FROM THE CUPOLA

This past month has been hectic for your president. What with Income Tax reports, serving on Superior Court jury duty, and a host of other distractions, I have not been able to put together any "Pearls of Wisdom." However, least you not be forgotten, I submit the following.

Hello..Hello...Is anyone out there? Sometimes your officers and directors have the feeling that they are guiding a Phantom Ship. Serving in administrative positions is a lonely task at best. Especially so if the feedback is not regularly received from the POM (Plain Old Member). PSRMA isn't exactly a rudderless ship, but the shoals along the way to our ultimate destination can be better navigated if the POM keeps in touch. We want and need your ideas, be it constructive criticism or full support. But most of all, PSRMA can benefit from a constant flow of POM's. The Administrative Staff can't begin to attack all the tasks that have to be done without your help. So the more active workers we can muster, the better. Let us hear from you and see you all soon; don't delay, it's later than you think.

The next General Membership Meeting is Sunday, April 18th, at 7:00 P.M., so mark your calender. The place is the La Sala Room, House of Hospitality in Balboa Park. This new location has ample and well lighted parking. The ladies should especially appreciate the La Sala Room; it offers very pleasant and comfortable furnishings for up to eighty persons. See you all there.

Some bad news along with the good. For the past eleven months our equipment has been safely stored at the Miramar Naval Air Station. Well, that record fell some time during the past six weeks. The Shay locomotive had the left builder's plate removed and stolen. Since the discovery of the theft the other plate has been removed for safe keeping. This act emphasizes what PSRMA is going to be up against when we move into our permanent site. Around the clock protection of equipment will be a must; be it a watchman, watch dogs, alarms, what have you. Any volunteers for a live-in train sitter? Or, who has the Shotgun and Will Patrol...?

Help..your Report editor. Jerry Windle, needs news items and short articles. It is impossible for one person to fill these pages. So dust off your typewriter and send in all the news and rumors too.

The battle to protect the environment has been engaged on all fronts nationwide. In particular California has blitzkrieged the perpetrators of air pollution. San Diego County is in the forefront of this campaign for clean air. In fact, I believe San Diego County has the strongest requirements of any locality in the U. S. The governing body is the Air Pollution Control District for San Diego County. The current rules and regulations are applicable to the part of the county west of a north-south line through Harbison Canyon, and in the near future prohibitations will be county-wide. PSRMA operation of steam or diesel locomotives are governed by these rules. We are probably exempt from having to pay for a permit to operate, but we may have some trouble meeting rules 50 and 53 when burning coal or fuel oil. In part the requirements are: a) a person shall not discharge into the atmosphere from any single source air contaminants for an aggragate of three minutes in any one hour as dark as that designated as Number 2 on the Ringelmann Chart, b) No single source may discharge into the atmosphere sulpher dioxide over 0.2 percent by volume and/or combustion contaminants over 0.3 grain per cubic foot of gas....Anyone for trolleys?

Reminder...renew your membership in PSRMA if you have not already done so. April is the cut off for 1970 members. Renew now so that you will not miss a single issue of the Report or miss the chance to participate in the exciting events planned for the coming year.

H. Chalmers Kerr, Jr,
President