Archived Updates
and
Annoucements for the year 2008

 

 

Dave will be in charge of designing a sign-up sheet for those who plan to help move equipment from Jim's place to Youth Community Park and back to Jim's. It will be at the next meeting so that all can sign it.

Steve has the Kiosk signs ready to place in view at the park for the community to read. The kiosks show our layout plans depicting where the tracks will run. Our tentative Public Run days will be posted along with general information of interest.

Ann has reported that she has been diligently working on securing grants. Spending money for some pre-made track from Turtle Post, and for a cargo container would leave us extremely low on funds therefore the need to immediately start looking for and securing renewable grant monies is paramount.

Don has designed the routing jig. He & Jim will work together to solve any problems that might occur with matching the router jig to the already cut ties.

We have officially approved using Train Mountain Railroad Track standards. It is a three-page document that will protect us from possible liability concerns. Copyright, 2004-2008; revised 2/29/08.

December 2008

The Parks and Recreation Department met with us at Youth Community Park to plan and discuss where we will begin laying our permanent, miniature 7 1/2" scale, railroad track. Our next meeting will be December 17, 2008 at the Community Board Meeting in Santa Rosa, CA. Our revised general plan will be presented at that time. Once our plan is accepted, we are looking forward to begin laying track next year, 2009, as soon as the weather permits.

Redwood Empire Live Steamers, Inc. will place a small bill board in Youth Community Park to inform the public what our plans are and how we are proceeding. It will keep the community up to date as to when we can resume giving train rides. Tentative Schedule

We have many community residents who have returned the past two summers to enjoy our public train rides again, and again.

October 2008

Our October 4th & 5th Public Run days were cancelled due to the rain and lack of members available to assist with set-up, running the trains, selling tickets, crowd control, and the many chores needed to efficiently and safely run our event.

No meeting was held in October. Our president, along with some of our members were attending the "Train Mountain" event, that week-end, in Chiloquin, Oregon. A popular, huge, event that attacts many miniture Steam Train enthusiests this time of the year.

We held our November meeting as usual.

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November 2008

• Twelve 8 in. logos for the riding cars, and fifty 4 in. logos for use by the club members.

Terry Strom

• Planned and did all the work to have us in this years Fall Home & Garden Show at Sonoma County Fair Grounds in Santa Rosa, CA.

Ann & Don Brunner-Welch

• Bringing back bolts and screws from Oregon that the club had previously ordered for our track ties.
• Gathering and sharing useful information from other club meetings.

All members and volunteers

• Who helped to make our event at the Fall Home & Garden Show sucessful as well as fun!

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We took in a reasonable amount of money for rides during the Fall Home & Garden and Family Expo Show.

The next time we participate we would benefit by being closer to the crowds. This year our operating position was partially blocked by other events taking place. It is our understanding that we were greatly appreciated by the Fair Grounds officials and they would like us back again next year.

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Don't forget!
"Cutting Ties Work Day" Saturday, November 29, 2008 beginning at 10:00 a.m. at Jim's house. Rain will cancel!

• Saturday, May 3, 2008  Noon to 5:00 p.m.
    Sunday, May 4, 2008  10:00 am to 4:00 pm.

• Saturday, June 7, 2008  Noon - 5:00 pm.
    Sunday, June 8, 2008  10:00 am to 4:00 pm.

• Saturday, July 5, 2008  Noon - 5:00 pm.
    Sunday, July 6, 2008  10:00 am - 4:00 pm.

• Saturday, August 2, 2008  Noon - 5:00 pm.
    Sunday, August 3, 2008  10:00 am - 4:00 pm.

• Saturday, September 6, 2008  Noon - 5:00 pm.
    Sunday, September 7, 2008  Noon - 4:00 pm.

• Saturday, October 4, 2008 Noon - 5:00 pm May be cancelled due to rain.
    Sunday, October 5, 2008 Noon - 4:00 pm. May be cancelled due to rain.

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February 2008

  We are back to our regular schedule for our meetings.

  Redwood Empire Live Steamers Interactive Museum has purchased a club train to use this coming May for our Public Run Days at Youth Community Park in Santa Rosa, California.

The rail-ties for our permanent track have been ordered and are expected to arrive soon. This is the moment many of our Members have been waiting for and are eager to begin building the permanent rail panals. As our members wait for these materials to arrive, they are actively preparing our newly acquired locomotive for service.

Thanks go to Steve Waterfal who has constructed a magnificent 2 1/2 inch scale replica of the historical Santa Rosa Railroad Depot. This historical replica will be on display during this years Public Run week-ends at Youth Community Park.

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December 3, 2007

All donated funds will go toward building our planned, permanent, railroad track. Having a permanent track installed will allow us to provide a much longer, steam train ride during our "Run Season" each year at the park.

Our club members and volunteers deserve a great big THANK YOU for another job well done!

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September 2007 at Home and Garden Show

Special Note!
Come and join us on

Redwood Empire Live Steamers Interactive Museum, Inc. (RELSI) is announcing its final Public Run for the year 2007 on October 6th and 7th at Youth Community Park, Santa Rosa, CA.

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September 2007 at Youth Community Park, Santa Rosa, CA

Three days before our fund raising event, August 4th & 5th, Redwood Empire Live Steamer's, Inc. had an article published in the Press Democrat in Criss Smith's column. The additional advertisement brought many people out to expirence a fun-filled day at Youth Community Park, here in Santa Rosa, CA.

The word is spreading about our public train ride events. Many riders remarked they heard about us through various sources. During each event we recieve warm, positive comments. Adults and Children alike have expressed delight in the idea of a permanent facility.

Every cent raised through our Fund Raising Events will be used to purchase permanent miniture railroad track.

We need a "Club" Steam Engine to use as our main source for Public Rides. At present we are using privately owned, steam locomotives. Anyone having a steam engine to donate please call (707) 584-4093. Ask for Jim.

A lot of work awaits us for this fall & winter as we will be building miniture replicas of historical buildings known in Sonoma County. It is in our plans to display these historical buildings for viewing as riders "choo, choo" around the railroad track.

Steve Waterfall is in charge of manufacturing, to scale, a replica of an original water tower. This additional display will actually be functional and supply the water necessary to run our live steam trains.

Steve is in the process of building a replica of the "Old Santa Rosa Train Depot" located downtown at Railroad Square, Santa Rosa, CA. He presented recent photos of this project as a preview of his upcoming handycraft for which he is well known. Our appreciation goes out to Steve for his generous contribution.

As we brought our week-end public run day to an end, other members arrived in time to assist in taking down, disassembling and removing our equipment to its storage facility.

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June 2007 at Youth Community Park, Santa Rosa, CA

If you weren't there, you missed a great time!

A big thank you to the public and Redwood Empire Live Steamer members who helped make our 1st Official Public Run Day, June 2-3, 2007, a success.

The portable track was laid down in time for Saturday's run, without any problems and everything worked well. We kept two steam trains running most of the afternoons. Some of our passengers came back to ride again and again.

A couple of small children were afraid to ride the train. With some coaching from their parents, they finally got on. When the ride was over, they didn't want to get off! It's so great to see so many smiling happy faces.

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May 2007

The first week-end of each month begining in June through October 2007, we will be running public train rides from 12:00 noon to 4:00 pm Saturdays and Sundays weather permitting.

The address is 1725 Fulton Rd, Santa Rosa, CA at the Youth Community Park located across from Piner High School. The public is encouraged to attend and bring family and friends to these events.

This is a prelude to what will be established in the park for everyone to enjoy. Any and all donations are tax deductable as per 501(C)3 tax code. Procedes will be used to construct the permanate facility. Club meetings that are sheduled for the first Friday of the month will now be held at the park on Saturdays at approximately 10:00 am - 10:30 am. Track set up will begin about 9:00am on Saturday. Volunteers are welcome.

We have our 501(c)3 status, both Federal and State. We are actively pursuing various grants and possible donations.

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April 2007

Our Pre-Public Run Day is this Saturday May 5th and Sunday May 6th from 12 noon til 4:00 pm. We have not advertised this event.

We expect that there will be many people at the Youth Community Park that week-end because of Cinco de Mayo Day. Not knowing in advance what weather to expect, we are using this week-end as practice to make sure we will have everything needed for our 1st Public Run on our new portable track. Rides will be offered and donations taken on this week-end.

We have advertisement in the Santa Rosa Parks and Recreation booklet for our run days June through October 2007. Just before we officially begin our first run for the summer, we will have an advertisement in the Press Democrate announcing our schedule.

As a reminder, We begin the 1st week-end in June and the 1st week-end each month thereafter through October 2007. Saturdays Sundays 12 noon til 4:00 pm.

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March 2007

• A Thank you to everyone who showed up for our "1st Track Setup Day" on March 11, 2007!! Aside from a few minor problems, it all went very well. Track was down in record time. The test run made, track dissambled and put away for the next time. Thank you to all!

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February 2007

• Our switches have been assembled which makes our portable track complete with sidings! Just one more small "Track Paint Day" and we will be ready for our Summer Train Runs. We need volunteers to help paint the 4 switches and 5 track panels.
• A Track Pre-Assemble Day will be required to set the track up for general practice and to check for fit-up.
• Anne, our president, spoke with the Parks and Recreation Department and they would like us to run 4-5 times this year at Youth Community Park. The times and dates have not been set and will be announced. We will be using our portable track for these events
• Check this web site for dates and times and check the Press Democrat for more information. Volunteers or anyone who would like to help would be appreciated. This could be a welcome community event leading to bigger and more promising events.

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January 2007

• Thank you to all who were able to help out on our "Paint the Track Day" and "Pot Luck Lunch".
• Our 180' X 100' portable track has been painted to keep it from rusting.
• We are working on three switches. This will allow loading onto the track and also have a passing siding so we can run two trains simultaneously.

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November 2006
We are holding our December 1st meeting at Coco's Family Restaurant in Santa Rosa to celebrate our 3rd anniversary. The address is 1501 Farmers Lane in Farmers Plaza. Each person/family is responsible for their own meal. Directions: From 101 freeway take Hwy 12 east to Farmers Lane then turn right. Turn right again into the Plaza parking area.

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Moving Right Along!
We have completed our portable track and are now working on the switches

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October 2006
Our October 14, 2006 meeting, in Willets, is canceled due to fall meets for; GGLS & SVLS, and Train Mountain. We will resume with our regular meetings November 3, 2006.

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September 2006
Thank you to all who showed up for our 1st successful club Work Day Sunday, September 3, 2006. We now have 1/2 of a 100 ft. by 180 ft. oval portable track completed.

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August 2006
The Railroad Square Preservation Society invited us to participate again this year in their "Heritage Day Event", held August 12, 2006, at Railroad Square in Santa Rosa, CA. It was a lot of fun and we made many contacts!

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Now that we have our 501(c)3 status, both Federal and State, we are actively pursuing various grants and possible donations.

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Construction has begun! Anyone interested in helping with the construction can contact Jim at (707) 584-4093.

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The material to build our 100' X 180' oval portable track has been ordered! We are starting construction . Jim has already made the jig and brought a completed 10 ft. section of curved track to our last meeting for approval.
Once the oval is completed, we will begin working on switches.

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May 2006

Our "Trains in the Park 2" was a success. We drew many people to our 1st public event. Everyone had a good time.

Thank you to the City for inviting us to do this event, and graciously holding the entire park for our 1st public run.

Thank you to all those, members and volunteers, who supported us with the set up and take down.

Thank you to the people who attended our event on Mother's Day May 14, 2006 from 11:30 am. to 4:00 pm.

Thank you to both neighboring train clubs who graciously offered their respective tracks again, so we could have track to run on.

Thank you to Choo, Choo Bar-B-Q for serving their delicious chicken, hamburgers, and hot dogs.

Thank you to Jumpin' Jacks for their affordable crowd pleasing entertainment for the children.

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May 2006

Moving Ahead!

A note from our president

After the Trains in the Park- 2 event, we will be looking forward to a presentation - possibly without running trains for that demonstration. That has been funded, and is expected sometime this spring or summer 2006.

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The City has given us the go-ahead to setup "temporary tracks" in the North-East corner of the park - Our original phase 2. We have begun the surveying process for that venture.

Maybe tracks on the ground this year?!!!!

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We are still planning on the partnership with Northwestern Pacific Historical Railroad Society for the Museum component of this venture. Other partnerships may also be in the back wings as well that will make this truly a wonderful community gem we can all be proud of.

Until next time...Happy rails.

Ann Bruner-Welch, President, RELSI