2006

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December 15 - The Toy Drive was a huge success.  Below is a picture of Santa with Betty Moore and Fire Fighter Paul Moore.  Over 350 toys were collected, 57 of which were bicycles!

Everyone had a great time at the Christmas party.  Pictures can be seen here.

November 26 - A new embroidery company has been working with MLS member Jerry Smolyk.  Jerry reports that Creative Images Embroidery, located in Scottsdale, has done an excellent job for him on several designs including clothing with the MLS logo on them.  Creative Images has the MLS logo on file and has told Jerry that they are capable and willing to do jobs for single pieces on up to large quantity orders.  If you are looking for a place to have the MLS logo embroidered, this sounds like the place to go.
November 18 - The Annual Toy Drive is approaching. The online flyer can be viewed here.   A printable version can be downloaded here.
November 16 - The club received another donation of lumber from MLS friends, Phoenix Modular.  Pete Pennarts was present and caught the action with his camera.

Thank you to Phoenix Modular.  We'll put the lumber to good use.

November 14 - Saturday's "Friends Event" photos can be found here.  If you haven't been to one of these you are missing out on a lot of fun.  Bring your dinner to the clubhouse and then ride trains all evening. 

The 2007 Spring Meet Schedule is available online.  Thanks to the efforts of Charlie Downs you will now be able to register online again.

November 13 - The election results are as follows:
 

President - Jim Manley Vice President - Bill Myers  
 

Treasurer - Bob Douglas
Secretary - Stephanie Marks		  
 

At Large Director - Cliff Fought
At Large Director - Ken Bain
At Large Director - Pete Pennarts

Thank you to everyone who mailed in or came out to cast their ballot.

November 6 - Below is an updated photo of Adobe City.  Thanks to Charlie Downs for sending it in.

November 3 - The 2007 calendar is available.  It can be found here.
October 19 - Pictures were sent in of the city municipality location known as Tanksalot.  More pictures can be viewed here.

October 8 - The Long Range Planning Committee is requesting your input.  If you have any ideas that would benefit MLS please submit this form to any of the committee members.  More information about the long range plans of MLS can be found here.
September 13 - Audrey Massie sent a note to Perry.  He asked that it be posted for all to see.

Dear Friend 
   I sure appreciate your message and it is hard but I know I will get through it.  My boys and friends have been so wonderful.  Everything went well. Ray and I loved one another so much and he was a good husband, father, grandfather and great grandfather.  He had many friends especially the ones from Phoenix like I said to you you all were like family and we hated to move but I wanted to be with the boys in case something happened. Ray sure missed you all. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. 

Love to you all
  Audrey
 

Pictures from the Boy Scout visit in August have been posted in the Gallery.  Here is a link directly to them.

September 5th - It is a sad day for the MLS family.  A long time member and friend to many folks, Ray Massie passed away today after suffering from a heart attack in St Louis, MO.  Ray was 88 years young.  For those of you who are too new to the club to know it, the section of track that runs through the trees on the Pottsville branch and the siding on the north side of that is named after him.  Below are some pictures of the area.
 


  

The Sunday Run Schedule for the current and following month is available here.

The 2006 Certified MLS Engineers list has been updated and posted here.  Is your name on it?  If not, the exam can be downloaded here.

August 13 - Everyone had fun eating ice cream at the August 2006 Ice Cream Social after the MLS business meeting. 

Even some of the AMRS folks joined us.  If you have any more photos of the evening, please email them to Jim Manley so he can put them up on the web.

The new saw mill is in operation.  For those that have not seen it, here is a photo showing stacks of newly cut ties waiting to go to the treating plant.

July 26 - Fisher bird flu update.  Apparently the concern over the bird flu in Fisher has been exaggerated.  Jerry Moore has sent in proof of this.

July 4 - The 2006 Certified MLS Engineers list has been posted here.  Is your name on it?  If not, the exam can be downloaded here.
 July 1 - Please be careful when visiting the town of Fisher as the bird flu has recently hit there.  As you can see it has been devastating to the area.

The GIIP Short Line RR has some new equipment for rearranging landscaping.  Here is Jerry Moore toughing it out in the "shade".

Jerry Moore is going to be a proud "grandpa" or "dutch uncle" to some quail hatchlings soon.  Here is a photo of his brood near his container.

June 23 - Jerry Moore's Spring Meet Photos have been posted on the Sprint Meet Photos Page.  They can be found here.
June 21 - You've come a long way, baby!  Bill Pardee found a gem in a July 1972 copy of Live Steam magazine and emailed it to your webmaster.  Here is the quote:

I was looking through a copy of a July 1972 LIVE STEAM Magazine and found a report on live steam clubs.  Maricopa Live Steamers was listed with the following tabulation:
Founding Date  1969
Club Newspaper was the Gandy Dancer
There were 11 regular members
We had 1000 feet of 7 1/2 track and 1000 feet of 4 3/4 track
There were 3 operating steam engines
Three diesel were under construction

Thanks Bill for the email.  How many of you remember MLS from 1969?  How many of you remember 1969?!!!

June 13 - For the 2006 Train Mountain Ramble, over 7500 miles were traveled by our two lone guests.  Bill Ferris and his son, Shane, from Queensland, Australia joined us for the days activities.  Bill and Shane are members of the Queensland Society of Model and Experimental Engineers Inc. Shane Ferris can be seen here talking with Bill Pardee.

 June 9 - Bob Alkire needs your help! A work party will commence Saturday, June 10th at 6:00am to continue putting the roof on the saw mill.  Perry has promised to not bring his pet snake with him again.  (There was a comment made about two snakes in the grass but I'm not sure what was meant by that as there was no grass.)  Our resident snake charmer, Al Ford, drove up and exclaimed, "Oh! Look at that!"  A short time later he was seen speeding off in the opposite direction looking for "other" work to do.

To see more of this slithering silliness, click here

An online photo gallery is being set up for all our photos.  They can be accessed through the link on the left of the home page or through this link.  Initially, there are only photos from the 2006 Spring Meet and beyond.  Expect more photos as time progresses.  And, as always, if you have any photos you'd like to submit please contact Jim here.

May 24 - Spark arrestors are now required for solid fuel steam engines.   Perry has informed us that the County Parks & Recreation Department has put a “no open fires” ban into effect at all of its parks, and that includes our railroad.  Therefore, any solid fueled steam engine will be required to have a spark arrester on its stack.  Which brings up another problem with solid fueled engines—ashes.  Please do not dump your ash just anywhere. We have two ash pans in Adobe City. PLEASE USE THEM!
May 20 - How many people with shovels does it take to fill ballast cars?  None, with the club's new front loader.   Here is a work crew using it on Saturday, May 20th.

Many thanks to those who helped physically and financially to get this up and operational.
May 18 - Two new links have been added to the Railroad Links section. They are for Get Machining Tools.com and Kap Pullen's Bluechipper website.
May 12 -- 2006 Spring Meet Photos are posted here for your viewing pleasure. If you have any photos you would like to share, please give them or email them to Jim Manley.
April 26 -- The First Annual Operations Meet will be January 18, 19, &20, 2007. More details can be found here.
April 8 - Perry sent us this photo captioned "You go first." "No, you go first." " No, you . . ."

March 5 -- The 2006 MLS Engineer's Exam is available. Anyone pulling the public must pass the exam.
January 17 -- What's this? you may ask. Good question. You're looking at the newest marvel at our very progressive railroad. Whilst in Adobe Station, select the route you wish to travel by pressing the appropriate button. The signal system will line the switches for you and, when the route is clear, display a green signal. A set of push buttons is provided for each of the four station tracks, the bypass track and the engine lead. Thanks to Jim Brown and the other members of the signals gang for the hard work that made this all possible. The electronics boards that make this possible are pictured below. To turn on the signal system in the absence of a tower operator, simply press the red button on the south side of the Adobe Tower. After two hours, the signals will turn off automatically. This works 24/7.

What are we doing with all the rail we acquired? Making track panels. The track fabrication plant is producing finished panels faster than they can be hauled away, it would seem.

A slight shift in the power structure has occured. Jim Manley is now Chief Dispatcher. Jim Brown is Signal Superintendent.

January 11 - The engineer controlled route selection system is fabulous. Thank you, Signal Gang for all of your work.

Here's a photo of Signals Superintendent Jim Brown with the newly-completed electronics bay that controls our signal system.

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