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| GHLS attends the Hobby Show | |
| In addition to our traditional attendance at the Christmas Train Show (see following article), GHLS was invited to attend the Annual Hobby Show which was also held at the International Centre on November 7th, 8th and 9th. We were invited by the Toronto Society of Model Engineers who attend this show every year. They put on a great display of their model engineering talents. In these pictures we get a good overview of our booth and of Harry Savile entertaining visitors. | |
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| GHLS attends the Christmas Train Show | |
| As per our usual practice, GHLS was out in full force once again at our major show event of the year. The show once again drew great crowds and lots of folks who had never before experienced large-scale live steam. The pictures below show Rick Intini reliving our great summer at the track and Harry Savile entertaining and educating a future engineer. | |
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| Thanks to our GHLS Founders | |
| Barry Graham has kindly provided us with a labelled picture of the founders of GHLS in this great picture below. I am sure we are grateful to them for taking the initiative to start our great club. Only Bill Lee, Arno Martens and John Davis at this present time continue as GHLS members, although a few others remain active in other clubs in the area. | |
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| Let’s be vigilant on matters of safety | |
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In the past month, the Los Angeles Live Steamers experienced a newly built train derailing and the passenger cars falling over resulting in injuries to some passengers. Here is an excerpt from a fire department report on a miniature railway accident
On Sunday, October 2, 2003 at 1337 Hours (1:37 PM PDT) twelve Companies of Los Angeles Firefighters, twelve LAFD Rescue Ambulances and three LAFD EMS Battalion Captains, under the direction of LAFD 2nd Battalion Commander Jay Turner responded to the derailment of a miniature train attraction near Travel Town in Griffith Park. According to witnesses, at least a dozen adults and children were riding atop the less than one-foot tall cars on the seven-and-one-half-inch gauge Los Angeles Live Steamers Railroad when the tiny train left the track and overturned. No persons were trapped by the toy-like railcars, which typically travel no faster than 6 mph. All passengers were triaged, but only four were needing or desirous of further medical care. |
 This is an example of what NOT to do during a miniature train ride! |
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Here are further comments from the LALS club.
“This accident has brought our hobby to the attention of Cal OSHA, and they are the investigating party. LALS is locked down until further notice, and no one knows how long that will be. What has happened is that under California OSHA, all of the railroads are technically amusement park railroads, and subject to OSHA regulation. None of the California clubs have ever been inspected by OSHA, but you know they will be now. What this will mean is unknown at this time, but it will not be good. This I suspect will open up a lot of inspection and restrictions. The train involved was a long heavyweight passenger car train, brand new, with seats almost as high as the car sides. Apparently someone shifted their weight, and three cars turned over. Eight were injured.” We too need to remain vigilant at GHLS, as such an accident in Ontario will bring in the involvement of the TSSA. Such an event could threaten our exemption from the Amusement Park Act. We have also included here an amusing picture with a serious message. This is NOT something that we would want to see happen at our track!!!! |
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| Interested in CPR Steam? | |
| There is a 10 page article in the “Classic Trains Special Collector's Edition - STEAM GLORY” magazine which is just out from Kalmbach Publishing about CPR Royal Hudson's, Jubilee's and Selkirk's designed by H.B. Bowen Chief of Motive Power and Rolling Stock Canadian Pacific Railway. They include some colour photographs. As Linc is building a Jubilee and Harry a Selkirk, this should catch their attention! | |
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| The Trans-Canadian Steam Express | |
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Here is an interesting announcement that we picked up on the Internet.
Running from May 10th through 31st May 2004, this train will run from Vancouver, through the stunning scenery of the snow-capped Canadian Rockies, across the Prairies to the dramatic Canadian Shield, the Great Lakes, Toronto, Niagara Falls and ending in Montreal. This once in a lifetime trip promises to be spectacular from start to finish. The Royal Canadian Pacific consists of 11 cars for just 32 guests in a combination of double, twin and single staterooms. The train will be hauled throughout the 3,042 mile journey by Canadian Pacific's Heritage steam locomotive number 2816 Empress, recently fully restored to its original grandeur. The train will stop every night in a quiet location, and an exciting sightseeing and cultural program is included. Exclusive Royal Canadian Pacific visits have been arranged in Vancouver, Vancouver Island, Kamloops, Lake Louise, Banff, Calgary, Medicine Hat, Regina, Winnipeg, Kenora, Thunder Bay, Marathon, Georgian Bay, Toronto, Niagara Falls, Smiths Falls and Montreal. It has been 40 years since the Canadian Pacific Railway last ran a Trans-Continental passenger service train and 50 years since one was steam-hauled. Join us in May 2004 to be one of the very few to enjoy this unique and historic experience in perfect Canadian spring weather. Cost: $26,000 per person More information can be found at this website. |
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| More News from the past 2003 Operating Season | |
| In our winter issues of this newsletter, we will be bringing you pictures and news from the great season we just completed at the GHLS Track. This month, we bring pictures from the August 23rd and 24th weekend “Engines in Miniature” event at the Museum which attracted a number of model engineers from beyond the GHLS club to our track to display their fine work. A couple of the models are shown below, an operating gas tractor and an operating radial engine for an aircraft. | |
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| 1st Steam (continued from last issue) | |
| This month, we highlight the fine work of our intrepid Secretary who brought to the track his newly completed and beautifully crafted Dominion Coal No. 8, a 4-3/4" 2-4-4T Suburban. After several test runs to work out the bugs, it's working well and has been giving rides at the public steaming days this fall. | |
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| For Sale | |
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Upcoming Events
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