President’s Report

November 2004

Dear Member,

Hope all is well with you. This month I would like to talk with you about some of our upcoming projects at the Museum. Now that the seasons are changing, we must begin to think about projects within our station building.

This year I would like us to begin and finish an HO operating display for use by the public. This layout would take the place of our aging American Flyer layout that has become too fragile to operate with dependability. I would like to save and display the S gauge though, telling the story and history of American Flyer as a static display. We could also use the existing bench work of the S gauge layout for the base of the HO layout. My intention of building this layout is to promote the hobby of model railroading and also to have an interactive operating layout for the public’s use and education. Of course I need a group of people to come forward with a chairperson to proceed with this project.

In the building I would like to upgrade some of our displays with more descriptive signage on them. My main intention though is to keep you, the membership, involved in our growth patterns.

While I’m at it, I would like to list some of our active projects and ongoing activities and departments.

1. NYC wooden caboose restoration project. Meets Mondays and Saturdays. A hands-on woodworking, painting and active restoration project. Crew Chief – Gerry Herrmann.

2. Yard Exhibits and Maintenance Crew. Meets on Saturday mornings. Help install, paint, sand, and maintain our various exhibits in the yard. Learn how to work around heavy equipment, moving wheels, machinery, etc. Help setting up new exhibits. Crew Chief – Ira Pollack

3. HO and N Gauge Layout (Model Train Displays). Meets on Tuesday evenings. Help maintain and expand our model railroad exhibits. Project Leaders – Wade Roese, Bill Britt, Jeff Van Wagenen.

4. Train Crew. Operations and Training every Saturday and Sunday. Learn how to operate our Rail Yard Local. Train to become an engineer, brakeman, or conductor. Become part of our railroad operations staff on weekends. Contact: Nancy Sniffen, Operations Chief and Andy McClellan, Training Instructor.

5. Library. Meetings on Tuesday nights. Help accession newly donated artifacts to the Museum. Help classify the thousands of photographs, documents and slides that we have in our archives and research library. Co-Chairmen: Gerry Herrmann and Stan Madyda.

6. Tour Guides. Become a tour guide at the Museum. A new program has been formed to train you in this important position of teaching and educating our guests about the history of our equipment and Museum. Project Leader: Steve Gould.

7. Gift Shop. Learn to operate and run our ever-growing gift shop. Train in sales. Our shop operates every day, 10-5, except Mondays. Contact Co-Managers: Patty Osmer or Cathy Fay.

8. Front Desk. Help be part of our front line at the Museum. These are the jovial people who first greet our guests, sell tickets to Museum activities, and book birthday parties for the Museum. Contact: Stationmaster: Dave Lowry.

9. Yard Safety Program. This is the one necessity for working in the yard at the Museum. This short program teaches you the safety rules for use in and around our facility. You must pass our simple certification test on a yearly basis for access to the yard. Contact: Safety Officer, John O’Hern.

These are some of the things that our Museum can offer you as a volunteer. You can contact these projects leaders by leaving your name and phone number at the front desk or you can contact our Volunteer Coordinator, Sue Thomas to steer you to the right person.

As our Museum continues to grow we have the increased need for new and more volunteers. Here’s your chance to grow with us. Please sign up.