ALEX K. LOPEZ

Headway83040010/3c. 2

S 83 1 21 9

SCRTD LIBRARY

UL-FLLjJ RTD 1983VOLUME 10 NUMBER 3

Lb

INSIDE THIS ISSUERecreation News 2To Your Health 3Bus Collector 4Coloring Contest 5Etcetera 6About The Cover 7

Lopez named Operator of the Year"It's a heck of a going away pre-

sent, that's for sure," said Alex K.Lopez when he learned he'd beennamed Operator of the Year.

Lopez, a driver on line 869 be-tween Palos Verdes and LosAngeles International Airport, willretire on July 16 this year after morethan 31 years with the District. "It'stoo bad I can't hold a steady job,"Lopez added with a grin.

Lopez's selection wasannounced at a luncheon honoringthe twelve Operators of the Monthfor 1982 held at the New OtaniHotel on March 23, 1983. GeneralManager John A. Dyer presented

the award to Lopez saying, "1'msure glad I wasn't on the selectioncommittee because you twelveoperators represent the very bestin the country and to narrow it downto just one of you has got to be atough choice."

Lopez and his wife of 22 years,Lydia, lead quiet lives, he says."We enjoy working around thehouse, in the garden, reading andwatching TV and travelingtogether." Lopez also enjoysphotography and collecting trans-portation memorabilia. "I've beencollecting photos and paintings ofbuses and miniatures of them for

years now," he says with quietpride. "It's quiet and gives me timeto think," he added.

Linda, their only child, just mar-ried this year. "We're looking for-ward to being grandparents atsome point in the future too,"Lopez said.

Lopez began his public transitcareer in 1952 as a streetcar oper-ator and conductor with LosAngeles Transit Lines, a forerunnerof today's RTD. "All I've done allthese years is follow the advice oneof my first instructors gave wayback when I was just starting out,"Lopez asserts. "He told me that thethree golden rules of serving thepublic were Service, Safety andCourtesy. lt made sense then and itstill makes sense today."

As a result of his courtesy to pas-sengers and excellent safety re-cord, including a 25 year Safe Driv-ing Award, Lopez has receivedmany letters ot commendationover the years from his passen-gers, but he takes it all in stride.

New computer system

As you watch the bright greencharacters skip across the consolescreen, it's hard to believe thatsomething so familiar will so thor-oughly change the way we work inthe next few years. Computers,and the work they do for us, touchalmost every area of our lives todayand RTD is certainly no different.

Since the first of the year, one ofthe most ambitious computer pro-jects ever undertaken by a transitproperty has been quietly takingplace in the headquarters building.

Called the Transit ManagementInformation System, or TRANSMISfor short, this multi-million dollarproject will eventually impact vir-tually every job in the District, saysRobert Pentek, Director of Man-agement Information Systems."TRANSMIS is a two-stage pro-ject," Pentek said. "TRANSMIS Iwill give RTD an almost immediateon-line system primarily for man-aging maintenance personnel,parts and repairs. TRANSMIS II willprovide us with long-range capabi-

"My father taught me years agothat if you are going to do some-thing, do it right. 1'm just doing myjob," Lopez said.

"RTD is pleased to acknowledgethe outstanding service AlexLopez has performed consistentlyover three decades," said RTDManager of Operations SamBlack." He sets a high standard ofexcellence for all our operators tofollow."

Although he admits that he'slooking forward to retiring this July,Lopez says one of the hardestparts of saying 'Goodbye' to RTDwill be missing his regular passen-gers." One of the best things aboutmy job all these years has been thechance to observe the changes inthe lives of my regular passengers.I've watched them go to school,get married, have children andnow I'm seeing their children growup. They're sort of like my ex-tended family. You bet 1'11 missthem."

lities."Shortly after the start of the new

year Stops and Zones and Tele-communications were moved outof their fourth floor offices at head-quarters into new offices next to theMain Street ticket office. TheTRANSMIS consulting firm, Peat,Merrick and Mitchell, then movedinto the vacated space and set upshop, where they are working withDistrict personnel from a variety ofdepartments designing, testingand implementing the system.

Already partially complete andcurrently in Operation at all 15 ofRTD's operating divisions, theTRANSMIS program promises tomake individual jobs easier, in-crease productivity and save theDistrict millions of dollars everyyear. Forecasted savings fromTRANSMIS I, once fully im-plemented, approach the $7 1/2 mil-lion mark annually and as much as$38 million over a five year span.TRANSMIS II should add almost $9

Continued on page 3

You Be The Judge

Feature gains popularityFor the last two years Headwayhas been running "You Be The

Judge" as a regular monthly feature. Recognizing a good thingwhen they see it, other transit properties across the country havebegun reprinting it as well.

With street names and other details aitered to reflect their owncities, editors at house publications from Phoenix to Cinncinatiare either already using the feature or planning to in the nearfuture. Part of the column's popularity can be traced to theinvolvement it invites on the part of readers says Julie Sander,empioyee newsletter editor at Phoenix Transit System inPhoenix, AZ.

"Most people like having their opinion asked for, or making aguess at something," she says. "Safety is always a priority hereat PTS and we employ a variety of techniques to point this out toour operators," Sander added. "Part of the appeal `You Be TheJudge' has is that it acts as a strong safety reminder withoutlecturing."

Each month the column describes, with narration and a dia-gram, a bus accident drawn from the fites of the Safety Depart-ment. The reader is then asked to be "The Judge" in deciding forthemselves whether the accident was preventable or not. Theactual determination, as arrived at by the Safety Department,also appears with the column so readers can match theiranswers with the official decision.

As might be expected with articles of this nature, responsesvary to the cases presented each month. "What we often find isthat those in disagreement with our decision have usually `readin' factors which were not mentioned in the articie," commentsJoseph Reyes, Director of Safety. "We don't mind receiving callsfrom operators with differing opinions, in fact, we welcome them.Suggestions and challenges to the `You Be The Judge' articlessupport our contention that empioyees care enough about safe-ty to read the articles and voice their opinions," Reyes added.

In fact, response to `You Be The Judge' has been generally so

Continued on page 2

TRANSMIS means changes

COMPUTERS — Art King, from Telecommunications, double checks one of the components inthe new TRANSMIS system.

Continued from page 1

Feature gains popularitypositive that its taken most of those involved in the column a bitby surprise. "We expected response from our own operators, ofcourse," says Manager of Operations Sam Black. "But 1 wasthoroughly surprised when I learned that other transit agencieshad begun reprinting it. I don't think we even took that possibilityinto account when we set the program up," Black added.

Part of the column's strength also lies in that a reader doesn'tneed to be a bus Operator to use the information it provides." `You Be The Judge' has good applicability to everyday defen-sive driving," Black pointed out. "Reading it helps us all becomemore attuned to situations we all face in traffic every day,whether we're driving a bus or our own cars," he added.

In Cinncinati, the column's format proved to be the key thatprompted its use. "We read Headway every month here, and wefeit that this type of visual treatment of the safety message waseffective," commented Judy Primack, Communications Managerfor Queen City Metro. "It's graphic, very visual and successfullyinvites the reader to not only interact but think about safety aswell," she added.

All is not as simple as it appears though, at least for the personwho has to put `You Be The Judge' together each month. "You'dbe surprised how difficult it can be sometimes to find an accidentin our fites that lends itself to this sort of treatment," says FrankLarson, an SCRTD Safety Analyst. "The examples we use can'tbe too obvious or easy or the message gets lost. On the otherhand, we can't make them too hard or we find that we can't fitenough of the pertinent information from an accident into thelimited space we have to justify or make sense of the decision wereach," Larson added.

Meanwhile, the saga of `You Be The Judge' continues to de-velop on a number of fronts. While we continue to run the columneach month in Headway, Julie Sanders is using it in her publica-tion while their Safety department develops a similar concept fortheir own use in Phoenix. Here at RTD, the Maintenance Depart-ment is looking at developing a similar feature column. "Basedon a suggestion from one of our mechanics, we're looking intothe possibility of developing our own `You Be The Judge' for ouraccident prevention program," says L.R. Davis, Director ofMaintenance.

In response to the number of requests received recently forpermission to reprint the column the Safety Department hasdeveloped a entire package, similar to a press kit, that can bemailed to any requesting agency. The package includes severalcomplete "You Be The Judge' columns, a release granting theDistrict's permission to reprint the articles and a short statementdescribing the program and its goals.

Based on recommendations received from operators whoscrutinize the articles each month, at least one further improve-ment in the format is being implemented by the Safety Depart-ment. "In future articles we will be including a Safety Tip andReminder' highlighting the key rule, standard or principle de-monstrated by the accident scenario," says Safety DirectorReyes. "After all," he added, "there's absolutely nothing wrongwith trying to make a good thing better."

You bethe Judge

OPERATOR'S STATEMENT:As I approached the intersection, I observed a bus standing in thefar side bus zone. Thinking 1 had enough room to pull-in behind it, 1continued through the intersection. As I pulled into the zone, 1realized I had misjudged the distance, causing the rear of the bus toextend into the intersection approximately 10 feet, causing an auto-mobile to collide with the right side of the bus.

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MARSHALL AVE.

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Headway

Share Inc. has been committedsince 1953 to raising money andsupporting projects on behalf ofthe mentally retarded. Once a yearShare goes on stage to present itsspectacular "Boomtown", a com-ing together of entertainment su-perstars. For the first time thisevent is open to the public. OnSaturday, May 7 at the UniversalAmphitheatre you can see a nightto remember with stars ... DonnaSummer, Kenny Rogers, DeanMartin and Sheena Easton. The$37.50 price includes a $25.00 taxdeductible donation to SHARE.***

The Greek Theatre is back in ac-tion for the spring and summer.Starting the District's discountedlist of entertainers are:The Whispers - May 13

$16.00 tickets for $15.00The Oak Ridge Boys - May 20

$15.00 tickets for $14.00Engelbert - May 29

$15.00 tickets for $14.00Harry Belafonte - June 3

$17.50 tickets for $16.50Frank Sinatra - June 16

$25.00 tickets for $24.00

The Dance Theatre of Harlem re-turns to the Pasadena Civic Au-ditorium, 300 East Green Street,May 14-15 for three exciting Per-formances:

Saturday, May 14, 8:30 p.m. TheFour Temperaments, Wingborne,Troy Garne, Graduation Ball

Sunday, May 15, 2:00 p.m. Gra-duation Ball, Sylvia Pas de Deux,Firebird

Sunday, May 15, 8:00 p.m.Square Dance, Pas de Deux, Fire-bird Evening $20 Orchestra seats$18.00 and Matinee $17.50Orchestra seats $16.00

* *

Save 50% on tickets to the LosAngeles Ballet, Friday, May 27 at8:30 p.m., the Beverly Theatre,9404 Wilshire Blvd. $18.50 ticketsfor $9.25. The company will be per-forming Swan Lake Act II, AllegroBrilliante, La Source and Rhap-sody on a Theme of Paganini (LosAngeles Premiere).

The Renaissance Pleasure Fairecontinues this weekend andMemorial Day at the ParamountRanch in Agoura. Enjoy parades,

courtly dances, celebrations of Eli-zabethan England, rare crafts andhearty food. Regular admission$11.50 discounted to $9.00

* *

FREE BOWLING party for thoseinterested in forming an RTD bowl-ing league at the Hollywood LegionLanes, 1628 N. El Centro in Holly-wood. The party includes 3 freegames of bowling, shoe rental andwill be held on Friday, June 3 at6:30 p.m. The league will be a 12week summer league featuringprizes and trophies. Bring thewhole family to this free night ofbowling and try your hand at agreat individual sport .

* * *

The Los Angeles Civic LightOpera's 46th season at the MusicCenter opens with Anthony Quinnas Zorba on June 5 at 7:00 p.m.The $25.50 Orchestra seats are ansale for $23.50.

***

Tickets available for the 9thAnnual San Diego Jazz Festival onJune 10-11 with some of the big-gest names in music today. Theartists scheduled to appear are:

Friday, June 10, 7:30 p.m.The Gap Band, The Zap Band.Maze with Frankie BeverlyCameo, Cheryl Lynn.

Saturday, June 11, 7:30 p.m.Luther Vandross, The B'Jays.The Dazz Band, Evelyn King$17.50 tickets for $16.50

* *

For information an these and allother recreational activities pleasecall the Employee Activities De-partment, Extension 6580.

RTD BASKETBALL

BASKETBALL LEAGUEPLAY-OFF'S ARE COMING INMAY. CHECK BULLETINBOARDS OR EMPLOYEEACTIVITIES (x6580) FORGAME SCHEDULE

LL T1

v\T7

By Elia Borja, RNVisiting Nurse

Headway

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Preventive medicine and diet mean healthier lifePreventive medicine is the cor-

nerstone of good health. Preven-tive medicine is the science or pre-venting the lass of good health andavoiding disease. This includeseating well and good nutrition.

To practice preventive medi-eine, you need to see your physi-cian and dentist. You need to knowif your body is functioning as wellas you think it is, and as well as itshould be. You also need to prac-tice good nutrition, exercise an aregular Basis, and finally, you needto practice stress reduction techni-ques.

Perhaps, if I were to make a list ofwhat I think makes up preventivemedicine, good nutrition and agood environment would bothhead the list. "We" will tackle prop-er nutrition because it is the easierof the two to modify since youmight not want to seil your home,move from your apartment, seilyour car, change jobs, etc. in otherwords, be concerned about thethings you can change and acceptthose things over which you haveno control. Each of us can controlour appetites and what we eateven though sometimes it seemsimpossible.

Our choices of food usually aregoverned by cultural, radial andpersonal preferences. If you wereraised in a meat and potatoes en-vironment, with starchy dessertsafter the main meal, it may followthat you aren't fand of vegetables.

You might not like them now butwith careful retraining and a desirefor balanced, proper nutrition, youcan cultivate a taste for the diffe-rent foods that will balance yourdiet. The balancing of your dailydiet is important to your sense ofwell-being because improvedhealth through proper nutritionsharpens your senses. Propernutrition should be built an foods

which are fresh and unprocessed.lt also means cooking the freshvegetables properly, so as to retainthe vitamins, color and texture thatwas originally found in the food.Steaming your vegetables for ashort period of time is better thandrowning them in cups of water,leaching the vitamins and mineralsfrom the vegetables and makingthem mushy.

My own personal recommenda-tion for a well-balanced proper dietis one that I follow myself. The fol-lowing list is for an adult's dailydiet:

Two (2) servings of milk or dairyproducts. This can includeyogurt or cheese; Jack, Swiss orcheddar. This doesn't includeice cream or frozen yogurt.Four (4) servings of 100% wholegrain or cereal products. Thiscan include corn tortillas, freshlypopped pop corn but not su-gared cereals, white bread, flourtortillas, crackers or cookies.

Four (4) servings of fresh fruitand/or vegetables. This can in-clude fresh fruit juices but notfruit drinks or cannedsweetened fruit.One (1) serving of leafy greenvegetables. This can includebrocolli, romaine lettuce, spi-nach, kale, collards, mustards orany type of greens.Two (2) servings of legumes(pinto beans, soy bean, etc.) ormeat, preferably chicken, turkeyor fish. This does not include lun-cheon meats, hat dogs, Bacon,sausage or ham because of their

high fat and salt content.To accommodate children, you

would add two (2) more servings ofmilk or milk products. For pregnantand nursing mothers, you wouldadd three (3) for a total of five (5)servings of milk or milk products.

Become aware of what you eatand what you purchase for yourfamily. Read the ingredients listedan each package you have athome. This way, you can make ajudgment as to the nutritional valueof the food. lt the food or productsays vitamin enriched, that meansthat the original food has beenaltered and actually has a lowertotal nutritional value and it meansthe food has less rather than morevitamins than the original food. Inprocessing foods, chemicals areadded to the foods to stabilize col-or, flavor, and texture. Processingalters the natural flavor of foodsmaking them taste flat and have amushy texture. That's why manu-facturers add salt to the processedfood. A final note; most processedfoods are higher in calories thantheir natural counterparts, due tothe added sugar and fats.

This, then, is the first step to thepractice of good health; that of ex-amining what you eat and practic-ing good nutrition for you and yourfamily. See how you can improve inyour daily diet and how you canreturn to a better and less proces-sed way of eating.

Continued from page 1

District committment spurs computer system completionmillion in annual savings and atleast $44 million in additional sav-ings over a comparable five yearperiod, Pentek noted.

White the Management Informa-tion System department has dealtwith designing, modifying andadapting the system other depart-ments throughout RTD have beenbusily engaged with their share ofthe program as well. Among them,Telecommunications has been in-stalling the microwave relay net-work and the 'handi-teller' termin-als at the operating divisions. Per-sonne!, meanwhile, is scrutinizingjob classifications throughout theDistrict in an attempt to redefinethose jobs that will be mostaffected by TRANSMIS and in hir-ing and administering personnelrequirements for the project. Eventhe logistics have required atten-tion above and beyond the call ofduty, as it were. In the midst of allthis, it has fallen an General Ser-vices to see to it that Office space iscleared, cleaned and set up readyfor all of the people involved withTRANSMIS.

To keep the system what com-puter specialists call "user-friendly,' or in simple english easyto operate, maintenance peoplehave been involved in the TRANS-MIS I project from the very begin-ning. "Since, due to differences inour training, computer people andmaintenance people talk differentlanguages, a training group wasset up by Maintenance and wetaught them how to use the system.They then went back to their de-partments and trained their co-workers to use the system," saysSystems Project Manager FarzadMogharabi. "It's worked out reallywell for us as well as them becausethese trainers can translate ourcomputer language into languagethat doesn't confuse their co-workers," he added.

Maintenance piayed a major rolein implementing the VMS system,and by extension the TRANSMIS

program as well, Farzad pointedout. "The Maintenance Depart-ment has been involved in the en-tire project from the very begin-ning. From the selection of thevanilla package, to selecting thepeople to train, to traveling with usas we inspected different prog-rams at transit agencies across thecountry, they were there all along,"he said. "From the very beginning,this has been what you'd have tocall a cooperative effort betweenthe various departments andsenior District management."

The bottom line, as it has beendescribed, in the success of anyproject of this size and scope ismanagement comittment to seeingit all the way through. "The need forthe entire TRANSMIS program wasfirst identified by our senior admi-nistrative staff," Farzad noted."Without the complete and totalcomittment for the project thatwe've received from the very be-ginning from Mr. Dyer all the waydown the ladder we could neverhave come this far, this fast with theproject," he added.

VMS, or the Vehicle Mainte-nance System portion of TRANS-MIS, as it is currently being used atthe operating divisions, includesbasic accounting, purchasing andbookkeeping functions as well asmaintenance and personnel prog-rams, Pentek noted. "As the sys-tem is being used today, primarilyby maintenance managers todirect the flow of coaches, mecha-nics and parts, we're alreadyseeing noticable dollar savings,"he added.

As it is being used today, amaintenance manager can teil at aglance what the current status ofany vehicle in his fleet is, how langit has been since any of a widevariety of different maintenancefunctions have been performed anany of those coaches, who is avail-able to work an a bus and what theparts status is. At the other end ofthe user spectrum a maintenance

worker can use any of the mangterminals scattered around hisshop to log himself in and out ofwork, find out what his next job isand report the results of his inspec-tion or the status of his job order. Allin all, Farzad commented, it cutsdown an the amount of time andpaperwork each job requires froma mechanic. "One of the most im-mediate benefits of the system, aswe're using it now, has been anincrease in the overall number ofjobs a mechanic can perform in agiven amount of time," he said.

Eventually TRANSMIS I and IIshould allow almost any Districtemployee to streamline their job."The reduction in paperwork andtime spent processing it alone isgoing to be phenomenal," Penteksaid. "I'm convinced that once theyget used to the system peoplearound here are going to wonderhow they ever managed to get theirjobs done without it," Farzadadded.

The scope and reach of theTRANSMIS program is certainlyimpressive. The VMS programalone is the single largest shift,over 200 programs and a changefrom Univac to IBM equipment,ever accomplished by any transitagency in the United States." Theprofessional challenge itself ishuge," Farzad said with an enthu-siastic grin. "We're working withthe most modern and sophisti-cated equipment and technologyin the world here."

As the TRANSMIS system is de-signed it will not only provide moreaccurate and timely data than iscurrently available but will makeforecasting needs and spottingbreakdowns, whether in a coach orthe organization itself, a sciencerather than an imprecise art. "Theimmediacy of our forecasting abil-ity is going to increase a hundred-fold. Maybe even a thousand-fold," Pentek noted.

TRANSMIS is not something theDistrict has jumped blindly into,

Farzad pointed out. "We spent a lotof time studying and learning fromother transit agencies' errors be-fore we decided an which vanillapackage would best suit ourneeds," he said. A 'Vanille Pack-age' by the way, is computer slangfor the an-line system as it comesfrom the manufacturer. "The basicTRANSMIS components camefrom the Chicago Transit Authority(CTA) computer system," Farzadadded. "Of course, we've had tomodify their system a bit. For ex-ample, we have a very limited needfor computer codes for snowchains and things like that."

In addition, the TRANSMIS prog-ram is being broken down and in-stalled in easily digestible piecesrather than as one huge an-goingor linear project. "lt makes moresense to build several small com-plete bridges across a river ratherthan one single lang span with nosupport at one end," Pentekpointed out.

Not only is TRANSMIS being de-veloped, tested and brought on-line, or into service, completelyseparate from the District's ex-isting computer system so that itdoesn't interfere with day-to-dayoperations, but once the micro-wave relay system is installed itwon't even need to rely an tele-phone lines, as the current systemdoes, for transmission. "This willprovide the District with a built-inbackup system, or redundancy, aswe call it," Farzad added.

"Part of the Beauty of the sys-tem," Farzad continued, "is thatsince we already had the VMS on-line, most of the people involvedwere already familiar with it. Bybuilding TRANSMIS onto it, ratherthan separate, they should find iteasier to accept TRANSMIS."

"It's rather like cutting a steakinto smaller, more chewablebites," Pentek added.

COLLECTION — Joe Corbin inspects several of the buses in his collection.

COLLECTORS—Chuck Daniels (in drivers uniform) and Joe Corbin peer outof the doorway of good ol' Number 1005 at the Division 16 opening inPomona.

Page 4 Headway

Collecting antique buses is labor of loveJoe Corbin likes old buses. You

could even go so far as to say thathe loves old buses. For the last thir-teen years antique buses and thesense of history Corbin sees inthem have been the guiding pas-sion of his life.

Corbin, in cooperation with hiscousin and business partnerChuck Daniels, has broughttogether a collection of elevenbuses over the years. From a vin-tage 1926 Yellow Coach (GMC)double decker to twin 1951 GMC's,both among the first diesel po-

wered buses put into service in LosAngeles, each has its own story totell as well as a historical signifi-cance. All of the buses in the col-lection also have at least one thingin common. At one point or anothereach of them has seen service inpublic transit here in Los Angeles.

Adding an average ot almostone bus per year to the collectionsince 1970 has taken its toll in time,effort and money to repair and res-tore them to their original condi-tions. "It's what you might call aself-regulating hobby," the elfishCorbin says with a sly grin. "Youwork on them until you run out ofmoney and start up again whenyou have some more."

Actually, Corbin says, findingthe buses themselves isn't the realproblem. Parts. on the other hand.can be difficult to locate. Especial-ly for the very old coaches. "Wecan generally find the parts weneed for any coach built since ab-out 1940," Corbin says. "When weneed parts for buses built betweenabout 1930 and 1940 we've reallygot to work at finding them. Andwhen it comes to parts for anythingbuilt before that we simply have tomachine our own. There are almostno parts available for buses thatold anywhere we know of."

Corbin's love of antiquecoaches, and the work it takes torestore them, goes back to a fas-cination he's had with heavymechanical equipment since hischiidhood. "I've always lovedheavy machinery — loggingequipment, ,trucks, trains, buses."he says. "As a matter of fact, sincemy grandfather and uncles were allin transportation, I've often won-dered if my love for it is in any way agenetic trait. You know, somethingthat got passed along in my geneslike my hair color or something."Corbin's lined, sun-browned facelights up with its pixie smile. lettingyou know that once again he s just

having a little tun with you.

Like anyone else who is truly aslave to a single passion, Corbinappears completely normal ingeneral conversation. Once youtouch on the subject of that pas-sion though, he changes beforeyour eyes. His slight body leansforward as if to add emphasis to hiswords, the dark eyes start to shinewith the light of a true believer andhis calloused hands begin stab-bing the air around him as hewarms to his subject. "Most peoplejust don't see the history that a bus

represents," he says earnestly. "Imean, here you have this moto-rized piece of metal, or in the olddays wood covered with sheets ofmetal, that has spent its life movingpeople through their lives. It'staken untold thousands of folks towork on time and home again. It'staken them to meet a date, to go tofunerals, to christenings. Every-thing. My buses have all watchedas entire families have grown up,had children of their own and thendied. That's history!"

"Let's take just one of my buses,like that old '26 double decker No.1005, for example," he says. Like adynamo condemmed to run fore-ver on its own pent up energy, he'sgot his momentum up now andcouldn't stop if he had to. "Therewere about a thousand of the 'Z'model Yellow Coach double Be-ckers produced between 1923and 1930. Out of all of them, this isthe only one left anywhere in thecountry that still has its original en-gine and transmission. LosAngeles Motor Coach Companyran it along Wilshire Blvd. from1926 to 1940 when it was replacedby the first of 88 diesel poweredrear end engine GMC busesbrought to L.A." lnstead of beingscrapped or sold as Corbin putsit," into slavery", in some othercountry No. 1005 was one of manybuses held in reserve as a back-upjust before the beginning of WorldWar II.

At the end of the war it was soldto MGM studios as a prop. Duringthe next thirty years No. 1005appeared in something less than adozen movies. Each time with anew coat of paint and new detailwork. And then, in 1970, Corbinbought it by chance.

"I had a friend who enjoyedgoing to auctions," Corbin con-tinues. "One day he called me andsaid that MGM was having a huge

auction on their lot, you know getting rid of old props and thingslike that. Anyway, when he asked ifI wanted to go along 1 said 'Sure'seeing as I didn't have anythingelse to do. " Corbin pauses to takea sip of coffee and then continueshis story. "Well, I'm not quite surehow or why I bought that bus, butwhen I left that afternoon my friendand 1 were partners in an oldbroken down bus. Everything hasjust sort of mushroomed fromthere," he says. About three yearslater Corbin bought out his firstpartner and since then has workedon the buses with his cousinChuck. Corbin adds that he figuresthey've spent about $35,000, pri-marily in maintenance costs, ontheir buses in the last ten years andthat he and Chuck have eachspent at least 100 hours in repairsand maintenance. In return theyhave generated about $6,500 infees from movies and television."As you can see," Corbin addsruefully, "This is a labor of love, notprofit."

Currently the collection is storedin a small corner of Division 4 inDowney under terms of an agree-ment between the District and thenon-profit foundation Corbinestablished to hold ownership ofthe collection. In return for the stor-age space, the District has unres-tricted use of the buses for public-ity and community relations pur-poses. "The agreement works well

for everyone," Corbin says. "Wemake no demands on RTD firne,employees, parts or money in re-turn for the storage space and RTDhas the use of the buses wheneverthey like without having any of themaintenance or repair costs theywould have if they maintained thecollection themselves." As one ex-ample of how well the arrangementworks, just last month Corbin,Chuck Daniels and good 'ol No.1005 delighted hundreds of visi-tors at the Grand Opening of thenew Division 16 in Pomona. "We'vebeen working with RTD on thesespecial events since the openingof the El Monte busway in '73. Weenjoy them and try to take at leastone of the buses to as many as wecan," Corbin added.

Eventually, Corbin says he and alot of other bus fans and collectorswould like to see his collection be-come the centerpiece of a transitmuseum here in Los Angeles. "Wereally ought to have one here, youknow," he says. "L.A. has a unique

transit history and there should besome place our kids or grandchil-dren can go to get some idea of theimpact transporation has had onthe area."

As he gets up to leave, Corbinturns and says, "You know, somefolks fish and some folks knit.Others collect buses. So what's thebig deal?" Then he flashes one lastpixie grin, turns and leaves.

Coloring contest entry form

Contestant's name: Age (as of April 1) .

Employee/retiree name•

Relationship to contestant .

Work location: Job title

Home address .

Home telephone: ( Work telephone .

Art material(s) used•

Send to: Coloring ContestEmployee Activities Dept.425 South Main StreetLos Angeles, CA 90013

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REMEMBER —OTHER DRIVERS CAN'T SEE TRAFFIC THROUGH A CROWDED CAR

CAN'T YOU TAKE YOUR NEXT TRIP BY BUS?

Headway

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New Liik( f )ads list uf coloring contest prizesA little bit of luck and some artis-

tic ability could have you riding abrand new bicycle this summer. Allyou have to do is enter and win theannual RTD Coloring Contest.

Sponsored by the EmployeeActivities Department, the contestis open to youngsters 14 years ofage or younger whose parents orgrandparents work for the District.

In addition to the Grand Prize ofa new Schwinn 10-speed bicycle(or dirt bike model, depending onthe age of the winner), valued at$150.00, dozens of Magic Moun-tain, Disneyland and Knott's BerryFarm tickets will be awarded tofirst, second and third place win-ners in each of four categories.

It's easy to enter the contest.Here's all you have to do.

Color one of the drawings on thispage using whatever artistic mate-rials you like. Then, fitl in the entryblank and send it and f,our drawingto RTD Employee Activities Dept.,425 South Main St., Los Angeles,Ca., 90013. Or, you can ask yourparents or grandparents to send itto Coloring Contest, RecreationDept., Location 32 via company

mail.All entries must be received by 5

p.m. on Friday, May 20, 1983 to beeligible for judging.

Only the children, stepchildrenand grandchildren of RTD em-ployees or retirees are eligible toenter the contest and only one en-try may be submitted by eachchild. Of course, each child mustdo his or her own entry.

All entries will be judged by apanel of impartial professionalartists from outside the District,with winners to be announced inthe May issue of Headway. Follow-ing the judging and presentation ofprizes, the winning entries will beplaced on display in the employeecafeteria on the third floor of Dis-trict headquarters. Winning entrieswill be returned at that time. Allother entries can be picked up inperson at the Employee ActivitiesDepartment, fourth floor, head-quarters building.

There are four categories forcontestants: 6 years old andunder, 7-8 years old, 9-11 yearsold and 12-14 years old. Contes-

tants must enter the age categoryfor the age they will be on April 1,1983.

First, second and third prizes willbe awarded in each age division.In addition, a Grand Prize will beawarded to the best overall entryas determined by the judgesbased on originality, imaginationand the age of the artist.

This year the Grand Prize will bea Schwinn 10-speed bicycle or dirt

bike, depending on the age of thewinner. First place winners in eachof the categories will receive fourtickets to Magic Mountain, good forany day the park is open. Each ofthe second place winners will beawarded four tickets to Disney-land, also good for any day thepark is open and each third placewinner will receive four tickets forKnott's Berry Farm good forFather's Day, June 19.

Cartoons designed and drawn by Rubye Munsell, Bill Duttonand Dennis Dobson.

MThis month's Guess Who?

winner is Judi Sorci, from DataProcessing, who correctly gues-sed that our last mystery guestwas Barbara Swaine, from theInsurance Department. •

The picture for April was takenwhen our mystery guest was inthe First Grade in 1945. For theentire 12 years that she's workedfor the District our Guess Who?this month has worked in Trans-portation. During her career shehas been, among other things,an operator, a division dispatch-er, and an assistant manager.See if you can figure out who sheis.

Remember, write your bestguess an a piece of paper andsend it to Headway, location 32.Be sure to include your name,division and phone number. Thewinner is determined eachmonth by drawing from amongall of the correct guesses.

GUESS WHO?

ORIENTATION—Michelle Caldwell (left) addresses latest Orientation dass. Participants included: Front (left toright) Ron Barrios, Jay Etheridge, Andrea Smith. Rear (left to right) Mildred Stewart, Rudy McCoy, Marge Hobbs,Pat Hiatt and Hector Esparza.

Page 6

Headway

Classes explain District to newcomersA new employee orientation

seminar is presented monthly bythe Employee Education, Trainingand Development Department.The seminars are designed to in-troduce all new Non-Contract.BRAC, Transit Police and Radiodispatch employees to the Dis-

trict's operations. Orientation foroperators and Maintenance andEquipment employees is con-ducted within the individual de-partments, adds Training Coordi-nator Michelle Caldwell.

The program introduces newemployees to the District's overallgoals and accomplishments, itsorganizational structure and itscurrent management. lt is also de-signed to help new employeesgain a sense of participating in,and being a part of, RTD, Caldwellnoted.

These orientation seminars alsohelp provide new employees with

TEST YOURSPORTS KNOWLEDGE

an understanding of basic Districtpolicies and procedures andanswer some of the most common-ly asked questions concerning em-ployee benefits including health in-surance, tuition reimbursementand the credit union, Caldwell said.

District management considers

the orientation seminars vital to thesuccessful integration of the newemployee into the organization."New employee orientation is animportant beginning for every newemployee," says Director of Em-ployee Development Byron Lewis."The orientation program assists indirecting and maintaining a newemployee's enthusiasm," Lewisadded.

Among the information pre-sented at each seminar are anoverview of District history anda Metro Rail briefing conducted byMary Lou Echternach, from Com-munity Relations. An orientation

QUESTIONS1. Who was thhe 1980 U.S. Olympic Basketball

Team coach?2. What does the term "around-the-horn" mean in

baseball?3. When one player scores three goals in the same

hockey game it's called...4. When was the first Rose Bowl played?5. What three horses won the Triple Crown in the

70's?6. What country is Eamonn Coghlan, the record

holder for the world's fastest indoor mile, from?

puelag -9 pauillliv 'Mais enees 'lepulaces9 z061 •17 'pp; jei4 isug 01 seos aiaym

puoaas ol smoiqj °tim ueweseq pi!yi /fq pamputXeid eqnoci .e (eouapnaid) ilmeo °neu .1

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booklet, including an organizationchart, department descriptions,Facts at a Glance, Transit Jargonand safety information is also givento each seminar participant.

Most new employees feel theseminars are effective and the timewell spent. "They enable you to feel

like you know what is going an inthe company, not just in your par-ticular department. This gives youa completely different perspectiveof the company," said one recentseminar participant. Another newemployee said, "The dass con-tains some very important informa-tion and helps you to set yourgoals."

"The program is really an oppor-tunity to meet people from otherdepartments, as well as learn ab-out the District," Caldwell noted."Everyone present has somethingto offer and I learn something newat every meeting," she added.

SPECIAL RECOGNITION— TerryDavis was named Personnel Em-ployee of the Quarter recently in aceremony marking his profes-sionalism and contributions to-wards his department's goals.

WINNIE SCHARDIJN

Schardijn namedMaintenance employee

Wijnand (Winnie) Schardijn, an11-year veteran with the District,was selected as South Park Shops'Maintenance Employee of theMonth for April 1983, and thechoice of Schardijn was a popularone among his fellow employees.

As April's Maintenance Em-ployee of the Month, Winnie Schar-dijn will receive a Certificate ofAchievement and a savings bond.

RETIREES—April retirees included: (Rear, left to right) ClarenceUrschel (24 years) and his wife, Leo Manclow (30), Director MarvinHolen and General Manager John Dyer. (Front, left to right) GeorgeKuroki (32), George Herrera (25), Mr. and Mrs. George Bandy (27) andMr. and Mrs. Donald Cranfield (32).

Headway

Page 7

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MOVING UPAlfreda Lanoix, Div. 2 —1 wish to express my gratitude to

bus driver #6994 for her highlycommendable behavior today online 21 en route from downtownL.A. to Westwood.

lt was around 1:30 pm when shemade a routine stop, and a well-dressed black man carrying anewspaper boarded and sat downnext to me. All of a sudden the busdriver yelled, "Watch out for theman with the newspaper!" Every-body looked but wasn't quite surewhat she meant. I also didn't knowexactly what she meant but fettperhaps somet.hing might bewrong, so I clutched my pursetightly. After a couple more stopsthe man got off. The driver then toldeveryone that the man was a pick-pocket she had recognized from afew years ago when he pickedsomebody's pocket. Before theman got off the bus, he mutteredsomething to the driver to the effectthat he didn't think she would rec-ognize him or something, andcursed her.

I feel very grateful and thankfulindeed, as I'm sure the rest of thepeople on the bus did as well. It'sso nice to have your faith restoredin the human race. She was notonly alert, but really cared aboutthe welfare of the bus riders. Shewas brave and took a great risk inwarning us of the possible motiveof the man; going out of her way tohelp when she could've justignored the whole situation. Therewere a lot of elderly people on thebus, and if one of them had beenpicked, I'm sure it's likely that theirfixed income would have suffereda great deal.

The exemplary action of this busdriver (I wish I knew her name) de-serves recognition and reward.She stuck her neck out for her pas-sengers, and very possibiy savedone or more of us from losing some

The following individuals also re-ceived commendations lastmonth:

DIVISION 1Robert KensingerAnthony RamirezJohn PanneckDIVISION 2Robert Biedron (2)Lawrence DiazWalter CarterM. WilliamsLarry BrunerBruce WilliamsAlfreda LenoixL. C. JacksonAlbert TroyEarl HannaDIVISION 3Albert ChiribogaJames GardnerHillery SheppardThomas HarrisValerie ClisbyArturo DelgadoDIVISION 5Horace MonroeLamont CollierLuster KelseyCarelton RayCharles SteppesDIVISION 6Sidney MeredithMary CollinsPatricia Winston (2)

of our personal belongings to acommon criminal.

1 wish to commend you for hav-ing such an exemplary employeein your organization. Please giveher my personal thanks and grati-tude! I wish there were more likeher.

Very truly yours,Mrs. David Chen

William Reddick, Div. 7—Each morning as "we early ris-

ers" attempt to go to work, we haveto prepare for the day and some-times it is difficult to just get going. 1think most of us are this way butthere are some people who aremorning people and they definitelydo not have this problem. Anyway,I board the Pasadena Bus #180 or#181 on Los Feliz Blvd. at approx-imately 6:38 AM and on to Holly-wood arriving about 6:54 AM. Then1 wait 2 or 3 minutes and promptlyat 6:57 AM the #217 arrives "John-ny on the Spot" only his name is Billand "Billie on the Spot" is right.

Now let me tell you, he is alwayscheerful and happy and greets youwith a happy "Good Morning" andyou are definitely placed in a diffe-rent frame of mind. He is alwaysfriendly and pleasant with every---one and everybody likes him. Infact if I could get the names of allthe regulars it would cover thispage! They all make the commentsand think he should be com-mended for Boing a great job, andthis is why 1 am writing this letter ontheir behalf. He most certainly de-serves a big "pat on the back" as itis not easy working with the public.

So 1 am taking this opportunity tolet you know how grateful we arefor courteous R.T.D. drivers and forgetting us to work on time.

We thank you,Sincerely yours,

Susie Arnott

DIVISION 7Charles RandellMichael YoungClifford BensonJack Ealey, Jr.Tyrone FordhamLucy TurnerWalter WhiteGerman SuarezGENERAL SERVICESDoris DarbyDIVISION 8Ronald RuftTony PruittJeffery McCoyJames Hawkes, Jr.Donna SummersDIVISION 9Lester HigginsSidney CheriCharles DreierDIVISION 12Clarence AndrewsPaul TumminieraPeter CardiasBurvine LindseyDIVISION 15Harold LawsonJames BrownDIVISION 16Michael TullochJohn KempJacob SandersDIVISION 18Mitchell SimsGeorge NahraJohn Peterson

Aldana, Nicholas P., from Trans.Police Off. to Trans Police Invest.Carbo, Alma, from Rel Stk ShopClk to Equipment Records Spec.Dinuzzo, Alessandor, from MechA to Equip Maint SupvDuron, Kenneth A., from Sr. StaffAsst. to Equip Engrg. Tech.Gazinski, Lech, from Mech B toMechanic A.Gonzales, Frank, from Mech B toMechanic A.Harris, Essie, from Mechanic C toMechanic A.Hawkins, Gerald, from Equip Re-cords Spec. to Storekeeper.Hemsing, Dieter, from MechanicA to Equip. Maint. Supv.Hendrix, Michael L., from Trans.Police Off to Trans Police Invest.Kelley, Eldon, from Mechanic A toMechanic A Lead.Kielb, John, from Mechanic C toMechanic B.Lim, Taiwu, from Electrician toElec Main Supv.Little, Carlton E., from ActingTrans Police Invest. to Trans PoliceOff.Lopez, John, from Acting Trans.Police Invest. to Trans Police Off.Merriweather, Marvin, from TransPolice Off to Trans Police InvestMontoya, Theodore, from StockShop Clk to Storekeeper.Palmer, Michael, from Mech -A toMech A Leadman.Papa, Sharon K., from ActingTrans Police Invest to Trans PoliceInvestigator.

SHIFTING GEARS

Blair, Homer, Operator has retiredafter 36 years of service.

Johnson, Leo A., Operator has re-tired after 17 years of service.

McGinnis, Martin H., Equip MaintSupv I has retired after 19 years ofservice.

Saylor, Melvin F., Service Dir. hasretired after 25 years of service.

Schmidt, Wandlyn H., DivisionSteno has retired after 25 years ofservice.

Markarian, Gary, from Mech C toMechanic B.Ramos, Javier, from Acting TransPolice Invest to Trans Police Inves-tigator.Rascon, Gilbert, from ActingTrans Police Invest to Trans. PoliceInvestigator.Richard, Edward, from Mech C toMechanic B.Richard, Raymond, from Mech Cto Mechanic B.Sanchies, Donald, from TransPolice Officer to Trans Police In-vestigator.Schwent, George, fromStorekeeper to Stk Shop Clerk.Silva, Robert, from Mopper-VVaxer to Service Attendant.Taylor, Sam, from Utility A to UtilityA LeadTilman, Pamela L., from ActingTrans Police Invest. to Trans.Police Investigator.Trejo, William P., from Mech B toMechanic A.Valdez, Carlos, from ScheduleTypist to Word Proc Opr I.Varso, Edward, from Mechanic Bto Mechanic A.Williams, Marshall, from Mecha-nic B to Mechanic A.Williams, Vivian, from Ticket Clerkto Information Clerk.Yee, Thomas, from Mech C toMechanic B.Young, Dennis W., from ActingTrans Police Investigator to TransPolice Investigator.Youngblood, George, fromMechanic C to Mechanic B.

IN MEMORIUM

Abbott, Ernest A., Operator since10-9-33 passed away January 26,1983.Bowles, Edwin H., Operator since10-11-35 passed away March 27,1983. Loewing, Robert, Operator since19-29-44 passed away January13, 1983.Marino, Jasper, Supvg Svc Dir.since 3-27-41 passed away March5, 1983.McCutcheon, Teurman 0., Oper-ator since 6-7-46 passed away Au-gust 15, 1982.Tyler II, Jewell S., Part-time Oper-ator since 10-7-82 passed awayMarch 14, 1983.

COMMENDATIONS

rABOUT THE COVER

This year's United Way Campaign gets it start on April 29 andruns through May 20. Here Dee Cook, Teresa Villalon andMary Martinez visit with Malcolm Garrett during a recent tour ofChildren's Hosptial, a United Way agency. You can contactyour unit or department United Way Campaign representativeto arrange donations. Remember—Because you take the timeto care and give to the United Way, thousands of needy childrenand adults receive care they would otherwise not have accessto.

Southern California Rapid Transit District425 So. Main St., 6th Floor, Los Angeles, CA 90013 BULK RATE

U.S. POSTAGE

PAID

Los Angeles, Ca.Permit No. 32705

LJ, Employees and retirees of RTD may use this

column free of charge. Ads wil be limited to oneper person each month and will not be held overfor repeat. Ads should be submitted either typedor printed. Include your name, work location andcompany phone, and home telephone number.

District policy prohibits ads for commercialventures and such will not be published or re-turned. Send ads to Headway, Location 32, 425S. Main St., L.A. 90013.

FOR SALEBy owner; 5 Brm, 2 1/2 bath, large family roorn.15'x 15' balcony. No Down—take over pay-ments, owner will carry at low interest. WestCovina, (213) 914-5713 Days. (714) 599-9588 Eves.

FOR SALE1978 Ford Mustang Ghia. $3,500 as is, callR.D. Blake at (213) 735-9275 eves.

FOR SALE1976 19' Jet ski boat. 460 cu. in., 320 hp Fordengine, new starter, 780 Holley dual carbs,chrome O.T. pipes, trailer. $6,000. Call Danafter 5:00 pm at (714) 596-3742.

WANTEDCollector wants to buy law enforcementbadges, also coin and stamp collections.Call 225-4520 or 225-5086, 10 am to 12 pm.

FOR SALENice starter home, 10 mioutes from Division12 and 18; 30 minutes from downtown LA.Huge yard, approx. $600/mo. Call 632-6398alter 6 pm.

FOR LEASE1700 sq. ft. deluxe West Covina townhousefor lease. 2 BR + den, 2 bath, fireplace, airconditioned, pool. $750/mo. Call C. Ward388-5377.

FOR SALE1978 22' Pioneer Motor Home. 440 engine,reg. gas, 6 new Michelin tires, AC, CB radio,bath/shower, sleeps Tour. Everything readyfor camping except for bedding. $12,000.Call Robert Morgan at 985-7723 after 7 p.m.

WANTEDTransmission mounts for 1963 Buick Specialor Electra. Willing to canabalize off of yourold Junker. Call Jeff at (213) 461-7962 any-time.

U'J1_ _ft R70 Wy

Published monthly for the employeesand retirees of the Southern CaliforniaRapid Transit District.

Editorial input and suggestions wel-come. Deadline for receipt of editorialcopy is the 10th of each month. Sendblack-and-white photographs only,please. Requests for photographic cover-age of District events must be precededby 72 hours notice.

Mailing address Headway. 4th Floor,425 South Main Street, Los Angeles, CA90013. Telephone 213-972-6680.

Dennis Dobson, Editor

Transit District Employees Federal Credit UnionAnd Become Eligible to Win A

HAWAIIAN VACATIONFOR

INFORMATIONCALL

(213) 629-4963or

(213) 972-6183HOURS:10 AM - 3 PMMONDAY-FRIDAY(Closed FirstWorking Dayof Each Month)

ELIGIBILITYMEMBERSHIPMembership in the Transit Ditrict Employees Federal CreditUnion is limited to employeesof the District and their im-mediate families. There is a $1membership fee to join. Aminimum share balance of $5is required at all times. Mem-bers may add to their accountsby cash or through payroll de-ductions.