Hey everyone,

I'll be headin out to the Ohio Central next week for the June volunteer session. (anyone else here gonna be there, it would be an honor to meet anyone on rypn). Anyway, I gave my address to OC twice but it appears I've been let down by the postal service, as I have yet to see the bid sheet/information packet. Could someone possibly email me any major info I need to know? Also, this will be my first volunteer adventure at the OC, so any info you gentlemen could provide as far as what I can expect/need to bring/look forward to would be EXTREMELY appreciated.

Thanks for your help, and for putting up with all these questions from little ol' me. :-)

Tim Botti
University of Pittsburgh
Mechanical Engineering

tjb231@comcast.net

> Hey everyone,

> I'll be headin out to the Ohio Central next
> week for the June volunteer session. (anyone
> else here gonna be there, it would be an
> honor to meet anyone on rypn). Anyway, I
> gave my address to OC twice but it appears
> I've been let down by the postal service, as
> I have yet to see the bid sheet/information
> packet. Could someone possibly email me any
> major info I need to know? Also, this will
> be my first volunteer adventure at the OC,
> so any info you gentlemen could provide as
> far as what I can expect/need to bring/look
> forward to would be EXTREMELY appreciated.

> Thanks for your help, and for putting up
> with all these questions from little ol' me.
> :-)

> Tim Botti
> University of Pittsburgh
> Mechanical Engineering

Tim,

E-mail jason at jmjohnson@ohiocentral.com about the bid sheet.

As for next week, I'm scheduled to work on Friday and Saturday so you shouldn't have much trouble finding me.

Don't forget your steel-toe work boots and safety glasses (Very important) a good pair of leather work gloves is also a good idea ;-) and the railroad has a ready supply of ear plugs.

By the way, I hope you're young, skinny and limber, we need some more guys like that to get in those tight spots us older, rounder guys have more trouble getting into. You know, to crawl inside frames and underneath locomotives to grease those tough to get to places. That ballast sure is tough on these old knees!

Again, be sure to look me up and introduce yourself. I look forward to meeting you and any other else interested in volunteering. See you soon.

Greg

greg@nospamskittercreek.com

> Hey everyone,

> I'll be headin out to the Ohio Central next
> week for the June volunteer session. (anyone
> else here gonna be there, it would be an
> honor to meet anyone on rypn). Anyway, I
> gave my address to OC twice but it appears
> I've been let down by the postal service, as
> I have yet to see the bid sheet/information
> packet. Could someone possibly email me any
> major info I need to know? Also, this will
> be my first volunteer adventure at the OC,
> so any info you gentlemen could provide as
> far as what I can expect/need to bring/look
> forward to would be EXTREMELY appreciated.

> Thanks for your help, and for putting up
> with all these questions from little ol' me.
> :-)

> Tim Botti
> University of Pittsburgh
> Mechanical Engineering

Tim,

I will see that you get a bid sheet sent out tomorrow. I remember your name on an envelope???

You should also expect to have a good time with some great guys. Everyone has very positive attitudes and you should expect to walk away with more knowledge of steam than when you arrived. Training is very important to us in the program.

If you come expecting clicks of small groups of people fighting amongst themselves like many other groups, you will be disappointed. I am always amazed how well everyone works together, no matter who they are working with. We have a very mixed group of volunteers from computer geeks (no offense) to lawyers to seasoned railroaders. We always welcome with open arms new faces, especially younger fans.

For those of you that are thinking of attending a work session with us or plan on volunteering for Train Festival 2004, plan on getting dirty. We run a hands on program. The best way to learn is to dig in and get dirty.

I hope this helps answer some of your questions, as always feel free to ask other questions, John, myself or any of our volunteers will be more than happy to help you out.

Hope to see you next week,
Jason Johnson
OC Steam

www.ocsteam.com

jmjohnson@ohiocentral.com

Thanks guys,

I'm quite excited about this trip, and Greg to answer your question I'm 19 years old, 5'11 and only 150 lbs, so I should fit nicely underneath a locomotive :-)

Thanks and see you soon!

Tim Botti


tjb231@comcast.net