By the time you read this newsletter, you should have al-ready set up your train under the Christmas tree or be in-volved in whatever other activity fits into your holiday season. For the Nichelini fam-ily, we are having difficulty deciding between the 1950’s Lionel set or some recently acquired Stan-dard Gauge that is easier for our granddaughter to play with. Right now, I’m thinking Standard Gauge. You will notice that TCA is sponsoring a “Win Big” Membership Challenge. This is to get more members into our hobby. You will note that there are prizes for individuals who have signed up new mem-bers, and also for Divisions with the most new mem-bers signed up. Nor-Cal members are asked to join in to make this campaign successful. The Cal-Stewart Meet will be coming up before long- March 20-22. We still need volunteers to help with this. Contact Chair Michael Andrews or Co-chairs, Cliff Jarrard or Rod Cornell. We can use some more layouts too. Contact Don Gholson. I was sorry to see that Cliff Jarrard was not suc-cessful in his run for the office of TCA National President Elect. Cliff would have (cont’d. on page 2)

The TCA National Election is over and as most of you know, I finished second in the race for Presi-dent Elect. [Cliff Jarrard 1652, Ron Stowell 2859, Write-in 10 –ed.]. I offer infinite thanks for the help I received from my fellow Nor-Cal and other division members across the country. This was my first at-tempt to run for National office and it was an excit-ing experience. I congratulate my able opponent Ron Stowell and the other winners in the election. I was honored to run at the request of the National Election Committee and received much support across the country. Division and National represen-tatives have subsequently asked by if I would con-sider running for office again in the next election and I do not plan to do so. TCA is undergoing challenging times and needs the support of all of its members in the efforts to sustain its membership and meet its financial commitments.

CLIFF JARRARD REPORTS ON HIS UNSUCCESSFUL RUN FOR TCA PRESIDENT ELECT

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

NORNOR--CAL EXPRESSCAL EXPRESS NORTHERN CA L I F O RN I A D I V I S I O N - T RA I N C O L L E C TO R S A S S O C I AT I O N

thethe December 2008

See the Nor-Cal Express in FULL COLORFULL COLOR at www.norcaltca.com

by Bob Nichelini #81-16938

The Toy Train “Beacon of the West”

FUTURE MEETS December 13, 2008 –Christmas Meet (L) Jan. 10, Feb. 14, April 11, June 13, July 11, Aug. 8, Sept. 12, Oct. 10, Nov. 14, Dec. 12, 2009 (all at L) March 20-22 Cal-Stewart, Santa Clara May — Scottish Rite Temple, Sacto. L=Lafayette Veterans Memorial Hall, 3780 Mt. Diablo Blvd., Lafayette Business. Meeting: 9:30 AM Trading: 10-11:30 AM

by Clem Clement, TCA President 2008-2009

TCA ANNOUNCES 2009 “WIN BIG” MEMBERSHIP CHALLENGE

TCA us beginning a mem-bership drive and we need your support. I challenge each of you to take our wonderful organization to the uninitiated in your area. Show those who do not

know us, who we are and what we love about our beloved TCA. Share your hobby, your fun and your excitement with a friend, neighbor, family member and your community. [See details on Page 2].

by Cliff Jarrard #77-12009

WELCOME NEW MEMBERS Nick Mizsey, San Francisco Thomas L. Charron, MD, Alameda

Page 2

The challenge is to grow TCA by 1,500 to 2,000 new members over the next year, in the 2009 “WIN BIG” Membership Drive. You and the Nor-Cal Division are automatically en-tered to win from $50 up to $1,000 when a Division member signs up a new member. Check out the member, Division, quarterly and Grand Prizes below: WIN $50, $100, $200, $500– Even $1,000 Member Prizes $50 Gift Certificates to TCA Museum Store awarded quarterly to two current TCA mem-ber recruiters. $200.00 Check awarded at the convention by random drawing from all participating members. Division Prizes $200 Gift Certificates awarded quarterly to two Divisions. $200.00 Check awarded at the convention to the Division recruiting the greatest percentage of new mem-bers to date. Grand Prizes $100 Gift Certificates awarded to Top 10 TCA individual member recruiters. $500.00 Check awarded to the Division recruiting the greatest number of new members. $500.00 Check awarded to the Division recruiting the greatest percentage of new members. $1,000 Check awarded by random drawing from all participating TCA members. See the November 2008 Headquarters News or visit www.traincollectors.org or www.tcamembers.org for complete rules and an application form to get started. Join in; simply signing a TCA Application can make us all winners! Invite a friend, neighbor or relative to join the TCA, and Win!

TCA ANNOUNCES CHALLENGE WHERE MEMBERS AND DIVISIONS WIN BIG!

Format and material provided by TCA National

President’s Message (continued from page 1) made a superb President and I’m sorry that he didn’t succeed. The large number of votes that Cliff ob-tained showed that I wasn’t the only one who appreciated his qualifications So this is the holiday season, and I hope that every Nor-Cal member enjoys this special time of the year and remembers the true TCA goal throughout 2009 – the goal of finding, enjoying, and restoring old toy trains and preserving the history of the toy train experience from your youth or whatever point in your life that you got started in this great hobby. And don’t miss Nor-Cal’s Christmas Meet, December 13. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays- Bob Nichelini

NOR-CAL TCA OFFICER President: Bob Nichelini Vice President: Rod Cornell Treasurer: Pete Goodier Secretary: Rick Renfro

Submit address changes to: Mark Boyd Email address: tcqed@comcast.net

Nor-Cal Express Richard White, Editor Phone (925) 376-5821 toytrain13@hotmail.

(Above) Mark Boyd brought his O-gauge Bucyrus Steam Shovel that he acquired at the October York Meet. This is manually operated (thru an intricate internal mechanism) and is manufactured by Toy Trucker & Contractor (Co.). It is intricately detailed, and is of brass construction. It was shown at the

November 7 meeting

Page 3 INTERESTING ITEMS SEEN AT RECENT MEETS Richard Zanotti brought this early Marklin clockwork “Level (grade) Cross-ing” (restored) to the October meeting. He purchased it at the last York Meet. It was catalouged for use with O, 1 and 2 gauge trains. The gates (poles), normally in the up-right position, would lower when a manual track trip was actuated. [This didn’t give peo-ple much time to stop!] There are two remov-able elastolin figures, and removable “Halt” signs included. The house was lit by a can-dle- that was a functional chimney!

(Above) Chuck Shaffer brought this Lionel Standard Gauge set to the October meeting. It is comprised of a #6 loco (thick-rim) and tender (1912-23) and #18-19(2)-190 passenger cars.

(Left) Dave Pfeifer has been President of the American College of Prostho-dontists (implant and reconstructive dentistry) this past year. At a recent banquet David was presented with this custom painted boxcar, in honor of his Naval service and service for the ACP. Nice painting job! This was seen at the Nov. 7 meeting.

(Above) Richard Zanotti brought this Kibri station to the November 7 meet. It was restored by Ira Keeler.

(Left) This is an O-gauge Bing crane (prewar) brought to the Novem-ber 7 meet by Warren Heid.

In Memoriam - Fred Sill TCA #60-413 It is with deep sadness that I report the passing of another long-time Nor-Cal Member, Mr. Fred Sill. Fred was on vacation in Mexico with his lady friend when he suffered a fatal heart attack. Those of you who have known Fred over the years can appre-ciate his youthful spirit and zest for life. He will surely be missed. He was 92 years young. -Mark Boyd Old timers will remember that Fred was for many years the Lionel repairman at Berkeley Hardware. This was Fred’s part-time job, as he worked full-time for the Hercules Powder Com-pany in Rodeo. In the nineties, after retirement, Fred was the train repairman at Dave Dansky’s train store on Broadway in Oakland. Fred was always willing to share his vast knowledge of toy trains and toy train repairs. I was at the Memorial Service for Fred at the First Presbyterian Church of Richmond, on October 19, where Fred had been a member. Many of Fred’s friends and family were in attendance. Nor-Cal member Jim Locke-Brown and his wife Barbara partici-pated in the music and program. It was obvious from the many testimonials that Fred was a well-loved character. His dancing skills were mentioned too! Fred went by “Ted” at his church. Fred’s wife Dottie died in the mid-nineties. Fred and Dottie are survived by a daughter. -Richard White The officers and members of Nor-Cal offer their condolences.

In Memoriam - Tom Poole TCA #90-32522 Nor-Cal member Tom Poole passed away on September 22, of cancer. Tom was an enthusiastic O-gauge collector, al-though he wasn't able to attend many Nor-Cal meets. Tom had done the bookkeeping and part time sales work for Tin-plate Junction for the past five years -Mark Boyd A memorial service was held at Centerville Presbyterian Church (Fremont), where Tom had been a long-time member, and an elder. Tom had worked in high-tech in the Silicon Val-ley. His other hobby was world travel. - Richard White The officers and members of Nor-Cal offer their condolences.

In Memoriam - George Olson TCA #82-18576 (no photo available) It is with sadness that I report the passing of Nor-Cal TCA member George Olson, creator and owner of Rail Rax. George had been battling prostate cancer for the past 4 years and finally lost his battle on November 12th. George was a very creative person who created and invented many things. He was a builder of custom boats in Santa Cruz for years which led to his invention of Rail Rax which are in many of our train rooms today. He was a creator and contrac-tor with Disney and other amusement companies to develop amusement park rides. He was the one who figured out how things could be built to work the way they were designed to be. I believe he worked on Star Tours and other rides at Dis-neyland, as well as other amusement companies overseas. He also designed the workings of carousels and other pro-jects. He was a creative person who constantly needed challenges that he was interested in. His wife Lyn remember him once saying, "I always made my living making toys." He made eve-rything from boats, to amusement rides, toy train, and finally model boats. In 1988 he was the main person behind the spectacular wall of trains at the 34th TCA National Convention in Oakland, rep-resenting the entire catalog of sets from 1938.

George continued to give willingly to TCA in resources and creative ideas. He and Lyn always continued to contribute to TCA events, like organizing the Spring Cal Stewart Meet as well as the 1999 TCA National Convention. George was a very quiet and unassuming man, but he had a gift for developing wonderful ideas and always had a vision on how to accomplish those ideas. - Mark Boyd The officers and members of Nor-Cal offer their condolences.

Page 5 SETTING UP FOR THE BLACKHAWK MUSEUM TRAIN EXHIBIT John April is again setting up his trains in a display at the Blackhawk Museum in Danville. This year the theme is the Union Pacific Railroad. The show will be Nov. 28-Jan. 11 (Wed-Sun., 10AM-6PM).

Photo 1

Photo 2

Photo 3

Photo 4

Photo 5

Photo 1: Lionel UP FEF 4-8-4, Lionel UP Challenger 4-6-6-4, MTH Big Boy 4-8-8-4 Photo 2: MTH UP Track Inspection Car, Lionel #752 Streamliner Set; Lionel Cen-tury Club UP M10000, American Flyer City of Denver Photo 3: UP Beep, MTH F-M H10-44, MTH UP express reefer, Williams ??, three MTH UP “Heritage” diesels, UP, WP, MP.

Photo 4: American Flyer S-gauge UP 4-8-4 set #K5210W (1952), Lionel 1950 50th Anniversary freight set, Lionel 1950 50th Anniversary pas-senger set Photo 5: ( T to B) Lionel UP Veranda Turbine, MTH coaches, MTH UP coal-fired turbine, MTH coaches, MTH UP E6 diesel A-B-A units “City of San Francisco.” Trains and memorabilia were also loaned by William Taylor and Russ Saunders.

The pink Post-Its in the photographs will be replaced by printed descriptions. Each display will be protected by plexiglass covers.

Page 6 Northern California Division—Train Collectors Association INCOME AND EXPENSE STATEMENT FOR ANNUAL REPORT YEAR* November 1, 2007 thru October 31, 2008 Cash balance November 1, 2007 $19,310.29 Income Dues 2008 13,837.00 Cal Stewart 2008 25, 409.57 Donation 70.00 Uncashed check #952 5.00 TCA Natl Dues-New Members 260.00 Bank Ecc & Lost Check Reversals 99.90 39,681.47 Expense Rent 3,645.00 Coffee 420.00 Nor Cal Express 1,717.94 Cal Stewart 2008 29,657.69 Cal Stewart 2009 4,227.50 Officers 203.93 TCA Natl Dues sent 260.00 Website 66.18 Membership Card Stock 30.27 Train Bucks 100.00 Holiday Lunch Catering 3,204.00 Endorsement Stamp #2 30.20 Bank lost checks (2 x $30) 60.00 Bank Missing Check Fee 39.90 TCA Recruiting Display 29.08 43,691.69 Cash Balance October 31, 2008 15,300.07 Net Change (-) (4,010.22) *New Fiscal Year per TCA National and Nor-Cal Division Board Respectfully Submitted: Pete Goodier, Treasurer Northern California Division—Train Collectors Association INCOME AND EXPENSE STATEMENT July 1, 2008 thru October 31, 2008* Checking Account Balance July 1, 2008 $21,175,17 Income Dues 2008 630.00 630.00 Expense Rent 1,620.00 Coffee 212.00 Nor Cal Express 367.99 2009 Cal Stewart 4,227.50 Officers 48.53 Other—TCA Recruiting Display 29.08 6,505.10 Checking Account Balance October 31, 2008 15,300.07 Net Change (-) (5,875.10) *Fiscal Year End adjusted to October 31. Respectfully Submitted: Pete Goodier, Treasurer

Page 7 (Left) This beautifully restored Lionel Stan-dard Gauge set was brought to the Novem-ber 7 meeting by Chuck Stone. It is com-prised of a 385E loco (gunmetal) and 309, 310 and 312 cars (1935).

(Right) This O-gauge Bing “Apollo” locomotive, in Great Western Railway (Great Britain) livery, was brought to the November 7 meet by Rod Cornell. This clockwork-powered loco is circa 1925.

(two photos at left) This little Joy Line set (Girard Mfg. Co.-prewar) was seen at the Novem-ber 7 meet. The owner is unknown.

MORE ITEMS SEEN AT RECENT NOR-CAL MEETS

(Three photos) The September Express gave details of Richard Zanotti’s O-gauge Bing trolley. At the Sep-tember meet, the trolley was running, thanks to some fantastic reconstruction work by Ira Keeler. Ira in-stalled a Marx motor into the trolley, fabricated sev-eral replacement support poles, and rewired all the poles. The photos show Ira and helper getting ready to operate. The two other photos show the trolley run-ning, and a detail of the support poles. This was a fantastic setup, and your editor regrets he was not there to see it. These photos are by Richard Zanotti.

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