October - Orange Empire Railway Museum

October 2014
Vol. 122 No.4
Inside This Issue
STEAM CREW REPORT
UPCOMING EVENTS
ELECTION NOMINATIONS
BEHIND THE THROTTLE
FILM SHOOT
TRACK REPORT
SIGNALS REPORT
BILL BARBOUR
PG. 8 ARCHIVE HARVEY BUILDING
PG. 9 OPERATIONS REPORT
PG. 10 HARVEY GIRLS
SCOTT LANCE HILL
PG. 11 FACES TO NAMES
CHANDLER BLVD.
PG. 12 NARROW GAUGE REPORT
PG. 14 MT RUBIDOUX
PG. 15 HISTORIC STEAM CREW NEWS
PG. 16 PLANT & FACILITIES REPORT
PG. 18 COLLECTIONS REPORT
PG. 20 HELP NEEDED
ARCHIVES COMMITTEE REPORT
PG. 21 VISITOR EXPERIENCE REPORT
PG. 22 ENDOWMENTS
PG. 23 JOIN US
DONATIONS
GAZETTE DELIVERY
Lee Parks
PG. 1
PG. 2
PG. 3
PG. 4
PG. 5
PG. 6
PG. 7
Steam Crew News
By Dan Parks
T
he steam crew has been
hard at work getting
Ventura County Ry. 2
ready to haul Pumpkin Trains on the
third weekend in October, and by the
time you read this, steam will have
returned to the rails at OERM.
At the end of September the crew
conducted a hydrostatic pressure test
on VC 2's boiler, which was the last
major component of the annual
inspection. For the first time in a
number of years, FRA inspectors opted
to observe the test, which went well.
Whole No 682
"I know I left that steam locomotive around here somewhere...." Brian Smith
examines Ventura County Ry. 2's throttle valve prior to reinstalling it in the
Continued on page 2
locomotive.
Steam Crew News - Continued
Kevin Cartwright
Continued from page 1
Randy Parks and Brian Smith wonder if there is a more relaxing way to spend their Saturdays in the sun with a beach umbrella.
Continued on page 3
OERM UPComing Events
November 8, 9, 11, 15 & 16 Day Out With Thomas
Thomas returns to OERM and this year he is bringing his friend Percy. Tickets are on sale now. MEMBER TIP: Avoid the
TicketWeb fee of $3.65 per ticket. Purchase your tickets through OERM by contacting the museum staff at 951-943-3020.
Be sure to share this tip with your friends.
December 6, 7, 13, 14, 20, 21 Train To Santa's Workshop
All aboard for the Train to Santa's Workshop! Ride the train to visit Santa in his workshop. Mrs. Claus and the elves will be
on hand to help the children with lots of fun activities. Trains will leave Pincate Station at 11:00 AM, 1:00 PM, 3:00 PM,
5:30 PM and 7:00 PM. Member prices for this event are $8.00 for ages 12 and up $5.00 for ages 2-11. Make your
reservations early, the trains fill up fast.
January 17 & 18, 2015 Behind The Scenes
Get a behind the scenes look at the Orange Empire Railway Museum. See some of the railcars and trolleys not normally on
display. Take a tour of Car House 7. Get behind the throttle and operate a real locomotive (there is a fee for this activity).
Entry to the Behind the Scenes event is free to OERM members.
March 7, 2015 Spring Swap Meet
Come out to buy or sell railroad antiques, collectibles, scale models, books, toys and many other railroad related items.
Enjoy the museum and train and trolley rides. Mapes gate opens to sellers at 7:00 AM. Main gate opens to the public at 9:00
AM. Train & trolley rides will be available from 11:00 – 4:00. This event is free to OERM members
March 21 & 22, 2015 Iron Horse – A Family Steampunk Carnivale
The Iron Horse event debuted in 2014 and was very successful. 2015 will feature an evening event. Watch for updates
regarding this event.
2 Gazette October 2014
Steam Crew News - Continued
Continued from page 2
A newsletter published by
the Orange Empire Railway Museum
as a benefit for its supporters
Lee Parks
Submissions for publications are
welcome, and appreciated.
Please email ideas,
suggestions, articles and photos
to Sharilin Peters
sharilin@ix.netcom.com.
Brian Smith (left) with Justin Legg directs Dave Wolven on the forklift as the
throttle valve is installed in VC 2.
Jeff Lamb also performed tests on the
air brake system's rotary and
distributing valves, to certify them for
service. On the following weekend, the
crew reinstalled the locomotive's
throttle valve, steam dome cover, and
steam dome jacket.
Steam weekends are planned for
the third weekends of October,
December, January, March, April, and
May. We hope to see you at one of
them! The reception center sells cab
rides in VC 2. If you want to ride in the
cab, make sure that you wear long
pants and closed-toed shoes when you
come.
Thanks are due to Jeff Lamb,
Brian Smith, Bill Lamb, Randy and
Lee Parks, Dave Wolven, Justin Legg,
and Todd Mowrey for helping to keep
steam alive.
ELECTION
NOMINATIONS
• E-Mail to:
sharilin@ix.netcom.com
By Sharilin Peters,
Corporate Secretary
• Place in the Corporate Secretary's
box in the Museum Gift Shop
Reminder - Nominations for
OERM Board of Directors must be
received by November 30th. Please
send your written nominations in any
of the following ways:
• U.S. Mail to:
Orange Empire Railway Museum
ATTN: Corporate Secretary
PO Box 548
Perris, CA 92572-0548
• Deliver to Sharilin Peters in
person.
The opinions expressed herein
are not necessarily those of
the Officers, the Board of Directors,
or the Editorial Staff of the Orange
Empire Railway Museum.
Board of Directors:
Byron Brainard
Fred Nicas
J.R. Lowe
Joe Fuller
Brian Norden
George Huckaby
Phil Palmieri
Tom Jacobson
Paul Peters
Community Directors:
Larry Fisher
Barry Busch
Directors meet monthly (except Dec.)
on the 3rd Saturday at 4:00 PM at
OERM’s Town Hall. Members are
welcome to attend
Marketing & Special Events Manager:
Donna Zanin
ASSOCIATION of
TOURIST RAILROADS
& RAILWAY MUSEUMS
Location: 2201 S “A” Street
Perris,CA 92570
Telephone: (951) 943-3020
Fax: (951) 943-2676
E-Mail: info@oerm.org
Web: www.OERM.org
Orange Empire Railway Museum 3
Behind the Throttle
Sustainability Roadmap
T
he
purpose
of this
Sustainability
Roadmap is to help
in the creation of a
strategic and 5
year business plan.
The OERM board of
directors, at its September 2014
meeting, approved this draftframework for use in establishing a goforward plan for the museum.
schools, community colleges,
universities and industry partners
to maintain our relevance by
enhancing education in
transportation science and history.
3. Restoration and preservation Preserving the history of the past,
while moving towards the future.
4. C o m m u n i t y a l i g n m e n t a n d
involvement - aligning OERM
with the pulse of Perris and
Riverside and San Bernardino
Counties.
4 CRUCIAL OBJECTIVES
FISCAL SUSTAINABILITY
& STABILITY
A systematic approach to
examining OERM current needs &
requirements for growth and
projecting those needs and
requirements 50 years into the future:
1. Fiscal sustainability and stability
through responsible accounting
principles – using the standard
framework of guidelines for
financial accounting and success.
2. Relationships - working with
4 Gazette October 2014
Goal - Identify revenue
generating resources and
methodologies providing relative
stability and sustainability for the
museum for the next 5 years balancing
mission with margin (revenue).
Create a business plan, a formal
statement of a set of business goals, the
reasons they are believed to be
attainable, and the plan for reaching
By Joe Fuller,
President and CEO
those goals.
The business plan will be
internally and externally focused.
Internally – we will target intermediate
goals and revenue enhancing
methodologies required to provide
general guidance on how we will meet
our strategic plans. Externally - we
will focus on identifying donors,
grants and other revenue generating
alliances providing sustainability.
The business plan will be used as
a decision-making tool; it will
represent all aspects of business
planning, process declaration, vision
and strategy.
Our business plan actionable
elements: Marketing plan, Operations
plan, Financial plan
RELATIONSHIPS
Organizational partnerships are
defined as cooperative, collaborative
relationships that exist between two or
more independent non-profits to
increase administrative efficiency
Continued on page 5
Behind the Throttle - Continued
Continued from page 4
and/or programmatic impact through
shared, transferred or combined
services, resources or programs.
Cooperation – Mutually
beneficial administrative and program
relationships that may include sharing
information, clients, space and other
resources. Also includes relationships
in which organizations agree to work
on projects together.
We will seek to develop working
and ongoing relationships in the
following areas of interest:
Governmental, Educational, Trades,
Industry, Local businesses.
surrounding the museum. Racial and
ethnic make-up, labor force,
employment projections, and median
household income all play a part in the
relevance of alignment and
involvement.
For many in this community the
museum may not be very relevant;
many of our patrons travel in from
outlying communities to visit the
museum.
OERM must make strides to reach
out and acknowledge our host
community in ways that are culturally
sensitive and meaningful whenever
possible.
RESTORATION &
PRESERVATION
Film Shoot
By Norm Buchanan
O
n Saturday, September
27, 2014, I was asked to
work with a film
company doing what we believed to be
a documentary on the Chinese laborers
who helped to build the Central Pacific
Railroad. Upon meeting this crew of
eight, I found they were a
Canadian/Taiwanese production
company doing a documentary on
Chinese food. (The program
bilingual.) We then went around and
looked for appropriate settings for
filming and settled on the Grizzly Flats
area. We also used our moving
passenger train.
Norm Buchanan
Although we currently have an
excellent collection of light and heavy
rail vehicles our newest heavy rail
vehicle is still 47 years old. To remain
relevant in today's world and attract the
millennials we must begin to reinterpret how we present ourselves. In
order to accomplish this I have asked
our Curator to implement a Collection
Care Plan (CCP).
The Collection Care Plan (CCP)
will detail what objects in the
collection will be restored or rebuilt,
who (the department or personnel) will
perform the restoration or rebuild,
when such restoration or rebuild
should or could be done, where the
work should be done – on or off site or
by a contractor, why we should restore
or rebuild certain objects versus
deaccessioning and or disposing of
badly damaged objects, and how we
should fund and care for the objects
going forward. This plan will be an
evolving document creating a roadmap
for our successors to continue the work
of restoring or rebuilding and caring
for the collection.
As I had not prepared for a
discussion of Chinese laborers
culinary impact on our country in the
late 1890s, I was left to wing it!
F o r t u n a t e l y, i n m y r e a d i n g i n
preparation for the Chinese laborers
impact on building the Central Pacific
Railroad, I also did read very brief
information regarding the food the
Chinese ate. One of the facts that I had
noted was that Charles Crocker,
founder of the Central Pacific RR, was
pleased that the Chinese were not as
expensive to feed as the Irish had
been. I also remembered that
Crocker bought all the food in San
Francisco and that on weekends he
would supply pigs and chickens.
Other than that, it was primarily rice
and vegetables. You now know the
sum and substance of my knowledge
of the Chinese diet in the 1890s in the
United States! I also did my best to
actually give some history of the
Chinese impact on the Central
Pacific railroad; however, I have
every reason to believe that it will be
left on the cutting room floor.
The company was extremely
pleased with the museum and found
it an excellent place to do location
shots. They did assure me that they
would be sharing their pleasure with
their colleagues within the industry.
We should all remember that any TV,
movie or commercial use of our
museum and environs can be very
profitable to our budget.
COMMUNITY
ALIGNMENT &
INVOLVEMENT
Community alignment for OERM
presents many challenges mainly due
to the changing demographics
Film Crew at work in the Grizzly Flats yard
Orange Empire Railway Museum 5
Track Report
W
positioned at the ballast ramp for
refilling.
The switch and rebuilt track were
then surfaced and lined, with
assistance from Paul Dieges and
transit, track jacks, and the RMC
tamper. This was later followed by
brooming using the Kershaw ballast
regulator. The narrow gauge rails were
then set in place using the Speed
Swing. They were then cropped to
length and drilled for joint bars.
The siding between Middleton
and Oil Junction (had ballast spread
some time ago) was plowed with the
ballast regulator in preparation for
final lining and surfacing with the
Mark III tamper.
Involved in this part of the project
were Phil Palmieri, Fred Nicas, Bill
Leukhardt Paul Dieges, Paul Krot,
Zeke Hastings, Terry Bye, Hank Winn,
Charlie DeGhetto and Danny Giles.
Also, Operations Department
volunteers continue to sort out the steel
and dead wood from the excavated
earth.
Zeke Hastings has been making
progress cleaning the flow line in the
area behind the Wood Shop. The area
north of Central Ave. was excavated
for fill material required for Library
construction. The culverts under
Central Ave. are to be replaced with a
larger diameter set of pipes and work
will begin when enough of the area is
cleared. This work is necessitated for
by Paul Krot
future track construction in the area.
Phil Palmieri had the
transmission separated from the bell
housing and clutch assembly pulled
apart on the Kershaw ballast regulator
due to a failure. After a thorough
cleaning, replacement of a bearing that
was due for routine changing as a
maintenance issue and other corrective
adjustments, everything was
reassembled, tested and the machine
returned to service.
With the Grove crane out of
service for rebuilding, the Track Crew
assisted the Line Dept. by moving a
new pole for the Library using the
Pettibone Speed Swing.
Danny Giles, Tom Baker, Jim
Baker, and David Ley continue making
tremendous progress sorting track
hardware. Lately they have been
focusing on tie plates and the effort the
group has put forth is readily apparent.
Plates are sorted by size and type onto
pallets or into drums and marked
accordingly in order to ease locating
the material when it's needed for a
project. In addition, the group has
been clearing the area of weeds and
accumulated debris and really making
a difference in how the area looks.
Volunteers are always welcome to
come out and help in the various areas
where we are working; please wear
long pants and sturdy shoes.
Paul Dieges
ith the dual gauge
switch set into place at
the end of last month,
the Track Crew continued
reconstructing the track to get
everything connected on the North side
of the loop. Ties were distributed
using one of the Hyster forklifts
followed by replacement rails pulled
from stock. The old rails that had been
pulled from this area were not suitable
for reuse as they were an odd section of
crane rail, had torch cut ends, torch cut
bolt holes, and had been welded to in
various areas. The replacement
standard gauge rails were pulled from
stock and set in place with the
Pettibone Speed Swing, barred, and
spiked into position. OTM (other track
material) was easily located due to
Danny Giles and his crew. Ballast was
distributed in a few low spots with the
John Deere backhoe followed by spot
surfacing with the RMC tamper.
The Union Pacific ballast car
which had been staged on the Loop
earlier was brought into position using
the USAF 7441. A used hardwood tie
was shoved under the ballast car for use
as a screed (a straight edge pulled
across a surface as a leveling device)
and several passes were made until the
appropriate amount of ballast had been
distributed through the rebuilt area in
preparation for surfacing and lining.
The UP ballast car was then staged on
the South leg of the Wye so it can be
– September 2014
On September 27th, the standard gauge Birney PE #332 passes by the Archive building, on the just completed new track along
the north side of the loop. The rail for the narrow gauge cars was installed on October 6th.
6 Gazette October 2014
Signal Report
beginning to show a little fading of the
paint. This is a fairly easy task and we
would welcome anyone who could
help with this. Please consider
volunteering for any of our projects,
especially the painting campaign. We
welcome new help and are very happy
to make you feel at home with our
group of hard working members.
Bill Barbour
Obituary
By Edie Barbour
W
illiam "Bill" Donnelly
Barbour, passed away
on April 1, 2014, from
a heart attack. He was 61 years old and
lived in Norwalk, CA.
Bill was born on a Saturday, May
17, in 1952, to William Fairbanks and
Emily Margaret (Grisell) Barbour. Bill
lived in Menlo Park, CA, until he was
12, when the family moved to Palo
Alto. He graduated from Henry M.
Gunn Senior High School, in Palo
Alto, in 1970. He joined the U.S. Navy
in 1972, and was honorably discharged
in 1981.
Bill was known as "Young Bill" to
family members, to distinguish him
from his father, also called Bill. He was
interested in trains and boats from a
young age. He was an active member
of the Sea Scouts when he was in high
school. He also sailed with his father
on San Francisco Bay, sometimes
crewing for his dad in sailboat races.
Model trains were a fascination for
him, and he maintained a model
railroad setup in the garage when he
was in junior high and high school.
Bill is survived by his younger
siblings, Edie Barbour, of Bethel, AK;
Gail Barbour, of Amarillo, TX; and
B r i a n ( C h e r y l ) B a r b o u r, o f
Springfield, IL. He was preceded in
death by his twin brother Edwin in
1952, and his parents; father Bill
passed away in 2001, and his mother
Miggie passed away in 2003.
Rob Teates
A
s the Metrolink Perris
Valley Line construction
progresses, we are
making more progress with the
preparation of our portion of the
project. We have now entirely
completed the wiring portion of the
work for one location and are making
good progress with the other areas.
Some of our efforts continue to be
directed at physically preparing the
relay houses themselves, there are
footings to construct and some metal
work to be done. Helpers include Brad
Black, Phil Palmieri and Hank Winn.
Brad and Hank recently made a trip to
Phoenix to retrieve some donated
signal material including hardware and
diagrams. Once again, if you know of
anyone with signal material that is
available for donation we would be
very happy to process the donation
paperwork and arrange for pick up. All
donations are tax deductible as per IRS
501 (C) 3.
Progress continues on
rehabilitating our batteries, as we
rotate through the sets, we are able to
restore many "marginal" batteries to an
effective service life. One of the less
pleasant aspects of our job is
continuing to sort through signal
equipment that has sat for quite a
while, clean and test it and then find a
home for it. After all of our progress in
obtaining a new storage container we
are rapidly running out of room and
still have much material to store.
While having extra equipment may be
considered a good position to be in,
having a lot of equipment not stored to
the best of our ability is not. With
further work and time we will have
everything under a roof and ready for
installation.
One phase of our maintenance
work that has been set to one side, due
to the Metrolink line construction
activity, is the painting of the museum's
existing signals. We are going to begin
painting the ones that need a touch up
the most, as time allows. This will help
improve the public's appreciation for
the museum's appearance as some are
by Hank Winn
Bill Barbour leaning against the tender for the Emma Nevada (formerly known as
Nevada Central No 2). This Engine was the love of Bill's life.
Orange Empire Railway Museum 7
Archive Harvey Building
A 50-ton pile of sand was
delivered to the worksite and, believe it
or not, all will be used. Before the
stucco goes on, a layer of paper and
wire mesh are installed. Monday
September 29th, the first “scratch” coat
of stucco was applied. Plaster is mixed
and then pumped, via hose, to where it
is needed. The second coat of stucco
was applied and by the time you read
this Gazette, the final “color coat”
should have been applied and cured.
The roofing process began in
early October. Workers used a
conveyor to lift the tiles up to the roof,
where they are stacked in preparation
for installation. Friday October 3rd,
workers began installing the foam
detail at the top of the parfait. On
October 6th, workers could be seen
installing the grey color finish floor
tile, inside the archive center.
Paul Dieges
Paul Dieges
P
roject manager, Fred Nicas,
has been very busy
facilitating the finish work
on this project, both inside and out. So
busy he didn't have time to write a
report this month. But no worries, he
and others sent pictures and some short
explanations of what has been
happening in the past month. So here
are some highlights and a few pictures
to tell the story.
by Fred Nicas
and Sharilin Peters
Fred Nicas
Stacking the roof with the roof tiles. 10-2-14
8 Gazette October 2014
Fred Nicas
OERM Harvey Girl, Sue Putnam, stands in front of
the building after the first 2 coats of stucco were applied.
One of the workers applies the wire mesh to hold the
stucco to the west face of the building
Installing the finish floor, inside the archive center. 10-6-14
Operations Report
O
With Thomas” event, which will really
put all of the operators to work.
However, helping out will be many
new operators who have received their
qualifications this last year. More than
ever, new operators have become an
integral part of the team to keep the
railroad running, and we welcome
Ryan Gallaher, Jeremiah Petsas, Pietra
LaVictoire, Mary Bovert, Monica
Seitz Vega, Andrew Weldy, Robert
Aikens, and old/new member operator
Harvey Laner to operations this year.
(Harvey is charter founding member
no. 7, but finally getting around to
becoming active in Operations).
Without these new operators, we could
not put on these events.
Many of our newer members have
been encouraged to supplement their
operations participation by getting
involved in running maintenance,
event planning and helping out with
track repair. This past summer, the
northern half of the Loop Track was
rebuilt with Phil Palmieri and Greg
Wasz spearheading the refurbishment,
with the assistance of many new and
not-so-new operators providing
physical strength and support.
One senior member in particular
who recently became active but has
had to take a leave is Carlton Evans.
Carlton is a BNSF engineer who lives
in Washington but frequently comes
down to operate trolleys, and has
donated artifacts found on the walls
of Car House 2. A few months ago,
while driving to work, he was caught
in a hurricane-like windstorm that
toppled a tree onto his automobile.
The tree pierced his leg and trapped
his arm, causing the loss of his left
arm. Carlton is recovering, and with
the assistance of physical therapy and
a prosthetic limb, intends to return to
both work and to operations at
OERM. That's dedication!
Kevin Cartwright
n October 12, 2014,
Orange Empire hosted
the Union Pacific
company picnic. The surprise guest at
the event was the return of our
beautifully restored E-8 UP 942 and
train. The UP 942 was sidelined over a
year ago due to defective power
assembly requiring heavy piston and
cylinder repairs. Repairs were finished
just in time for this event. The engine
still has some bugs to be worked out
before it can be used on a regular basis,
but it was very enjoyable for all to see
this beautiful streamliner back on the
main line.
Upcoming events are “Day Out
With Thomas” on November 8, 9, 11,
15 and 16, and “Santa's Workshop”
trains on the first three weekends of
December, including night steam
operations on the third weekend. This
will be the first time that we will have
this three weekend event, coming on
the heels of the two weekend “Day Out
by KEN SCHWARTZ,
Division Manager and
GARY A. STARRE,
Deputy Division Manager
Kevin Cartwright
LA Railway 1201 returns to service after completion of the narrow-gauge portion of the streetcar loop
Sp3100 and UP942 at the Union Pacific company picnic
Orange Empire Railway Museum 9
El Ortiz Hotel & Harvey House Lamy, New Mexico
O
nce again I have the honor
of turning over my pen to
fellow OERM Harvey Girls
Historical Society member, Jane Daly
for this Gazette Article. Jane's mother,
Josie Newby, was a Harvey Girl one
hundred years ago – about 1910 to 1913.
(Yes Jane is 93 years young.) So here in
her words she would like to tell about her
experience with the El Ortiz Harvey
House.
In 1880, Lamy, with a population of
about 100 people, became a town
overnight. This was because the Santa
Fe Railway did not want to build a track
into Santa Fe due to the mountainous
terrain. Instead they build their depot in
Lamy. Lamy is located 18 miles
southeast of Santa Fe.
The El Ortiz was built in 1910, and
10 Gazette October 2014
is what author Lesley Poling-Kempes
called the “littlest hotel in the littlest
town in the Southwest.” It was an
architectural gem built in the
Spanish/Pueblo style. The interior was
considered the Masterpiece of Harvey
designer, Mary Coulter. The El Ortiz
was often referred to as an “oasis in the
desert” and citizens of Santa Fe often
drove there to enjoy special dinners. I
was able to enjoy those dinners, but was
unaware at the time that it was a Harvey
House.
History reports many famous
travelers stayed at the El Ortiz, including
Teddy Roosevelt, 'Buffalo Bill' Cody,
General Grant and D.H. Lawrence.
You will find more fascinating
information in the history books at the
OERM Gift Shop. Stop in sometime!!
By Nancy Dallner
and Jane Daly
Scott Lance Hill's
Odyssey
by Scott Lance Hill
I
originally
joined OET
(Orange
Empire Traction) in
1964, as Member
#0703. Throughout
the years I have
watched the
Museum grow and
flourish to an
amazing experience for both Member
and Guest alike. I have been blessed to
serve as a Ticket Agent, Conductor,
Motorman, Brakeman, Engineer,
Dispatcher, Lineman, Signalman, Track
Worker, Carman, and a hundred other
jobs that needed doing.
Two things are deeply embedded in
me; (1) Railroad Operations, to include
Train Orders, Track Warrants, Signaling
and Communications and (2) Electric
Freight Locomotives, such as PE 1624,
SN 653 and YVT 297. I've spent many a
very happy day with the controllers of
those "Juice Jacks" in my hands. At one
point, I was qualified to operate pretty
much everything that moved by
electricity, both single car and MU
(Multiple Unit) if they were capable.
There are many milestones that are
prominent in my memory....The
construction of Pinacate Station, Car
Barns 1 and 2, the old Cummins
diesel/generator set, the installation of
the Solid State Substation, and the SN
Rotary Machine, the installation of the
power switch at Alpine Drive, and the
signaling system that just kept growing.
Some of you might even remember the
old two wire telephone system we had
installed in several prominent spots all
over the Museum property.
I love to talk Railroading, and in
particular, OERM, particularly to our
visiting guests. We have a chance to
show every one of them what this mode
of transportation is all about, and how it
changed this Country and its people.
Don't ever be shy about talking to me,
because I certainly won't be.
(kqx5344@yahoo.com)
This will mark my 50th year with
the Museum, and it's been a love of
railroading that has changed my life,
always for the better. I cannot be happier
or prouder to be a part of it. Thank you
OERM, its members, and its guests, for
everything.
Faces to Names
LET ME INTRODUCE
RALPH NENN
R
alph has been working as a
volunteer for over 14 years,
his membership number is
4822. He takes care of all of the museum's
air conditioning units: that includes all of
the buildings, along with the rail cars. It
also includes our ice machine. That in
itself would seem to be a fair work load,
Chandler Blvd 1939
By Dave Wolven
but not for Ralph, he is also the project
manager for the restoration of the Pacific
Electric #498. Ralph is also the care giver
and custodian of barn #4 (the Hugh Smith
Car Barn).
When asked why he spends most
every weekend working at Orange
Empire, (he lives in San Diego), his
answer was simply that he likes trains and
it makes him feel good to see them in good
working order. As a young man he
remembers riding the train with his family
and that was one of his fondest memories.
When asked what he would like to
see happen at the museum, his answer was
short and sweet: he would like to see a
complete Union Pacific train: engine,
baggage car, diner, Pullman car, club car
and observation car. That dream is not too
far from reality as we do have a good start
building that consist.
This interviewer considers himself
lucky to have gotten Ralph to sit down
long enough to ask him these few
questions as He is ALWAYS moving.
Thanks for the time Ralph!
Note from the Editor: Dave Wolven
has graciously offered to write this series.
If you see this face coming towards
you please don't run the other way. Let
him take your picture and ask you a few
questions. As you can see, his articles are
not terribly long, so he promises to not
take up too much of your time. Thank you
and hope to see you soon in the Gazette!
by Gary Starre
“It was a cool evening when I decided to get out of the Valley for a while and head into Hollywood for a movie and burger.
So I'm waiting for the Van Nuys local heading down Chandler when this cute gal comes up and gives me the eye. We got on and
she looks at me. It's gonna be a long night....."
The grandfathers of Ken Schwartz and Ryan Devine were working the inbound Red Car line at
Chandler Blvd. and Kester Ave. in Van Nuys sometime in early 1939. Rumor is that the Red Car will soon get a new paint job, but
for now it still wears its original red and lookin' pretty nice despite its 15 years in service.
Orange Empire Railway Museum 11
Narrow Gauge Report
M
others who assist on specific projects.
EMMA NEVADA /
NEVADA CENTRAL NO. 2
Ryan Keck installed the relief
valve next to the main air reservoir.
Members of the team used the bender
to bend a new pipe for the air
compressor exhaust line on the
engine. They bent the first section of
exhaust pipe from the air pump and
started bending the second section of
exhaust pipe. Paul Harr placed the
old air pump in a shipping box and
put it in the container for storage.
Mike Wissler worked on the blower
valve and the first section of pipe
from it.
Continued on page 13
Kevin Cartwright
embers of the Narrow
Gauge team can be
found most weekends
in the Grizzly Flats engine house,
showing visitors the collection and
working on the projects below.
Regular team members include:
Paul Harr, John & Susie LePrince,
Mike Wissler, Bill Leukhardt, Rob
Teates, and Paul Dieges among
by Paul Harr
John LePrince and Paul Harr work on the Pacific Coast push car
12 Gazette October 2014
Narrow Gauge Report
- Continued
Continued from page 12
BOX CAR #449
Cleaned journal boxes on the
Ely Thomas log car and measured
parts for beam sizes. John Le Prince
cleaned, painted and sorted more
parts for the log car.
The team lifted the Pacific Coast
Railway push car out of the gondola
so that it could be placed on display
next to the Pacific Coast Ry. pump
car. John LePrince finished priming
the Fairmont wheels of the Pacific
Coast push car.
Paul Harr continued to organize
the box car contents, sort more
mechanical drawings, file more blue
prints and made files for more
pictures.
New Relief Valve installed on main air reservoir on No. 2
Kevin Cartwright
Cleaned Journal Boxes for the Ely Thomas log car
Paul Harr
PACIFIC COAST RAILWAY
Paul Harr
ELY THOMAS LOG CAR
Emma Nevada (formerly Nevada Central No 2) and her coach
Orange Empire Railway Museum 13
A True Survivor Mt. Rubidoux Car #54
T
The car was one of a group of 3
business cars built by Bernie and
Smith Co.; all three cars were built for
the SOO (Minneapolis, St. Paul &
Sault Ste. Marie Railroad) (SOO
Line). Its original form was the SOO
line buffet-baggage car built in 1914
and numbered # 1704. It is 79 ft. long
and weighs 170,760 lbs.
The body of the car was
completely rebuilt in 1927 into the
business car that we have today. For
than those changes the car is “as built”.
Considering that the car was built
87 years ago it's truly amazing that it's
gone unmolested for this long. Its
general condition is excellent; yes, the
windows need to be repaired and
repainted. However, the interior
makes up for any short comings of the
exterior.
All the varnished wood,
including the 1/4 sawed Cherry,
Rosewood and Oak have, over the
L. Greg Johnson
his unique car has been in
OERM's collection since
1974. It was taken out of
service by the SOO line railroad in
1955 and sold later that year to a group
of rail fans that thought it would be fun
to have their own private rail car. The
car was given to the new owners with
all of its china, silverware, pots and
pans along with all its linens and
uniforms still wrapped in paper and
tied with string. Over the years we
have put most of these items in storage
By Dave Wolven
Mt Rubidoux Exterior
L. Greg Johnson
and left a few items for the visitors to
see as examples of the life style of the
railroads business manager. One
common misconception of the car's
use is that more than one person rode
the car. There never were any tickets
sold for this car, the business manager
may have invited anyone of his
choosing at any time.
anything to be a survivor it must be in
the same condition that it was when it
left the factory. The only changes that
we know of on this car are the addition
of a few brushed metal lights added to
the interior of the car, air conditioning
added in the early 1940's and the
painting of the exterior of the car. Its
proper color should be maroon. Other
Mt Rubidoux Sitting Room
14 Gazette October 2014
years, built up a beautiful patina, and
as I'm sure you know “patina” is not
something that you would buy at the
hardware store. It grows with
exposure to air and light and it only
gets better over time. If the patina is
damaged it cannot be repaired. And for
that reason my wife Pat and I have, for
the past 20 years, protected the car
from any more wear then was
absolutely necessary.
Now that has presented a bit of a
problem, in as much as we joined the
museum because we wanted the
general public, along with the
members of the museum to see, feel
and ride the car. The first time we
showed the car at one of our open
houses we used our family and friends
to host the car, we placed one person in
each room. That took 6 people, not
including Pat and I. That didn't work
Continued on page 15
A True Survivor Mt. Rubidoux Car #54 - Continued
Continued from page 14
L. Greg Johnson
as our friends weren't as devoted to the
car as we were. The next few times we
used the Harvey Girls as hosts, but
even they lost interest after a few
shows. We now have it down to Pat
and I, along with Lee Parks, helping
when she can.
There are more things to be said
about this special car, however for the
time being we will stop at this station
and get on with our life.
Mt Rubidoux China Cabinet
Historic Steam Crew News articles
In Prior Gazette issues we started a series of reprinted steam crew news from 1976.
Below is the next in the series.
Orange Empire Railway Museum 15
Plant and Facilities Report
I
investment we have made in our
vegetation. After we were underway
with our project, we were lucky to have
the assistance of another new
volunteer, Ted Nira, who has many
years of experience in the landscape
industry. Ted has made a huge
improvement in pruning and in the
removal of weeds and trash. All in all it
has made a stunning difference, come
on out and see this first hand. As the
Chief Operating Officer my highest
Paul Dieges
am pleased to report that we
are beginning to receive many
compliments from visitors
and volunteers alike that the
appearance of the property is greatly
improved. This is the result of an
initiative that I formulated with Dan
Wheeler, our Landscape Supervisor, to
make a major push in this regard. The
'A' Street frontage of the property was
basically a wall of vegetation that
concealed the museum from view.
by Hank Winn,
Vice President/ Chief
Operating Officer
Paving in process at the back gate
priority is the rehabilitation of the
physical appearance of the property,
visitor satisfaction and volunteer
retention.
We have just completed a major
asphalt paving project. This includes:
the area between Car Barn 1 (the Ray
Continued on page 17
Norm Buchanan
Visitors are attracted to open, inviting
scenes and so we began our effort. We
worked from Alpine Drive going
south, removing bamboo and trimming
the shrubs and trees to open the area up.
Wo r k a l s o c o m m e n c e d o n t h e
irrigation system to sustain the
Ballash car house) and Central Avenue
that is used for the food court during
special events, the portion of Central
Avenue from the Machine Shop to the
Wood Shop, the portion of the
volunteer entrance road from the south
electric gate to the Broadway crossing
of the wye, and San Vicente Avenue
which is the road from Broadway
down to Car Barn 4 (the Hugh Smith
car house). These four areas, that were
paved, represent a major commitment
to the improvement of the appearance
and functionality of our museum. Not
having clouds of dust and dirt in the
summer and muddy roads in the winter
will greatly enhance our ability to
attract visitors and volunteers alike.
Zeke Hastings has been busy with
a number of plant improvement
projects including: moving four
modular units to a storage location on
the property, removing a section of
broken asphalt along the loop track that
was repaved as part of our paving
project, and beginning excavation for a
drainage control project. He continues
to be our man that refuels all of our
motor vehicles and handles the
recycling program. Zeke performs
many other "routine" tasks and is
another of our invaluable volunteers
that spend many weekdays helping.
Thank you to Jim Gates for
completing the new steel rear exit
staircase of the Middleton Museum.
He is also in the process of designing
New Paving south of Car House 1
16 Gazette October 2014
Plant and Facilities Report
- Continued
Paul Dieges
Continued from page 16
Paving the road to Car House 4
with a task, we all come together to
accomplish the goal that we have set,
this is one of our greatest strengths.
Byron Brainard is to be
commended for his recent efforts to
obtain very large amounts of surplus
electrical materials, expending not
only his money, but many hours of
removal labor and transportation
effort. Byron can always be counted
upon to travel to remote project
Paul Dieges
the front entrance steps and should be
underway with building them shortly.
Jim is an experienced welder, sheet
metal fabricator and maintenance
mechanic and has completed many
major projects to our great benefit. He
r e c e ntly replaced a back flow
prevention unit that was out of date,
requiring numerous hours of refitting
and pipe work. It is the ability of our
volunteers with many talents that
allows us the versatility to accomplish
what we do with the diversity of
situations that we encounter.
A great example of this is the
Archives Facility construction that is
ongoing. We recently mustered a
diverse group of volunteers that
worked under the direction of Master
Electrician Ron Ruffulo and Line
Department Superintendent Warren
Buchanan along with myself, Phil
Palmieri and Project Manager Fred
Nicas to set a power pole, set a down
guy, connect the transformers and
string the aluminum conductors from
the existing pole line. When faced
locations and give his all to help to the
best of his ability. He recently
acquired material to repair a light
tower, that he obtained earlier, in an
effort to give us more flexibility in
providing safety lighting for night time
events. Both Byron and Jeff Williams
have spent many hours acquiring and
installing new high intensity lighting
for an area of Car Barn 7 to facilitate
the work in that area of the barn. Jeff,
Byron and Zeke put in many hours of
work preparing for a concrete pour at
the same location. Zeke excavated the
dirt and Jeff and Byron installed heavy
gauge reinforcing bars before the
installation of the concrete. Now we
have the ability to use large hydraulic
jacks without the risk of damaging
thinner concrete.
Fred Nicas, Ron Ruffulo and
myself recently completed many hours
of refitting our sewage lift pump
station. Fred designed and fabricated a
new stainless steel base plate to mount
our twin grinder pumps upon. He
finished this assembly with a system
designed to secure the pumps to the
plate and prevent the pumps from
exerting excessive torque to the
outflow pipes upon system start up.
We also repositioned the float switches
that control the pump start cycles and
provide a high water alarm feature.
This new configuration should provide
years of satisfactory service.
Rolling the fresh asphalt at the intersection of Broadway and San Vicente
Orange Empire Railway Museum 17
Collections Report
SDERy 508
PACIFIC ELECTRIC 498
and molding with assistance from
Ray Ballash and Bob Gross. We
installed the panels and molding with
the assistance of Gary Cochrane. We
sanded the entire unpainted upper
portion of the ceiling, masked off all
of the previously painted interior, and
part of the exterior. Our first class
resident refurbishment expert
George Chapman will have painted
the ceiling by the time you receive
this report.
With the ceiling painting work
complete we will begin to refurbish
the floor. Once we fill and sand areas
needing it we will make a floor
template using inexpensive rolled
It's been a while since we
provided a full update on the progress
of this refurbishment project and we
are happy to once again be able to
provide new information. The metal
work and almost all of the painting
was completed a year ago by our
contracted restoration and painting
specialist. Since that time, the 30 seat
frames and various other parts have
been re-chromed and/or re-nickeled
thanks to the facilitation efforts of
Fred Nicas. We obtained replacement
bumpers from our parts PCC, thanks
to the efforts of Jim Gates, and
purchased new interior ceiling panels
Kevin Cartwright
T
Paul & Sharilin Peters pose at the rear of the SDERy 508
after applying the masking
Kevin Cartwright
he crew made good
progress on the project
this month and
accomplished a short, but time
consuming, work list. Projects
completed include painting the
remaining ceiling vents and touch up
work in the passenger compartment.
Dave Ley finished painting the seat
frames, and after allowing for drying
time, the seat frames were installed in
the main passenger compartment.
The crew retrieved the seat cushions
from storage and accessed their
condition. Cushions requiring repair
will be sent to Complete Upholstery.
The floor plate under the B-end
train door has been missing as long as
anyone can remember. We do not
know why and speculate it was
damaged, deteriorated or removed
for some other repair. The crew
enlisted the assistance of Jim Gates to
fabricate a replacement. In the
process, a plate of the correct size
was found in Carhouse 4 evidently
fabricated in the past but never
installed.
Doug White continued cleaning
the car including scraping paint
overspray off of the windows and
cleaning them. They have never
looked so good. Steps have been
taken to close up the car to keep it
clean.
By Rod Fishburn, Collections Manager
(with reports from Ralph Nenn,
Tom Platten, and Paul Peters)
PE 498 Interior with seat frames installed
18 Gazette October 2014
roofing that will mark screw holes for
the seat frames and act as a pattern for
the 70 lb felt roofing paper that will
be glued to the floor. Once we install
the flooring and paint it, we will send
the remaining seat backs and bottoms
out for upholstery and focus on
installing the seat frames, ceiling
posts, and other interior hardware.
Other activates that will occur,
once the ceiling is painted, include
re-wiring some of the ceiling lights
and other fixtures by our team of
Dave Garcia, Ryan Keck and Art
Attean. Once completed, the ceiling
lights, headlight and taillights can be
installed. The cars trucks will be
Continued on page 19
Collections Report - Continued
removed one at a time so that they can
UNION PACIFIC 942
Continued from page 18
C a r l , To m a n d R i c h a r d ,
continued the power assembly repair
with Carl and Tom making sure the
new liner was "squeaky clean" and all
preservation coatings and water
passages clean and clear. Tom's little
dremel tool came in handy for final
cleaning of the water passage
openings at the top of the liner. Once
done the replacement liner was raised
from the floor of the car barn up into
the 942, Tom was assigned the task of
taking the miscellaneous parts from
the cylinder to the shop for cleaning
in the solvent tank. That task took
about two hours before the parts
On Thursday, September 18th
Carl Pickus, Richard Berk, Tom
Platten, and Philip Giles all
converged on Carbarn #4 to work on
the UP 942. Time was short for
having the unit available for the UP
Company Picnic. Starting about
11:30am until about 3:30pm, the
crew had extracted a broken piston,
slightly scored cylinder liner and
slightly "bruised" cylinder head. In
the mean time several of our key
people were scouting for the
necessary parts to repair the
offending power assembly.
Kevin Cartwright
be inspected and fitted with new
rubber items including replacement
heavy duty rubber springs. The above
mentioned team, as well as John
Smatlak and Rob Fishburn, will
assist in this important task.
Once all of the above is
completed we will ask our talented
sign painter to re-letter the car back to
how it looked when it was taken out
of service. We will then install
various interior decals and
advertisement signage. A few other
tasks remain, including installing
new door rubber and concrete door
steps. These should be the last of the
items and, when they are completed,
the car should be ready for
operational service. We once again
want to thank all who have
contributed financially and work
wise on the project and especially
Dave Garcia. Dave's efforts in
identifying the paint colors and other
items, such as the window latch
springs, the rubber truck springs, and
the hundreds of screws that were
needed to reassemble the various
components.
MONTREAL CARS
Frank Kunsatis and Richard Berk working on the engine of the 942
Kevin Cartwright
Dave Ley and Robert Morse
completed changing out additional
windows on Montreal 820. The car
was returned to Mapes siding and the
next car moved down to Car House 4
for window work. The Saturday
night switching crew consisted of Joe
Fuller, Ken Schwartz and Rod
Fishburn.
Exterior of Montreal commuter car after new windows were installed
could be delivered back to the
locomotive.
The piston and cylinder head
were ordered and, when they arrived,
it appeared as though the lion's share
of the cylinder repair would be
accomplished. The new ring set was
installed on the piston but when they
tried to install it into the liner, they
could not get it to seat properly down
on the carrier. Carl and Tom retrieved
a carrier rod from our stock and
Continued on page 20
Orange Empire Railway Museum 19
Continued from page 19
Collections Report - Continued
case the problem
LATL 2601
George Chapman and Jeff
Andelin continue to work towards
completing the restoration of this
historic Peter Witt car. The latest
activity is to fine tune the door
treadles. Now that the car has been
completely painted, new floor
coverings installed, and the
reupholstered seats installed, it looks
really great. After several other items
are completed, the one remaining
expensive interior item is to have the
interior poles re-porcelained. The car
will then be ready for the mechanical
group to work on the cars wheels that
need to be addressed before it can
return to service. Additional funding
is needed in order to complete the
remaining tasks and have the car
available for our operations
department to show it off to the
public. Donations should be directed
to fund C2.
Y
our museum needs
your help in filling our
CFO position. The
CFO will oversee the financial
activities of the museum, provide
guidance to the President and CEO,
provide updates on the museum's
financial position, and a monthly
report to the board of directors. Paul
Peters is currently serving as the
Assistant CFO, but wishes to step
down as soon as a new CFO is
settled in.
Contact our museum president
Joe Fuller if you, or anyone you
know, might be able to help fill this
important position.
E-mail him at
joe.fuller50@gmail.com
Archives
Committee
ELECTRIC CAR
MAINTENANCE
by Allen Copeland
T
Sam Aguilar, from Complete
Upholstery, returned and installed the
seat back in PE 418. One seat back
remains to be installed after the PE 498
crew repairs the seat swivel. He also
repaired the broken side seat in PE 717.
Next, he will be repairing the torn seat
bottoms in LARy 3001 and 3100.
LATL 2601 - Seat covers completed and installed
20 Gazette October 2014
Help Needed
Chief Financial Officer
Kevin Cartwright
cleaned it up in
persisted with the carrier and rod in
the prime mover. Of course, that
would mean the connecting rod and
piston carrier would have to be
removed from the prime mover so it
could be replaced. This would delay
the completion of the job, as it is
much easier to install the carrier and
rod on the piston outside of the
engine.
The next order off business was
to get the piston properly installed on
the crown. The protrusion on top of
the crown had to be "dressed" a bit so
it would slide into its opening on the
bottom of the piston. With that done,
the snap ring was installed; the rings
were staggered, lubricated, and
compressed. By jacking the engine
carefully, the piston was guided into
the liner. Next the head was hoisted
into place and allowed to set down on
the liner and it was torqued down.
Once this was accomplished, the
appurtenances were installed,
including the rocker arms, a new
injector, and all related fuel lines. The
cylinder was now essentially intact,
the prime mover was jacked over
completely for two or three
revolutions to confirm there were no
"binds. We are happy to announce
that the locomotive is now repaired
and back in service on a limited basis.
he archives committee
m e t o n M o n d a y,
October 6th which
was not our regular day.
Present: Alan Fishel, Harvey
Laner, Ken Douglas and Allen
Copeland.
Before the meeting, scanning
and writing were completed on the
2015 OERM Calendar and mailed
to Thomas Besemer. On Monday,
work consisted of scanning slides
and black and white negatives,
consolidating previously scanned
material, editing it and loading it
to the backup computer, cleaning,
sorting files and correspondence,
and inspecting new acquisitions.
The next meetings of the
archives committee are scheduled
for Monday, November 17th (to
avoid conflicts with the Thomas
Event) and Monday, December
8th.
Visitor Experience Report
J
direction of Paul Peters, a group built
the hay bale maze for our Day Out
With Thomas event.
In last month's Gazette you saw
a photo of the big friendly witch who
Ted Nira continues working on
trimming trees and shrubs all around
the property. As you go down "A"
street you will get a much better view
of our facilities and the various cars
Kevin Cartwright
ust when we were thinking
summer was over we had a
100 degree plus day for our
volunteers that who arrived onsite on
October 5th. Volunteers came from
by Dan Wheeler
and Donna Zanin
Getting the Pumpkin Patch ready
now guards our front entrance. Since
that publication, we have learned that
she has a history behind her; she once
rode on a Rose Float.
With the help of the Salvation
Army and their Community
Relations Manager Eilyn Dawes, we
have the use of large ornaments to
decorate our various areas around to
museum and of course Santa's
workshop! This will help us have
brighter displays for our riders in
December.
Kevin Cartwright
on the tracks. Thomas and Percy
should be able to be seen much better
as our guests enter during our
upcoming Thomas event. Dan
Wheeler has been busy repairing
irrigation timers and installing wood
chips all over the property to control
weeds. Dan has done a tremendous
job creating our Pumpkin Patch for
this year's event.
Donna Zanin
the Rotary Interact Club, the Nuview
Lions Club Leos, the Perris High
School JROTC and Cadets from the
California Military Academy as well
as several of our own volunteers.
The clubs helped us prepare for our
Pumpkin Train, Thomas event, and
Santa's Workshop. Work projects
included painting the large
ornaments obtained earlier this year
and our Pumpkin Train Area got a
floor of straw and bales of hay for
seating and decoration. Under the
Refurbishing Christmas decorations
Sweeping Broadway
Orange Empire Railway Museum 21
A Report on Endowments
BACKGROUND
O
range Empire Railway
Museum had been
working on establishing
an endowment to help fund the
ongoing activities of the museum since
at least June of 1989. An attachment to
the June 1989 Directors' Meeting
describes that initial attempt as, an
“Endowment for the maintenance of
the Orange Empire Railway Museum,
Inc,” that was to be “irrevocably
dedicated to provide funds for the
maintenance and upkeep of the
collection, exhibits, museum, and
museum grounds and facilities owned
and operated by the Orange Empire
Railway Museum, Inc., City of Perris,
Riverside County, California.” It
appears from the records that this
initial attempt never got farther than a
board resolution and a proposal for the
establishment of a committee to
manage it.
Ten years later, in May of 1999,
following a generous gift of $10,000
from long-time member Wally
Richards, the board established the
museum's first endowment fund, and
named it the Richards Endowment.
Today, Orange Empire has four
endowment funds with a combined
value of more than 1.5 million dollars
in August 2014. Wally is now one of
God's motormen, but I can't help but
believe that he'd be very proud of what
he started.
ABOUT ENDOWMENTS
Endowments are special kinds of
funds that have to be managed and
accounted for in a special manner
under the law. Generally speaking, an
endowment is a fund in which the
principal is restricted in perpetuity. The
organization that holds the
endowment, or the beneficiary, may
use the earnings from the endowment
for purposes defined when the fund
was established. In most cases, these
purposes are defined by the donor, and
can create permanent restrictions on
how those earnings are to be used. The
purpose can be changed either with
consent of the donor or, when that is
22 Gazette October 2014
not possible because the donor is
deceased or otherwise not available, by
order of a court.
The benefit of endowment funds
is that, when well-managed, they
provide financial support to the
beneficiary organization in perpetuity.
This contributes to the long-term
health and stability of the organization,
and can provide income in times when
operational revenues and other income
decline. Of course, if that decline
results from a major economic
downturn, the investments that hold
the endowment funds may also be in
decline, but in other circumstances a
healthy endowment can be an
important lifeline, and a guarantor of
the future.
STATUS OF OERM'S
ENDOWMENTS
In fiscal year 2013/14 the value of
Orange Empire's endowment funds
grew by a total of $190,900 from the
following sources.
Of that, the investment return of
$114,486.02 represents a rate of return
of approximately 11% for the fiscal
year, and an account management fee
of 1.1%. The management fee is
roughly in line with industry standards
for funds of this size.
In October, the Investment
Committee recommended to Orange
Empire's board that they authorize the
disbursement of five percent, our
Endowment policy maximum, from
the three endowments that qualify for
disbursements. This breaks down as
follows:
By Peter Gagnon, Investment
Committee Chairman
OERM's fourth endowment, the
Kagy Red Car Endowment E4, has a
donor restriction prohibiting any
disbursements until the endowments
principal balance reaches $100,000. Its
August 2014 balance was about 17
thousand dollars short of that mark, so
no disbursements were recommended.
OTHER ACTIVITIES OF
THE INVESTMENT
COMMITTEE
During the fiscal year, the Board
of Directors re-staffed the
Endowments Committee and renamed
it the “Investment Committee.” At the
request of Thrivent, OERM's
investments manager, and our auditors
the committee reworked the existing
Endowment Policy to separate it into
two stand-alone policies: an
Endowment Policy and a Fund
Investment Policy. The Directors
approved the two new policies at the
September 2014 board meeting. Paul
Peters, OERM's CFO, reviewed the
accounting records
and reconciled the
endowment funds
investment reports,
issued by Thrivent,
with the museum's
balance sheet, in
support of the
audited financial
report, which is nearing completion.
Committee members met with the
investment management team at
Thrivent, and at their recommendation,
directed a rebalancing of the
endowment investment portfolio to
better conform to OERM's policy.
Investment Committee Composition
Committee Members: Joe Fuller,
Paul Peters, Peter Gagnon, Zeke
Hastings
Advisors: Gary Starre, George
Huckaby, JR Lowe
Recorder: Sharilin Peters
Join Us - Volunteers Welcome
DONATIONS IN SEPTEMBER 2014
Gazette Now
Available in Color
Cash contributions totaling $4,555 were made to the
following funds in September 2014. Our sincere thanks to the
following individuals and businesses:
• General Fund - Anonymous, Diane Cabral (in memory of Dick King),
Mary Daniels (in memory of Dick King), Sybil Hanson (in memory of Dick King),
Edwin Hyman, Ralph Nenn, Vicki Primavera, Robert Sims, C William Stamm,
Robert Uniack, Greg Wasz
• Archive Building Project (Fund B11) - Anonymous, Ray Ballash,
Daniel LaMantain-Leatherman, Jerome Landesman
• Perris Connection Construction (Fund B22) – Anonymous, Wayne Barnhart,
Bob Davis, Marvin Goldman, Daniel LaMantain-Leatherman, Walter Lester,
Bill & Virginia Marsh (in memory of Lois Tait)
• SDERy 508 Refurbishment (Fund C33) - William Lange, Marvin & Barbara Meyer
• ATSF 98/108 Refurbishment (Fund C41) - Wayne Barnhart, Bob Davis,
Daniel LaMantain-Leatherman
• SP 1006 Refurbishment (Fund C56/A17) - Carl Pickus, George Thursby
• PE Hollywood Cars (Fund M7/C37) - Mike Haddock
• VC2 Ventura County No 2 (Fund M10/C51) – Anonymous
• Unrestricted Endowment (Fund E1) – Zeke Hastings
T
hank you to those of
you who have already
opted to receive the
Gazette via email. As an extra
benefit, the emailed version will
now include color pictures! If you
would like to join the growing list
of members who have opted for
email delivery, please send an
email to Sharilin Peters at
sharilin@ix.netcom.com.
Please include your member
number in the email. Thank you in
advance for saving the museum the
cost of printing and postage.
Orange Empire Railway Museum 23
To: Orange Empire Railway Museum
DONATION REQUEST - (Tax deductible receipt will be mailed to you)
P.O. Box 548
Perris, CA 92572-0548
Amount
General Fund:
GF General Fund
Supports Operational Budget
$__________________
E1
Richards
Supports Unrestricted Projects
$__________________
E3
Niedrich
Supports Restoration Projects
$__________________
E4
Red Cars Endow
Supports Pacific Electric Program
$__________________
E5
Gagnon
Supports Steam Program
$__________________
Current Capital
B11
Archives Building Provide Space for Archives and Harvey Museum
$__________________
and Restoration
B22
Perris Connection
OERM Track to Perris Depot
$__________________
Projects:
C2
LATL 2601
1930 LATL Street Car
$__________________
C33
SDERy 508
1936 SDERy Street Car
$__________________
C36
PE 498
1913 PE Interurban
$__________________
C41
ATSF 98-108
1967 FP-45 Locomotive
$__________________
C56
SP 1006
1939 SP SW-1 Locomotive
$__________________
Endowment Funds:
Other Projects:
_____ _______________________________________
$__________________
_____ _______________________________________
$__________________
Total $__________________
Member Number:_________________
Cash: $____________
Name:__________________________________
Check: $____________
Credit Card: Visa
Master Card
Date:___________________
American Express
Discover
Card No: _______ _______ _______ _______ Sec Code: ______ Expires:________ Signature: ______________________
Thank You