f'- .'-. 'i,

•ilssue 92|; ::SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA:; : January, 1973!;

THE VIEW FROM THE CUPOLAH. C. Kerr,_Jr_,, President

HAPPY NEW YEAR - PSRMA's goal of estab-lishing an operating public museum ofrailroading and urban rail transit, whilea worthwhile mission, has become a monu-mental task, yet unaccomplished. To real-ize this goal 1973 will be the most impor-tant year in the Association history.

Ground will be broken for the perman-ent Museum facilities in 1973. but to re-alize this objective the total effort andcommitment of all PSRMA members will be

Your administrative staff pled-to work vigorously during 1973the growth and prosperity of

required,ges itselfto insurePSRMA.

A RECAP - Looking back on the past twelvemonths I can see much progress to be proudof and some setbacks to view with dismay.

Some of the 1972 pluses werei+ Suitable land was located in Campo

for the Museum facilities.+ The San Diego & Arizona Eastern

Railway is agreeable to providing rail ac-cess to the site from their mainline*

+ All leases for storage of rollingstock have been renewed for one year more.

+ The annual Puerto Penasco excursionwas the most successful ever conducted.

+ General Meeting attendance in Bal-boa Park has increased, although there isroom for improvement.

+ Good publicity was received in thelocal newspapers and television and radio.Excellent coverage was given to our landneeds and equipment acquisitions.

+ Barring unexpected difficulty withCongressional approval, PSRMA received thedonation of an ex-Army ^5-ton General E-lectric center-cab diesel switcher.

+ Turnouts improved at recent workparties and restoration projects.

Some of the 1972 minuses werei- Liberation Mikado 1MR1199 is still

stranded in France for lack of funds ordonated services to ship to San Diego.

(continued on page 3, column 1)

THE VIEW FRCM THE CABDick Pennick, General Superintendent

It's a new year, hopefully one whichwill see us acquire our permanent homeand begin our long-awaited Museum devel-opment. A personal "hello" to all newmembers.

The response to our call for help onthe December 9th project activity was en-couraging. Even Mother Nature showed upwith her freinds Rain and Mud. The wea-ther threatened so bad, in fact, that theactivity was postponed to SATURDAY, JANU-ARY 13TH. A word to our new members andothers regarding our project activity po-licy » Unless otherwise advertised, allinterested parties should call the Gener-al Superintendent in advance at U63-2276to let him know they plan to help out.Otherwise we have no way of knowing howmany helpers we can expect on a givenday. Usually, if no calls are received,Important projects may be cancelled. Thisis often an embarrassing as well as frus-trating experience since much planning,and maybe other parties (like the SeaBeesrecently) have been set up in advance forthat day.

December 9th, although aborted, didshow that our members still care and areanxious to help get the Job done! To allof youi Thanks, and hang tight 'til Jan-uary 13th.

Mr. and Mrs. Hern Ruiz have gracious-ly offered to provide seme of the paintneeded to restore our old wooder refrig-erator car at MCRD. Incidentally, ourex-Master Mechanic Bob DiGiorgio is backin the fold after a somewhat disappoint-ing stint with a missionary group. He hasreturned to his M.M. spot on the Museumstaff and will be taking over the reeferrestoration project as foreman. ContactBob at 565-^52 if you would like to lenda hand. If you've ever wondered what areefer looks like on the inside, this isyour chance.

PSRMA LOCOMOTIVE LEASED TO NATIONAL CITYRAIL-CRIENTED RESTAURANT

PSRMA13 oldest locomotive, the ex-CRI&P £82, has been leased to The Depotin National City. The Depot is the SantaFe freight station in that city current-ly leased to local businessman Milt Pol-lard.

Pollard is converting the old struc-ture into one of San Diego's finest gour-met restaurants. The original charm ofthe building is being coupled with a com-plete display of rolling stock and memor-ibilia to create a rail-oriented atmos-phere.

PSRMA Board of Directors approvedthe terms of the two year lease at itsDecember meeting, and on December 29ththe locomotive was moved from its storagesite in the yard of the Scrap DisposalCompany half a mile south to the 2^thStreet depot site.

The locomotive was donated earlierthis year to PSRMA by Jerome Williams,owner of Scrap Disposal. Although not arailfan per se it was Williams' farsight-edness that preserved this historic Jew-el.

The locomotive, a small 0-4-OT, wasbuilt in 1884 at the Silvis, Illinoisshops of the Chicago, Rock Island & Paci-fic Railroad. In 1904 it was sold to theUnion Sugar Company and moved to SanFrancisco. It served a variety of jobsin California until acquired by Williamsin 1948. He moved the locomotive by truckfrom Los Angeles to the Scrap Disposalyard in 1958. It had remained there un-til the recent move to The Depot.

Under the terms for the lease, thelocomotive will receive surface restora-tion, and preservation, by Pollard. Asthe schedule calls for The Depot to openin early 1973 the #82 will receive a com-plete facelifting in relatively short or-der.

PSRMA member John Hathaway has beenassigned as an advisor under terms of thelease to aid in the restoration and pro-tect operating mechanisms on the engine.Mechanically the locomotive is in verygood shape and quite feasibly will bereturned to operating condition when iteventually moves to the permanent Museumsite. But for the time being, it's pay-ing its own restoration costs and helpingexpose PSRMA to the general public.

DEMOLITION OF SANTA FE SAN DIEGO DEPOTDELAYED BY CITY COUNCIL ACTION

While the future for the NationalCity Santa Fe depot is secure the comingdays for the huge passenger depot indowntown San Diego are uncertain.

Recently the San Diego city councilthwarted Santa Fe plans to begin demoli-tion of the 63 year old structure for180 days. The railroad wants to replacethe depot with a $l4-million developmentcomplex.

The city council took the delayingaction in hopes of obtaining a $1.6-mil-lion grant from the Federal governmentand converting the Spanish-style build-ing into a central transportation facil-ity while retaining its unique architec-tural heritage.

A Santa Fe official commented thecity's actions delaying demolition mightwell Jeopardize Santa Fe's plans for anew Amtrak station, mall, and businesscomplex on the Kettner and Broadway lo-cation.

MEMBERSHIP NEWS

The highly successful Puerto Penascotrip paid off some extra dividends in acrop of new PSRMA members. We'd like totake this opportunity to welcome all thenewcomerst

CONTRIBUTINGWerner Eilers, 27^3 Via Arroyo,

Fallbrook, CA 92028William A. Hammond, 12939 Caminito

Bodega, Del Mar, CA 92014Catherine D. Hart, P.O. Box 236,

Brawley, CA 9222?Nora R. Hailebrook, 681 "I", C-13,

Chula Vista, CA 92010Dr. Edward M. Little, 972 Mountain

View Road, El Cajon, CA 92021Mrs. Angeline Mroz, 4079 Eagle St.,

San Diego, CA 92103Edward R. Osborn, IC1 525-68-1876,

"R" Division, USS Brooke (DEG-1), % FPOSan Francisco, CA 96601

Fred B. Otto, 3756 Putter Dr., Bon-ita, CA 92002

Thomas E. Sandlin, 2944 Bautis-ta St., Riverside, CA 92506

G. C. Swalm, 1621 San Altos Place,Lemon Grove, CA 92045

(continued on page 3* column 2)

THE VIEW FROM THE CUPOLA(continued from page lT"

- 1972 was the second year in severalthat we were not able to have a membershipsteamup.

- Thirty months have passed since thegeneral public has had access to our dis-plays. This is a grave step backwardst weare not meeting our chartered educationalfunctions.

- Money was, as always, in short sup-ply, and efforts to secure major contribu-tions ended in failure.

- Vandalism occured on the Shay andcar #576. No major damage was evident.

- Membership leveled off after sever-al years of growth.

- The leased baggage-lounge car, ex-Santa Fe #1303, was sold by its owner.

- The Russell snow plow is being soldbecause of lack of funds to move it to SanDiego. It had to be moved from its prev-ious storage site prior to January 1st.

PSRMA'S NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTIONS!1. Land for permanent Museum facili-

ties will be obtained and development be-gun.

2. New sources of financial assis-tance will be explored.

3. A vigorous public relations, pro-motion, and educational program will bestarted.

4. All vacant administrative staffpositions will be filled.

5. Membership commitment and involv-ment will increase.

6. Additional restoration, preserva-tion, and maintenance projects will be un-dertaken.

Our work has been cut out for us. Letus all support PSRMA to the limit of ourabilities. 1973 MUST be the turning point.Your elected officers and volunteer staffcannot do the whole Job by themselves.THEY NEED YOUR HELP! THEY NEED YOU NOWAnyone who wants to contribute his or hertalents please give me a call at 291-478?.

MEMBERSHIP BADGES - These are still avail-able from Dick Pennick for a very nominalcharge and can be obtained by any member.These attractive badges are the ideal wayto help get our name across at all Associ-ation- sponsored functions.

MEMBERSHIP NEWS(continued from page 2)

REGULARiJoseph G. Albo, 4339^ North Avenue,

San Diego, CA 92116Carol Lande, 8633 La Mesa Boulevard,

Apt. 88, La Mesa, CA 92041 (Carol is oneof the first to renew for 1973!)

Milt Pollard, % The Depot, 24th andHarrison, National City, CA

Two of our staff officials have mov-ed recently. If you have any questionsconcerning Stores & Purchasing, TerryDurkin's new address is 3754 Pringle St.,San Diego, CA 92103. And Director ofRecords & Personnel John Hathaway hasmoved to 2926 Copley Avenue, San Diego,CA 92116.

The final address change this monthis for Regular member Ward Peterson, P.O.Box 5^7, Alpine, CA 92001.

Next month's REPORT will include aMembership Application/Renewal Form for1973 memberships. We're updating some ofthe information on the form and that'swhy it's coming out a month late. Previ-ous year's memberships are good throughApril 15th, so you'll still receive RE-PORT issues.

PSRMA ANNUAL DINNER TO BE HELD AT HOTELISLANDIA SUNDAY. JANUARY 21ST. 6 P.MT

Enclosed with this issue of REPORTis the special brochure/order form forthe 1973 PSRMA Annual Dinner and Instal-lation of Officers.

This is the number one PSRMA socialfunction of the year and if at all possi-ble you should attend for a number ofreasonsi

The Hotel Islandia is one of the ni-cest dining spots in the city.

Succulent dinners of braised Swisssteak or roast turkey are offered at thevery reasonable price of $4.80.

An intriguing evening of entertain-ment in planned.

And more....If you've lost your Annual Dinner

brochure, contact George Geyer, 2928 FirStreet, San Diego, CA 92102, or call himat 234-0555.

WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HSLPt UPCOMING PSRMAWORK PARTIES AND PROJECTS SCHEDULED

The December 9th work party schedul-ed to consolidate the Museum's smallercollection items was postponed because ofthe untimely appearance of wind and rain.However, this very important session hasbeen RESCHEDULED for SATURDAY, JANUARY13TH, and possibly extended to the FOL-LOWING SUNDAY. With the cooperation ofthe SeaBees there will be no heavy workfor Museum members, but the large numbersof smaller items can be handled much ea-sier and quicker with extra hands help-ing out. All the items to be moved, andthey're pretty well scattered at variouslocations thoughout the county, ar« to betransported to the Association's new sitefor storage at the County's Valley Cen-ter maintenance yard near Escondido.

General Superintendent Dick Pennickis coordinating this effort, so he's theone to call RIGHT AWAY if you can helpout either day. He has to have time toform the plan of attack for this large u-ndertaking, so give him a call at ^3-22?6in the evenings or weekends right away ifyou can possibly help.

Another job facing us is the restor-ation of the PSRMA refrigerator car nowin storage at MCRD. Part of our agree-ment with the Marines was to maintain thecar in presentable shape. Well, it needsa paint job. Mr. and Mrs. Herb Ruiz havebeen kind enough to donate the paint, so

(continued on top of next column)

the only thing remaining is a little la-bor. Master Mechanic Bob DiGiorgio ishandling this project, and if you're in-terested in helping out with this one,give him a call at 565-̂ 52. The firstsession on this project is scheduled forFebruary 3rd and ^th, a Saturday and Sun-day. This will be preparing the car forthe paint job, so call Bob if you can.

Negotiations are continuing to movesmoothly ahead on the lease terms for apossible PERMANENT MUSEUM SITE in theCampo area in east San Diego County. Wemust develop a reliable source of incometo pay basic lease costs as well as de-velopment expenses for trackage, Museumbuildings, etc.

To meet the expenses for developmentof our ultimate goal, the Associationwill have to undertake the most seriousfund raising job in its history. Thehighly successful Puerto Penasco trips,plus our annual membership dues, havecarried PSRMA along since its inception.But when we make the first step towardsa permanent operating Museum these sour-ces of incoae just aren't going to do italone.

President Chop Kerr is currentlyworking on this financial crisis thatwill face us. If you have any ideas, anytalents that could possibly help out, anyform of skill and labor you'd be willingto donate, any almost anything that wouldhelp, PLEASE contact Chop and let kinknow what is available as resources with-in our own Association structure.

PSRMA REPORT

P.O. BOX 12096

SAN DIEGO

CALIF. 92112

NON-PROFIT ORGU.S. POSTAGE

paid

SAN DIEGO, GALPERMIT NO. 37**