I came by this website http://westsidelocomotive.com/index.html a few days ago and am a bit confused. They claim to have done locomotive rebuilds for the heber, dollywood and the georgetown loop. Would people affiliated with these operations please shed some light?
Also, it looks like he copied a great deal of text out of backshop enterprises catalog under the "our products" tab but how can he do the work without the prints/original material specs?

Anyone?

Thanks, John

I have heard his name but he wasn't at GLRR during any of the times I was there. Bear in mind there has been something of a revolving door there for the past few years. Perhaps Phil could provide a more recent reference.

dave

Dave,

He said, "he was asked to help the new operators of the Georgetown Loop with C&S No. 9 and act as their Mechanic." He was not "their mechanic" during the time the 9 was operating....I think he may have been "a" mechanic there, an engineer for sure.
I am curious as to the claims of having rebuilt locomotives, I can debunk the one regarding the loop.

Cheers all, Jason

Heber Valley Railroad has not had any association with this company or the people associated with it.

Michael Manwiller
Heber Valley Railroad

Maybe this guy needs a little slack. He is obviously someone who has spent a good deal of time working with steam. Being a volunteer or even an employee is one thing but it takes really big ball bearing to put your own livelihood on the line. I spent a year as an independent stationary boiler trainer and consultant, it was rewarding but tough and in the end I jumped at being a shop teacher in a public school. I'll send him an email asking him to introduce himself here.

All,

Cutting people like this slack is a contributing factor to our industry being held back from reaching the levels of professionalism seen in england, germany...etc. His abilities as stated on the website are as inflated as the list of railroads he has "rebuilt" locomotives for....he lied about the loop and the heber, anyone from dollywood like to make it 3 for 3?

Tom,

Just because someone desires to work in an industry on his/her own does not mean they should be supported in doing so if they are not qualified. One does not learn how to rebuild anything by being part of operating it. That statement includes the two passenger engineers mentioned on the website, engineers...not cmo, master mechanic, machinist, helper or even a general laborer. I am sure all old steam era engineers are great guys but they are not from the mechanical department.

Cheers, Jason

I was deeply involved at W&W and also with the former Queen Annes RR here in Delaware. I have not done any true restoration in almost a decade. (I have been focused on stationary boilers, this pays better and I have bills to pay.) I know of at least one regular here who worked at QARR but I never met him in person. If I put QARR on my resume could he say for certain I never worked there? At W&W I was deeply involved from 1980-1998 and only mildly involved since. I live right down the street and if they call me for something I come right down to help. Someone could easily say "I've been at W&W for ten years and never seen him there" and call me a liar.

Let's not bash someone when they are not around. I sent him an email invite to introduce himself here on the interchange. Give him a day or two to see what happens, is that too much to ask?

In 2005 and 2006 I was the Operations Managers for the Georgetown Loop, under Railstar. In 2006 Spera was not hired as a mechanic, he was hired as a hostler. Can't speak for other years after my time there, however, while I was there he was not qualified in T&E service...only hostler and shop helper. Those are the facts.

Lets be careful here...

This is a difficult issue... as a community we want to be able to discuss who has done what, and how well, as many of us will need to hire preservation professionals from time to time. We want to know who does good work, and who doesn't. A general call for references is ok...

Now back to our previous discussion.

This is one time I would have to agree with Jason. I won't go into details on Mike Spera. I would like to hear from the others whose names he is dropping on his website. Perhaps Linn Moedinger could elaborate? If you want to know more, call Bernie Watts. Oh and the West-Side Locomotive Company was previously established by another person out in California who builds 5" scale 15" gauge locomotives and he has a bone to pick about this also.


Nuff said for now.

I have no knowledge of Westside or Mr. Spera.

Looking at his website, it appears that he works on air pumps and governers etc. So I thought maybe that's what he meant when he said "rebuilds", overhauling a compressor.

However, I also notice he says this:



and this:



What exactly is a "Federally Recognized Locomotive Manufacturer" and how do you become one? Anyone familiar with that certifcation?

It says "recognized...manufacture", I think that means he got a reply to Internal Revenue Service Form SS-4, Application for Employer Identification Number!

Parts recently advertised on Railswap by West Side:
http://railswap.org/cb/cl/classifieds.cgi?search_and_display_db_button=on&db_id=12594&query=retrieval
http://railswap.org/cb/cl/classifieds.cgi?search_and_display_db_button=on&db_id=12596&query=retrieval
http://railswap.org/cb/cl/classifieds.cgi?search_and_display_db_button=on&db_id=12682&query=retrieval
http://railswap.org/cb/cl/classifieds.cgi?search_and_display_db_button=on&db_id=12703&query=retrieval

I think Mr. Moedinger's reply is interesting, to say the least. And the Railswap link posted by Mr. Badger points out an interesting business model, leasing appliances. Don't most steam operators have their own compressors, lubricators and generators?