September 2007 President’s Report

By Ira Pollack

This month I’d like to update you on some of the things going on at the Museum.

Work has continued on Track 34. We have been working on tamping and compacting the stone that we added weeks ago, with some limited success. New member Marc Enis was very generous in bringing a compressor and jackhammer with him and helping to accomplish this arduous task. We were able to compress about 25 feet of track several weekends ago, but unfortunately we have 125 more feet to go. This is not easy work for sure, but we will persevere. My intention is to place Track 34 back into service and use it as a destination point for the Railyard Local. Doing this work is very important for extending our train ride in the yard, as well as in trying to keep up with the growing list of track maintenance projects in the yard. I had hopes of getting Metro-North to help us with the tamping process while they were replacing the loop track next to the station. Apparently it was too much of a liability for them to help us out. We will persevere, and we are making progress. Work on the lead switch to the turntable and Track 42 will be next, and may commence even as we finish the final stages of putting Track 34 back in service. We will be doing track work of some sort every Saturday on a regular basis. Please come join the team!

I’d like to congratulate Bill Britt and Art Slothower for their determination in the restoration of the RPO car. They have turned this piece into a mini-museum on the history of the RPO’s. Please take the time when you are at the Museum to visit the car and see the workmanship that was involved in bringing this car back to its original condition and splendor. In the future I would like us to promote the RPO and include it in one of our events, or even better, center an event around the car and its restoration. My hat goes off to this devotion.

In other yard news, John Ivansco and crew have begun dismantling the Segar Street pump house for movement to the DRM, and eventual placement on the center platform. For your information, this structure, with pump included, was donated to the Museum several years ago by Leahy Gas Corp., and is all that remains of the water tower that existed on that site. Some extensive stabilization of the building was done years ago. We have determined that it is now time to move this historic structure into our yard before it further deteriorates, or is vandalized. This also might provide the impetus for re-erecting the Botsford water tower, which was given to us years ago, on the same center platform. How fitting to have these artifacts together. What a display that would make! I will update you as this pump house project progresses.

As always we have many projects before us at the Museum. There certainly is no shortage of things to do. I would like to once again list some of these things that need attention. I realize that some things here can’t or won’t happen for either lack of funding or lack of volunteers, but this is on my mind always. We have found that some of our members have contacts with people and/or companies that have helped us immensely with some of our projects. Please consider if you can help us out, or know of any potential sources of help, and let us know. Thank you!

For your information, here is a list of some of these projects, followed by a listing of our active project leaders and contacts.

Projects:

1) Put doors on a yard storage trailer

2) Rebuild an REA wagon

3) Fix roof leak in Sperry 135

4) Weld forklift transmission case

5) Straighten turntable house

6) Paint Museum building overhang sheds

7) Roof walk for C627 caboose

8) Seal container roofs

9) Install grab irons on NH boxcar

10) Tune up the lowboy dump truck

11) Clean the ballast regulator

12) Seal the windows of the FCD railbus

13) Rebuild the DRM float

Project Leaders and Contacts:

New York Central wooden caboose - Gerry Herrmann

Pennsylvania Rail Post Office car - Bill Britt

Welding - Bob Pitcher

Woodworking - Gerry Herrmann and Bill Britt

Lettering and painting - Ira Pollack

Track work - Ira Pollack

Lawn maintenance - Dave Roberts

CN #660 event car - Jim Teer

Vehicle maintenance - Bob Andrews

Rolling stock maintenance - Justin Chapin

Training program - Don Konen

Safety program - John O’Hern

New Haven forge - Glenn Miller

#1455 Boston & Maine steam locomotive - Carolyn Taylor

Model trains and exhibits - Wade Roese

Miscellaneous construction projects - Ira Pollack

RS11 #1402 locomotive - J.R. Mitchell

Wednesday night programs - Dan Foley

Reference and Research Library - Gerry Herrmann and Stan Madyda

Front Desk staffing - Rich Shubar

Gift Shop - Patty Osmer