April 2007 President’s Report

By Ira Pollack

This month I’d like to welcome in our new Board members, and of course thank the old Board members for their service to the Museum. We have much work in front of us as leaders of the Museum.

This coming season we all have many projects to see through to continue the growth of the Museum. As always there is much to do at the DRM, as you have probably heard me say many times before. In the next several weeks I will be ordering timbers for the long-awaited track work in the yard. I’m hoping to rebuild the turntable lead switch to allow a longer train ride, and of course access to the turntable. As I have stated before this will be a difficult project to see through and I really need your help digging out the old timbers and replacing with the new. I’m looking at doing this one at a time, unfortunately, but I have no other way of proceeding with this project. Please join me on Saturday mornings at 11am to rebuild this important part of our infrastructure. Once this project is completed, I will be ordering plaques commemorating the name chosen by the person donating the money to purchase the ties.

Track work is but one project going on in the yard. We’ll once again be working on our NYC wooden caboose, the RPO car, and the #1402 locomotive. This August we’ll be celebrating the 100th anniversary of the #1455 steam locomotive. We are planning to do cosmetic restoration to make it look more presentable, as well as work to stabilize its condition. We also will be working on our CN #660 party car. The point is that there will be a lot going on in the railyard this coming season and we need your help.

I am including once again the project leaders, if you might have any interest in volunteering at the Museum by working on these restoration projects.

PRR Rail Post Office car - Bill Britt

NYC wooden caboose - Gerry Herrmann

RS11 #1402 locomotive - J.R. Mitchell

B & M #1455 steam engine - Carolyn Taylor

CN #660 - Jim Teer

Yard trackage restoration - Ira Pollack

I will also list other areas of importance where volunteers are always needed to keep our Museum running smoothly.

Reference & Research Library - Stan Madyda, Gerry Herrmann

Front Desk - Dave Lowry

Gift Shop - Patty Osmer

Model Trains & Exhibits - Wade Roese

Safety & Train Service - Justin Chapin, John O’Hern

Wednesday Night Programs - Dan Foley

What makes our Museum unique is the diversity of our projects and volunteers that all have a passion for our success. We all want to reach out and include you in this never-ending quest. We want you to be part of this success, and ask for whatever help you can spare. Come forward and be part of our dreams!