Kelso Revisited

Serious
Serious

In 2007, Chapter 133 took on a project to restore and install two Self Winding clocks in the restored Union Pacific station at Kelso, California which had been repurposed in 2005 as the Visitors Center for the Mojave National Preserve. We made contact with the Linda Slater, who was the ranger in charge of preservation and found out that Union Pacific had donated a clock for use in the depot but it was in need of repairs and replacement of parts needed for the synchronization function. This clock would fit nicely in the restored visitor’s lobby but we also felt a clock should be present in the ticket office too. We put together a plan, got the go ahead from the National Preserve, and began to move forward. Alan Bloore, Don Stocker, Tom Faragher, and I made a trip to the Preserve HQ in May of 2007 to view the donated clock and after lunch at the Mad Greek in Baker drove to the Visitor Center to view the proposed clock locations. We agreed that the ticket office needed a clock too and Alan Bloore had one that he agreed to donate to the project. Tom Faragher fabricated the missing parts and the two clocks were rewired and tested by Alan. Finally, the clocks were working and we made a trip to Kelso on November 7, 2007 for the installation. Linda Slater met us and helped with the logistics. A write up was made in the Preserve newsletter giving us credit for our help. The clocks are still keeping good time almost seven years later. On May 30 of this year I visited Kelso and did a tuneup to adjust the rate and improve the beat which was off a bit with the office clock. The personnel at Kelso find the clocks both useful and interesting and make the battery changes and tweak the rate as needed.