Oddities from Odyssey House

New face

2012-02-05T16:22:00.000-08:00

As you have seen, we have a new internet face. Alex has decided it's time to revamp our website in its entirety. Now, it remains to be seen just how long this going to take. It is my sincere hope that we will be able to add pages regularly. We have a great deal of interesting stuff to share.

On the hobby bench, I'll be building and updating a pair of Testa Rossa Ferrari models for some slot racing friends and will be documenting the work for our visitors. Fly model company produced a nice but ill proportioned model of the 158 pontoon fendered Ferrari Testa Rossa . The model was made a bit too thick in body in order to clear the motor. I was able to work with the shallow interior in such a way that a 16th inch could be sectioned from the body and the mounts could be shaved another 16th inch allowing the car to acquire the low sleek cat like proportions of the prototype.

Still working on the roundhouse for our friends model railroad. Going to be quite a trick to accomplish because, as I may have mentioned in a previous post, the kit structure doesn't match the radial track arrangement. Oh well, it'll look great when I'm done. We're also in the process of adding a fresh car card operating system to this layout. I've always had a passion for operating a model railroad in a manner approximating the real thing. It will probably be a matter of trial and error though to learn how to route the cars in order to avoid traffic jams at various points on the layout.

Next weekend will be another meeting of the South Mountain Division of the NMRA. I've found this group very pleasant to hang out with. Much more so than the Bunker Hill Train Club. Most of the members are heavily in to the operation aspect of model railroading which is something I very want to learn more about. I'll probably be attending this meet on my own as Alex will be at Dulles Airport retrieving his lady friend who will be visiting for a week.

We've received the entry form forms for the Labor Day "Fall Vintage Festival" at Lime Rock Park. With Sebring shelved for another year we will be making an all out effort to have the finished PV at Lime Rock on Labor day. This March will mark 48 years since I first took that old car to a competition drivers school at Lime Rock. Not too many vintage race cars can show up at a track today with their original owner/driver still behind the wheel. I'll be contacting as many folk as possible who were with me years ago and inviting them to be with us when the long lived PV returns to its old stomping grounds.

So, please bear with us while we rebuild our web presence. It will be well worth the wait I promise. Till next week, Ron.

End o' the month

2012-01-29T15:23:00.001-08:00

And so we come to the end of the first month of the new year. Busy as always.

The fuel cell for the PV goes out to ATL tomorrow to have a new bladder made. After 40 years the old one has become brittle and leaks in a number of places.

Dottie is doing well with here online e-bay sales. There's a whole new skill set required to handle that successfully. Our friend Brian W. has been supplying sales items and the research on some of his flea market finds has turned out to be an interesting hobby in itself.

On the model railroad scene, I have finally decided to make up the blank car cards for Winks model railroad by hand the old fashioned way. Most folks apparently use a computer program such as Excel to do this. We don't have excel and the spread sheet program we do have is difficult to use for producing a simple line graph. So, I've decided to go back to what I know and dug out my ruling pens and a straight edge and made my master sheet by hand. We'll simply copy it and run off the blank cards on the printer. We're on our way to finally, to having some real operation on Wink's Central Maryland model railroad. No we have to figure out a workable schedule of trains and what each work one should accomplish. It'll be a fun challenge when we have it all up and running.

I've also been working on the roundhouse for the layout. It's an interesting project as the radial tracks don't match the kit stall spacing. Much fudging. It's all fun though. Right down to modifying and detailing a pair of HO scale fire engines for the model fire house.

Alex is currently working on the web site and we should have some additional pics and video available before too long. We'll have vid. on the Jefferson 500 in 2010 with the PV as well as in car footage of the EMRA race with the IT car last fall. We'll also be adding pics of our various model projects and a sampling of some of the art work I've been working on recently.

So, back to work even though it's Sunday evening. Till next week, Ron.

Catchin' up

2012-01-22T15:46:00.000-08:00

There was no entry last week as Alex and I attended the monthly meeting of the South Mountain Division of the National Model Railroad Association. As they say, a good time was had by all. The meeting was hosted by the SMD "clerk" Richard Lind. Richard models in "S" scale and has a "high rail" layout under construction in a sun porch at the back of his home and several "modules" in scale rail under construction in his basement. We spent the afternoon having fun experimenting with a Noch static grass generator in his basement. This interesting piece of equipment produces some very realistic looking tall grass in scale. It's a pricey tool, however there are several tutorials available online that show how to build one for a reasonable price.

We've also found a supplier for photo interiors for use in model store fronts. We'll be making use of these for the line of built up structures we will have available for sale on e-bay. Dottie btw, has been doing quite well on e-bay with the sale of our first set of structures as well as photographing and marketing a series of antiques and collectibles for our friend Brian W.

In other model railroad news, I've finally begun construction of the roundhouse for my friend Bob Winklers layout. The radial tracks don't quite match the kit structure so this will entail a considerable amount of "cut & fit". There is also the problem that we have an access track to the staging yard cutting off a corner of the building resulting in a short 6th stall. It'll be a pain to build but worth the effort. I also have a track plan in the works for the possible extension of Wink's "Central Maryland" railroad into an adjoining room in his basement. The addition will nearly double the CM mainline while eliminating an excessive amount of hidden trackage and a short but very steep grade. It will also permit the hidden staging yard to be moved from under the layout to a more accessible location.

On the automotive scene, it looks like Sebring will be a no show this time around. With their 60th anniversary celebration the organizers are concentrating on past winners and won't be able to give much of a show to a car that was essentially an "also ran". Not to get lost in the shuffle we'll give it a try next season when perhaps we can direct a bit more attention to the significance of the old PV.

Right now the old PV is close to completion. It turns out the old bladder for the fuel cell is suffering from old age and will have to be replaced. Fortunately ATL will do the job for us so that we can still use the original fuel filler/ball check system.

We hope to make a few races with the IT car this year as I'd like the chance to get the rust out a bit more in hopes to getting back up to speed. We're going to see if we can obtain our own in car video cam too. We have some video that we haven't gotten up yet from last season that was taken with a borrowed camera.

Nick is working on (among other things) resin casting on his time off up in CT. Currently he's working on several HO scale automobiles and should have those done before long. We also have several masters in the works for 1/32 scale slot car bodies. First up will be a '61/'62 Corvette roadster. I'm particularly looking forward to this model as back in the '60's I'd built a pair of 'Vette roadsters from Aurora kits (which were a bit undersize) to represent the cars driven by Don Yenko and Frank Dominianni. I'd love to do these models over again with good properly scaled shells. After that we will attempt a Porsche RSK. I have a master well along for this. It has always amazed me that none of the model manufacturers have ever done a good version of the RSK/RS60/61 in 1/32 scale. Way back when, Monogram did do one in 1/24 but never repeated it in 1/32 as they did with other models. Oh well, just have to do it myself. Fortunately Strombecker did a very crude (exceedingly crude) version in 1/32 that I've been able to use as a starting point.

Well, so much for now. Be back next Sun. with more "catchin' up". Till then, Ron.

2012-01-08T10:13:00.000-08:00

The holiday's are over and I'm back, decorations having all been put away for yet another year. Now to wait out the remainder of the winter. Plenty to keep busy with though, as Dotti and I continue to work on our studio projects and Alex keeps up with his own online endeavors. Dotti and I hope to have our second set of finished model structure up for sale by the end of the week. Along with that I'll be working in our resto. shop cleaning up the suspension parts on a customers Volvo 1800 ES. We'll be sending out the Fuel cell of the old racing PV to ATL to have a new bladder made for it. After 40 years the original one has become brittle and cracked. We're still hoping to have the car at Sebring this year for the 60th annual running of the 12 hour. In the meantime there's plenty for us to keep moving with to ward off winters chill. Till next time, Ron.

RAA & other stuff

2011-12-18T11:32:00.000-08:00

Back on schedule for a change. Made the trip to an IHSR slot car event yesterday. Our good friend Jim Butt host an event every Dec. on his Flying Cow raceway located in the basement of his home in New Freedom PA. We hadn't participated in any IHSR events for the past two seasons, other interests taking precedent over slot car racing.
This year Jim was hosting the Race Across America proxy race wherein slot car racers from all over the country enter cars which are then raced by proxy at various participating tracks all around the country. This past Sat. it was Jim's turn to be host.
It was good to see many of our old friends again. Even though I hadn't seen many of them for over a year and a half it was as if I'd never left. Although I hadn't intended to run the club races I did bring a controller so as to perhaps participate in the RAA event. The RAA cars were divided into three categories and I did take over a control stand for the third event. In a proxy race the drivers stay in one lane while the cars rotate across the lanes so that every driver runs each car in one heat. This is done to insure a fair race for each of the cars as it is the performance of the cars that are being scored,not the drivers. On the drivers part, it is just the fun of trying out all the different cars.
It was really good to see Jim and all the crew once again. IHSR is still a great bunch of folks.
Jim also had his usual display of O gauge electric trains running round his Christmas tree. He displays his class in the modeling community by running a model of an original Pierce Arrow bodied Rio Grande Southern "Galloping Goose" around his tree.

Our current plans for next season with the race cars is focused on running the old PV at Sebring in March. This year marks the 60th anniversary for the event. Our car was the last car in the last LeMans start ever held at Sebring. That little piece of history should be reason enough to be a participant in the vintage event which will precede the 60th edition of the traditional 12 hour Grand Prix of endurance. This event will mark 43 years since the old PV had its day of glory in an international event.

Till next time, Ron.

Things & stuff

2011-12-08T08:11:00.000-08:00

Alex and I have attended our last meeting of the Bunker Hill Train Club. We had high hopes when we joined last year but unfortunately it just didn't work out. I have my membership in the NMRA however and will be more active with our local NMRA group, the South Mountain Division of the NMRA. No additional dues, no club layout and no constant fund raising to interfere with playing with little trains.

Dotti has managed to sell her first built up model structures on e-bay. We used the auction option this time but probably won't in the future. Our problem now is how to package delicate model structures so they will survive shipping.

With our computer problem having been dealt with we will now be working on installing a program that will allow us to make our own custom decals and custom signage for Dotti's built up structures. For my part I will continue to do the basic assembly for Dotti but will be devoting a large part of my time to developing art work for sale. I currently have two illustrated novels (comics) on the board as well as several illustrations depicting industrial/transportation scenes from which I hope to able to produce quality prints. Trains, Great Lakes boats and motor vehicles will be the themes. Look for an entry on this blog by Alex explaining his own endeavors in the field of custom model work and art.

I'm looking forward to being able to make decals etc. as much of my own personal model work is dedicated to revitalizing old flea market models. With the escalating prices of models today, many of us who started in the hobby years ago are being priced out it. This goes for the motor racing too. Us old timers have to rely on our building skills to remain active. Skills many hobbists today are not developing with the advent of ready to run and ready built models. A shame really that these skill are no longer being developed as they once were. Much of the fun was always in the building for me. I still enjoy a good wood craftsman kit such as those sold by LaBelle Woodworking. As for the price of the new stuff, while the models available today are certainly superb, I can hardly afford $150 to $450 locomotives, $35/$40 passenger cars and $25 freight cars. My old stuff will have to do me I'm afraid. Fortunately I did manage to develop the necessary skill over the years to keep the old stuff going. That and there are still a few manufacturers who continue to offer reasonably priced quality models such as Tichy Train Group which manufactures beautiful styrene kits for under $15. And for when I'm in a nostalgic mood, Ye Olde Huff n Puff still offers the old Silver Streak kits although these are also now in the $25 range.

Amateur motor racing really no longer has a place for the working class guy as it did when I began racing 40+ years ago. I hope model railroading doesn't go the same way. It'd be genuine tragedy if hobby's such as these became the exclusive province of the wealthy.

Till next time, Ron.

'nother day, 'nother dollar

2011-11-28T13:39:00.000-08:00

Took Alex to Harrisburg this morning to catch his Amtrak connection to Boston. He'll be spending a week in Maine with his friend Kate. Saw the "G" in the trainshed. It's hooked to an ancient wood Pennsy caboose. Didn't know any of those round cupola Pennsy cabin cars still existed. The classic paint job on the "G" seemed in good condition but it could really use a scrub. Plenty of railroad grit in that shed and it's all over that beautiful "G".

The nature of Odyssey House is in flux. We're changing over from a primarily automotive oriented restoration and race preparation shop to something more on the order of a creative studio. We'll still be doing resto and race prep on automobiles but won't be taking on new customers for the time being. We'll be concentrating more on creative endeavors such as built up models for diorama's and model railroads as well as various forms of art and illustration. To that end we just listed our first items on Etsy and ebay. These are 1/87th scale model structures built from "Down town Deco" hydrocal kits. The models depict the rundown structures found on the wrong side of the tracks in railroad towns all around the country. Gobs of character. Fun to build and they look fantastic. Dotti has done a fantastic job of hand painting these models.

Till next week, Ron.

A day late

2011-11-21T09:23:00.000-08:00

A day late, but as my Mom used to say, "better late than never". Work continues on developing Odyssey House into a commercial success. We've been looking into various art programs such as Adobe Illustrator and Corel. We're leaning toward Corel at the moment as Adobe Illustrator appears to be much more than we need at the moment. For now we just need to be able to make miniature signs and decals for the "built up" models we will be marketing for model railroad enthusiasts. I'd like very much to be able to be adept at a program such as Adobe Illustrator but for now I think I'll concentrate on learning the CAD program I already have for model railroad track planning. Knowing how to use one should help me learn others.

Alex and I have decided to drop our membership in the Bunker Hill Train Club. Unfortunately the club didn't turn out to be what we'd expected when we joined. Then again, in all fairness, I guess we didn't really know what to expect as we'd never been members of a model railroad club before. I have been a member of the NMRA (National Model Railroad Assoc.) for many years however. For his part, Alex has been a member of the NRHS (National Railway Historical Society) since his participation in their Railcamp program in 2008.

With my membership in the NMRA, I am automatically a member of the South Mountain Division NMRA. This is an informal local group of model railroad enthusiasts who have an interest prototypical model railroad "operation". Most of the members have layouts designed and built for card order/train order operation. The Bunker Hill club layout by contrast, was not designed for prototypical operation but rather for simply running trains through the various model scenes constructed on the layout. Ever since reading Doug Smiths article on operation on his Brook Valley model railroad in a 1958 issue of Model Railroader Magazine, I've been fascinated with the idea of prototypical operation on a model railroad. Fortunately I have a model railroad friend living up the road from me who has a similar fascination with model railroad operation. My old model railroad buddy Dave Hayhurst passed away several years ago. Before he did though, he had introduced me to his friend Robert Winkler. "Wink", as he is known, lives just 15 min. up the road from me and has a very nice basement layout designed specifically for operation. I like to think that when Dave,who always took care of his friends, knew he wasn't going to be around much longer he saw to it that Wink and I would continue to have someone to play trains with by introducing us.

The race cars have been put away for the winter now. We'll be working on making it to Sebring in March with the PV as our next project. Plenty of work to be done between now and then. The PV still needs its interior finished, the dark blue IT car now needs a diff., we'll be looking to locate a 4:56 to replace the rear we blew and "Sven" still needs a complete overhaul.

Back to work. Till next time, Ron.

Summit Point with EMRA

2011-11-14T11:29:00.000-08:00

Missed last week. Sorry 'bout that. It was a busy week though, with the EMRA race this past weekend. Nick has been down from CT since the week before, getting the IT car ready and catching up on customer work that we have in the shop. Although Nick now works for GMT Racing in Conn., we've kept our Odyssey House shop open but not taking on any new customers for the time being.

Nick and I decided to share the car this weekend with me driving in Saturdays race and Nick driving in the Sunday race. After having instructed at several PDX's and FATT's this year Nick was eager to try some real competition for a change. For various reasons (read $) Nick has been out of competition for the last two seasons. His SCCA ticket had lapsed but with his active participation as an instructor and his past SCCA license EMRA agreed to issue him their license for this event. Dealing with EMRA is refreshing after having put up with SCCA's nit picky nonsense for so many years.

Although I'm about 'Summit Pointed' to death at this point, it is nice not to have to set up the motor home or stay in a motel to go racing. Summit Point is only 45 min. or so from our house/shop. We did have to leave home at " 'O' dark hundred" however to be at the track in time for registration/tech. insp. After breezing through that, I suited up and went out for the warm up session. The tires wouldn't really heat up in the early morning cold but it did serve to blow the cob webs out of both myself and the car. Not having raced since this event last year I drove on the conservative side leaving myself a margin for error in case I misjudged anything. Unfortunately this left me at the back of the pack. I did manage to increase my speed as the day wore on but apparently so did everyone else. Come the race, I started last and finished there also. In practice there had been a Miata I was able to stay ahead of but either he found some additional speed or he didn't make the race as the last place Miata's were able to slowly pull away from me. As I mentioned earlier, I could have shortened up my braking points and pushed a bit harder in several places but I just didn't feel the confidence to know that I could do it consistently and effectively.

Sadly, my run was spoiled for me when I came down pit lane after the checker had fallen. Apparently some hot shoe had complained to the Chief Steward that the Volvo, "didn't pay attention to the blue flag, was all over the road and a traveling chicane". For some reason they never allow the accused to confront the accuser in these things. It's happened to me before that I've been accused of an indiscretion on the track and have not been permitted to confront my accuser. I've always been spoken to as if there were only one side to the incident, that of the accuser. In this instance I had been painfully aware that I was the slowest car on the track and I had been particularly careful to acknowledge the blue flags and to move over and point the faster cars by as best I could. Some of these turkeys though, feel that they must pass the slower car the instant they overtake it on whatever piece of road isn't occupied at that instant. There were occasions where I pointed for the overtaking care to pass on my right (or left) while I held my line toward the left (or right) side of the road. I imagine this is what happened with the jerk who complained. He never looked for the 'point by' but dove for the hole, which closed as I predictably held the racing line. This caused him to have to take evasive action and of course, it was my fault even though I had acted in a predictable manner, had acknowledged his presence and attempted to give him racing room. There were times when I did indeed move offline, at other times this was impractical and I would then hold the racing line so as to be predictable to the overtaking car.

In my time I've driven comparatively slow race cars on track in pro events with some of the best drivers in the world and never had a problem. If there had been, I would simply have been removed from the track. Interesting that Jackie Ickx, Mario Andretti, Vic Elford, Pedro Rodriguez, etc. never had a problem with my Volvo's getting in their way of their Porsche 917's and GT-40 Fords in international endurance events (Sebring) but some clown at an EMRA event does.

Nick and I were both looking forward to Sunday to see if perhaps he could coax a bit more out of the car than I had. I was sure he would. Unfortunately, it wasn't to be. During the morning warm up the filler plug worked it's way out of the pumpkin in the rear axle, lost all the lube and the ring and pinion as a result. Never had that happen before. Apparently the old gremlin has returned. This car has had a reputation for having things go wrong that have never happened before. When I first bought the thing over twenty years ago, the first time I raced it the crank broke right at the rear main bearing. I've never heard of another Volvo B-18/20 breaking a crankshaft out the clear blue for no apparent reason. It finally got so bad, even after we'd rebuilt the entire car from the ground up, that I was intent on cutting it up for scrap. Alex didn't want me to do that so I gave it to him. It now wears his number 12 instead of my number 98. Having exhausted every other option, we finally resorted to performing an exorcism of sorts with some original Indian sage provided by a friend. We burned the sage, allowing the smoke to permeate the car, recited the chants and finally secured a small bag of Garlic to the roll cage. Interestingly, after that the car ran as it should and ceased it's penchant for weird behavior and mechanical carnage.

That is until this weekend. Our old garage cat passed away recently and we now have a pair of stray kittens in residence in the shop that had turned up next door uninvited. Strays seem to have a way of finding us. Anyway, the kittens found the garlic bag in the car, and shredded it, leaving it unprotected and apparently loosing the gremlin. We may have to perform another ceremony.

Till next time, Ron.

Snow?

2011-10-30T10:23:00.000-07:00

Incredible that we've had a significant snowfall already and it is still October. Climate change anyone? Nick is still without power in Torrington CT. Interestingly, we've had no power problems here in WV.

Dotti and I are getting to work on our art and model projects here in order to be ready for the spring shows. We should have an online presence before too long on both the Etsy and e-bay sites. Facebook is another place we'll be working with as well as our own Odysseyhouseonline site.

Right now I'm just taking a weekend to work on some of my own projects such as weathering a string of HO scale hopper cars and making loads for a few others. I'm also working on a pair of small yard structures for a friends layout. One is a yard office made from an old bobber caboose body and the other is a brakemans shanty made from an old plastic boom tender body. It's great fun to kitbash little projects such as this. Both structures now have wood bases with entry platforms as if they had been converted by the railroad for their new role in life. The yard office has the cupola windows blanked out and the stove smoke stack rerouted through the cupola roof.
Pic's to follow once they've been installed on the layout.

Now that we've had snow in Oct. I hope we won't have a repeat in Nov. for the EMRA race. The weather held for last years race and wasn't too bad. Speaking of EMRA, they have finally been recognized by the SCCA as well as NASA and SVRA. Will wonders never cease. 40 years ago I never would have believed it would happen. My guess is the SCCA finally saw the writing on the wall and realized they're no longer the only game in town. SCCA racers go and play at events held by these other organizations but SCCA would never reciprocate by allowing their drivers to participate in SCCA events. Apparently that has changed.

Good for me as my SCCA ticket had expired years ago and I was expected at this point to go through one ("or more" to quote SCCA Chief Steward Tom Hoffman) drivers schools as though I'd never been on a track before in my life. This despite the fact that I've held both National and international competition licenses in my time. EMRA required only an observed practice session with one of their instructors following me to issue me an EMRA license. It will certainly be entertaining to run an SCCA event on my EMRA license and then turn it in for an SCCA ticket without having run their school. This is especially pleasing for me as I was a member of one of the founding clubs (BSCOA) that formed EMRA over 40 years ago. How the worm has turned and the mighty have fallen (and what great fun it will be to stick my EMRA license in Tom Hoffmans ear) .

Till next time, Ron.

model train show

2011-10-25T07:32:00.000-07:00

Dotti and I attended the Bunker Hill Train Club show in Ranson WV last Sat. as vendors. On display we had our latest offerings in the way of built up HO scale model structures. And, as expected, we did not manage to sell any of them at the show. We were aware that the market for our wares would not be at local shows in our area. We were looking primarily for feedback from fellow modelers as this is a new endeavor for us. In that respect our attendance at the show was a success. The feedback was all positive. Everyone was pleased with our efforts. Dotti definitely has a talent for painting model structures and capturing the feel and character of old buildings. I think we may have something worthwhile but we'll have to concentrate on our marketing in areas such as online and at prominent shows in major cities.

I will also be working on illustrations with a story board with the idea of making them available as prints. I've noticed that there is positive feedback on FB for another artist who specializes in "Trains, Plane & Boats". I've also noticed that folks enjoy an interesting story. Combining the two in what Alex has described as, "Transportraits", will be a fun project.

Come Nov. Nick will be returning for a few weeks. He and I will be attending the season finale for EMRA at Summit Point with our dark blue IT-B Volvo 142E. Nick's "Sven" with the Swedish flag emblazoned on its flanks is still in need of a total rebuild. We had thought of sharing the driving chores in the 4hr enduro that will be held in conjunction with the sprint races. After due consideration we decided we might be biting off more than we could chew. For one thing, the dark blue car has the smaller 12 gallon fuel cell as opposed to Sven, which is equipped with a 15 gallon cell. Oh well, there's always next season. Unfortunately, at my age, I have to be aware that I'm beginning to run short of "next seasons". We've decided to split the weekend with me running the sprint race on Sat. and having Nick do the honor's with the car in Sunday's sprint event. Sharing the car in an enduro would have been great fun though.

Return of the blog

2011-10-19T16:00:00.000-07:00

Guess we kind of dropped the ball on our blog. Much has happened since the last entry. Dotti and I are both retired now. Due primarily to circumstances beyond our control. #1 son Nick is now employed by GMT racing in Danbury CT and living with his fiance Patty in Torrington CT. #2 son Alex has earned his GED and is working for a computer repair shop in Winchester VA. Lydia has married Zvika Sharabe, she and her husband now live in Silver Spring MD. Liddie is still involved with her photography while working for NIH in Washington DC.

So much for all that. We still have our race and resto shop but it is now on the back burner so to speak. Nick comes down for a two week stay several times a year to work on our race cars and to take care of a few of our long time customers. Yes, we're still heavily involved in the racing scene. Nick and I will be sharing one of our IT-B Volvo 142E's at an EMRA event on Nov. 12th & 13th. I'll drive Sat. and Nick will handle the driving chores on Sun. Unfortunately we were not able to run our old vintage PV this season. We did run it once last year in the Jefferson 500 vintage event at Summit Point. That was the first time on the track in full wheel to wheel competition for the old car in over 35 years. It was a time tunnel for me. Just like old times in the old car. Our plans are to eventually take it back to Sebring for the vintage event that precedes the 12 hour and to Lime Rock for the Fall Vintage Festival. Alex will be filming it all in the interest of putting together a feature video telling the story of the old car from it's racing days in '60's to the present.

On other fronts, Dotti, Alex and I are working together to supplement our income by expanding Odyssey House to encompass additional creative endeavors. We will be offering a line of ready built model railroad structures as well as art work based on automobiles, great lakes ships and railroads. "Transportraits", as Alex has dubbed the art. Photo's to follow or visit us at our website, odysseyhouseonline.com . Alex is in the process of updating and restructuring the website so I can't guarantee what you'll find. Till next time (which won't be as long as last time), Ron.

The Old Racing PV at the Polish Hillclimb

2009-08-12T08:13:00.000-07:00

Written by Alex Polimeni

On the second weekend of August, we took the old racer back to the Cumberland area for an exhibition run up in the Polish Mountain Hillclimb. As we were not competing, they were gracious enough to grant us two photo-op runs for free.

Dad (Ron) ran both times, taking it fairly easy as he was learning the car and the road. Still, it was spectacular to hear it winding up the mountain long before I could see it. Hopefully we'll return next year - and maybe even see what it can do.

(I've got some video comin' soon, stay tuned - its a hassle to get it off the camera and hosted online.)

The Old Racing PV at the Cumberland Historics

2009-08-12T08:03:00.000-07:00

Written by Alex Polimeni

Around midsummer we took the vintage racecar about an hour up the road to the Cumberland Airport, once home to the Cumberland Road Races and now the host of the Cumberland Historics, an autocross course occupying one of the runways.

We ran both days of the two-day event; on the Saturday, they ran the "long" course, occupying a longer stretch of runway. Dad (Ron) got three runs in with the PV that day, his first time running it in any sort of competition in decades. Nick ran it on Sunday, getting in 5 runs on the "short" course. Having more recent experience and more time behind the wheel of the rebuilt PV, he gave it his best and got the old racer flat flyin' by the end of the day. It was pretty spectacular to watch, really.

But don't take my word for it - I filmed the whole thing, which you can watch at the following links:

Ron's Runs on Saturday:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cuVJT2jCFw

Nick's Runs on Sunday:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5_dNG2vWXg&feature=channel_page

A handful of other cars that ran:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OhutaL7o6X4&feature=channel_page

The Old Racing PV at the Jefferson 500

2009-08-11T17:52:00.000-07:00

Written by Alex Polimeni

Earlier this summer, the old racecar got to participate in a series of special exhibition laps out at Summit Point Motorsports Park during the Jefferson 500. The exhibition laps were for cars that had actually raced at Marlboro Speedway years ago, and thus the PV was one of only a dozen or so that showed. This was the first event that it ran at afte restoration, and the first time in decades that Dad (Ron) got to drive the old car.

A pity it was raining during most of the exhibition laps...

(You can see it running its exhibition laps (In the rain!) at the following link:)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8mR8XMBbfE

The Old Racing PV at the Carlisle Import Show

2009-08-11T16:07:00.001-07:00

Written by Alex Polimeni

For the third year running, the PV returned to the Carlisle Import, Kit and Replicar Nationals - and this time, running under its own power.

As with the DC Auto Show, it made is presence felt - not in the least due to its exorbitantly loud exhaust. Its good to see it returned to the public eye - particularly after watching it rusting into dust in our yard for over a decade that I can remember.

The Old Racing PV at the DC Auto Show

2009-08-11T15:36:00.001-07:00

Written by Alex Polimeni

The PV made its return to the DC Auto Show this year, taking up its place of honor in the Sports Car Club of America's booth.

Altho we had some trouble getting it thru safety inspection - it was fun trying to explain that it didn't have a gas gauge, much less a functioning one - it made it out there and was a draw to the SCCA's booth - positioned, as it was, smack at one end of the adjacent Mercedes booth.

Though we were only there with the car for one day of the show, I can attest that thousands more pictures were taken of it, and Dad nearly talked himself hoarse telling and retelling its story. The moral of the story? People love this car.

I hope we're invited back again next year - tho getting our truck and trailer in thru DC traffic is more than a chore...

StraightPipe Article - Men in White

2009-08-11T14:55:00.001-07:00

Written by: Alex Polimeni

This was an article I wrote in 2008 for the StraightPipe, the newsletter publican of the Washington DC Region of the Sports Car Club of America.

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Whether you're a driver, a crew member, or just a spectator, you've seen them. Be it in cold, wet drizzle or on a blazing hot day, you've seen them. You've seen their flags wave; seen them be the first to respond to a wrecked car. They're the direct counterpart to the drivers themselves. When a race is on, both parts must work together in perfect tandem . And yet, so few know them or know how they became the "Men in White".

I speak of the Washington DC regions fine community of corner workers, or "Flaggers", who's ranks I proudly joined at MARRS 1.

It all started with a suggestion in an e-mail from my friend Bob Brookfield. A long-time flagger himself, he brought to my attention this years Advanced Flag School at Summit Point. I was a little apprehensive, as I wasn't quite sure what I was getting in to. My only previous knowledge of the AFS was that it covered fire extinguisher training on an actual burning car. In addition, Bob had pointed me to a very informative little website called "Mo's Flagging Page*" After spending an evening reading every word on it, I found I still had no idea what all we would be doing at the AFS. So, I geared up for just about anything and set off to see what it was all about.

The Advanced Flag School is an annual gathering where various issues from the previous season can be reviewed and attendees can get hands-on instruction with some of the heavy emergency equipment. The classroom session was held in Summit Point's registration building, and for once, I managed to get there before everybody else. Subsequently, I sat around for an hour while James Noel, Wayne Armbrust and the others set up. Soon enough, others were arriving and crowding into the increasingly cramped room: flaggers, EV workers, and other novices like myself. Bob showed and we helped ourselves to the generously supplied breakfast food; for such a small event, they certainly didn't skimp.

After an introductory speech delivered by James Noel regarding what we would be doing during the day, we moved along to a communications review. Using two radios in separate rooms, several calls between a flag station and the control tower were simulated. After each example call was over, we were asked, "what was inaccurate about the information" or "how could that have been done better?" Wording methods were discussed, as participants asked and answered each others questions. As a rookie, I didn't say much, choosing instead to listen. I found what I heard to be very informative, and I put much of it to good use later on when I worked the radio for real.

The new signal lights for under the bridge were demonstrated, and assorted logo art concepts for the new FM van presented. Before we headed up to the outside of Turn 10, we were given a tutorial on how to properly use a fire extinguisher by Toree Holmes, a professional firefighter. Having never used a fire extinguisher before, this run-down was a lifesaver. He covered some basic instructions I already knew - namely, never fling open the hood on an engine fire! He told how a driver had pulled off coming down the chute due to smoke coming from under the hood. He got out and opened the hood - treating the spectators, flaggers, and the EV crew coming down the chute to a very pretty fireball.

And at last, it was time to go play with fire. A few days earlier, Daniela Anderson had phoned me to ask if I could take some film of the burning car for her banquet presentation. As such, I dutifully filmed as the car went up in flames - you will likely see what I'm writing about here at the banquet! It took Wayne and Toree quite a bit to get the fire started at first; it was pretty cold and windy out, and everything was slightly damp. At last it caught; the hood was closed, and a few minutes later the flames began licking out from under the hood. A few brave folks cautiously stepped forward, spraying the fire. It was slow going for a while, as each blast nearly extinguished the fire and we had to wait between turns for the fire to flare up again. However, the fire began boiling out of the grill and fenders soon enough.

As soon as everyone had a shot at the engine fire, the passenger compartment was set aflame and tires thrown in. We rotated through, teaming up and advancing on the fire two or three at a time. Advice on approach and technique was shouted back and forth as we grew more experienced and emboldened with each pass. Noticing my bottle to be a dud, I scanned the gauges on the other extinguishers and pointed out the other duds. I switched between my camera and my extinguisher, and by the end, had used up five bottles, including the last of the huge 20-pounders - Huzzah!

With the last of the bottles used, the fire truck was rolled up and the car reduced to a smoldering ruin. The wind caught the cloud of smoke and extinguisher dust, blanketing Turn 10 in a thick fog - much to the irritation of the Porsche Club drivers on track at the time. Now, our attention turned to the other two old beaters that had been sitting alongside the whole time. I had wondered what their purpose was when we drove up; now, as I gazed at the assortment of hydraulic rescue tools or "Jaws of Life" arrayed in front of me, I knew.

When I say these things are bloody heavy, I mean it. Likewise, I mean it when I say that they can rip latched car doors off in a matter of minutes. Windows were smashed out with pry bars and cut away with a saws-all; giant hydraulic shears made short work of roof pillars while doors were torn off their hinges in a frenzy of good-natured automotive destruction. By the time we were done, both cars were absent their doors, windows, roofs, and in one case, the steering wheel - I brought it home as as trophy.

I learned a lot at the AFS, and I'd highly recommend it to anyone - from novices to experienced workers. The hands-on instruction with these rarely-used tools is invaluable, and I can't think of a better primer for the rare instance you get stuck on a corner with a burning race car. Nonetheless, all of this was but a warm up for my next step into the world off flagging: Attending the Novice Flag School during the Spring Drivers School at Summit Point.

After 16 years off the track, my Dad was out to regain his competition license. As such, I was already camped out, geared up and ready to roll on Friday night. I had yet to buy any proper flagging clothes, so I had just dug out some white-ish clothes and a pair of knock-off Mechanix gloves from Rubbermaid. While having professional gear is an essential for dedicated flaggers, you don't really need much for a novice school if you just want to try your hand at flagging. I cooked some breakfast for myself and the crew, wished Dad the best of luck, and headed up to the control tower.

I observed as white-clothed people converged on the tower from all over the paddock, with well over thirty in attendance by the time I got up there. Someone asked what group was out first. To our universal confusion, we discovered that group one had become group three, group three had become group two, and group two had become group one - or something like that. Furthermore, no one knew just when cars were supposed to be on track, and hence when the flaggers needed to be on station - a jolly good season launch if ever I seen one. Unperturbed by the organizational pandemonium, we launched into our flag meeting.

Station Captains were called and flaggers assigned. Wayne called for everyone attending the NFS to raise their hands; to my surprise, over twenty of us did - quite a turn out. As the flaggers headed off to their stations, Wayne told us we would be heading to a classroom over on the Shenandoah for the morning. Lacking transportation of my own, I commandeered a ride off Wayne. The motorcade wound its way through the paddock, over the bridge, past the garages, and over into the Shenandoah.

Unlike the AFS, which had been wet and cold, the NFS was sunny... and cold. As such, I was more than happy to get indoors. We migrated into our seats and reviewed the supplied reference guide to flagging. To my surprise, I realized I had already read everything in it on Mo's Flagging Site! Wayne Armbrust and David Sterling were our group instructors, and over 25 novices were in attendance - the largest NFS class yet, or so I heard. Wayne got the ball rolling, and each of us introduced ourselves in turn. It was great to see that many new faces, and I hope most of them come back this season.

For the rest of the morning until lunch, we listened to Wayne and David as they reviewed just about everything there is to know about club-level flagging. They covered basic gear - Cotton whites instead of synthetics, leather-palmed gloves, whistles, scanners, and so on. We observed the proper Blue and Yellow flagger formation, and how they switch positions when a yellow flag is called. We went outside to practice holding and waving yellow flags. We went over proper radio call procedures, and discussed what constitutes a pass under the yellow. We learned the various hand signals often employed by point workers, such as "Ambulance" and "Flat Tow". And most of all, the five priorities of flagging were drilled into our heads over and over again: Your personal safety, the safety of your fellow flaggers, the safety of the cars on the track, the safety of the driver in the wreck, and in a distant last place, the safety of the car involved.

So, while I'm sure thats really comforting to those of you who have invested money untold in your cars, we were told to remember that the first rule over rides all the others. You're perfectly within your rights to disobey your captain if he asks you to run across the track during a race if you feel its too dangerous. Likewise, if you've reached a burning car and the driver wants you to stay to try to put out the flame, you can just hand him the fire extinguisher and run - he's the one in the full body fireproof suit, after all.

I simply couldn't help but be amused when the David began telling the class about how "There's no place a car can't get." "Theres motorcycles on the Shenandoah right now," he said. "No matter how unlikely it is, it is stil possible that a motorcycle could come crashing in through the window behind me. A couple of years back, a car made it into the infield and hit the grandstand over at Summit." Wayne must have noticed me grinning like a Cheshire cat, as he commented, "You wrote a StraightPipe article about that, didn't you?" Ah, good times.

The classroom session finished up and the motorcade headed over to Chez Summit. After grabbing a bite to eat, the novices re-assembled in front of OJ Racing, where we split up into two groups under Wayne and David. The two groups would then go visit the various other worker specialities in the paddock: the Tower, Timing and Scoring, EV, and the Grid. I ended up in David's group, and we headed up to the tower first - my old stomping grounds. As we approached, he informed us of the medical facility in the base, and gave us a tour up through it, telling us who the stewards are and what they do. From there we snaked our way outside and up the stairway to the roof and the announcers box. Decending once more, we headed on over into Timing and Scoring; I took a moment out from being a novice and said hello to Jeanne Hoffman and some of my other T&S friends. As Janet Toland said jokingly to some of the novices, "Yeah, we've never seen *him* in here before!"

We made it down to EV just as Wayne's group set off to the tower. We got to talk to some of the EV people, who gave us a quick run down of what they do and the jobs of the various vehicles like Big Blue. We heard from them that just the previous day they had cut a brand new Viper out of the trees near station 8. From there, we migrated over to the Grid building. Whistles and earplugs were handed out to the novices, and I'm sure many of them got put to good use the following day. We were then given a quick glossary of black flag, grid work, and how they got to sit around and relax most of the day. These tours didn't show the details and procedures of each station, but gave the inexperienced novices in the group a good look at the other specialties outside of flagging and how they interact with the flaggers.

The five minutes on the grid was given, and we piled into our vehicles once more and took off for Turn 1. Our objective this time was to observe the flaggers at work during an actual session. As such, David gave us a running commentary on the various positions: captain, radio, blue flag, yellow flag, and across track point. He illustrated how the point positions would change from station to station, and how the rotation worked - the worker on blue flag would rotate to yellow, while the worker on yellow would rotate to the radio, and so on. We even got to go across the track to the outside of Turn 1 and watch from there!

From there, we made the long drive out and around to the inside of Turn 5. Since we were trainees, we got to go beyond the fence and visit the point positions during an actual session - our first taste of the up-close thrill of flagging. By the time I finally got back to the paddock, my brain was overflowing with my newly acquired knowledge - and a good thing too, as it would be put to the test the very next day.

Cold and still tired, I was awakened Sunday morning by the Moby bus, blasting "Ride of the Valkyries" only a couple hundred yards from me. Cold, damp, but excited nevertheless, I grabbed my gear and headed up to the tower. This morning, we Novices would get assigned to our stations and trainers. I was sent out to Turn 10 to meet up with my trainer for the day, Larry Fields. Unlike the previous day, it was now misting and wet - far from an ideal situation for edgy new drivers, or the prospect of walking all the way to 10. Luckily, I was able to hitch a ride with another novice, and got out to ten with some time to spare.

I introduced myself to Larry and the other flaggers, and we began the long walk out to our first position of the day: far point. Its about as far away from the tub as you can go without reaching Turn 1, or so it feels like. Having to watch your step for giant hedgehog holes - and the occasional hedgehog itself - added a slight thrill to the journey.
Now, it's pretty boring working point - but, in hindsight, that's probably a good thing, as Turn 10 is no fun when its *not* boring. Furthermore, it gave me a lot of time to talk with Larry. To a rookie just getting into this, talking with your trainer is invaluable as it provides you with very good on-the-spot insights from someone experienced.

Unlike an actual MARRS, the track sessions at a Drivers School are fairly short, so the four novices got rotated through all the positions quickly. The downside was not getting much experience at each station at a time; then again, blue flagging all six open-wheeled cars was, at times, mind-numbingly dull. I took the opportunity to discuss the nuances of flagging with Larry, and even ended up changing the way I hold the flag because of it: holding it in a diamond so the bottom edge rolls out, instead of in a square where the bottom edge tends to fold in on itself.

It got wetter and colder as the day went on, but flagging only got better for me as I gained more experience. Soon, the trainer/student setup all but dissolved, and I was teamed up with all the experienced flaggers at least once. Granted, theres not much to do on point aside from examine your fire bottle once or thrice, but I learned a lot - from the best kinds of gloves to wear to how to use ziplock bags and two layers of socks to keep your feet dry in the rain! Soon, I was rotated back into yellow flag position.

Perhaps the greatest bonus of flagging is the front-row seats when it comes to spectating. When the final session of the day came around, I was working yellow flag. So, I watched as the second place car came up inside the leading car and held him wide. The leader tried to hang on to the position, but went too deep. The car's tail went out as it slid sideways, and I tensed up, prepared to throw a waving yellow. But he corrected and caught it, settling into second place behind the car that had just barely snagged the lead from him on the last turn of the last lap of last race of the day! As our station captain said later, we were the only ten people in the world to see that last-ditch maneuver that won the race.

And so, exhausted but feeling darn good otherwise, I put my first weekend of flagging behind me, and went about getting myself some proper whites and other gear in preparation for my third and final step into the world of flagging: MARRS 1.

Many at Summit Point know of my love of Pirate paraphernalia - the tri-corner hat I always wear is a something of a give-away. So in my estimation, theres no more piratey way to start your first race weekend as a flagger than to hitch a ride working the Moby supply bus. Moby distributes flags, fire extinguishers, brooms and oil-dry to all the stations in the morning and picks them up in the evening. Moreover, it blasts the odd mix of music known for waking up everything save the dead for a mile around. A word of advice: Never, ever walk in front of Moby when its music is playing. Your ears will hate you for it.

Bob Brookfield got me my ride this morning on Moby. While Rachel Forman moved supplies to the back as we rolled between stations, Bob and I would unload the lot of it before jumping back on and heading off for the next station. Out of all the things I got to do on the MARRS 1 weekend, the two early morning Moby runs are easily the most enjoyable and memorable. After parking Moby, Bob and I made a dash over to the Railside Market for some breakfast. I really must recommend this place, as their breakfast sandwich put anything I've ever gotten at Sheetz to utter shame.

Decked out in proper flagging gear - who's unblemished white would remain so only fleetingly - Bob and I made our way up to the control tower to recieve our assignments.
I was assigned to stations 5 and 7 under the tutelege of Bruce Marshal. After hitching a ride with Bob over to Turn 5, I set about helping fellow '08 AFS and NFS novice Caitlin Forman with distributing and stowing the supplies I had dropped off only an hour earlier. As if on cue, Bruce pulled up just as I finished. I introduced myself and we were immediately assigned across-track point by station captain James Noel.

This year, stations 5 and 7 implemented a new rotation order; workers would now rotate through both stations before coming back to their original position. It provides for a nice bit of variety. So, while these two stations are the farthest from civilization - with no quick way of getting back to the paddock - they're likely the two most interesting ones as well.

Even during the qualifying sessions, I could tell that this was a far cry from the now-tame looking Drivers School. Group 1 was going all out from the get-go, even on a damp track. When you work blue flag at station 7, the cars clip the edge of the pavement no less than 20 feet away from you. In the time I've been involved in motor sport, this is the first time I've gotten such a bold impression of the sheer force of speed these cars have.

Now, I have a deep-rooted bias against the blue flag. This stems from racing Go-Karts, where I would often get the blue flag thrown in my face three laps before the overtaking karts reached me. Thus I dislike liberal use of the blue flag, for I feel that if you over use it, the driver will just become irritated at it and ignore you.
Still, it is far from a position to be taken lightly. You're responsible for informing drivers of overtaking traffic that they might not have seen coming up behind them. The blue flagger is the one who uses the red, white, and debris flags in addition to the blue flag. furthermore, as the blue flagger, it is your job to respond to disabled cars if no point personnel are available. And lastly, you're the one watching the oncoming traffic: If a car spins out of control and heads for your station, you need to be alert enough to warn your fellow flaggers.

Whilst flagging, one must be prepared for any kind of conditions. What started as a warm, sunny day turned into pouring rain in the afternoon. To make matters worse, the sun was still shining, making everything slick, soggy, and highly reflective. It was as if the sun was playing "Gotcha!" with us. We watched as the SRF field diminished lap-by-lap until just a single car remained, causing me to joke, "He's re-defining the meaning of 'having the road all to himself!'" It rained just long enough to turn the ground into mud and soak us to the skin, and make sure that I paid extra attention while on yellow flag.

Now, working yellow flag can be a little disconcerting, as your job is to watch the turn itself - not the cars coming up behind you. You really have to put a lot of trust in your blue flagger to warn you of impending danger. Furthermore, you need to be alert enough to observe what the car is doing; if it goes off the track and stops, then its a standing yellow. If it slides only part way off the track, then its a waving yellow. If it slides to a stop and stalls on the apex just out of sight around the turn, then its what I call an extremely vigorous waving yellow.

At last the day was done. Bruce gave me a ride back to worker camping and changed into something dry, leaving my drippingly wet whites in Bob's trailer to dry overnight. I got on my bike, picked up some dinner at Chez Summit, and visited my friends around the paddock before heading back to worker camping. Unfortunetly, it began raining again as the sun went down, and barely let up again all night. It put a serious cramp in the worker camping party - a disappointing way to start off the season, as the Saturday night bonfire is a definite highlight of being a worker. So, I retired to my tent fairly early - I knew only too well that dawn and another ride on Moby would be coming up all too soon.

And so they did. Luckily my clothes were dry by then, or else it really would have been quite the miserable morning. As it was, it was brightened considerably by a Railside Market breakfast sandwich and another boisterous ride on Moby. By the time I got back to 5, a foggy mist had set in - lovely conditions for the poor blokes in Group 1. I was working the radio that race, and as such was monitoring both Turn 5 and Turn 6; if a car has an incident in either, Turn 5 is the one who calls it in, not 7. As I turned my head to check on Turn 6, I saw the #01 of Matt Yip run in to the #03 of Doug Kinser on the grass outside of Turn 7. I couldn't believe it; out of all the cars in the group, the two I'm associated with managed to hit each other - and off the racing surface, too!

The radio is likely the single most challenging position to work, as you have to know the lingo. If you're new, always remember to call in, "Novice on the Phones." It gives Control a heads up, and absolves you of sin. Unlike working a nice, boring point position, the radio operator has to constantly be alert and ready with pencil and paper, ready to record and call in an incident. And sometimes, odd things completely out of your control happen. I was working the radio at station 5 during Group 9, and a car pulled off into the old Baker road. A flat tow was called, but when it arrived, Control couldn't hear its radio - but I could. Every time I went to make a call to control, the flat tows radio would step on my signal, so all control got was broken tidbits - and we were under 5 minutes on the grid. No pressure!

What David Sterling said about cars being able to get anywhere rang true for me once again. While I was yellow flagging at 7, a wheel had broken off an A/S at Turn 5. The car plowed into the dirt and stopped, but the wheel kept on coming and bounced off the back side of the guardrail at 7! Such are the dangers - and thrills - of flagging. By the time evening set in on Sunday, I was exhausted, aching, and saying to my self, "Whoa - what a ride!"

I had a blast and met a lot of great people, and I'm sure to be back for more. In just five days over the course of two months, I went from a complete greenhorn to joining the ranks of the "Men in White" - with the mud stains to prove it.

StraightPipe Article: Twelve Hours of 'Are we having fun yet?'

2009-08-11T14:53:00.000-07:00

Written by: Alex Polimeni

This was an article I wrote in 2007 for the StraightPipe, the newsletter publican of the Washington DC Region of the Sports Car Club of America.

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When in doubt, make sure you're wearing a goofy hat while getting the picture taken for your SCCA license.

At least, that's what I was figuring on when I had my license laminated on the morning of this year's Twelve Hours at the Point. This is the first event at Summit Point that I've been to this year; I have attended every Twelve Hour annually for 7 years running.

Normally, I simply work T&S, but this year I decided to do something different - I packed my pride and joy, the Panasonic camcorder I had taken to the Seasons End banquet. My plan was to spend the day with my camera and tripod wandering the track taking video to re-work into a music video for this years Seasons End banquet. I wanted to take footage that would tie in to the song I've picked, a bombastic synthesized classical theme.

Granted, I had no idea that trying to unload, snap together, ready, and then carry a camera, camera bag, and tripod simultaneously would be such a hassle. As I have had no previous experience doing this sort of thing, it was quite... interesting. One particular moment of hilarity was when I clocked myself in the teeth with the camera when a tripod leg accidentally folded up. Ah, the age old question: Are we having fun yet?

Of course, I did it anyway. We parked the car about two hours before the race started; I was intent on getting as much pre-race footage as possible. I was hoping to get some shots to allow me to do a build-up; the biggest plus, of course, was watching the fascinating hustle and bustle before a race. I took as much video as I could, my targets mostly scenes of action: A driver suiting up, a set of tires being changed, last minute fuel and oil checks. As I would for the entire day, I sought to blend in - as much as a goofy-hat-wearing cameraman could, of course. I wanted to capture the essence of the event without interfering with it; acting as the proverbial fly on the wall, so to speak. As I watched a crewman huff past pushing a large tool chest up to Pit Out, I couldn't help but wonder: Is he having fun yet?

Perhaps the greatest thing I love about the regional club racing is the friendship and camaraderie; If I had arrived the previous night I would have loved to talked to some of the participants, hear their stories and their feelings, particularly if this was their first time running the 12 Hour. After all, my favorite part of a MARRS event is generally Saturday night! As it was, I didn't get much of a chance to talk to any one at all.

For two hours, I bustled about, taking as much interesting footage as possible. I experimented with zoom and panoramic shots, as opposed to just still shots watching the action happen. I really wanted to give the feel of being there, being in the action. Just observing the pits before a race is a great entertainment to me, so this provided a perfect opportunity. When the race finally went off, I was up by Timing & Scoring so as to catch them receiving the green flag. For the two hottest hours of the morning I had been running steadily without feeling a single touch of air-conditioning and as such collapsed in T&S for the first hour of the race.

I worked in T&S for the first three hours, doing odd jobs and results, occasionally venturing out to take some video - But no big ventures yet.I kept hearing reports of ambulance assistance needed for "heat-related" instances around the track, and was thankful to have T&S to use as a home base. If you're a spectator, consider volunteering in T&S for a while, if only to get out of the heat!

4 PM came, and my turn to strike out and get some new footage. My first destination was Turn 1; I stopped multiple times along the way to snap some footage. I do believe I spent about half an hour trying to get a perfect shot of the entrance to Turn 3, and more than once did I take a dead-end path right into a bunch of weeds and brambles!

As I recall I spent quite a long time at Turn 1, working on a number of different camera angles and techniques. Even for the cars, I do not like holding the camera still and watching the cars go by - I want to make the shot seem alive. So, I got fairly proficient at panning and tracking the cars and using zoom and angle to get a number of interesting effects. I easily killed over an hour getting shots from every which way - down the straight, exiting, around the apex, and so on. In particular, while I was concentrating on a panning technique, I heard the screech of tires; glancing up, a car had spun out, and I had missed it! By the time I panned the camera back, it was already getting up speed again. I did not catch a single spin or accident all day; I do not know if this means there were only a few (which, of course, would be a good thing) or if I was just unlucky. Of course, I suppose I could have been involved in a wreck - again!

Marching back up, I found myself stopping and looking both ways when I reached the crossroads, and then it hit me: If a car blows a tire or the like and comes howling up the escape road, stopping and looking is not necessarily going to help me escape getting hit! Of course, then I found out that running as fast as you can with a tripod and camera bag is no mean trick.

I got back up to T&S long enough to chug a water bottle, grab a quick snack, and cool off before I set off for the inside of the carousel. I've always packed a bike for going long distances such as the carousel and first turn, but I realized that trying to bike over dirt trails with a camera bag and tripod probably wasn't the best idea I've ever had.

After arriving at the Carousel, I went up in the main grandstands far right side for old times sake and set up my camera there to get some panoramic shots. After trying various vantage points all over the carousel, I decided to get some footage of cars entering turn 5, and encountered the strangest phenomenon of all: If I paid attention and tried to follow the cars, they just drove through the turn, without any spectacular tire smoking. As soon as I shut the camera off in frustration, an entire group would come through, smoking three-wide and going up over the curbings. Switching the camera back on to catch the action, every one would go back to driving. Then, I found that if I still recorded the cars, but wasn't actually looking through the viewfinder, they would go back to all manner of crazy driving styles. So, after some practice, I became pretty adept at guiding the camera without actually looking in it.

I remembered from previous experience that you could get some really nifty shots of cars entering turn 5 from on top of the medium-sized grandstand in the infield that is right before turn 5. Walking up to it, I thought it looked a bit strange; was it really so far back before? When I walked around front, I noticed not only the fact that it was knocked off its foundations but also the yellow tape strung up around it. I dont see how a car could have gotten up there to ram it, and I cant imagine that someone would have intentionally pulled it off. If someone would be so kind so as to inform me some day of how that one got knocked off its foundations, I'd be greatly obliged.

On the hike back, I realized that I had run out of tape - the tapes for my camcorder only record one hour of film. I brilliantly decided to swap in a new tape right then and there and take the long way back because I remembered an area where you could see cars rounding turn three from the trail. This left me with some advice to give to anyone else who wants to film race cars: Never, EVER try to swap tapes in the middle of a forest. Finding a place to set them down that was neither grassy nor muddy was the first challenge; the second challenge was trying to get in to what appeared to be a plastic-wrapped, vacuum-sealed, super-glued cassette without access to anything even remotely sharp.

Upon taking the trail to where you can see turn 3, I found an amusing fact: You can only see through there in the winter. Trees, vines and shrubs completely blocked the view, making the tape-change and the extra long hike completely superfluous. Parched and irritated, I marched back to T&S pondering another amusing fact: Never try an extended video-spree on a hot summer evening without packing a water bottle.

After I got back to T&S I crashed for another two hours, doing the occasional odd job just as before, and talked my sister, Lydia Polimeni, into driving me outside the carousel to get some more footage. By this time, the sun was setting, which gave me the opportunity to get some very nice footage of the cars with their lights on.

Spectating is not something I do regularly, as I am usually busy - either working T&S or crewing for my brother. However, filming provided me with a great opportunity to spectate, and watching the ebb and flow of the cars is just short of hypnotic. Granted, the unceasing sound can get a bit tired after hearing it for 7 hours!

By the time I had gotten all the footage I needed, it was almost dark. We headed down to Turn 1; I stayed behind to film while she headed back up to go work another hour-long shift. By now it was almost completely dark, and my camera was finding it hard to record the cars. Switching on the low-light setting, I found the frame rate went down, leaving me with a video of a oddly-colored car-shaped streak, which, while amusing, was hardly useful.

While I was down there, I met up with my friend Bob Brookfield, who was flagging Turn 1. When I finally decided that my camera wasn't able to function properly anymore, I walked up to the foot of the flagging tubs stairway and and shouted up to him that the camera wasn't working and that I was heading back. Due to the ambient car noise, he couldn't hear me. So I went a few steps up and shouted again - still nothing. Finally, halfway up the stairway, I just shouted "ME - GO BYE BYE" and pointed to myself and then up to T&S. Bob got a laugh out of that, and I headed back.

After resting for a bit, I decided to go down in to the paddock to capture the last hour of the race from the perspective of the crews in the pits. Watching a night time pit stop is fascinating; the hustle and bustle in the pits was great to watch - from the driver and crew messing around trying to get a cooling suit to work to the two suited up drivers swapping experiences while yet a third driver hops in the car and roars out onto the track. Faces were drawn and I could tell that tension was high; I do believe the fun most of them were looking forward to at this point was going to sleep. As always, I tried to stay in the shadows beyond the fence as much as possible; I did not want anyone knowing I was there so that I could catch the action in its purest form. I want to portray the drivers doing their best and the crews straining to get repairs done as fast as possible. This exhausting dedication in the name of fun is what fascinates me.

Midnight found me somewhere along the fence between Pit Out and the hill leading up to T&S, a dramatic ending-shot lined up. The checkered flag came out and twelve hours of racing ended; the hustle and bustle, the constant radio reports, the unending din of cars - all ceased. T&S began disassembling; dozens filed down to Chez Summit for Midnight Breakfast, and I finially packed my camera back in its bag.

In the end, I had a blast. I had captured over 1 hour and 40 minutes of film, which I am still cutting down and fitting in to the length of a 4 minute song. I enjoyed the entire 15 hours I was there, and I highly recommend this event to anyone who hasn't attended. One thing I was aware of was the shortage of personnel; According to Bob, to properly man the flag stations for the full 12 hours with one-hour shifts would require around 110 flaggers; this years 12 Hour had only 51 flaggers. This is an endurance event for not only the drivers, cars and crew, but also of the volunteer workers! So, if you don't want to sit around for twelve hours, consider volunteering for one of the worker specialties, as someone will surely be able to show you how it works and, most likely, be glad for the break!

This event is a great example of the fun that makes up an event at Summit Point, and I will certainly be attending again next year - and who knows, with more experience, perhaps I'll be able to put together a better video!

StraightPipe Article - A Busy Month

2009-08-11T14:50:00.001-07:00

Written by: Alex Polimeni

This was an article I wrote in 2007 for the StraightPipe, the newsletter publican of the Washington DC Region of the Sports Car Club of America.

In years past, I've heard of the "Season's End Banquet" only in passing conversation; never really knew what it was, never really cared. After all, I was just a results-runner for Timing and Scoring; the bigger goings-on of the region were of no consequence - at least, not until last year.

Late last winter, I submitted an article to Straightpipe about meeting some of the "living legends" of racing at the banquet. Later that year, I submitted an article about my first attempt at videography during "12 Hours at the Point" endurance race, in the hopes of composing a music video for the Season's End Banquet. Now, another banquet has come and gone, and a memorable experience it's been. True to my efforts in my 'enduro' article, and with the help and support of Daniela Anderson and others, it was my honor and pleasure to have my first attempt at home video on the "big screen" at the banquet. In just two years, the Season's End Banquet has gone from "the season's what now...?" to "the best event of the off-season" in my mind.

For as long as I can remember, I've had an interest in making home video. Over time, this interest intertwined with my interest in motorsport. After much research, I acquired a good Panasonic camcorder in late 2006. After attending my first banquet and watching Daniela Anderson's presentation, I decided to try and compose a guest video for the next banquet.

I wanted to compose a video that would reflect on the pounding and relentless nature of an endurance race. I settled on the theme "Requiem for a Dream" from the soundtrack of the movie by the same name. Many of the racing videos I have seen have used a basic "rock and roll" theme, usually with lyrics that go with the video. As such, I tried to find a piece of heavy classical that would express the drama of a 12 hour long race. With the theme in mind, I filmed pre-planned shots so as to make the footage and film fit together. For a 4-minute song, I took over an hour and a half of footage, though, whilst playing back my film, I couldn't help but wonder why I spent three minutes zooming in and out on a thicket.

Shortly after arriving at the 12-hour, I met up with Daniela Anderson, and told her what I was working on. Seeing my enthusiasm and interest, she took me on as something of a de-facto protégé. Due to her help and advice, I was able to iron out some of my camera techniques and editing issues. Not only did she give me permission to make a guest video for the banquet but, upon seeing it, decided to play mine before her own presentation. I really owe her a lot of thanks.

When we arrived for the banquet, it was cold and windy - just like the previous year. A trot through the halls of the hotel, a lengthy look over the seating map, and the evening began in earnest. We were running a little late, and I had the final cut of the video with me, so to my surprise, I found myself being called over the PA system as soon as I walked in! After handing over the tape and a chat with Daniela, I headed over to our table. Along the way, I ran into my good friend Doug Kinser and got his compliments about my last article in person. We then met up with the rest of the No-Class Paddock crew who, oddly, had a table right next to ours! The appetizers were delicious. After most of the line had gone, my friend from the no-class paddock James Brostek and I raided the appetizer table.

My whole family was in attendance for the banquet; my Dad, a 40-year member of the SCCA, my Mom, who introduced me to Timing and Scoring, my sister Lydia who works Timing and Scoring with us, and my brother Nick who drives an ITB Volvo. The Season's End Banquet takes place roughly half-way through the off season, and as such, brings together friends who otherwise wouldn't have seen each other for another three or four months. The banquet is probably the only time so many good friends and racers are under one roof at any given time, and the mood was energetic. Like Doug said to me, after only a couple hours of being there, he was fired up to go racing the next day - if he could, of course. After we got settled in, we split up, visiting our friends around the room whether they be drivers from the IT groups or associates from Timing and Scoring.

This year, the dinner itself was more organized: tables were called two at a time to come up and help themselves to an extensive buffet. Per my usual luck, our table was one of the last few to get called. The food was varied and excellent, though I was a little too excited to eat much! Soon enough, all the tables had been put through the rotation. Everyone was seated and enjoying their food; a hush came over the room, and Daniela stepped up to the microphone.

A few nights before, she had me write an introduction for myself and the video which she read to those assembled. Then, the video was rolling, and the first few seconds of the video - which I had watched hundreds of times in the previous days - went flashing by. As the blue ITC #20 went by, a cheer went up from the guys who had run it. Further into the video, as I zoomed in on that same care upside down in turn ten, the rooms moan of dismay rose into a cheer as the driver stood up, shaken but unhurt. As the last seconds of the video rolled and the checkered flag waved, the room broke into applause. I got several congratulating handshakes from my friends, a surprise hug from Doug's Mom, and spent the rest of the night getting compliments from people I didn't even know. Certainly, a night to remember!

After my video finished, we were treated to Daniela's much-awaited season's end presentation. The videos were fun, enjoyable, and upbeat as always. They first depicted footage from the Rallycross events and then moved onto solo and lastly road racing. I finally got to see the finished version of many videos Daniela had been talking about all year, with impressive accidents, exuberant people, and a highlight of Matt Yip in his General Li car being brought to justice, dukes-of-hazard stlye. Solid and true to her efforts, the videos were enjoyed by all.

After the videos were done and dinner mostly finished, it was time for the awards ceremony, the door prizes, and the announcements. I won't go into the specifics; it was long and interesting, yet I spent much of it off talking with friends. The Sue Roethel award was bestowed once again. After wandering back to the table, I was surprised to see Nick holding a door prize for a free track day in a Meathead Miata. The prize had originally been given to Al Bell, but he gave it back; after all, a dedicated Miata driver has no real need for it!

At long last, the festivities died down. The plates were carried away and Mom and Lydia hit the dance floor to a classic 50's tune. We tracked down our friends once more, gave them our regards for the season to come and said our goodbyes. Our family left with the door prize, the teddy bear centerpiece to our table, and a stack of free coasters with the DC Region logo on them, a pair of which now bracket my computer keyboard. As we left, tramping through the late-night cold, we thought back on the nights cheer. Alas, no rest for the weary, as they say; we had to be up early the next morning with unfinished work to do.

The Washington DC Auto Show is one of the biggest car shows in our area. It was to our great surprise, then, when we got an e-mail from region historian Steve Lloyd asking if anyone could provide a vintage car for the show. The Auto Show organizers had leftover space and had asked the SCCA to fill it. It was on short notice; when the note from Steve came through, we had a week to prepare as all cars needed to be delivered the day after the Banquet.

The call for vintage race cars had been sounded, and we responded. Last year, we had begun restoring my Dad's vintage Volvo PV 544. Back in "the day," he drove it on the old Marlboro circuit and even ran in the Sebring 12-Hour in 1969. So far, we have only been working on restoring the body. While much work had already been completed, we had to scramble to get it presentable in such a short amount of time. We had previously displayed it at the Import & Kit Car show in Carlisle, PA in May of 2007, and later as a promotional piece for Steve Lloyd's historical display at the Labor Day Double MARRS. Neither display demanded a pristine finish. As Nick worked away matching up trim, installing doorhandles, and rubbing out paint, I was given the job of building a pair of stands for the rear axle. The old tires leaked rapidly, so to avoid having to refill the tires with air constantly, we devised these to support the car and make the tires appear to be full. True to form, what should have been a one-hour job took me over four hours - I even had to stop halfway through so as to get ready to go to the banquet! However, the scrambling we did is nothing compared to the scrambling done by our friend and show organizer Ian Baker.

Ian Baker is a member of the Board of Directors, and the job of organizing the regions display at the Auto Show fell to him. If we had to scramble to get our little part of the show together, I cant imagine what it was like for Ian to orchestrate the whole thing. Still, orchestrate it he did and among those he contacted was Steve Lloyd, who then contacted us about getting vintage vehicles to the show. With the clock against him, the work Ian got done was, in my humble opinion, incredible.

The Auto Show was open for five days, and those who worked or lived nearby generously volunteered to help work the region's exhibition, even if they didn't have a car on display themselves. For example, James Brostek, who races an ITB VW Golf, just walked a few blocks over to the convention center after getting off work.

I was impressed by the number of cars that made it out to the show on such short notice. Ian put his own autocross-prepared STS2 Honda CRX on display, and the Solo division was further represented by Dan Donohue's Solo Vee, Danny Kao's STU Mitsubishi EVO SE, Shawn Roberts' DS Mazdaspeed Protégé, Lee Piccone's BSP M3 and Mike Snyder's FS Shelby Mustang. From the club racing side of things, we had Greg Ginsberg's ITA Honda CRX, Roger Troxell's ITC '85 Honda Civic Hatchback, Chass Shaffer's Formula Continental, Ted Eller's GT1, and Ken Anderson's American Sedan Mustang, with Walid Achi's SCCA Radical track car to top the list off. And, of course, our own little Volvo PV 544, looking a bit out of place amongst all the shiny Solo cars. Volunteering and transporting their racing machines to the show in the middle of the off season is a testament to the enthusiasm and dedication of the owners who went out of their way to get their cars on display!

Dad and I went out to work the region's exhebition on saturday. The DC Auto Show was the first real automotive show I had ever been to, with full-fledged factory displays and not just private owners displays. Needless to say, I was a little overwhelmed by the sheer size of it. It took us a long time to actually make it to the far end of the convention hall through the crowd, and after photographing the display, I spent a few hours wandering around and looking at the other displays, such as the Jeep setup that featured several models driving an L-shaped course over various obstacles including water fording, crossing logs, and a 60 degree upward climb.

Curiosity wasn't the only thing that kept me away; I was daunted by the thought of trying to work the exhibit with limited knowledge of the cars on display. Soon enough, James and my Dad convinced me of the logic that I knew more about what was on display then the passers-by. That, coupled with the threat of no lunch if I didn't help out, and I found myself explaining such things as the meaning of the class names and the difference between road racing and autocross, not to mention repeatedly confirming that the two CRX's on display did, in fact, have stock engines.

The display generated a lot of interest; when we got there, Ian was out printing up a new set of info pamphlets as the first stack was already gone. There was a lot of interest in the club activities and people seemed to really appreciate the cars. There had to have been at least a thousand pictures taken of the old Volvo alone. The purpose of the exhibition was to introduce people to the SCCA's programs and the world of motor sport in general, and I think we did it pretty well.

The questions we answered ranged from discussing what class a potential race car would be into the finer points of car preparation. I know the question came up, "If I join the SCCA, what will the club do for me?," but really, it's not so much what the club will do for you as it is what your participation will do for you and the club. Active participation in the SCCA is more akin to being a member of a family then a member of a formal club. You get out of it what you put into it; my interaction in the SCCA granted me the opportunity to show my video at the banquet, something I would not have been able to do otherwise.

Motor sport is an adventure with many facets. Through my participation in the SCCA, I've had the privilege to show my work at the Season's End Banquet and the pleasure to promote the region at the DC Auto Show. All this activity already, and the racing season hasn't even begun yet!

StraightPipe Article - A Gleam in the Eye

2009-08-11T14:45:00.000-07:00

Written by Alex Polimeni

This was an article I wrote in 2007 for the StraightPipe, the newsletter publican of the Washington DC Region of the Sports Car Club of America.

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If your first time in a race car is when your Mom drove your Dad's ITB Volvo up to the false grid while carrying you, does it mean that you're fated to spend the rest of your life involved in motorsports?

Because, at age 15, that's pretty much the conclusion I'm coming to.

For the past six years, I've worked at Summit Point's Timing and Scoring building and have gained a fair bit of knowledge on the internal workings of MARRS events. I've spent the past two years racing a go-kart at Sandy Hook Speedway and, Perhaps more importantly, I've also spent those years crewing for my brother and his ITB Volvo at Summit Point and getting a wide variety of experiences ranging from watching his car hauled into our pit with the nose smashed off to watching someone elses car smash it's nose off on the grandstand I was sitting in.

I've been around motorsport all my life and have heard the stories that go with it for as long as I can remember. We have always had a large and ever-expanding library of books about automotive and racing history; I've watched videos ranging from an interview with Stirling Moss to the 1994 season of the British Touring Car Championship. Motorsport isn't like other sports... you can participate in basketball or go golfing for example , but Motorsport is something that you don't so much attend as you live and breath. And that most certainly applies to me.

One particular name that stands out in my memory is that of Marlboro; Marlboro Speedway. It was the DC Regions previous home track; it closed in 1969, and Summit Point opened in 1970. Marlboro was one of Dad's favorite tracks, and many are the stories I've heard about it.

Marlboro Speedway was origionally a smallish dirt oval that was occasionally raced on by members of the "Lavender Hill Mob". The "Mob" was comprised of members of SCCA's DC Region; among them were such people as Dr. Dick Thompson, Charlie Wallace, Ace Rosner, Bob McKinsey, Tex Hopkins and forty or so more over the years. These drivers won so many races in so many classes of SCCA competition that it led Dr. M.R.J Wylie to accuse them of being "Ungentlemanly pot-hunters", allegedly because they won so many races so often, even on unfamiliar tracks.

The Lavender Hill Mob as we know it began in late 1954. At the time, there was a popular Alec Guinness film about a bunch of lovable bank robbers, titled the Lavender Hill Mob, and the name seemed to fit. They had no racetrack of their own and would, on occasion, race at the dirt oval of Marlboro Speedway. Eventually, the Lavender Hill Mob kicked in $50 from each Mob member to encourage Marlboro manager Eugene Chaney to build a .7 mile road course off the oval and to pave said oval as part of it. So it was that in may of 1955 Marlboro held its first sports car race and, well, history speaks for itself.

The course was eventually extended to 1.7 miles, albeit on a tiny 28-acre tract of land; by contrast, Summit Point Raceway was built on 300 acres. Needless to say, Marlboro was a tight course; but as the Lavender Hill Mob used to say: "If you can win at Marlboro, you can win anywhere." And, in fact, there were quite a few instances in the 50's and 60's when the Washington, DC Region had more SCCA National Champions than any other one region.

Of course, people from outside our area didn't neccesarily approve of Marlboro's tight and twisty layout. Jerry Titus, who drove for Carrol Shelby's TransAm Mustang Team, called it a "Go-Kart track"; NASCAR legends Cale Yarborough and LeeRoy Yarbrough, driving Cougars in the 1967 TransAm at Marlboro, said, "I took a walk around the paddock and found out later I'd walked around the whole track!" or perhaps more to the point, "Y'all sure put a lot of turns into one little piece of real estate!"

Other items of interest in Marlboro's past were such things as when General Motors staged the world introduction of their new corvette, the "Sting Ray" driven by Dr. Dick Thompson, at Marlboro in an SCCA National. Marlboro even enjoyed the driving talents of Formula One drivers every now and again; Stirling Moss, a friend of DC Region Ferrari driver Charlie Hayes, would show up at Marlboro now and then for demonstration sessions in immensely diverse cars, such as the origional Mini-Cooper to the CRV "Cycolac Research Vehicle", a plastic-bodied, Corvair-powered custom car. Lotus F-1 Driver Innes Ireland drove at Marlboro, as did Belgian endurance racing driver Jacky Ickx and, perhaps most notably, Jackie Stewart who drove a Ford Cortina in the Marlboro 12-Hour Sedan race - an event that bore full F.I.A. sanction!

After all the history and all the stories and all the pictures and all the books I've heard and seen all my life, what do you think your reaction would be if your Dad asked you, "Would you be interested in attending a gathering of old Marlboro veterans?"

I mean, seriously. Did I even really need to answer that one?

The gathering of veterans in question was the first meet of Marlboro Memories Group and the brainchild of region historian Steve Lloyd. It took place on Jan. 20th, the day of and at the same hotel as the regions season-end banquet. The meeting had two real objectives; the first was to get as many old-timers together as possible to help Steve Lloyd organize a good deal of old pictures and information left to him by the late Dave Roethell as region historian. The second, of course, was to get all these people - both veterans and enthusiasts alike - together for a social gathering without pressure nor agenda.

The roots of what has become the Marlboro Memories group lies with one Steve Knoll when, in 1998, he founded a web site called LapRecord.com. It is, as its title describes, "An E-Zine & For Gearheads". Its in its 10th season and runs regular articles in a rotating E-Zine format on... well... all manner of car-related things. Steve Knoll was even a crew member for Group 44; He started going to Marlboro in 1966 while in high school and was working at a car wash with his best friend Mike Stuntz. They were enthusiasts and attended their first ever road race at the Marlboro Twelve Hour and got instantly hooked.. Shortly thereafter, they went to Group 44's garage in Falls Church and presented themselves to Bob Tullius as "'Professional' Car Washers". Bob got a good laugh out of it and Steve and Mike went to work for Group 44 as gophers.

Around this time last year, Steve Knoll ran a feature on Marlboro Speedway, and the positive reaction it got can be considered as the genesis of the Marlboro Memories group. Among the people who contacted him after he ran the feature was Steve Lloyd, current Historian for the DC Region. After a lengthy e-mail discussion, they decided that rather then lose the story and the pictures to the E-Zines rotating format, they would come together and found the Marlboro_Speedway Yahoo! group. Thanks to the growing interest in it and the contributions made to it by the members, the Marlboro_Speedway group has a fascinating and ever-expanding archive of images and stories from Marlboro and, indeed, DC Region history.

Well, needless to say, I was exited, albeit apprehensive, about attending the meet. While I have been racing go-karts for two years I have only begun to really get used to it and really enjoy it - most likely because I know how to drive competently, now! I know what its like running the Go-Kart flat out and what kind of effect it has had on me; so what, then, would someone who raced some of the greatest cars in what can be considered the golden age of Motorsport be like? That is where my apprehension was - What would it be like to really meet people I had heard about so many times, and, in some cases, had something close to hero worship for?

On the other hand, what a (literally) priceless opportunity to meet some of the figures that make up the history of Motorsport as a whole and thereby truly connect to motor racing history. After all, it can be said that what we have today was built by these "old-timers". I have always had an appreciation for history; a chance to meet some of the people who lived it was simply too good to pass up.

So it was that, on the morning of the 20th, we were barrelling down the beltway. Dad was probably thinking something along the lines I had been about the people and the stories; by contrast, I was in the passenger seat with my hat crammed over my eyes trying to keep the winter sun out.

Sun or no, I was fully prepared for the day with my new-ish high-quality video camera; a Panasonic GS-500, for those to whom that might mean something. A few nights before I had mentioned to Dad about bringing it so I could record some footage of the meeting; he had suggested that I contact the Straightpipe to see if they were interested in an article about it. I read the "Go Ahead" message that very morning and, as such, a note pad was also crammed into my camera bag.

Showing up a full ten minutes early, we made our way in to the hotel lobby and, by co-incidence, met up with 4-time National Champion Col. Joe Hauser. One of the interesting things to me about motorsports is how illogical it might seem to people who have no real knowledge of it. In an interview, Joe said that he got into racing because he was "The type of guy who needs a hobby.". Yeah. A hobby. Winning national championships. Only automotive enthusiests would consider something like that to be a "hobby"!

While we were waiting in line to get signed in, we had the pleasure of meeting Sue Roethell. While talking to her, something that struck me instantly and would continue to draw my attention all day was how much energy there was in these people. They seemed to me like a bunch of young minds in old bodies and, as dad remarked to me, they all had the gleam in their eyes that seemed to imply that they would still go get themselves in trouble if they could. Even Col. Joe Hauser spent the day playing with his cane, poking and tapping people and finally remarking that what it really needed was a good lump of lead in the end of it. If motorsport is something you live and breathe, does that also mean that its something that can nurture and sustain your mind for years untold?

Soon enough Steve Lloyd was giving an introductory and welcoming speech. Due to my inexperience with my camera, I messed up a setting and missed over half the speech before I figured it out, but thems the breaks, I suppose. I was amused to note the number of sidelong glances I got throughout the morning, as if most of the people present were wondering, "What's a teenager with a video camera doing here?"

In finishing up his speech, we were referred to the half-dozen tables around the room. He had put a great deal of pictures out; it was supposed to be our task to look through them and help label them for organizational purposes. Nevertheless, it was as I had predicted on the drive up: Get a room full of gearheads together and all they do is talk! Of course, it was amusing to me to see two dozen guys who've been in the sport for fifty-some years "swapping lies" like I see all the time in Summit Point's paddock. I suppose racers never change in that respect.

About mid-morning a late arrival showed up; one Tony Adamowicz. His name was another I had heard in quite a few different stories, the most memorable of which, I must say, was his 1971 run in Brock Yates Cannonball Baker Sea-to-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy Dash. The Dash was meant to be a protest of the 55 MPH speed limit; whoever got to the other shore first, won. Tony Adamowicz and Oscar Koveleski, then, came up with the obvious and natural idea that to save time they would simply load a van with five 55-gallon drums of gasoline and run the whole thing non-stop.

Shortly before lunch, Dad and I got to talking with Tony after what was, on my part, pretty much an awestruck introduction. While we were chatting, Tony mentioned that the fedora I was wearing was very similar to the hat he wore when he bought his first car. He mentioned about how, back then, kids were much more properly and smartly dressed as opposed to the sloppy stlyes most of my generation wear today; I'm just relieved he didn't count me among them!

As we were talking with him, I heard Steve Lloyd tell everyone that lunch was prepared and right down the hall not once but three times! However, I have often observed that Newtons law of motion applied here too - Just as things in motion tend to stay in motion, chatting gearheads tend to stay chatting.

At lunch, we found ourselves seated next to Paul O'Malley. We always used to see him drive his Hudson up to the restaraunt next door before it closed; How were we to know was that he, too, was a Marlboro veteran? After all, what are the chances that two Marlboro racers, one from the New York area and one from the Washington DC area, would end up in Capon Bridge, "No-where," West Virginia? As with several other people we met, Dad found that they had probably raced on the track together and never realized it. We spent a very pleasant and long-winded lunch talking with Paul; Perhaps my most random observation of the day was that somehow crab soup and club sandwiches really did compliment the discussion of racing history. No, I don't know why - I'm still trying to figure it out myself!

After lunch, we went back for another pleasant two or three hours of simply talking, discussing, and looking at photos. I somehow managed to miss being present for the group photo, yet that doesn't bother me. To me, it seems more appropriate to me to see all of these aged gearheads who have raced together and shared racing history together be photographed together after 40 years, rather then them and one kid in a fedora.

Shortly before our 3:00 PM time requisition ran out, Steve ran some old film of his. According to him, his camera at the time had "all the resolution of the bottom of a coke bottle", but nevertheless it was simply fascinating to watch. Of particular interest to me was the various comments the group threw in while watching - People who had run on these courses exactly as they were in the film. I recorded a video of this; I hope to have it online soon!

After the projector stopped, our time limit was up, but, once again, it took neigh-on to half an hour to get everyone out. As Lloyd later remarked to me, "I had not anticipated how much I’d need to “herd cats” to stay on our schedule!" I would like to take a moment, too, to give my sincere thanks to Steve Lloyd and Steve Knoll for giving me such generous help with this article - I wouldn't have been able to write this without you!

As near as I could overhear from the various bits of chatter all around me as the group slowly filed out was that just about everyone was going for drinks; but not us. Myself and a few others had been invited to attend a special after-meeting interview session of Pete van der Vate, Col. Joe Hauser and Tony Adamowicz. The interview was to be held in a private meeting room in a private room down the hall; the filmography was to be done by Steve's brother, Bobby Lloyd - a professional in the business. Granted, I could tell that much when comparing my high-end but hand-held camcorder to his shoulder mounted one that, to me, resembled something closer to a grenade launcher then a camera.

Taking up almost three hours, the interviews were interesting in the extreme and I captured them with my camera from a more "un-official" perspective. The interviews with Pete and Joe were relativly short and followed the standard interview format of question and answer. While these were, as I said, greatly interesting, my biggest laugh was yet to come when, over an hour and a half into his interview, Tony was on his third or fourth question. While it was question-and-answer with the others, with him it was more of question-and-story - a fact that he noted himself when he paused to drink some water because he was talking himself hoarse!

Slowly, the noise of people outside got louder and louder to the point where we could no longer carry on the interview - The reason being, of course, the gathering of the entire seasons-end awards ceremony about twenty feet down the hall. But, after almost three hours of interviews, I was honestly sad to see it end; to me, hearing the tales of these fantastic people was far more exciting then any awards ceremony could be.

As Tony and the group headed off to get some beverages of alcoholic nature, I met up with the rest of the family, my head spinning with a days worth of history and memorable individuals. As we talked, I thought of something Col. Joe Hauser had said in his interview. As he was leaning on the table fiddling with a pen, he said something to the general gist of, "If I was asked by someone just getting in to the sport today, my advice would be to make sure you have a partner who is interested in the sport - It works best as a family endeavor". I reflected on how both my brother and my Dad race, how my sister and I ran go-karts and how both she and Mom hold T&S liscences. I reflected on the camaradarie at the track, and how many of my friends and their families are involved. I reflected on how all of us are, really, just one big family under the name of "SCCA". And in light of all that, I would say that Joe's words most certainly ring true.

StraightPipe Article - A Near Life Experience

2009-08-11T14:21:00.000-07:00

Written by Alex Polimeni

This was an article I wrote in 2006 for the StraightPipe, the newsletter publican of the Washington DC Region of the Sports Car Club of America.

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I began working as a volunteer in the Timing and Scoring building of Summit Point Speedway back in 2001. Now, 5 years later and at age 15, I have seen or heard about a lot of crazy and incredible crashes. But I must say that this would be the first time I was actually *in* one of those crazy and incredible crashes, and the crash itself was the most crazy and incredible thing i've seen.

The day was Monday of the Labor Day Double MARRS. I was acting as sole crewmember and, more importantly, chef for my brother Nick and his ITB Volvo 142E. We had been experiencing a good deal of technical difficulties with the car that weekend. So, on Monday morning, knowing that I could not assist any further, I decided I would track down some friends of ours who were spectating in the Carousel.

Upon finding them in the main infeild grandstand, I sat down three rows from the top leaning on the right hand side railings. I fully expected to spend the morning quietly drinking soda and spectating the cars as Group Three - Smallbore took its pace lap.

Well, it was an interesting race, or at least as interesting as spectating a race can be. Needless to say, the most interesting thing was yet to come when, as I was watching a pair of dueling GT Pintos dissappear out of sight, I heard those on the grandstand gasp in the way grandstands full of spectators gasp before a crash. Snapping my head back around, I was just in time to see a Baby Grand that was on the outside of a Mercedes tag it out in the transition between turns 6b and 7. The contact sent the Mercedes off to drivers right and straight at the tirewall.

Of course, such occurences are common in racing, and my only thought was, "Oh, the poor guy is going to hit the tires." At least, that's what I thought before the car hit the tirewall, or more accurately, through the tirewall, up the bank, and airbourne through the spectator fence.

Now, when something like that happens, the natural reaction seems to be to have an adrenaline rush and pull a stupid face while time seems to slow down around you. Time slowed down enough for me to register that the car had not hit anyone, but had, dukes of hazard style, sent tires and fence boards flying everywhere. Oh, and the fact that there was now a moving race car in the infield pointed straight at me.

"Ah, but that's over 50 feet away!" I thought. "It would have to hit that buick, and all those rocks, and go all the way up the hill - No way it will reach here. Well, it landed in someones campsite - poor fellows - and it's still coming on, but that Buick will slow it down."

It didn't.

The Mercedes tagged the Buick's rear bumper and went straight into the rock outcropping that is about half way between the fence and the grandstand. Still going at a handsome rate of speed, the rocks offset the direction of the car a little to drivers right - In other words, directly at the right hand corner of the grandstand.

I do believe it was at this point that I realised that the car actually did have a good chance of hitting the grandstand. Knowing there was was no way to get off the grandstand in time, I stood up and braced myself on the railings to my right. Looking back up to see where the car was, I was just in time to stare in disbelief as it hit the corner of the grandstand directly infront of me.

When something like this happens, all thought but the idea of "I can't believe that just happened" ceases, and instinct takes over. Upon feeling myself pitched forward as the grandstand went backward, I put a leg out to catch myself and finished riding out the impact. My first real thought afterword was that either the grandstand was going to fall down or the car was going to burn.

Walking quickly and calmly down the stairs, I took in the surroundings to see if anyone was hurt and was amazed but thankful to see that no one was. Instantly, a flagger was there checking to see if there were any injured.

I must take a moment here to comment on the safety gear of the vehicle and commend the skill of the SCCA safety personel. Even after the wild ride and multiple impacts, the driver of the Mercedes got out of his car within moments after the crash and walked away. Orange and white shirts were everywhere, instantly effecting a lockdown - getting spectators off of as well as out from behind the now-buckled grandstand and away from the wrecked car itself. Before the red flag was even out, Baker station's ambulance shot across the road when there was a break in the traffic.

I was to find out later that the Stewards call to Able station was simple yet shocking: "Able, roll all." Even in Timing and Scoring, Cheif Timer Jeannie Hoffman, at the prospect of an extremely serious situation, had the timers remove all papers and other nonsuch from the tables in case it had to be used as an emergency hospital.

I observed that within five minutes of the impact, the race had been red flagged, the area was locked down, the driver was away in an ambulance, and every other piece of emergency equipment was there. They had not responded with the suprised thought of, "I did'nt know that was possible! Now what do we do?" Rather, they responded to the situation at hand, instantly and effectivly. Fortunately, the only true casualty was the bicycle that had been resting on the corner of the grandstand when the car hit.

The forsight of BSR when constructing the grandstand is commendable, too - It was built much stronger than most grandstands of its type, and was not bolted down. Had it been, the car would have gone much farther into the stand, and the situation could have been much worse. As it was, the first three rows on that end were smashed in, and the grandstand itself shifted off its foundations and four feet backward.

It was quite an experience, to say the least. At the news of a car into the grandstand, the knowlage that I was down there, and at the behest of our mother, Nick drove down to go find me. He still wishes he had a camera to catch the "You-won't-believe-this" grin on my face as my first words to him were quoted from the movie Fight Club, "Whoo! Just had us a near-life experience!"

This has left me with a profound impression of the efficiency of the racing specialities and profesionalism of the SCCA's many volunteers. To put it simply, this is why we race with the SCCA. Sincerely, thank you.

Workin' on the Railcamp

2009-08-11T13:24:00.000-07:00

Written by: Alex Polimeni

This is an unpublished article I wrote for Railfan & Railroad about my time at RailCamp in Scranton, PA in 2008. I have since returned to Railcamp in 2009, both as a Counselor at Steamtown and as a camper in the RailCamp that takes place in Ely, Nevada on the Nevada Northern.

You can read more about the RailCamp program and the museums it works with here:

http://www.railcamp.com/
http://www.nps.gov/stea/
http://www.nevadanorthernrailway.net/

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A few months ago, it would have been a stretch of the word to call me a "railfan". My Dad was always the rail nut of the family; my interest in the iron horse was a passing one. It was with surprise, then, when I found I had been enrolled in the 2008 Steamtown Railcamp. I was more than a little apprehensive; after all, I'd be alone for a week with two dozen other kids, studying something I knew practically nothing about. I scoured the Internet searching for past campers, hoping to get a grasp on what my Dad had gotten me into this time. I found a slide show of the 2006 Railcamp composed by former camper Dan Morgan. I asked him about his time at Railcamp; in response, he described it as, "The best week of my life". Heartened by this, I packed my gear and set out to see if Dan was right. The adventure had begun.

Now, let's back up a little. The Railcamp Program is sponsored by the National Railway Historical Society, and supported by several other groups such as Steamtown and Amtrak. The weeklong camp is a learning experience meant to provide high school students with a background on rail history, operations, and preservation. This highly successful program has run for over ten years now. Each year, Railcamp is hosted at two locations; one at Steamtown in Scranton Pennsylvania, and the other at the Nevada Northern Railway Museum in Ely, Nevada. I would later learn that the Steamtown camp is geared more toward an overall education, while the one in Ely offers more hands-on work. Seeing as I'm not exactly the best with machinery, I was good with that.

This was to be my first and, I dare say, probably most memorable trip to Scranton. Through the steep and narrow streets Dad, Mom and I wound, until at last we arrived at my lodgings for the week: Scranton University's Gavigan hall. Stepping out of the car, I looked out upon a commanding view of the "electric city" and caught sight of the far-off smoke of a steam locomotive. Turning my back on this panorama, I picked up my bags and stepped through the door with the note, "Railcamp Registration, 4th floor." I was to become intimately acquainted with those four flights of stairs over the next few days. Well, at least until I found the elevator.

We made our way to the dorm's end lounge, a room which had become my home by week's end. There, I met many of the camp's counselors. Some, such as Gary Yanko and Wil Kimmer were long-time Railcamp staffers; others, like Andrew Morris and Michael Muldowney, were former campers themselves. One such counselor was Mark Blackwell who signed me in, showed me to my room, and gave me my signature blue Railcamp cap. Although I had corresponded with Railcamp's chief counselor and coordinator Barry Smith previously, I was not to meet him in person until our first group meeting later that day.

Before leaving home, I had talked more with Dan Morgan. He described Barry as "stern, but cool." - a description Barry himself would later laugh about. As I walked into the lounge where all the staff and new campers had gathered for orientation, I got my first look at his "stern" side. As the week went on, I found he was someone you followed because you didn't want to let him down rather than out of fear of reprimand. Well, I suppose there was that, too. One might expect a group of some two dozen high schoolers to get unruly rather quick. Never the less, Barry and his staff inspired a grudging respect in us campers that kept us on track and on time, so to speak.

Thus our first day at camp was under way. I marveled at Scranton's eclectic mix of old and new architecture as we followed our "leader of the pack", counselor and former camper Andrew Bell to the Steamtown museum. Upon entering the yard, we caught our first sight of a steam locomotive #3254, a former Canadian National 2-8-2 Mikado type. A fan trip pulled by this very engine was to be the highlight of our first day, as we were headed to Tobyhana P.A. and back. As we stood on the platform watching the vintage locomotive roll into the station mere feet away from the enthralled campers, I just knew I was involved in something special.

To me, the trains and their history are inseparable; you cannot have one without the other - and Railcamp covered both aspects wonderfully. After reaching Tobyhana, we were offered a chance to visit a nearby ice house. Once there, we learned of the old ice industry and its business with the railroad - along with a look at the tools of the trade in a restored box car. Before this, I had thought of the railroad as just the trains; such insights helped me see beyond that. Of course, that didn't make the train ride any less spectacular. For the return trip, the train had been coupled nose-first onto the end car, which had been reserved for us. While it was great to see the locomotive rock and sway just outside the door... well, let's just say I know now why a few of the campers shut their windows before we went into the tunnel.

From there on out, we were ever on the move. After disembarking, we watched them spin our engine on the turn table. Some of us went inside on the observation catwalks to watch them run it into the roundhouse, and received a surprise steam bath as well! After dinner at the university cafeteria, ranger Ken Ganz ran a slide show of Steamtown's history. He took us from from its founding through how it became the establishment it is today. The stage was set; in just half a day, I had taken my first train ride and learned more rail history than I could have imagined.

Gathered in the museums theater early the next morning, we were introduced the art of "interpretation" by ranger's Ken Ganz and Glenn Smith. The concept of interpretation is to take an exhibit and explain it in such a way that your audience will understand. After all, not everyone can understand "rail-speak"! The campers were split into groups and assigned to various pieces of equipment in Steamtown to "interpret". My group was to cover Steamtown's Union Pacific "Big Boy", one of only eight left. Our minds were put to the test by this unexpected challenge. When we finished our work, each group was to present their interpretation to the rest of the camp. No pressure, now!

After lunch at the cafeteria - and I must say, this place was better than many restaurants - we were off on another trip, this time to the Anthracite Coal Museum and preserved Lackawanna Coal Mine. The museum gave us a window into the region's past, and an insight into the hardships that the men of that era endured. The mine trip was cold, damp, unnerving... and utterly fascinating. Before this week, I never would have thought I'd find myself walking down a tunnel some three hundred feet below the ground. Even out of all we did at Railcamp, the mine tour still holds a special place in my memory. Before day's end, we payed a visit to Scranton's Iron Furnaces. This mighty stone structure stands in stark contrast to its vibrant surroundings, a proud yet solemn monument to an industrial age that helped build our country.

Now, don't get me wrong: Railcamp was far from ceaseless dull and heavy learning. Indeed, we would often find ourselves simply having fun and joking about. Well, at least until Barry came around! Honoring a tradition of past Railcamps, we held a pool party that evening. It gave us all some needed R&R; a chance to just sit back and enjoy. Well, aside from those who insisted on cannon-balling into the pool! While most dived in the pool, a few campers and I opted to spend the evening railfanning. Our luck was that of most railfans, and nothing came by while we watched. At dusk, we rejoined the others, and headed back for a good night's sleep. We were going to need it.

Our alarms were set to o'dark hundred for Tuesday morning. That day, we were on our way to Philadelphia's Amtrak offices. The bus ride was long, but not without entertainment. After Barry's narration of Philadelphia's railroading landmarks, we found ourselves in 30th Street Station. Just as Sunday had been my first time on a train, this was my first time in a train station. Our stay in the station was breathtaking, if brief. Had I more time, I could have spent the day simply exploring. As it was, we were graciously hosted in the Amtrak administrative offices, and spent the rest of the morning discussing Amtrak and its future with several company representatives. Again, we had been given front-row seats to something so few outside the industry get to see.

We were on the move again after lunch, boarding Amtrak train 125 to Wilmington, Delaware. This ride was most unlike our trip to Tobyhana, as the behavior of the cars was completely different. Through the heart of Philadelphia we sped, watching modern facilities intermingled with pre-war industry flash past our windows. Before long, we disembarked at our destination: Amtrak's Wilmington shops. While it was hard to hear our guide over the noise, I was content with what I saw. Although I did not know the purpose of most of the machinery, it was certainly impressive. Outside, innumerable rows of wheels sat alongside yard equipment. Inside, men were hard at work, surrounded by countless bins containing items of all descriptions.

This was the first of two Amtrak shops we visited that day, the other being located in Bear, Delaware. This second shop specialized in restoring and renovating older Amtrak cars. Before that day, I had thought of the Amtrak trains as being rather bland and faceless; as I learned more about both company and equipment, my opinions have changed. As evening set in, we began our long trip home, stopping only for dinner. Our usual relaxed atmosphere resumed as we ate; we spent our time joking around and talking about our day. Back on the bus, I took out my journal and wrote by the light of the setting sun. The longest day of Railcamp was at a close.

As Wednesday morning came, we were seated once more in the museum theater. This time, we received a lecture by Wayne Morgan on "Operation Lifesaver". The talk was lengthy and detailed; at times, even grim. Still, it was most effective. Railroading is dangerous; Wayne drove the point home. I know I'll certainly be more careful around the tracks. Afterward, we split into pairs under several Steamtown mechanics, so as to learn the ins and outs of locomotive inspection. We climbed up one side of that engine and down the other - literally. And then we went into the pit underneath it!

Leaving the shop, we trekked up to the station platform to take a trolley ride. For a third time we rode the rails that week, and for a third time it was a new experience - trolleys behave most unlike trains. Out from the yard and through the tunnel we ventured once more, sometimes stopping at a crossing, and even revisiting the iron furnaces. Although it was odd to ride amongst modern surroundings in such an antique piece of equipment, we certainly enjoyed ourselves. Upon our return, we stayed a while in the trolley museum. I browsed the exhibits, as I've never really known how trolleys work. Here, I found my questions answered, and then some.

We got back to our dorm early that evening to start work on our powerpoint presentation. On the last morning of camp, we would use this to show our parents what we had done that week. We split into groups; each group was assigned a day to recap. Composing these recaps was left entirely up to the campers. The end quality of our work was entirely in our hands. My group decided to pool our pictures first and, well, we spent most of the night laughing about them. They couldn't understand why I had taken texture shots of rusty doors, and hilarity ensued every time someone brought up a certain 1930's chewing gum ad we found in the trolley museum...

Thursday came around, and brought with it some welcome hands-on time in the Steamtown shop. Our task was to build an engine silhouette out of sheet steel. Some tools, such as the grinder and welder, I was familiar with from my brother's auto restoration shop. Others, namely the plasma cutter, well... not so much. Under the guidance of several Steamtown mechanics, we set to it. The plasma cutter melted through the metal as if it were butter as we cut out the basic shape. Finishing the shape with the grinder was an easy if lengthy process. I forgot to smooth the edges of mine, and spent my few spare minutes furiously sawing away with my leatherman's file. From there, we welded the base brackets onto the silhouette and sealed the deal with some old-fashioned hot metal and sturdy mallet style riveting. After a few tries with a spray gun, our new creations were complete. We wouldn't see our work again until we left for home, but even now my silhouette stands by my window - a treasured reminder of my time at Railcamp.

We ate in the shop's lunch room, as we did for the last three days of camp. From there, we were back in the theater again, this time to receive a talk by counselor Mike Muldowny on the firing of steam boilers. As a fireman on the New Hope and Ivyland Railroad, he gave an excellent presentation with an insightful view. Seeing as his words didn't go over even my head, I'd say he did a good job. The remainder of the evening was spent fooling around with, or, rather, working on our powerpoint presentation. Our group was holed up in the main lounge, the atmosphere of friendship and enthusiasm permeating all. I would not have thought two dozen teens could become such a tight-knit group in but a week. Yet, brought together by our common interest in railroading and the work of Gary, Will and the other counselors, we became one such group.

Friday morning saw us up early, as always. A little earlier for some of us than others, in fact. Counselor Wil had made a point of waking everyone up bright and early all week by knocking on our doors, earning him the nickname of "the Hammer". A few campers decided to beat him to it this time. When he came around that morning, a good half of us were already in the dorm lounge waiting for him. Alas, I was not one of them, as I had been up until three AM catching up on my journal, and valued every minute of sleep I could get!

Thus we began our last day of camp. Exhausted yet excited, we entered Steamtown once more. We had not one but two chances to run a locomotive that day. One was a 1 1/2 scale live steam model; the other, #514, an ex-nickel plate EMD GP9 switcher. Yet we had a few other things to do before we could go play engineer. First was an interesting test of judgment. Two campers acted as the "conductor" and "engineer" on an O scale model railroad yard. A barrier prevented the "engineer" from seeing the end of his train, leaving it to the "conductor" to use a radio and guide him in coupling up to the cars - just as a real conductor would.

This was followed up with some training on a highrailer. I was surprised by the ease with which it was to switch it from road to rail mode. Riding in one of these as it picks up speed on the tracks is a bit... disconcerting. We rotated through the different activities in groups; the last my group did was run the live steam locomotive. I've ridden on a few of these in the past, but never operated one. The controls were warm to the touch, and it was just as finicky as a real one. Many campers enjoyed its miniature steam whistle; enjoyed it too much, in fact. If the whistle was blown too often, the engine lost steam pressue and needed to be carefully nursed back to normal.

This left but one more thing to do before departing: Operate the diesel switcher. First, we took turns acting as a real conductor, learning the hand signals and guiding the engine to couple and uncouple from a car. Trust me, you don't get much more up close and personal than this. I watched the others practice; when it was my turn, I judged it as best I could and signaled the engineer to shut it down a few feet from the car, allowing momentum to couple them gently. Never before had I known so much depended on the conductor - and this was just the half of it.

We boarded the locomotive in pairs, running the #514 up and down a short stretch of track. Where the engine goes and where it stops are in the hands of the conductor - which, in this case, was me. It was a heady feeling - and a bit scary, too. I could say the same for when I sat down in the engineer's chair, looking out at my fellow camper and, beyond him, the open track. We made eye contact; with a nod of the head, we were ready to go. I set the throttle in the first notch... and for a moment, nothing happened. I could feel as it powered up and slowly began to move forward. A minute later, my conductor began signaling me to slow. I applied the brakes gently, slowing ever so slightly. The slower he signaled me, the more brakes I put on - and then, it was too much. I had stopped some 10 feet short of the marker! Powering up again, we continued running back and forth until lunch, the unceasing drone of the engines bell and whistle ingrained in our memory.

We met with our families that evening for dinner; it was the first time we'd seen them since the start of camp. It gave everyone a chance to catch up with their folks, share their experiences, and introduce our new friends. We gathered afterward in another building for our awards ceremony. Barry humorously recounted the week to us all; and before we were done, we had each of us received our certificate and a membership in the NRHS. Still, our work was unfinished; taking leave of our parents and siblings, we headed back to our dorm to finish our powerpoint and enjoy our time at camp for one more night.

Morning came all too soon; we had been up late. Our powerpoint was finished; our scripts written. Well, all save mine; I finished my bit of it over breakfast. The presentation was held in the now-familiar Steamtown theater, our week's worth of work "on the big screen", so to speak. And just like that, Railcamp was over. Our luggage loaded, our goodbyes said. How could I, in words, do justice to our enthusiasm and friendship? The innumerable fun moments and running jokes? The wealth of knowledge we received in so short a time? We came from all different interests and backgrounds in the Railfanning hobby, yet were united by our common interest in rail history and preservation. We had been brought together by a dedicated staff of skilled counselors, who in turn were backed by an organization willing to fund such an endeavor. Although each of us returned to their own lives that morning, we shall always remain Railcampers at heart. Personally, I think Dan Morgan was right. Railcamp was perhaps the best week of my life.