Page 29 - September October 2014

located in a small railroad park adjacent to the station. The UP line then splits, one turns north and crosses the Benicia- Martinez bridge to continue on to Fairfield and Sacramento. The other runs through Port Chicago and meets up with the BNSF.
Amtrak
The Capitols service is by far the most frequent service on this line, with over 15 trains a day in each direction.
The trains are in ‘push-pull mode’, with the locomotives located at the ‘west end’ of the train. It follows that for photography, the late afternoon/early evening time provides the best shots. Eastbounds in the morning will give you ‘cab car’ shots (Photo #5).
Amtrak California # 2011 passes under the bridge at Rodeo with a westbound Capitols train, 25 March 2014 Photo Tom Watson
Access
All along the Carquinez Strait and San Pablo Bay the track hugs the shoreline. Lone Tree Point and the Pinole Shoreline parks are not the only vantage points, but others may be more difficult to find. Public access is from the land side and may involve short walks to gain the tracks, or use of a step-ladder to see over walls.
A del’Orme Northern California atlas or very detailed local map will give you more information.
Accommodation and Food
We have listed various motels for both Pinole and Martinez. Pinole: Motel 6 and Days Inn; Martinez: Super 8, Best Western and Motel 6. As can be seen, the area is well served by most of the big chain motels. And in Martinez there are also local ‘mom and pop’ motels which may offer better rates.
There are no motels in Rodeo, but there are a few local stores where one can find snacks. The nearest decent eateries are in Martinez.
Other Attractions/Points of Interest
Richmond: Golden State Model Railroad Museum (the subject of a future article); Oakland: Jack London Square (Street Running); Martinez: Benicia-Martinez Bridge; Napa Valley: for wine tours and the Wine Train; Sonoma: for Traintown Railroad Park and nearby Scheville for the Northwestern Pacific and their amazing collection of rusting old Espee F-units, Caddies and cabooses; Fairfield: Western Railway Museum (streetcars); Vallejo: Six Flags Marine World.
Summing up
Great railfanning in this area. Photography, location and scenery afford great memories, and photographs. Video recording is highly recommended. Sunsets if you are there in the evening.
Upside: Lots to see and do in this area, including the city of San Francisco and the surrounding communities.
Downside: The weather may be unpredictable as the wind blows in off the Pacific. Allow lots of time and money for hotels/motels and fast food joints, as you will want to spend a lot of time here. (Are these really downsides??)
Get there soon, for when the ‘big one’ comes, most of this area will relocate to Hawaii!!!
Lindsay and Tom
Keith Webb
5
The New NMRA Clearance Gauge
The NMRA has recently released a new Clearance Gauge (yes they have actually spelt it correctly this time too!). This comes complete as a two-piece kit and is supplied together with a new Mark IVb gauge. The design of the new injection-moulded part allows those working with modern cars and clearances to accurately leave enough room between cars and structures, at both the sides and the top. This gauge will work for all modern stock, post-1983 and through 2007 (please see the supporting documentation at www.nmra.org/sites/default/files/standards/ sandrp/pdf/s-7_2012.02.pdf ).
One side of the new clearance gauge is designed to accept the Mark IVb gauge so that the track Go, No-Go gauge protrudes below, and this puts all the relevant clearances in the correct places. The other side of the moulding is designed to store your Mark IVb gauge, keeping your gauge safe, but even more usefully – easy to see where you put it down, as the coloured plastic makes it easy to spot!
This product is the result of many years’ research and hard work by a few dedicated members. It first started life back in 2002– 2003 as an adaptor for On30 and On3, the tooling being designed and produced privately by Brian Barnt and Allen Pollock. The project was then adopted by the NMRA in late 2003. There was little progress until late 2011 when Didrik Voss advised Brian that he needed to talk to Allen regarding the originator of the design. From then on Brian and Didrik worked together using designs for adaptors that Brian had previously made based on data collected from the late Ron Gaines.
I asked the question why it has been produced in plastic, and why not another punched metal gauge. From my own experience I know that the price of injection-moulding tools generally works out more expensive, and they are not as long-lasting as punch tools! Brian informs me that stainless steel holds its tolerances well, and will continue to be used on gauges that need the level of accuracy that the current track gauge needs. However, the clearances for S-7 (as referred to by the NMRA – see link above) are not as tight, so that what little shrinkage there is, when the gauge is released from the mould, does not affect the less-critical dimensions of these clearances. He also confirmed that the price saving has been in using the same tooling for moulding more than one size of gauge; HO and N in one, On3 and On30 in the other). The clearance gauges are moulded in four different colours, Blue for N Scale, Pastel Yellow for HO, Pastel light Blue for On30 and bright Orange for On3.
Currently the price each to NMRA member for this complete kit (Mark IVb gauge + clearance gauge) is $12 for the N and HO versions and $16 for On30 and On3 versions. These are available direct from HQ at www.nmra.org.
Unfortunately, due to Tax constraints, the British Region can no longer sell NMRA supplies, so we will be unable to stock them locally. However, one of our long-serving mobile traders has expressed an interest in stocking them, Sunningwell Command Control. So if you are interested, please speak to Ted Smale.
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