Friends of Southern Nevada Railway, Inc.

Membership Meeting

 

5 November, 2009

 

According to Article V, Section 1, of the By-Laws a quorum was present to conduct FNSR business.

 

Chuck Brandt called the meeting to order at 10:01AM.

Motion to approve the minutes of the October meeting by Rusty Elliot, Seconded by Carl Friedrichs. Unanimously approved.

Treasurer report:

 Bob Freedman announced that our bank balance as of 1 October was $6,378.54 plus $11,500 in a CD account from the dissolution of So. NV chapter of NRHS. October income was $1235.54 and expenses were $511.19. Ending bank balance was $7102.89.    

Income Details:			Expense Details:
Memberships	$470.00		Monthly Credit Card Fees	$43.03
Donations	$265.00		Water for Sale	$7.50
Water sales	$ 98.00		Cart for Donation Box	$41.34
#97 Revenue	$402.54		503 Car Renovation	$419.32
TOTAL	$1235.54		TOTAL	$511.19

 

Standing Committee reports

 

Restoration – Carl Friedrichs reported on RPO work. The outside has been painted, work was done on the diaphragm, and lighting is completed. Lettering will be done within the next 2 weeks and racks and mailbags will be added inside. Mannequins may be added for effect as people are allowed to walk through the car when it is completed. Both Carl and Frank Lea thanked all the volunteers, including ‘Choo choo” Greg Tombaugh and Garold Osborn, for their efforts.

 

Carl thanked Frank Lea, outgoing chairman of the Restoration committee, for his efforts and suggested that in the future the Restoration committee be restructured to consist of Project Leaders for each project who can be on site more than one day a week to oversee projects. Each Project Leader would be responsible directly to the board

 

Frank Lea reported that union representatives from the various trade unions were on site to look into charitable work they could undertake as their contribution to the community. The unions would provide all labor and materials for various projects to be identified later, including repairing/replacing flooring in the ADA and open air cars, re-painting the 844 and caboose, etc. The representatives came to the NSRM as a result of Choo Choo Greg’s efforts.

Membership – Since Roger Himka was occupied on a special train run, there was no formal membership report. However, Chuck Brandt announced that there were approximately 7 new members for October. John Orth was introduced as one of the new members, who has been on site almost daily working on restoration of the 503 car and other tasks in addition to weekend duty on the train.

Old Business

          There was no old business.

 

New Business

The 503 open air car is nearly ready for use during the Santa trains to run with a locomotive and possibly the WP caboose to carry more passengers to the boneyard in lieu of the 97. The final make-up of the consist is TBD. A portable staircase may be available to facilitate loading and unloading passengers at the side gate of the 503 car if addition to or in lieu of the caboose steps.

Jack Corrick discussed repairs being made on the #97 to a wheel assembly which had come loose during runs on 1 November 2009. Apparently, bolts holding the wheel assembly together had become loose possibly as a result of overheating by the original disk brakes. The bolts will be replaced, but the #97 will not be ready by the weekend of November 7-8. Jack suggested better inspections by the various operators prior to operation each weekend to minimize the possibility that any dangerous conditions may exist such as this in the future.

“Choo choo” Greg Tombaugh commented that a saleslady may be available to sell water on the Santa trains. A trial day the first Saturday Santa runs in December will determine if this is a feasible method to distribute water. Concerns were expressed about interference with Santa’s passage through the train cars and possible trash issues as people discard the empty bottles various places in the train

Open Discussion

Rusty Elliot asked about the schedule for decorating the train. Chuck responded that Tony Bond usually schedules this and that in the past is has been done on the day of the Friends’ meeting just prior to the first weekend. This may be discussed prior to the next meeting on 3 December 2009.

 

Bob Freedman commented that next week the dining car will be brought down to add to the train and the HEP car will be repositioned behind the locomotive.

 

“Choo choo” Greg Tombaugh suggested that some sort of device be installed in the dining car to restrict access to the kitchen area where Santa will rest between alternate runs. He also asked about repairs to the wall paper in the dining car. He also asked about extra folding chairs for the ADA and dining cars. These have been scheduled already, according to Mike Travaglia, who attended in place of Greg Corbin.

 

Mike Travaglia reported that food containers have been found in the trash cans on the trains after the weekend runs. Many times these items are hidden in large bags and purses brought on board by passengers. Car attendants and conductors will need to watch more carefully to try to prevent food from being brought onto the train.

 

Jack Corrick reported that, even though the museum is officially closed to the public during January 2010, work will continue on various projects in the shop and display area. This should be pointed out in the next newsletter so volunteers will be aware of needs for their help during that month.

 

 

There being no further discussions, Frank Lea moved to adjourn the meeting. Seconded by Jack Corrick. Unanimously approved.

The meeting was adjourned at 10:30 AM.

 

Respectfully submitted,

Roger West, Secretary