Its hard to imagine how long it has been since I have last posted. Unfortunately, long hours at work have gotten in the way of my ability to post. But enough about me, I know you are all looking for what has happened at the museum over the past two months!
Train Shed
Tracks 1 and 1A have been completed under the Train Shed of the Visitor Center. Galen Semprebon led the effort with the help of a number of other people to get the track built, temporary trackage from the siding to the storage tracks built, and the cars moved under the Train Shed. Connecticut Company car 1739 and Connecticut Company Work Car 0206 have both been moved under cover on those tracks.
New Orleans Public Service car 836
Work has been steadily progressing on car 836. Pat McCann, our resident machinist, has set up the wheel lathe with a tracing tool, and with the help of Chris Chestnut, has been preparing to make the first cut on the wheels. Yesterday, work has started on the turning of the first wheelset for 836.
Connecticut Company car 1326
While the car was in the shop for its yearly inspection and maintenance, the window sills on the car were sanded down and painted by John Pelletier, our shop foreman.
Springfield Terminal Railway car 16
John Pelletier has milled the wood to replace the floor in the operators area of the car. The floor does have a couple of weak spots that are being monitored. As time allows, the car will be moved to the shop to have the floor in that area replaced, before it becomes an issue. Phil Godeck took the time to remove the trolley hook and replace the support board underneath it. The board was detereorating and needed to be replaced. It was interesting to note, that since the car had returned to service, that hook was installed with the open part facing the wrong direction. This problem was corrected when the support board was replaced.
Illinois Terminal PCC 451
Kevin Mitchell has started to work on car 451 as his Eagle Scout Project. So far, him and his father have begun to sand down one side of the car.
Bangor & Aroostook Railroad Caboose
Work has been ongoing on the caboose. George Contrada and Xian Clere have removed the carpet and particle board that was covering the floor. While this was going on, I spent time on the roof, removing the roofing paper. Unfortunately, the roof was in worse shape than we had suspected and the roof boards will need to be replaced as well.
Track
Last weekend, I led a work crew to replace ties east of Winkler Road. In total, nine ties were replaced. We were able to use car 16 to transport people and tools, and the Tie Handler with a push car to move ties. Throughout the summer, we hope to be able to replace more ties as the time allows.
Library
Peg Hoffman has begun to work in the library cateloging the many books that we have. Meanwhile, a community service volunteer has been organizing the magazines that we have. We were surprised to find that we have quite a few complete sets of different railroad magazines.
