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A FIRST IOWA DIVISION PUBMarch 20LICATION MARCH 2March001
FIRST IOWA DIVISION OFFICERS
DAVE RIEMENSCHNEIDER - CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD
641-483-2356
TOM JENNESS - DIVISION MASTER
712-225-2614
CARL SCHNEIDER - TRIP COORDINATOR
515-967-5181
STEVE JONES - SAFETY OFFICER
402-476-3676
BERYL KINART - SECRETARY
641-259-2585
SCOTT STENSLAND - TREASURER
515-769-2328
MARCH 2001
IN THIS ISSUE
NOTES FROM THE EDITOR
SAFETY
REMEMBERING THE PAST
NEW MEMBERS
SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS
NOTES FROM THE EDITOR
BY CARL SCHNEIDER
Here is the much awaited for newsletter with all the ride information as I have it for the year 2001. Tom has done a great job putting together a schedule with ride opportunities for everyone. We have had to make some changes in our ride fees because some of the railroads have dramatically increased our costs to ride their rails. One railroad increased over 300%! I hope this won't discourage you from participating in our excursions because it's through your support that we're able to keep the costs of our rides as low as possible. If we have poor attendance at rides, we have to increase our fees even more and that's the last thing we want to do. Please support our rides by coming and riding with us. With the ride fees as they are, we need to have 20 to 25 cars at an event to break even so we need you!
The annual board meeting / party at Prairie City was another big success with about 50 people in attendance. As usual, there was lots of food and gossip. Everyone seemed to have a good time. The door prizes went to Pam Kulik of Des Moines ( a Union Pacific blanket ) and Hunk Anderson of Greene ( a Union Pacific pocket watch ). For the second year in a row, Tom and Sandy Osborne of Atkinson, Nebraska traveled the farthest and will receive a free ride this year.
One of the big changes coming out of the meeting was the election of Dave Riemenschneider as our new Chairman of the Board. He's replacing Wayne Rimathe who wanted to relax and give someone else a chance to be in the spotlight. Thanks, Wayne, for doing a great job the past several years. Wayne will still remain active in the club even though he isn't on the Board. Rob Boorman was also placed on the Board as an Assistant Division Master to help with the safety inspections and other things to make our rides go smoothly.
SAFETY
Please have your motor cars in good condition when you arrive for our rides this year. We'll be inspecting the cars for wheel thickness, brakes, lights, and all of the other safety items listed in your Narcoa Rule Book. The condition of your motor car is your responsibility so it should be checked thoroughly prior to the ride season.
We would also like to strongly recommend the use of seat belts on your motor cars. We've had some accidents in the past that would have been less serious had the people been wearing seat belts.
Another big concern of ours is the blowing of horns at a crossing and then proceeding without regard to road traffic. Blowing the horn does not give you the right-of-way! All motor cars must yield to the public. Anyone violating this will be banned from riding First Iowa Division excursions. This is a very serious matter which could have a negative impact on our club and result in loss of ride privileges on some railroads. We must work to keep our rides safe!
REMEMBERING THE PAST
BY CARL SCHNEIDER
For those of you who weren't at the New Years Day ride in Elliot and haven't heard about it, here's the scoop on the ride. As you can probably remember, we had lots of snow during the month of December plus some gusty winds to blow the snow into hard drifts. This ended up causing a problem at Elliot. The elevator had run a plow a few days before our scheduled New Years Day ride and we didn't get much more snow after that. However, we did get more of the high winds that blew the tracks shut. The temperature wasn't near as nice as in 2000 either. This year it was very cold. Only two motor cars were on hand for the ride, Tom & Jean Jenness and Dave & Pam Riemenschneider. Denise McFarland also braved the elements and showed up to start out 2001 on the rails. Unfortunately, the snow was bad enough that they could only travel about three blocks before having to give up. The day wasn't all wasted though because the elevator offices were open and everyone could get warmed up, chow down on food, and spend a couple hours just visiting. They had a good time in spite of the weather and track conditions.
NEW MEMBERS
Mike and Pam Kulik Des Moines, Iowa
SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS
Don't forget to renew your Narcoa insurance for the year before our ride season begins. All of our rides require Narcoa insurance to operate this year, including the Boone & Scenic Valley.
Enclosed with this newsletter is a sheet listing the rides for 2001 and a sign up sheet for each of those rides. Please fill out which rides you are interested in attending and mail it or e-mail it back to me so I can send you the appropriate waivers about two weeks prior to a ride. This is very important because, in the past, we have had changes that required us notifying those people who are planning on attending a ride. If you don't send the sign up sheet back, you run the risk of missing important announcements concerning certain rides such as date changes, etc. I would like to have 100% of the sign up sheets returned unless you aren`t planning on going on any rides at all. But please, don't just mark every ride if you aren't at least thinking of going on that particular ride. I've had some persons sign up for all the rides and not go on any of them. This costs the club extra postage money. If this happens, I remove that person from my mailing list. Thanks for your cooperation.
Relax, in less than two months we'll be back on the rails!
Carl Schneider
1302 6th Ave SE
Altoona, Iowa 50009-2002
515-967-5181