REPORT 16-4
WALTER HAYWARD, MUSEUM COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN, REPORTS that his committee inspected a possible right-of-way in the Otay Ranch but has made no official contacts regarding the property. The Committee is awaiting further word about the Silver Strand project. Stanton Kerr, Charles Gerdes and Walter met to discuss.the work project mentioned previously. Committee will re-survey members' interests and aptitudes.
TERRY DURKIN, DWIGHT COUCH, VIC KOENIGSBERG, BILL WOOTTON, AND GEORGE GEYER went up to O.E.T. January 24, 1965 for a work party. They removed a frog from the standard MW spur and put in straight track. The group will go north again Sunday, February 28, 1965 for the Seventh Anniversary. Call Bill Wootton at 264-7876 if you'd like to go. It'll be a grand day at O.E.T. as much operation is planned. (Feb 27 also.)
TERRY DURKIN, WALTER HAYWARD AND WALLY DUTHIE combined forces to provide motor equipment and arrange for railway permission for a grand outing on Sunday, February 7. Three motor or section cars, one with a trailer, left the Mexicali station and made it to El Doctor with stops for radiator problems, one broken drive belt and a bad order gasoline float. Looked bad at El Doctor - one car possibly with a damaged motor and another with a gasoline float out of commission. The motor was not burned out and some tape fixed up the gasoline float unit. The return trip was uneventful except that the three section "train" made it into Mexicali just 10 minutes ahead of the departure time for the southbound passenger train. About 12 fans and two FSBC employees made the trip. On behalf of the guests the editor says "thank you."
THE INTER-CAL IS NO MORE. For two or three miles south of the border Inter-Cal's rail is now in a middle reserved section in a divided highway. The old Inter-Cal station is gone and apparently the General Office is now being used as an uptown FSBC ticket office. Ferrocarril Sonora-Baja California has taken over and SP locomotives no longer cross the border ---except perhaps for interchange work. Several FSBC locomotives were seen February 7 in the FSBC yards. We're not sure of the details but SD&AE's Welton Grosdidier said Inter-Cal no longer has any. employees and the change was effected in mid-1964. How did we miss that? Switches at the FSBC Mexicali station and at Pascualitos are now lined for FSBC trains.
FERROCARRIL SONORA-BAJA CALIFORNIA. Coahuila now has a train, length concrete platform complete with light standards. Switches are in at both ends for the installation of a southbound track on the west side of the station....New rail and ties are being installed between Riito and El Doctor - at least for a good portion of the distance.
WE ALMOST FORGOT THE EXCURSION NEWS. 1. RHSofSD Santa Fe trip to O.E.T. at Perris has been postponed. Real good reasons - no equipment and O.E.T. very busy. 2. Good news! Wally Duthie's Roaming Tours is running a special train on a one day excursion May 30 from Mexicali to Puerto Penasco and return. Train will stop 20 minutes at the death-site graves of the surveyors who lost their lives. Crosses at the graves are faithfully maintained. Then there'll be a 90 minute layover at the far end of the Puerto Penasco "branch" - right in town. 3. PSRMA may run its Calico trip on October 24. At least it is tentatively scheduled for that date.
PSRMA MEMBERS. With the duplicator which PSRMA is helping Dispatcher acquire we hope to issue Reports regularly every second month & we hope to run local rail news on a regular basis. You can keep us provided with information. We have much news but this time it will be run with Dispatcher - which we're working on during the next two weeks. If you haven't subscribed to Dispatcher please remember that PSRMA urges you to do so. $1 for four issues - and there'll be three between now and December 31. Charles Kent has sent us some news which will be in the next Dispatcher, including the exact consist of a SD&AE mainline train. It's interesting to examine. Those of you who watch the Santa Fe and the lines up Los Angeles way send us the news..... Finally - editors of exchange publications: let us know which issues of Report we failed to forward you. We got sort of careless. (Eric S.)
Many, many folk owe dues to PSRMA, to RHSofSD, and to O.E.T. and E.R.A. Pay up!
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