!at the throttle! - cagrs · !at the throttle! some say that when they climb aboard her, ... joe...

!At The Throttle!

Some say that when they climb aboard her,

the sights & smells bring them back to a time

from when they were young and travelled by

rail frequently. For me, I was never that

lucky, but I work hard at bringing that nostal-

gia to passengers aboard the Nebraska Zeph-

yr. I have been fortunate enough to be part of

the small Zephyr crew for the past 23 years,

and am now managing the dining car.

We plan the menu months in advance. We

must consider what can be cooked on the

original, coal burning stove and the ovens,

which only get up to 275 degrees. I need to

come up with a menu that is easy enough for

my crew to cook, and one in which I know

can be prepared within the allotted amount of

time for each trip.

The reservations start coming in, and "oh

yea", we better print some tickets to send out.

So we rush around getting something de-

signed and sent off to the printer. And then

it's time to call together the troops to let them

know we're going to be putting on our infa-

mous "dinner trips" again! Emails get sent,

phone calls are made, and we wait and hope

we end up with enough help. We need at

least 11 people to pull this off, as serving 78

people a 4 course dinner in 1 evening re-

quires a lot of cleaning, prep work, cooking,

serving and clean up, and doing it for 2 nights

takes even more!

Some of our experienced volunteers are com-

ing in from as far away as Florida, Oklaho-

ma, and Utah to work with us on these 2 eve-

nings! That does not discount the ones that

are here locally, that are going to work with

us, as they also work very hard, too. It is al-

ways easier to have experienced help.

Volume 18, Number 5 May 2015

! Havin’ Fun & Runnin’ Trains & Runnin’ Trains & Havin’ Fun ! 2

CHCAGO AREA GARDEN RAILWAY

SOCIETY http://cagrs.com

Officers

President, Ron Althardt 847-634-0637

[email protected]

Vice President, Lorrie Rockey 630-709-6957

[email protected]

Treasurer, Wayne Clauss [email protected]

Secretary, Madison Parker [email protected]

Chairpersons Membership, Walter Radtke

205 E. Moehling Drive Mt. Prospect, IL 60056

847-255-2977 [email protected]

Open Houses, Beth and Steve March

847-367-5175 [email protected]

WebMaster, Ray Sargent 630-766-5738

[email protected]

Newsletter Editor,

John Peart 773-973-0217

[email protected]

Newsletter PRINTER, Pete Costanza

The Ink Well (847) 923-8060

I am proud of the fact that we serve food that is prepared

and fully cooked on board the Zephyr, unlike other dinner

trains in the area that just cater it, and heat it up at the

right time. So, after thinking it thru, we will be having

strip steak & grilled shrimp for dinner...sound good?

I am starting to put together the dry goods that I know I

can purchase ahead of time, but have to wait until the last

day for all the perishables. Just coordinating the delivery

of perishables to the train is a small feat. Everything must

be transported in special coolers. We only have so many

of them, so multiple trips must be planned from at least 5,

different food stores. We shop around to get the best pric-

ing, and it never works out that everything comes from the

same place. Steaks from Caputo's, shrimp from Restaurant

Depot, lettuce and produce from GFS, ..., you get the idea.

Next, we need to clean the dining car from its long winters

nap. (In this case, 2 years since its last use.) The guys

have filled her with coal and water. Now time for a good

scrubbing and polishing! We want to make sure that the

public can see themselves in the stainless steel as they

walk into the dining car. The health department loves to

see everything shining and clean too, so I make sure that's

what they get. I am certified by the State of Illinois for

Health & Sanitation, which makes everything a bit safer

and ensures safety precautions are taken.

If all goes well, we will have 2 fantastic evenings of great

food while our quests enjoy the trains' ambiance and just

maybe are taken back to a time when train travel was

something to look forward to and greatly enjoyed... the

Way of the Zephyrs.

Lorrie Rockey


The monthly meeting of CAGRS was held on

Sunday, April 26, 2015 at the Holiday Inn in

Itasca, IL.

Attendees: Paul Allodi, Ed Biesiadecki,

Wayne and Jan Clauss, Bob and Laurie Defoe,

Joe Diorio, David Dreyer, Mary and Jim Fiori-

to, Gaby and Dietrich Gruchot, Bob Hartnett,

Ray and Karen Holich, Paul Hough and Ingrid

Nelson, Butch Huvaere, Grant Law, Joe and

Mary Lou Lienau, Steve and Beth March, Do-

ra and Don Mecko, Ron Messner, Irwin and

Gayle Mishoulam, Liz and Allan Pantle, Madi-

son and Gayle Parker, John Peart, Walter and

Gail Radtke, Lorrie Rockey, Bill and Shirley

Rustemeyer, Robert Rustemeyer, Donald

Rustemeyer, Judy Rustemeyer, Ray Sargent,

Ken Starzyk, Brian Valleau, Mary and Bob

Walsh, Wayne Zoeteman, (47)

Lorrie Rockey opened the meeting by welcom-

ing new member Grant Law. Welcome!

Old Business:

We are still looking for topics and presenters

for this year’s meetings. If you have any sug-

gestions or are willing to provide a presenta-

tion, large or small, please e-mail Ron Althardt

or Lorrie Rockey.

New Business:

The election for Vice President and Treasurer

was chaired by Brian Valleau. The nominees

were announced and the votes were taken.

Lorrie Rockey was elected as Vice President

and Wayne Clauss was elected as Treasurer.

Reports:

Vice President, Lorrie Rockey: No new items.

Secretary, Madison Parker: The minutes for

the March 2015 meeting were presented. Ste-

ve March moved to accept the minutes. After

a second, the minutes were approved.

Treasurer’s Report, Wayne Clauss: The check-

ing balance as of March 28, 2015 was

$26,718.23. The balance as of April 24, 2015

was $26,480.72.

Membership, Walter Radtke: Memberships as

of April 26, 2015 were a happy 143.

Caring and Sharing, Dora Mecko: Look for

the Caring and Sharing updates in this news-

letter.

Contact Ron Messner for club shirts

Contact Judy Rustemeyer for the new CAGRS

wind breakers which are available in different

sizes for purchase. The base cost is $52 and

goes up dependent upon size.

Comments:

The next meeting will be on May 31st at the

Holiday Inn in Itasca. Note the date as it is

one week later than usual so it does not con-

flict with the Memorial Day weekend.

The summer picnic will be held July 18 at Illi-

nois Live Steamers. We will be providing

food picnic style.

Presentation: The evening’s presenter was

Joe Lienau who cast some light on the design

and installation of lights for buildings and

equipment. (Ed. The web site for RLD Hob-

CAGRS

Meeting Minutes

April 26, 2015

by Madison Parker

Secretary


bies, that Joe mentioned in his presentation, is

www.rldhobbies.com)

Lorrie adjourned the meeting.

Contact Ron Althardt if you have any com-

ments or recommendations on how we can im-

prove the club. His telephone number is 847-

634-0637 or 847-970-8663 or e-mail cap-

[email protected]

Respectfully submitted,

Madison Parker

Secretary

I've been trying keeping an up-to-date listing

of Open Houses which includes owner info,

date and time, a small image, a description of

your layout, GPS coordinates and a map to

each home, in the Members Area under the

"OPEN HOUSE SCHEDULE" tab.

In order to keep our records as accurate as pos-

sible I ask that if any information changes,

please e-mail Steve March ([email protected])

and me ([email protected]) with the information

so we can update the newsletter and the web-

site.

If you do e-mail, please put the word

"CAGRS" in the subject line so we know it's

not spam or whatever.

The new login information is below:

The user name remains: "cagrs" (all lower

case)

The new password is: "boiler" (all lower case)

See you all at the meetings and the Open

Houses this year.

Sadly, we received news of the passing of a

former CAGRS club member, Jackie Fried-

man.

Cards: Friedman Family, 3032 W. Jerome,

Chicago, IL 60645

Also, please keep in your prayers, the Snorek

Family. Jim Snorek recently lost his sister.

Cards: 11 N 013 Williamsburg Dr, Elgin, IL

60124

Dora Mecko

Caring & Sharing

Corner

Dora Mecko 847-776-2176

[email protected]

CAGRS

Web Master Ray Sargent

May

BIRTHDAYS ANNIVERSARIES

Jeannie Benson Hoernecke

Jim & Mary Fiorito Jacob

Gayle Parker Rustemeyer - 58 years

Donald Mecko Vavra - 50 years

Donna Lawrence

Diane Huske

Gayle Parker

Irwin Mishoulam

Cindee Moeller

Bob Derenski

Bill Rustemeyer

Steve McCabe

mailto:[email protected]

Members with Equipment

for Sale


Bill Moll 15-455-2277

Allan Anderson 847-985-9127

John Koelle has locomotives and rolling stock

for sale. 847-607-8789

Jeff Moeller

I have acquired a substantial collection of

books, magazines, EMD related materials and

number boards as well as over 18,000 8" x 10"

photographs.

I would like to offer the members a crack at

the books at a flat fee of $5.00 each local pick

up or $10.00 if I have to ship them

For details send an email to

[email protected]

May 18, 2014 (11am to 4 pm)

Kishwaukee Valley & Elkin Creek RR Club

13400 Sun City Blvd

Huntley, IL 60142

Harry Sorenson 847-669-8936

Wayne Clauss and Joe Vavra

Directions

From I-90 exit North on Route 47, towards

Huntley, IL. At the 2nd light, turn left. Follow

Del Webb 1 mile to first stop sign. Turn left

onto Sun City Blvd. Pass Baseball Diamond

on right. Use parking lot or pass barn building

and use upper parking lot. Follow signs on

foot. Parking on street is permitted.

From Algonquin road and 47, turn south

about 1.5 miles to Sun City entrance on right.

GPS Coordinates: 42.139384, -88.457531

Facilities and Parking

The Club House has men's and women's

washrooms available. When you park in the

upper (West) parking lot you will need to use

a stairway to access the layout. Lower-level

parking (east) is at the same grade level as

our layout making the layout handicapped

accessible from this lot.

Description

This layout features 1500 feet of trestle-

supported, stainless-steel track on hilly ground.

Three separate main loops, a single track trol-

ley line, 20 foot minimum radius mainlines

and a separate logging loop section with yard

and sawmill.

The layout features block controls, 5 bridges,

elevation and trestles. Garden features are

maintained by members of the Sun City Gar-

den Club. The layout is a product of the Sun

City, Huntley RR Club members. . Included

on site are three indoor layouts, "O"-gauge,

"HO"-gauge and "N"-gauge, all built and oper-

ated by Club members

2015 Summer

Layout

Tours

by Steve March

Note: All Open Houses are from 1pm to 5 pm

unless noted .

mailto:[email protected]


Train Viewing Saturday, June 13 from 10 AM to 3 PM.

Midwestrails will have a display by the switch

tower and caboose at Franklin Park Railroad

Daze, on Saturday June 13th, 2015. Every

June, the Village of Franklin Park celebrates

its heritage with the Railroad Daze Festival.

There is a family-friendly carnival and enter-

tainment, a beer and wine garden along with a

wide variety of food vendors. Attractions in-

clude walk-on special rail cars and unique train

displays. General admission for Railroad Daze

is FREE! The event is located at Tower Park at

Calwagner Street & Franklin Avenue in Frank-

lin Park, Illinois.

For more information go to

www.villageoffranklinpark.com

/events/railroaddaze

or call 847-671-4800

Franklin Park

Railroad Daze

June 11-14, 2015 By Everett Sykes

Grand Canyon Railway's ALCO No. 29


2015 Summer

Layout

Open Houses

by Steve March

Date (* CAGRS Meeting) County Layout 1 Layout 2 Layout 3

Sunday, May 03 Cook south

Sunday, May 10 (Mother’s Day) Lake

Sunday, May 17 McHenry KV&EC Sun City

Sunday, May 24 (Memorial Day 25)

DuPage

Sunday, May 31 * Cook north

Sunday, June 07 Cook south

Sunday, June 14 Lake

Sunday, June 21 (Father’s Day) McHenry

Sunday, June 28 * DuPage Lienau Dolgner

Sunday, July 05 (Independence Day 04)

Cook north

Sunday, July 12 Cook south Miller

Sunday, July 19 Lake Mecko Boldt

Sunday, July 26 (CAGRS picnic 25) DuPage

Sunday, August 02 Cook south

Sunday, August 09 Cook north Tojan

Sunday, August 16 Lake Althardt March Silverton

Sunday, August 23 * McHenry

Sunday, August 30 Cook south Rustemeyer

Sunday, September 06 (Labor Day 07)

DuPage

Sunday, September 13 Cook north Alodi Hartnett

Sunday, September 20 McHenry KV&EC Sun City

Sunday, September 27 * Lake

Sunday, October 04 Cook south

Sunday, October 11 DuPage

Sunday, October 18 Cook north

Sunday, October 25 * Cook south


CAGRS JACKETS

Judy Rustemeyer is the Jacket Lady for the club..

Jacket Order Form:

Name:_______________________________

Address: _____________________________

Phone: _______________________________

Make Checks Payable to CAGRS

Contact Judy Rustemeyer 6067 N. Newburg Avenue,

Chicago, IL 60631 312-513-2227

———————————————————————————

CAGRS SHIRTS Ron Messner is our Shirt Man. Our members

are seen here in the photo wearing our smartly

styled denim versions with logo. The shirts are

available with short or long sleeves.

All shirts are available in sizes Small thru

XXXL. The Polo short sleeve version is $28. for

all sizes. The denim shirts are $30 for all sizes

and sleeve styles. Please contact Ron for his in-

ventory. You can contact him by phone, email,

or at a CAGRS monthly meeting to place your

order.

Ron Messner

4936 Berenice 773-794-1779

Chicago, IL 60641 [email protected]

OFFICIAL CAGRS CLUB LOGO

SHIRTS AND JACKETS

AVAILABLE

Coming Up this Month

May 17 Open House, KV&EC Sun City, Huntley

May 31 May Meeting, Holiday Inn, Itasca, 5:30

Coming Up June 7 CAGRS Spring Board Meeting

June 11-14 Franklin Park Railroad Daze, Franklin Park, IL

June 28 June Meeting, Holiday Inn, Itasca, 5:30

July 5-11 National Garden Railway Convention, Denver, CO

July 18 Picnic at Illinois Live Steamers (Saturday)

August 16 Northern area open houses to encourage new members

Chicago Area Garden Railway Society

205 E. Moehling Drive

Mt. Prospect, Illinois 60056-3845

!at the throttle! - cagrs · !at the throttle! some say that when they climb aboard her, ... joe...

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