeting and lay it on the treasure's table for anyone who is interested.
Here follows a listing of meetings coming up in the near future:
TCA Lone star Division Toy Train Meet.
To be held in Plano, TX August 19, 2000. Holiday Inn-Plano, 700 Central Parkway, E. exit Park Blvd. 10:30 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. Admission $5.00 ($6.00 family). For information contact Bill McClanahan, 9716 Wisterwood Drive, Dallas 75238 (214 348-8395).
To be held August 19 at the New Braunfels Civic Center, 380 S. Seguin. 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Admission $5.00, under 17 $1.00, family $8.00. For information contact Bryan Weidner, P.O. Box 134 Fischer, 78623. (830 935-2517).
To be held August 26-27 at the Burnet Community Center, 401 East Jackson Street in Austin, Saturday 9:00 a.m - 5:00 p.m Sunday 9:0 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. Admission #3.00, under 10 free with an adult. For information contact Austin Steam Train Association, P.O. Box 1632, Austin TX, 78767. (512 477-8468).
To be held in St. Louis August 30 to September 2. Contact the editor.
The executive committee meeting for this month will be held at the home of Homer Morrow, not Bob Anconetani.
The layout tour for August is scheduled for the 19th. Start time is probably 9:00 a.m. but will be announced for sure at the August meeting. Layouts include David Lamberts, Rip Maples, Ron Bremer, and Homer Morrow.
Herein is an excerpt from an article in the Dallas Morning News by Beverely Beyette.
They've been working on the railroad - and not just to pass the time away. For more than 160 years, women have been in railroading - as telegraphers, Harvey Girls, stewardesses and, yes, engineers and conductors, architects, yardmasters, welders, brakemen, and firemen. Writing partners Sheri Moses, 32, and Danette Lindeman, 35, often drawn to railroad sites while seeking literary inspiration, became intrigued with the historic role of women in railroading.
In time, they found their way to the Travel Town Railroad Museum in Los Angeles. They were so impressed by what they discovered that they wrote a play that has become part of the museum's annual Women's History Month celebration. "Nobody knows anything about women in railroading," Ms. Lindeman says.
Last year, the pair e-mailed 300 venues, such as historical societies and museums, seeking feedback on the subject. The overwhelming response, Ms. Moses says, led them to found the International Society for the Preservation of Women in Railroading.
Among those the duo found through their research was 90-year-old Ida Petersen of Huntington Beach, CA. In a phone interview, Ms. Petersen recalls setting out from Garnett, KA as a starry-eyed teenager to become a Harvey Girl. Starting in the 1880s, Harvey Girls were waitresses at Harvey House restaurants in towns and cities along the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad. In those days, notes Beverly Hills author Nancy Smiler Levinson in her 1997 book, She's Been Working on the Railroad, waitresses had been seen as "socially inferior and morally suspect."
But transplanted Englishman Fred Harvey changed that in 1883 when he began recruiting 'young women of good character attractive and intelligent 18 to 30." He specified that they wear no makeup or jewelry. Starting pay $17.50 a month, plus room and board.
Beverly Beyette, "Tracking women railroaders," The Dallas Morning News, May, 24, 2000. Page 5C.
To be continued in the next issue. . . . . . see WOMEN 2
