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Shenandoah Valley British Car Club - Founded 1981
The Shenandoah Valley British Car Club Ltd. Official Newsletter
Volume 26, Issue 11
On Your Marque On Your Marque
1 November Website: www.SVBCC.net
REMINDER—For one reason or another, many of us change our email address and e-mail is our
primary method of keeping you informed of events and what is going on with SVBCC. If you change your email address, please let us know so you will not miss out on any important events. Membership renewal link http://svbcc.net/membership.htm, by Bob Shiflet
In This Issue of "On Your Marque" Page
SVBCC People
Newsletter index and People 1
President’s Letter 2
Alvin & Susan Mattox 3
Where We've Been
He Wants to Be a Cat!? 3
SVBCC Show Review 4
Cass Railroad 6
Amazing Halloween 8
Where We're Going
Calendar of Events for 2013 10
Annual SVBCC Meeting 10
Information for Members
Notices/for sale/wanted 11
Back Editor Page and Mailing Labels 12
2013 SVBCC Officers
President : Mark Harris
V. President: John Sanders
Secretary: Mary Ann Harris
Treasurer: Bill Krzastek
Membership: Bob Shiflet
Website: Michael Fitzgeorge
Newsletter: Danny Leech
Historian: Bob Vitrikas
Car Show: Dave Sanders
Welcome New Members!
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Shenandoah Valley British Car Club - Founded 1981
President Mark’s Message— Riding the Rail
October has been an exciting month for SVBCC. First, the Club hosted its 32nd annual car show, then it sponsored a combined Highland County back road rally and Cass Railroad excursion. The latter event proved to be a fascinating steam-petrol experience for lovers of old cars and steam trains. I live antique British sports cars but I love steam locomotion. The smell, the heat, the grease, and the noise transport me to a different age when kids waved at passers by and families sat on wooden front porch swings. This bygone era is captured perfectly in the photographs of O Winston Link. (http://www.linkmuseum.org/). Link, a New York commercial artist, captured the disappearance of steam from the Norfolk and Western Railroad be-tween 1955 and 1961. His work covers the people, motorcars, homes, and stations of southwest Virginia and is displayed at the Roanoke Transportation Museum. It should not be missed.
My family was from Central Pennsylvania where the shadow of the Pennsylvania Railroad touched al-most everyone: It’s local passenger lines conveyed farmers, families, and business people between for-gotten stations; its massive freight trains carried Pennsylvania’s coal and heavy industry. For a small boy, riding to the Pennsylvania marshalling yard in Enola, PA to watch control tower workers assemble freight trains was a thrilling experience. My first recollection of rail travel followed graduation from kindergarten: Our class rode from Sharpsburg, MD across the Potomac River to Shepherdstown, WV (where we were then living). The distance was perhaps 15 miles covering 30-40 minutes but its impact lasted a lifetime.
Tourist rail lines provide most of us with an introduction to steam power. The Strasburg RR (http://www.strasburgrailroad.com/) is located in Lancaster, PA and offers a simple, flat “over and back” ride across a dozen or so miles of Amish farm land. This was a popular destination for our young family; my memory of our three generations enjoying a railroad outing is sublime. Located not far from the Strasburg RR is the su-perb Pennsylvania RR Museum (http://www.rrmuseumpa.org/) and several excellent model railroad exhib-its.
After the recent car show, Mary Ann and I took a short “fall foliage” tour to New Hampshire. There, we joined friends in the White Mountains for trips on the Conway Scenic RR (http://conwayscenic.com/) and the Mount Washington Cog railway. (http://thecog.com/) The Cog railway offers a steam locomotive on their first ascent of the day; Conway has both steam and diesel routes. Several other tourist trains are also available in the White Mountains and central New Hampshire; for more information about North American tourist railroads, see the superb PBS documentary “Great Scenic Railroad Journeys” or visit: (http://gsrj.com/).
Tourist trains outside of the United States are popular destinations for many travelers. SVBCC member and rail enthusiast Neal Paxon has visited and photographed many of these destinations; look for his art shows across the Charlottesville area. In May, we joined Michael and Rhonda in Scotland and spent a day riding the “Jacobite” train. (http://www.westcoastrailways.co.uk/Default.html). This amazing steam line co-vers 84 miles (round trip) from Fort William to Mallaig and crosses an antique arched bridge made famous in the opening scenes of the Harry Potter movies.
For a delightful perspective on British steam travel and the historic British motoring industry, don’t over-look “Top Gear’s” remarkable “Race to the North”. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Top_Gear_Race_to_the_North) In this episode (13, #1), Clarkson—aboard the “Flying Scotsman”--races Hammond (on a Black Vincent motorcycle) and May (in a Jaguar XK120) between London and Edinburgh. The race has everything a British sports car owner and steam locomotive enthusiast could possibly want: high speed, white knuckle driving/an iron monster belching black coal smoke/a myriad of mechanical mishaps and malfunctions/and the ubiquitous RAC rescue vehicle. If you drove the blue high-ways of Highland County and climbed Bald Knob behind a Shay locomotive, you experienced something sim-ilar—the pure joy of a steam and petrol outing.
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Shenandoah Valley British Car Club - Founded 1981
Welcome new Members Alvah & Susan Mattox
My wife Susan and I live in Weyers Cave Va and spend a lot at our place at Smith Mt. Lake. Retired Capt for American Airlines and retired USAF (VAAng) as BG. Flew B727s at AMR and fighters with the air guard. First MG TD in 1956; drove it a lot for 7 years; sold it then purchased 2 TDs in the 1970s. Recently traded one TD and had a wonderful body restoration on the other but it needs some mechanical improvement. Early this year I got a 1973 TR6 which, so far runs and looks pretty good. I love the MG (more like a work of art) but the TR6 is more fun to drive in today's traffic. I do a little flying my old Cherokee, do some part time aviation safety work and putter around at Weyers Cave. Alvah
I Hope I Am a Cat By Bob Shiflet That probably sounds strange to you, so let me explain……. In 2008, I took what I thought was a once in a lifetime trip to England with three other guys. The main
purpose of our trip was to attend the Goodwood Revival, three days of vintage auto racing like no other. Some other SVBCC members went a couple years ago so they know what an experience this was.
Well, in September, I used up another of my “nine lives” to once again attend the Goodwood Revival. This year the weather was not as pleasant as five years ago, but the racing was still great. Unlike racing in the US, at Goodwood they race in the rain. I don’t mean they drive around the track at a leisurely pace; they are out there racing, often in multi-million dollar cars.
The featured marquee this year was the Ford GT-40. Imag-ine seeing about 40 GT-40’s pitted in one area and about 30 of them on the track in an all GT-40 race. What a site!
Of special interest to me, was seeing the Austin Healey 100-4S that was unfortunately involved in the 1955 Le Mans crash that remains the worst racing tragedy in history. French driv-er, Pierre Levegh, ran his Mercedes into the left rear of the Aus-tin Healey which launched the Mercedes into the spectator ar-ea killing over 80 people. The Healey was repaired and after several additional years of racing was sold in 1969 for 155 British pounds. The new owner kept it in his garage in its tattered condition. In 2011, the tattered car was sold at Bon-ham’s Auction for the tidy sum equal to $1.2 million. Not a bad return on the investment. The car was taken to Australia where it was restored to its condition just prior to the 1955 Le Mans race. The car is not a museum piece. It was raced at Goodwood this year!
If you love cars and enjoy vintage racing, just ask anyone who has been to Goodwood and I am sure they will tell you it is well worth the trip. If I am a cat, I have now used up two of my nine lives, but I hope to be able to use at least one more of them on this “once in a lifetime trip”.
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Shenandoah Valley British Car Club - Founded 1981
2013 SVBCC British Car Festival – a Celebration of British Cars Dave Sanders, 2013 Chairman
Ridgeview Park in Waynesboro is quiet early on Saturday mornings. There are few people jogging, a
few more walking their dogs, but overall there really isn’t much happening. But October 5 was different. The day started out like any other, but that started to change about the time the sun came up. People with tents, tables, and a big sound system arrived. The tents were set up, tables unfolded, and music started playing. Signs with the names of classic British cars – Austin Healey, Jaguar, Mini, MG, Triumph, and others – were hammered into the ground marking where cars, 150 altogether, by the same names would be dis-played in a couple of hours. The 32d Annual SVBCC British Car Festival was underway.
Turn the clock back 12 hours. The Festival was actually underway the evening before with a reception at the Holiday Inn in Staunton. The Mini was the Festival’s featured marque this year and the room was decorated with all things Mini, both classic BMC and modern BMW. Whoa, BMW? At a British car show? Yes indeed. Munich may own the name and the facto-ry, but the modern rendition is built in the same Oxford factory as the origi-nal and as British as fish and chips. OK, maybe fish and chips and a half-liter of Spaten lager, but you get the idea. In addition to good food and drink, the reception also had entertainment. The Italian Job was playing for those who wanted to view it; this could prove to be time well spent because some of the answers to a MINI themed pub quiz at Saturday night’s awards banquet could be found in the movie.
Why all the fuss over the Mini? Why not? This year we tried some things we’d never done before. Having a featured marque seemed like a good idea and we decided on the Mini. Crown MINI in Richmond graciously offered to sponsor the show so the stage was set, so to speak. In addition to their generous financial support, Crown MINI also brought two of the hottest John Cooper Works models to display and may have made a few sales) and donated some great door prizes.
We featured the Mini and the Minis re-sponded in kind. We rearranged the show field so they were the first cars people saw when they arrived. There were half a dozen classic
Minis and a baker’s dozen modern MINIs, making this the largest Mini/MINI turnout we’ve ever had, due in no small
part to RVA MINIS from Richmond who caravanned over the mountain from Richmond Saturday morning.
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Shenandoah Valley British Car Club - Founded 1981
But there was more to the show than Minis - there were 131 other cars, those marques men-
tioned earlier plus a few more unusual ones includ-ing Bristol, Daimler, HRG, Riley and TVR. There was even a Triumph motorcycle. There were cars built in the years before World War II and cars built this year. Some were built for the rich and fa-mous, some built for people who simply enjoyed driving. But no matter the age or the price, each one of the 150 cars was looking its best, paint and chrome gleaming in the sun, each one an object of its own-ers’ affection and the center of attention on this special day at Ridgeview Park.
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Shenandoah Valley British Car Club - Founded 1981
Cass Railroad Excursion by Mark Harris
The West Virginia Department of State Parks maintains the town of Cass and the Cass Railroad as a liv-ing history center. Union forces stationed in western Virginia were the first to recognize the potential for heavy logging in the region. After the war, demobilized troops and newly arrived immigrants moved into the mountains and began harvesting. By the turn of the century, logging camps populated the valleys, and the largest company, West Virginia Pulp and Paper Company (WVP&P), began to turn its attention to the virgin forests around Cheat Mountain (near Snowshoe). In 1900, entrepreneur Samuel Slaymaker con-structed a steep rail line from Cass to a 3853 ft. gap in the mountains. The line—named the Cass Rail-road—eventually covered about 140 miles and transported timber down the mountains and returned with supplies for the logging camps. In 1908, WVP&P built an 11:30 AM onenormous sawmill at Cass--it ran two 11-hour shifts 6 days a week until 1922 and then continued in more limited operation through 1960. For more information about the lumber industry or the Cass Railroad history see: http://www.cassrailroad.com/history.html)
Cass was a WVP&P company town.
Identical white painted wood frame homes housed workers and their fami-lies. The company store took WVP&P script or debited employees’ salary for purchases. (Loggers earned about $1.50 per day; the camp cook grossed $2.00.) Church, social hall, company doctor, and fire station were on site. Conformity and allegiance were expected. For loggers (or “wood hicks”) seeking nontraditional entertainment, a “naughty” section con-taining saloons and bawdy houses grew up across the river on private land. Today, tourists can rent restored company houses, visit the “company store”, and enjoy the museums before boarding one of the daily trains leaving Cass station.
The heart of the Cass Scenic Rail-road State Park is its collection of 100-110 year old Shay locomo-tives. (http://www.cassrailroad.com/locos.html) Invented by Michigan logger and inventor, Epharim Shay, these direct geared narrow gauge logging locomotives were designed to haul heavy loads up steep twisting grades. The State Park’s six Shay locomotives (and two similar types) are the coun-try’s largest collection of these slow but powerful logging de-signs.
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Shenandoah Valley British Car Club - Founded 1981
SVBCC’s Cass Railroad weekend included a “leaf peeping” rally around the back roads of Highland County, VA and an ascent to the 4842 ft Bald Knob summit. On Friday, Wes Maupin met the Vitrikas, Byrd, and Harris travelers in McDowell, VA and led the group through spectacularly colored fall landscapes. Wes returned home and we drove on to Mingo, WV for two nights at the Brazen Head Inn—an Irish pub operated by a Dublin-er and offering foot stomping “old time” music. Saturday morning, Wes and Kieren met the others at the rail sta-tion for the 5 hour round trip. Three types of passenger cars were availa-ble: a single enclosed car with win-dows that could be opened, several covered cars with open sides, and one flat car with seats but no roof. Our group secured adjoining wooden booths in the enclosed car and en-
joyed picnic lunches and snack foods on the trip. Chilly temperatures, overcast skies, and coal soot made the enclosed car the day’s wisest choice. That evening, the Brazen Head Inn featured a fine selection of local foods, many Irish beverages, tradi-tional rural music, and enthusiastic “two step” danc-ing. The next morning, our group returned to the town of Cass for more sightseeing before moving on
to the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in Green Bank, WV. Their visitors’ center offers an introductory lecture, science display, and tour of the grounds—including stops at several of the center’s gigantic tele-scopes. We rejoined US 250 for the drive home and had a late lunch at High’s Restaurant in Monterey, VA. All enjoyed superb weather for two, out of the three-day trip and returned home tired but pleased with our steam & petrol excursion.
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Shenandoah Valley British Car Club - Founded 1981
Halloween Party 2013 – October 26
It was a cool, crisp evening as the Shed in Greenwood began to be invaded by creatures of the imagination. With the entrance framed by glowing skulls and jolly ghosts, visitors trickled into the building with beverage and food in hand. As they arrived, they were greeted by the Amazing Michael, his charming Assistant and Sabrina, the skeleton dog.
Surrounded by British cars, the guests were soon enveloped in warm
conversation as they consumed copious quantities of liquid refresh-ments, accompanied by a wide assortment of edible delights. In attendance were a Gangsta and his moll, Little Red Riding Hood
and Clark Kent, Mr. Bill with a ghostly companion, two Confeder-ates, ZZ Top with a Taco (who later met Taco Sauce, Two Great White Hunters, a little Devil and more.
Good food, good drink, good companionship, and some of the best Blue Grass music I’ve heard in a long time by Greg Herring and the Front Porch Pickers highlighted a wonderful evening and a great party. The only thing that could have made it even better was more participation from our membership.
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Shenandoah Valley British Car Club - Founded 1981
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Shenandoah Valley British Car Club - Founded 1981
2013 SVBCC Schedule of Events
November 3 Business Meeting, John Sanders December 7—Christmas Parade, Waynesboro, Mark Harris
The Octoberber 2013 Capital Triumph Register (CTR) newsletter is available on the website. . The direct link is:October 2013 Capital Triumph Register Newsletter password is “Morgan”
Art Fournier Editor, Capital Triumph Register Newsletter
SVBCC Business Meeting—Nov 3
The Car show is over; the leaves have turned and are beginning to fall at a faster rate. The year is almost over for SVBCC but it has been another good one!
So on Sunday November 3rd, we will be having our one and only general car club meeting at Sal’s Pizza in Crozet, Va. at 1:00pm.
(http://www.salspizzacrozet.com/). At this time we be discussing the year in review, looking for volunteers to be on the board for next year
as well as looking for ideas of what you all would like to do as a club for the upcoming year. We will also be looking for folks to host the events for next year. So please come out and join us as we start out on another fun year with our “little British cars”. This is the time to have input on what you would like to do as a club. But please do not worry just because you come out you will not drafted to do anything. We are an all-volunteer group looking for a few good men and women to step forward help keep this wonderful car club going. I think we a have great group but we do need your help to keep it that way. We are looking for new “faces” as we go into a new year.
As always the pizza and soda are free to those that worked on the car show as a “thank you” for all of the hard work that went into to making the show one of the best around. I think this years was “over the top” wonderful! For others there is just a small charge for the pizza and soda.
So please come out and join us and bring your ideas for officers and events you would like for next year! Look forward to seeing you all there Sunday November 3rd, at Sal’s Pizza in Crozet at 1:00pm.
If you cannot make it please e-mail or call me with your suggestions for officers and events and I will present them at the meeting.
John Sanders [email protected] 434-589-4955
This year, Waynesboro is limiting the number of antique cars in its 12/7 Christmas parade to 4 from a sin-gle car club. (A maximum of only 10 antique vehicles-- 25 years old or greater --are allowed in the entire parade.) If you are interested, let me know and we can submit an application before the 11/15 dead-line. Please review the following information from Parks and Rec: http://waynesboro.va.us/parks/forms/parade_application_packet.pdf
Mark ( [email protected] ) 434 295-8469
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Shenandoah Valley British Car Club - Founded 1981
Members Buying and Selling: ads will run in the Newsletters 2 months unless you request an extension.
Pictures are welcome. Send ads to the editor, addresses on last page.
Announcement: Classifieds On Line
Webmaster has established a classified section on our club website at http://svbcc.net/Classifieds.htm. Individual members of the club may post Wanted or For Sale items at no charge. The posting will be in place for 60 days unless canceled or renewed. Send ad to the Webmaster at [email protected].
SVBCC Gears up for 21st Century
You may, or may not, have noticed the banner in our last newsletter, but our club is now on Facebook. What does this mean? I’m sure there are many of you who are not on Facebook, and perhaps have had no desire to be. However, there are some potential benefits for our membership to consider.
First of all, you can open an account at no charge, provide only a minimal amount of information, and only ‘become friends’ with the few folks that you wish to be in contact with. The process is relatively pain-less and only takes a few minutes.
Second, it provides us as club members an opportunity to maintain a more time friendly method of communication to supplement our once a month newsletter. Going to a car show? Taking a drive in the country next weekend? Problems with starting your car? Looking for a spare part? Interested in having friends join you for an adventure? Post it on Facebook and share in the responses to these questions and many more.
Of course, a communication device such as this only works if a good number of us participate. If you don’t join, you can’t check out people’s activities and responses. Likewise, it’s like email; if you don’t check it with some regularity, it doesn’t work. Thanks to John Sanders for making this possible. Hope you decide
to join us in the 21st century. Copy and paste this link in your browser to check us out http://www.facebook.com/ShenandoahValleyBritishCarClub?fref=ts
Order your 2014 MGB calendar now at www.mgbcalendar.com .
Photographer list will be announced Nov 1.
The 2014 Calendar will have far less adver-
tising and there will be no events in the calendar pad.
Clendars will ship on or about Dec 10.
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Shenandoah Valley British Car Club - Founded 1981
Organ i za t i on Name
On Your Marque is the official publication of the Shenandoah Valley British Car Club, Ltd. Any and all
opinions expressed herein are those of contributing author's and not necessarily those of the SVBCC, its
individual members, or the leaders of the Club. Contributions and comments are enthusiastically en-
couraged. We are always looking for interesting and stories about owning a Classic British Sports Car.
Send your letters, pictures, and articles of interest to: [email protected] or On Your Marque
Newsletter Editor, 1224 Boxwood Circle, Waynesboro, VA 22980
Shenandoah Valley British Car Club, Ltd.
P.O. Box 323
Waynesboro, Virginia 22980
