September 2007 Newsletter - Nor-Cal Train Collectors Association

NORTHERN CA LIFORNIA DIVISION-TRAIN COLLECTORS ASSOCIATION
the
NOR -CAL EXPRESS
See the Nor-Cal Express in
FULL COLOR
at www.norcaltca.com
Following the recent election, the following officers
were elected to serve for the 2007-2008 Fiscal
Year:
President: Bob Nichelini
Vice President: Rod Cornell (new officer)
Secretary: Cliff Jarrard*
Treasurer: Pete Goodier
*Jack De’Angelo was elected but was unable to assume office. Cliff Jarrard volunteered to fill the vacancy.
September 8, 2007 (LVMH)
October 13 (LVMH)
Nov. 2-4 Cal-Stewart Pasadena (TTOS sponsored)
November 10 (LVMH)
December 8 (LVMH)
January 12, 2008 (LVMH)
February 9 (LVMH)
March 14-16 Cal-Stewart
Santa Clara
April 12 (LVMH)
May 24 (SRT)
June 14 (LVMH)
LVMH=Lafayette Veterans
Memorial Hall, 3780 Mt.
Diablo Blvd., Lafayette
(see map on p. 7)
SRT = Scottish Rite Temple 6151 “H” St. Sacto.
Business Meeting: 9:30 AM
Trading: 10-11:30 AM
PRESIDENT’S
MESSAGE
by Bob Nichelini # 81-16938
CONGRATULATIONS
NEW NOR-CAL
OFFICERS FOR 2007-2008
FUTURE MEETS
September
2007
WELCOME NEW
MEMBERS
Frank Atkinson,
Atascadero
Marshall Droese, San
Mateo
Robert Gomes, Menlo Park
Gerald Herbert, Dunsmuir
Jane Howard, Carmichael
Don Johnson, Pleasant Hill
David Kreutzinger, Concord
Frederick Lienhard, Reno
Carl Miller, San Jose
Don Nehring, Pacifica
David Payne, Fremont
07-61051 Robert Rhodes,
Loomis
07-61144 Jeff Schuster,
Oakland
As I write this we have just
completed our second meet at
the new Lafayette Veterans’ Memorial Building. During the business meeting, there was substantial discussion regarding the location of future meets.
As many of you know, after holding our monthly
meets at Montera Middle School in Oakland for
more than 25 years, we have found that the Oakland
Unified School District is just too difficult to deal with:
Use permits were often delayed and on numerous
occasion no one showed up to unlock the building or
set up the tables. Therefore we have been looking
for a new location with better facilities, while retaining a relatively central Bay Area location with adequate parking. So far, the best alternative is Lafayette. We have booked the Veterans’ Memorial
Building through December of this year and will continue to reevaluate other alternatives. If Oakland
ever gets their “act together” we may want to return
to Montera School. Only time will tell.
I was truly sorry that President Michael Andrews
decided not to run for another term. He did an absolutely excellent job and will be impossible to replace.
Additionally, since the winning candidate for Secretary withdrew following the election of officers, Cliff
Jarrard graciously volunteered to fill the position.
Cliff has many years of experience on the Nor-Cal
Board and I am sure he will do an excellent job.
However, no one, but no one, can replace Mark
Boyd as Secretary. During his term in office, Mark
developed a computerized membership data base
second to none and never failed to get important information out the membership. Fortunately for TCA
National, but unfortunately for Nor-Cal, Mark has become Editor of the Train Collectors Quarterly and
has only so much time available in his busy life to
deal with train collecting matters.
Finally, Richard White will continue as your Newsletter Editor. I’m sure you realize that Richard has
been producing the best Nor-Cal Newsletters ever.
See you next meet.
Bob Nichelini
INTERESTING TINPLATE ITEMS
Page 2
Left and above: Standard Gauge Thorley Hoople trolley, approx. 1967. The inscription on the bottom reads
“Merry Christmas Warren, Sheila, Jeff and Suzzy—
from Thorley Hoople, December 1967.” Thorley Hoople
trains were manufactured by Nor Cal member Tad
Cody (deceased) of Palo Alto. Owner: Warren Hyde
Above (two photos): An early version of Lionel’s No. 127 tunnel, with a factory-installed (soldered-in) tinplate
liner. Lionel must have found the liner to be an unnecessary expense as subsequent tunnels had no liner.
Owner: Rod Cornell
Owner: Craig Miller
Above (two photos): Marklin #1031 Gauge 1 clockwork locomotive, modeled after the NYCHR S1 type. This
rare loco is lithographed, and dates from the 1920”s. It is missing its pilots, headlight and pantograph. Craig
picked it up last year at York along with some Bing passenger cars. For additional details on the S1 type, see
the March 2004 “Express,” page 7.
INTERESTING TINPLATE ITEMS—continued
Page 3
Photo 1
Photo 2
Photo 3
Owner:
Owner:Rod
RodCornell
Cornell
Three rare Ives O-Gauge streetcars from the Warren
Heid collection: Photo 1- This #801 (early type) is the
earliest, 1904-1910. It also came in a plain black body.
Photo 2– This is the #800 trolley, 1909-1913. It has a
movable cowcatcher. Photo 3- The #801 (later type)
“Newark” trolley, 1912-1913, was the last of Ives’
small trolleys, and has the same body and roof as the
passenger car with the same name. These are all
clockwork-powered, and each came in a set with a
circle of 2-rail track and a metal overhead trolley wire
supported by poles that fastened to the track. Apparently the streetcars in Photos 1 and 3 are rare enough
that none were available to photograph for inclusion
in Greenberg’s Ives Trains, Volume 1.
Owner: Rod Cornell
Above: This late nineteenth century J. Bateman & Co. (England)
live steam “Dribbler” dates 18951910 (approx.). Locos of this type
earned the name “Dribblers” owing to their profuse leakage of hot
water when running!
Above right: 1902 “O” Bing set is
live-steam pow ered! Right:
Weeden live steam loco, O gauge.
Owner: Craig Miller
RICHARD ZANOTTI FINDS ‘EM– IRA KEELER RESTORES ‘EM!
PART 1—WINDMILL/DREDGE
By Richard Zanotti
#97-44625
Page 4
Photo 2
Photo 2
Photo 1
I picked up this steam toy accessory at the Spring CalStewart Meet. It had been well played with! The lithographed
windmill was detached and missing its rotor. The base was bent
and overall there were many nicks and scratches.
I found a similar toy of page 171 of Steam Toys, a Symphony
in Motion, by Morton A. Herschberg. This publication indicated that this toy was manufactured by Mohr,
Krauss and Sawyer around 1905.
Ira Keeler was able to restore this toy to its original showroom appearance. He straightened and repainted the base and the dredge. He restored the lithography on the windmill tower. He was even able to
fabricate a new, correctly embossed, rotor. For this he used thin copper sheet, pressed into a wooden die
using a vise as a press. Finally, he fabricated a new flag. [note that the toy is belt-driven from a separate steam boiler –Ed.].
Photo 4
Photos 1 and 2: The restored toy
Photo 4
Photo 3: A page from Steam Toys…, showing a similar toy,
a Mohr & Krauss Windmill, with a pump and reservoir,
circa 1905.
Photo 4: A scan of a photo showing the rough condition of
the item, prior to restoring.
Photo 3
Photo 6
PART 2– ELECTRIC CARETTE CROSSING
Page 5
After
Before
This early electrified crossing caught my attention on Ebay. From its shape I determined that it had
been made by Carette, a French firm doing business in Germany prior to World War I.
When I received the crossing I examined it and discovered that it was made to be easily taken apart by
removing a couple of pins. I discovered that it had an electric motor as advertised in Carette’s 1911 catalog. It looks as if a bell had been attached to the left side of the house on the crossing. The bell would be
struck by a spring mounted striker coming up from the motor. The missing crossing gate remains to be
constructed, however I haven’t been able to locate this exact crossing in a Carette catalog, for details.
VOLTAMP “FACTORY SPECIAL” THIRTY-INCH PASSENGER COACH
Note: Chuck owns the other
30-inch car as well.
This is one of two Voltamp factory-built 30inch long one-gauge passenger cars, circa 191418, possibly constructed to exhibit at the 1915
Panama-Pacific Exposition in San Francisco.
Voltamps' owner had a number of children,
and "ADELEDNA" is a combination of his children Adel and Edna. This name was used on
several versions of Voltamp passenger cars and
on the later version of the 2115 Interurban.
Owner Chuck Schaffer restored the exterior of
this car to match the existing paint color and
texture on the interior and underside. He put
“Adeledna” on the car assuming the factory
would probably have done the same, owing to
its length. The graphics on the restoration
match the original in terms of letter/number
style and method of application (dry transfer).
KEMTRONS’S HO GAUGE TOONERVILLE TROLLEY
By Robert Chappell #96-44144
For years the Toonerville trolley and crew have been favorites of mine, and a favorite study. Fontaine
Fox, one of the most popular cartoonists of the last century, created his nationally syndicated “Toonerville
Folks” strip in 1916. The strip was last published in February,
Photo 1
1955. At its peak, the cartoon was in nearly 300 newspapers.
The first commercial comic book, “Famous Funnies,” published
in July 1934, included the trolley and her friends.
The most famous of Fox’s characters was this careening
“trolley” that met all trains at the depot. Indeed, the decrepit
“Toonerville Trolley’ became an American slang term for a
third-rate railroad.
Kemtron became a player in the model railroad industry by
the mid-fifties, and that’s where our story begins. Kemtron, a
maker of high-quality kit locomotives, rolling stock and detail
parts in several different gauges, approached Fontaine Fox
about producing an HO gauge model of the little trolley. Kemtron received permission, and in 1954 the trolley made its debut in the hobby market. Photo 2 shows the original box for the
Toonerville and Photo 3 shows the underside “permission.”
The piece was made fully of brass, soldered together, was
2-1/2 inches long, and was fully painted. It could be purchased
as an unpowered unit or one powered using a Kemtron 4wheel #KL-66 power truck with a bronze frame. The unpowered unit cost $11.50, while the powered unit cost $25.00.
Kemtron considered the unit a kit, since the purchaser was required to install a single screw to attach the
superstructure to the power unit. The Kemtron Toonerville, unlike some other Toonervilles, did not have
offset axles to provide a wobbling forward motion. The power truck is shown in Photo 4. The trolley is, of
course, grossly oversize for HO scale.
I know of three color variations at this time, and they are:
(1) a unit painted with a basic orange body, a red lower
frame with black ends and a red trim line just
below a black roof and cupola.
(2) a basic light orange body with a red lower frame and
ends with a light orange roof and cupola.
(3) a light orange body with a red lower frame, ends, roof
and cupola (see illustration).
Some Kemtron Toonervilles come with the “Skipper,” the bewhiskered motorman.
The Kemtron Toonerville is quite rare, indicating that not many were manufactured! One sold on Ebay
in July 2007 for $95.
Photo 2
Three photos by Dick McNary #66-1471
Photo 3
Photo 4
Nor-Cal Board of Directors Meeting Minutes June 20, 2007
Page 7
A Nor-Cal TCA Board meeting was held on June 20, 2007, Back Forty BBQ in San Ramon.
Meeting began at 7:30 PM.
Present: Michael Andrews, Cliff Jarrard, Richard White, Pete Goodier, Mark Boyd, Rod Cornell, Jack D’Angelo
Absent: Bob Nichelini, Chapter representatives.
No minutes were available for approval. It is unclear who took minutes as the secretary was late arriving at that
meeting.
Cliff M/S/C to adopt proposed schedule for 2007
July 14, Lafayette Veteran’s Memorial Hall, Lafayette, CA
August 11, Lafayette Veteran’s Memorial Hall, Lafayette, CA
September 8, Lafayette Veteran’s Memorial Hall, Lafayette, CA
October 13, Lafayette Veteran’s Memorial Hall, Lafayette, CA
November 10 Lafayette Veteran’s Memorial Hall, Lafayette, CA
December 8, Lafayette Veteran’s Memorial Hall, Lafayette, CA
January 12, 2008 Lafayette Veteran’s Memorial Hall, Lafayette, CA
February 9, 2008 undecided location
March 14, 15, 16, 2008 Cal Stewart Meet at the Santa Clara Convention Center
April 12, 2008, undecided location
May 24, 2008 Sacramento Scottish Rite Temple, Sacramento, CA
June 14, 2008 undecided location
Nor-Cal Express
Richard White, Editor
7 Francisca Drive, Moraga,
CA 94556-1583
Phone: (925) 376-5821
Email: toytrain13@hotmail.com
Mike Andrews volunteered to chair the 2008 Cal Stewart assisted by Cliff and Rod Cornell, (Mike M/S/C)
2008 Cal Stewart Convention Center Contract reviewed, Cliff M/S/C approval
Hotel rates were discussed. More information is needed.
Progress on the 2011 National Convention was discussed.
Mike will provide the National Rules and Regulations Committee with a set of Nor-Cal By-Laws.
Mark M/S/C, 50th Anniversary Party Breakfast to be catered at the September meet.
Rod Cornell volunteered to be the Nor-Cal Standards Committee Representative.
Adjourned at 9:31 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Mark C. Boyd, Secretary
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Mt. Diab
LVMH 3780 Mt. Diablo Blvd.
Road
Central
Lafayette
Exit
GETTING TO THE LAFAYETTE VETERANS
MEMORIAL HALL (LVMH)
eek
to Walnut Cr
lo Blvd.
From Oakland:
Take the Oak Hill Road Exit (Lafayette)
Turn right onto Oak Hill Road
Turn right onto Mt. Diablo Blvd. (at the
traffic signal)
Continue on (about 0.8 mile) to LVMH
on the right
(Alternate route: Take the Acalanes Road
exit; at the stop sign at the end of the
off-ramp continue straight across to Mt.
Diablo Blvd, continue to LVMH on left).
From Walnut Creek:
Take the Central Lafayette-Moraga Exit
Turn left onto Deer Hill Road at the end
of the off-ramp (at the traffic signal)
Continue on Deer Hill Road, past the
BART station, to Happy Valley Road
Turn left onto Happy Valley Road
Turn right onto Mt. Diablo Blvd. (at the
traffic signal)
Continue on (about 0.5 mile) to LVMH
on the right.
JUST
TRAINS
TIN PLATE
JUNCTION
Toy and Model
Trains, all gauges; layouts; die cast
vehicles; toy train repairs
681- 4th Street, Oakland (510) 444-4780
Hours: Mon-Fri 12-6 PM Saturday 10-6 PM
Sunday 12-5 PM
Submit all address changes to: Secretary
Cliff arrard—e-mail: cliff@cliffjarrard.com
Website: www.Tinplatejn.com
E-mail: toytrains@msn.com
the
Largest Selection in the East Bay
Friendly help for the young and the young at heart
O-scale Hi-Rail and Tinplate , G, HO and N
5650-H Imhoff Drive, Concord
Tues-Fri
Thurs.
Sat.
Sun.
10-5:30 PM
10-7:00 PM
10-5:00 PM
12-4:00 PM
Joan Bradford, Owner
Website: www.just-trains.com
(925) 685-6566
FAX: (925) 685-7997
NOR-CAL EXPRESS