An invitation received at the ARM 2008 Conference inspired the Editor to visit the Southern Museum of Civil War andLocomotive History, a growing ARM member in Kennesaw, GA. It’s home to the General (Rogers 1855), the Civil War’s mostfamous locomotive. For more on Georgia railway preservation, see page 4. Aaron Isaacs photo.

Number 51 Spring 2009A Journal of the Association of Railway Museums

RailwayMuseumqq uu aa rr tt ee rr ll yy

"Advancing Railway Preservation"

2

railwaymu seumquarterly

Railway Museum Quarterly is published quarterly by the Association of Railway Museums anddistributed free of charge to member and affiliate member institutions and individuals. Theopinions expressed herein are not necessarily those of the Association. Articles appearing in RMQmay be reprinted in whole or in part provided proper credit is given the source. Submissions arealways welcomed, along with accompanying photos. Articles covering programs, initiatives, majorevents and undertakings of member institutions are of special interest.

ARM MembershipMembership in the Association of Railway Museums is open to nonprofit organizations preservingand displaying at least one piece of railway or street railway rolling stock to the public on aregularly scheduled basis. Other organizations, businesses and individuals interested in the work ofthe Association are invited to become affiliates.All members and affiliates receive Railway Museum Quarterly as a benefit of membership. Formore details, or to report address changes, please contact the Association of Railway Museums,1016 Rosser St., Conyers, GA 30012, or email to cnc@lagniappeassociates.com.

Call us at (770) 278-0088 or visit our Web site: www.railwaymuseums.org.

DirectorsRichard Anderson, Northwest Railway Museum, richard.anderson@railwaymuseums.orgDavid Dunn, Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania, david.dunn@railwaymuseums.orgBob LaPrelle, Museum of the American Railroad, bob.laprelle@railwaymuseums.orgPeter Murphy, Exporail, peter.murphy@railwaymuseums.orgG. Mark Ray, Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum, mark.ray@railwaymuseums.orgKen Rucker, National Capital Trolley Museum, ken.rucker@railwaymuseums.orgJim Schantz, Seashore Trolley Museum, jim.schantz@railwaymuseums.orgEric Sitiko, HART-TECOLine Streetcar Museum, eric.sitiko@railwaymuseums.orgKyle Wyatt, California State Railroad Museum, kyle.wyatt@railwaymuseums.org

OfficersPresident: Bob LaPrelleVice President: David DunnSecretary: Ellen Fishburn, secretary@railwaymuseums.orgTreasurer: Ken Rucker, 1313 Bonifant Road, Silver Spring, MD 20905-5961,ken.rucker@railwaymuseums.org

CommitteesRenewal Parts: Rod Fishburn, Chair, parts@railwaymuseums.org

StaffSuzanne Grace, Executive Director, 1016 Rosser St., Conyers, GA 30012cnc@lagniappeassociates.com

Railway Museum QuarterlyAaron Isaacs, Editor, 3816 Vincent Ave. South, Minneapolis, MN 55410, (612) 929-7066, rmqeditor@railwaymuseums.org.

The Association of Railway Museums is a Professional Affiliate Member of the AmericanAssociation of Museums.

Organizational Mission: The purpose of the Association of Railway Museums is to lead in theadvancement of railway heritage through education and advocacy, guided by the principlesset forth in "Recommended Practices for Railway Museums" and incorporated in other bestpractices generally accepted in the wider museum community.

EXECUTIVEDIRECTOR'S LETTER

By Suzanne GraceEach time I attend an ARM Board of

Directors meeting, I am again impressedwith the progressive leadership of theassociation. It is refreshing to observe aboard whose members work solely forthe benefit of the organization with noself-interest and in full cooperation withone another. There is, of course, noremuneration for ARM board members.Although much is expected of them, thework is strictly voluntary.

Each meeting begins with a review ofthe association’s strategic plan. Thisdocument is a living plan for theassociation, a step-by-step map forreaching ARM’s goals. Our facilitator isARM member Don Evans of the WestCoast Railway Heritage Park. Hisprofession is strategic planning and heconsults with organizations andcompanies all over the world. We aremost fortunate to have someone of hiscaliber assist us in our planning.

The association’s plans are big and allwill result in better member service, newmember benefits, and a smoother, moreefficient operation. Here is the board’svision for ARM:

In 2016 ARM is recognized as theleading railway preservation supportorganization in North America. We havea membership of over 300 railwaymuseums and heritage railwayoperations and several sources ofrevenue are sustaining our activities.

Our collaborative initiatives inworking with other organizations haveresulted in a unified and powerful voicein advocacy, education, and support forrailway heritage.

New technology enables memberconnectivity and communications, and aconstantly updated set of RecommendedPractices are the standard for our sectorand a model for others.

Some of the ways ARM is fulfillingits vision include discussions with otherrailway preservation organizations toseek out areas of common interest forcollaboration and greater efficiency; anactive membership campaign; a newweb site set to launch before summer; astudy committee to review membersuggestions for revising and updatingARM’s Recommended Practices forRailway Museums; improved membercommunication through email; and aneffort to provide educational sessions atARM conferences that meet the needs ofall members.

The ARM Board of Directors isworking hard and smart on your behalfand you can expect to see great resultsthis year and in the coming years.

3

ARM 2009 IN BRITISH COLUMBIA

SEPT. 16-20 AT WEST COAST RAILWAY HERITAGE PARK“CHANGING SCENES”-THE 10-YEAR DEVELOPMENT OF A MUSEUM

Featuring:BC Electric Traction Tour BC Museum of Mining TourTrip to Whistler Resort on the Whistler MountaineerRoyal Hudson steam trip to North VancouverSkyTrain RideSea Bus cross harbor rideLunch on the Rocky MountaineerHeritage Park’s new roundhouse Former Pacific Great Eastern Shops

Seminars:How planning drives museum developmentDeveloping a future technology museumDeveloping a learning destinationFinding sponsors and putting a name on facilitiesSafety in museum workshopsDeveloping museums as sustainable attractionsFundraising never stopsMaintaining a mainline steam locomotiveSteel and wood passenger car restoration

Conference Pricing (US Dollars):ARM members Non-ARM members

Until July 15 $275 $300July 16-Aug 15 $295 $325After Aug 15 $325 $350

Registration:Canadian ARM members: Book through West Coast Ry.

Assn., www.wcra.org, 1-800-722-1233Others: Book through the ARM office in Conyers, GA,

www.railwaymuseums.org, 1-770-278-0088

Lodging:Garibaldi Springs Resort - $99 studio / $119 - 1 bedroomMountain Retreat Hotel & Suites - $95 (Rates in Candian dollars, US equivalent about 80%,

taxes not included)

Customs broker for US exhibitors:Pacific Customs Brokers, www.pcb.ca, 604-538-1566

RAIL PRESERVATIONIN GEORGIA

By Aaron Isaacs

Sometimes things converge. At theARM 2008 Conference in ColoradoSprings, I had met Dick Hillman, whoencouraged me to do an article on hisplace, the Southern Museum of CivilWar and Locomotive History inKennesaw, Georgia. I needed materialfor RMQ, and a break from aparticularly long, cold Minnesota wintersounded pretty attractive. ARMExecutive Director Suzanne Grace livesnear Atlanta, and wanted more first-hand exposure to rail preservation, soshe accompanied me to Kennesaw, plusa short visit to the Southeastern RailwayMuseum in Duluth, GA. The tripconcluded with a day-long visit to theRoundhouse Railroad Museum inSavannah.

Southeastern Railway MuseumIn 1998, the museum moved from its

old, 12-acre open-air site to a new, 30-acre former railroad car shop that wasdonated. Along with more land cametwo shop buildings, which madepossible covered storage for a third ofthe collection. It converted thebuildings to museum use through an$810,000 TEA21 grant. The larger ofthe buildings houses the museum’s bestartifacts, a museum store, offices andinteresting exhibits. The smallerbuilding is open on the sides and onlyshelters rolling stock. Outside, a 44-tonner and caboose provide short rideson the yard trackage.

The collection of over 50 piecesprovides a good cross section ofsoutheastern railroading. There are ninesteam locomotives, including asignificant pair of 4-6-2s, Savannah &Atlanta #750 and Atlanta & West Point#290. Recently the museum acquiredRed River & Gulf 4-4-0 #104 (Baldwin

4

1919), which for years ran at StoneMountain disguised in faux-Civil War-era paint and diamond stack. SouthernE8 #6901 (EMD 1951) graces theproperty in Southern Crescent greenand gold. It is one of seven diesels inthe collection. The 24 passenger carsinclude most car types and eras.Notable is the all-steel private carSuperb (Pullman 1911), which carriedPresident Warren Harding and is listedon the National Register of HistoricPlaces. The nine cabooses representmost of the region’s carriers.

Southern Museum of Civil War andLocomotive History

The subject of two motion pictures,the Civil War’s Great LocomotiveChase was certainly one of the mostfamous rail episodes in Americanhistory. Its notoriety was sufficient topreserve its locomotive protagonists,the 4-4-0s General and Texas. Bothsurvive today. The historic event itselfstarted at Kennesaw, and that was the

Savannah Roundhouse Museum

5

The Southeastern Railway Museumoccupies a former car repair shop outsideof Duluth, GA.

Left: New York, Ontario & Western 44-tonner #104 (GE 1941) pulls the caboosetrain past Red River & Gulf 4-4-0 #104,still partially decorated for StoneMountain.

Above: The complete interior of SouthernRPO car #153 (Bethlehem 1928).

Middle right: Savannah & Atlanta 4-6-2#750 (Alco 1910) occupies a display trackin the main exhibit building.

Southern Cresent E8 #6901 (EMD 1951)in the smaller, open air carshop building.

impetus for the museum created todisplay the General.

Dick Hillman gave us a tour of theplace, which is much more impressivethan I had expected. The City ofKennesaw owns the museum, but itreceives considerable financial supportthrough the efforts of its non-profitfoundation, which employs Hillman. Itis a Smithsonian affiliate.

A modern, professional-lookingfacility, it has been expanded more thanonce. It is divided into three mainsections. After leaving the lobby,visitors enter an exhibit area that dealswith the Civil War and the role ofrailroads in fighting it. The largestportion of the museum’s space isdedicated to telling the story of theGlover Machine Works. This localcompany started out manufacturingmachinery for the lumber business,including steam powered log skidders.Having learned to build skidders, it wasa short step to building locomotives.Between 1903 and 1930 the companyturned out 200 of them, mostly smallindustrial and logging engines. Familyowned, they never threw anythingaway. When the company finally shutdown in 1995, it was a virtual museumin its own right. All the records andtooling from the very beginning wereintact. There were even two complete,unsold locomotives inside one of thebuildings. With the family’scooperation, much of it is nowdisplayed.

The third portion of the museum tellsthe story of the Great LocomotiveChase, featuring the General itself. TheTexas, by the way, is exhibited inAtlanta at the Cyclorama.

Open seven days a week, themuseum sees 50,000-60,000 visitors peryear. There are 20 full time and parttime paid staff, as well as 15-20 regularvolunteers. There are 270 museummembers. Revenue comes fromadmissions, the gift shop, capital grants,donations from local families and thecity of Kennesaw.

Hillman showed us the state of theart climate controlled archive room. Inaddition to the Glover records, it housesa large collection of Southern railroadoperating records, which are the ownedby the Southern Railroad HistoricalAssociation. Its members are active inthe cataloguing effort. Fundraising isunderway to expand the archives space.

Savannah Roundhouse MuseumIts name is somewhat misleading,

because this museum is preserving andrestoring not just a roundhouse, but theentire eleven-building shop complex ofthe Central of Georgia. Much of it datesfrom 1855, and it was expanded in the1920s. Abandoned in 1963, it had beenheavily vandalized and portions had

6

Top: The exterior of the Southern Museum of the Civil War and LocomotiveHistory in Kennesaw, GA.Middle: This complete locomotive, built in 1926 and then repossessed, had beenstored at the Glover Machine Works since the late 1920s.Bottom: Wood patterns from the Glover Pattern Shop.

7

MAP OF THESAVANNAH

ROUNDHOUSEMUSEUM

AND CENTRAL OF GEORGIA SHOPS

8

Above: All the shops’ exhausts wererouted through underground pipes tothis single smokestack. The doors aroundthe base are individual toilet stalls.

Top left: The 1923 Coach Shop/PaintShop building is being restored and willreopen in 2010.

Central of Georgia 2-8-0 #223 (Baldwin1907) inside the roundhouse.

The allready restored Central of Georgiadepot is across Louisville Road from theshops complex. Today it houses theSavannah History Museum.

storehouse. A master plan for theroundhouse and shops was completed in1998. Beginning in 2002, a new localsales tax was approved to fund therestoration of the rest of the complex.This was combined with other citymoney, TEA-21 grants and fund raisingby the Coastal Heritage Society. Repairsbegan to the roundhouse itself, whichstill needs rear windows. In 2004, thecity was able to purchase the rest of thesite from Norfolk Southern, includingthe large coach/paint shop building. Itand the adjacent carpenters shop arecurrently being rebuilt, with completionscheduled for 2010. The boiler room,lumber shed and planning shed stillrequire stabilization.

With the completion of buildingrenovations within sight, the staff isturning its attention to museumoperations and interpretive activities.The Savannah History Museum willmove from the depot to the coach/paintshop building, which will also house achildren’s museum. Spring 2009 will seea track extension to the paint shopbuilding, and the first regular shuttletrips on the existing yard trackage,including a spin on the 1923-built 85-foot turntable.

Currently, the roundhouse yard isisolated. By late 2010, the goal is torebuild the missing bridge overLouisville Road and reestablish a liveconnection with the general railroadsystem. The city owns 2.5 miles of rightof way extending north from the depotand that will be available for excursions.

In its current situation, partiallyrestored with no formal docent programand with large areas off limits duringconstruction, the museum has beendrawing about 19,000 visitors per year.That is expected to increase as soon astrain ride and other programmedactivities are established. Activeinterpretation will begin this year. Sevenpaid docents will alternate between theroundhouse and the Heritage Society’snearby historic Fort Jackson. There arecurrently no volunteers, but that will alsochange in the next year or so.

The museum has representativecollection of historic pieces. All areregional, except for a couple of 44-tonners that were purchased to power theshuttle trains. The museum employs ashop staff of eight people, who hoursadd up to five full time equivalents. In2006 they completed the overhaul of 0-4-0T #30, which will be thedemonstration steam locomotive.Recently they completed restoring C ofG heavyweight office car Atlanta and aflatcar with benches for the shuttle runs.Currently they’re working on arefrigerator car and an outside bracedboxcar.

THINK YOU HAVEPROBLEMS?

How hard is it to manage a railwaymuseum? Here are two stories that maybe more extreme than most—or maybenot.

Part 1--My Last President’s Report By Jim Lundquist

Reprinted with permission from thePacific Southwest Railway Museum’sHot Scoop newsletter.

As 2008 comes to an end, it’s hard tobelieve that I am wrapping up my sixthyear as your President (for the secondterm). This was far and away thehardest adventure in my life (possibleexception – my teenage kids), and yet itall seems to have gone by so fast.

In late December 2002, the membersvoted to install a new 25 person Boardto run the Museum. At the Board’s firstmeeting, I agreed to be appointed thePresident. As a first order of business,we had to get a handle on where wewere as a Museum. Frankly, it wasn’t avery good place.

We had an office in the Santa FeDepot, in downtown San Diego, staffedby one employee and some dedicatedvolunteers. The office rent was behind,the payroll was behind; we owed tensof thousands of dollars for officeequipment and the utility paymentswere behind! In addition, our Librarywas also in the depot and was facingeviction. A quick review of the booksand the profit/loss statement told us thatwe couldn’t afford to keep the officeopen nor a paid employee to staff it. Wesought relief from the owner of thedepot, which granted us a waiver on theback rent if we moved out as soon aspossible. In no time, we were sortingpapers and moving stuff into storage orthe La Mesa Depot. Almostimmediately, our last paid employeeleft on her own. A few months later, wepaid the last payroll check to her. Nosooner did we finish up that move, ourlibrary was evicted. Once again, wefired up the moving vans, acquired usedtrailers and containers and movedeverything to Campo. In just a coupleof months, we were out of the rentaloffice space.

Our attention then turned to Campo.It wasn’t any prettier there either. Therewas a shut-off notice from San DiegoGas & Electric taped to the CampoDepot door. The upstairs portion of thedepot was being used as an office andthen an apartment. We lost part of thedepot parking lot to a sand pit. OurTecate trains were being operated by

9

collapsed by the time the City ofSavannah purchased it. The machineshop and carpenter shop currently haveno roofs. The impetus for the city tostep in and save the property camewhen local preservationists noticed thatthe tall smokestack was beingdisassembled for its bricks.

In the 1989, the city contracted withthe non-profit Coastal Heritage Societyto operate and restore the complex. TheSociety was already operating theSavannah History Museum, located inthe large C of G depot across the streetfrom the roundhouse. Since then therehas been a major effort to stabilize thebuildings, restore them and reopen theplace as a museum.

The early 1990s saw major repairs tothe roundhouse dispatch office, tenderframe shop, blacksmith shop and

Preservation bonuses: A privatelyowned Cincinnati curved sidecarbody in Marietta, GA, and the oldWrightsville & Tennille Railroadoffices in Wriightsville, GA.

someone else, with 10% of the grossbeing passed along to us for using ourname and equipment. The ShopBuilding housed offices for anothercompany, and the yard and shop werefull of employees for that company.There was contaminated soileverywhere. Furthermore, we had nooperating locomotives we could call ourown. For me, it was simplyoverwhelming to look at the workbefore us and think we could pull it offby ourselves with our small group ofdedicated volunteers. Soon enough, theother company left Campo for anothereast county town, and took theirequipment and tools with them, leavingbehind the contaminated soil andbroken down Museum equipment for usto deal with.

“Where to start?” was the hugequestion. We started by cleaning up andcutting costs. I cut-out the switch to theair conditioner in the lounge, andbegged the trash company to forgive theback bill for trash. We filled up manyboxes of contaminated soil and paid tohave them hauled away. We were ableto “blue card” a locomotive and startour Golden State operations again.Soon, the other company wrote usgiving us back our Tecate trains. Thatwas the break we needed. We hadseveral meetings with officials inMexico to reestablish those operatingrights. Soon, our trains were once againoperating to Mexico and we were ableto keep 100% of the ticket sales lesscosts. That was a huge break. With therevenues up and our expenses down, wewere back to breaking even. But, howto get caught up with all the past duebills?

Along came a savior in a plainenvelop to our La Mesa Depot address.I opened the mail one afternoon andinside was a check for $210,400. Notquite believing it was real, I called thebank in Florida and was told the checkwas indeed real, and the donor wantedto be anonymous. I immediately droveacross the street and deposited thecheck into our account, then startedcalling all our friends to tell the goodnews. We paid all our back debts,repaid the restricted funds and thenlooked for projects we wanted to pushforward. As I recall, we put in the lightsin the Display Building, a concrete slabthere also, upgraded the Campo Depotwith new siding, donated windows andpaint, and put some away to start ourendowment fund. Meanwhile, weplugged away and restored yet anotherlocomotive and we reroofed andrepainted several of our passenger cars.The emphasis was on our presentationto our public – the train, depot andDisplay Building.

During this time, our Board meetings

starting getting easier to manage. Thatfirst meeting in Spring Valley featured25 board members and a public ofaround 40 members. One by one, theBoard members resigned for variousreasons, and, the meetings startedcalming down and became moremanageable. Eventually, the membersadopted new bylaws which called foreight Board members, a true blessing interms of managing the meetings.

Our train operations continued toexpand – some with great results, somestill awaiting success. Our Tecate trainswere popular, and really took off whenHuell Howser ( a local TV celebrity)came out, spent a day with us, then anevening of fundraising showing ourtrain trip on the air and inviting KPBSlisteners to travel with Huell. Thatprogram still continues to pay dividendsfor us. We started a Christmas train,working with the local High Schoolstudents. Each year, the event keepsgetting bigger, so that this year we arerunning ten trains and 3,000 people tothe North Pole. Also successful are thePumpkin trains and Easter trains. Stillawaiting success are the Campo ValleyFlyers and any train with food service.

Driving out to Campo and enteringour property, it’s easy for me to spotour improvements, starting with theCaltrans direction signs on State Route94 and our own signs at our gatewelcoming and thanking people forvisiting us as they enter and exit. Themain entrance road has been cleaned upsomewhat, with the run downequipment removed and additionalsignage to the Depot. At the Depot,there are also two new signs therewelcoming our visitors. The Depotitself features new siding, some newwindows, new signs, a wheelchair lift, acompletely rebuilt upstairs (not yetopen to the public – a success story stillwaiting to happen, as are the newrestrooms) and new paint. There arenew swings, tires for the children, anew loading dock and new lights for thetracks and parking lot. A new bricksidewalk, a water fountain in need ofrepair and new shade trees replacingour beautiful tree which died of old age.There is a new Workamper site wherehappy volunteers live onsite, whichreplaced an old trailer which we hauledoff to the dump in three large roll-offcontainers, one piece at a time. Stillawaiting attention are the old tank caron the ground and the section houses.Up on Track One is our ATSF freighttrain, which is awaiting signs tointerpret for our visitors. The DisplayBuilding has a new sign and, newinterior concrete floors with electricallights and new wiring replacing theextension cords which made their waydown from the Shop Building. Inside

the Display Building is a nice newvideo program and TV showing off ourbeautiful #2353 steam locomotive. TheDisplay Building has been the venue toseveral nice evening programs andcould host others once a restroom isconstructed nearby.

The Shop Building features a newconcrete pit, upgraded electrical andair. All the contaminated soil has beenremoved. There are numerous newtools and machinery equipment inside.Outside is a new Track 15 withmaintenance of way equipment, and anew motorcar shed. On the tracks areseveral pieces of new rail equipment,which took hundreds of hours andthousands of dollars to acquire,including ATSF #2381, a former SanDiego switch engine and SP #7304, aformer SD&AE operating engine. Inaddition, we have a rubber tired carmover, multiple forklifts, loaders,backhoes and other power machinery.We have much less “stuff” under andaround the one remaining oak tree, asjunk has been tossed and recycled overa four year period of time, lead byyours truly. Also, we installed newelectrical service and have set up thelibrary trailer and containers in thisarea.

So, as of December 2008, we aretotally debt free, and in charge of ourfuture. There are new and energeticvolunteers to be found on site. I amturning over our Museum to our newPresident in much better shape thanwhen I found it, thanks to a dedicatedcore of hard working volunteers. Weare all doing great things together.

Part 2--Nevada Northern’s 2008By Mark Bassett, Executive Director

Reprinted with permission.In March, we were finishing up

different building projects around theproperty. The biggest one was theconversion of the Boiler Building intoADA restrooms. In April, we started inon locomotive 93 and made an historicdecision. The repairs to locomotive 93would be thorough, no half measures.We had a plan and we were confidentin the plan, but we didn't have themanpower to implement it. A call to theHeber Valley Railroad asking forassistance was answered in the positive.They would help.

Our plan lasted until we removed thefirst tire from the wheel center. As thetire was being removed, shims startedraining down. This was unexpectedand, it turns out, all of the tires wereshimmed. This would add to the costand difficulty of the project, as well asmore time.

People come to the Nevada Northernto ride behind our steam locomotives.With no steam locomotive in operation,

10

the 2008 season was beginning to lookbleak. Then in May oil prices hit $130 abarrel. If we were shocked to be paying$3.50 a gallon for gas, the worse wasyet to come. By mid-June, gas was over$4 a gallon and in some of the moreremote areas, it was over $5. No steamlocomotives and high fuel prices werebad enough but then the metals marketwent crazy. Daily, prices for the metalneeded for the repairs to locomotive 93kept going up—sometimes insubstantial amounts.

Meanwhile down at the shops, workwas proceeding on locomotive 93 andlocomotive 204. All of the sixteencylinders and heads were replaced withrebuilt units on locomotive 204. Thenlocomotive 105 goes out of servicebecause of a traction motor bearingproblem. Meanwhile locomotive 109develops a water leak. Thankfully, it'scaught in time and repairs are made.

In addition to taking care of thelocomotives and track, we also havesixty-six buildings and structures tomaintain. In June, RFP's were releasedfor building projects in the East ElyYard and McGill Depot. In preparingthe RFP, a chilling discovery was made.The Master Mechanic's Building hadreceived severe damage to its masonry.An inspection revealed that the buildinghad new and recent degradation of theblocks and joints. We suspected that theculprit was the Wells earthquake. Sincewe had received earthquake damage tothe Master Mechanic's building, wetook a closer look at the Bus Garage.Cracks had been noted in the masonryin the past and now it was evident thatthey had opened. That spring, the northwall of the Materials Storage Buildinghad been blown down. Then there wasthe Air Brake Building, foxes hadburrowed under the buildingthreatening its foundation. Its roof hadblown off three years ago, and thetemporary roof was failing. The goodnews: we had enough grant money tomake the repairs to the buildings. Thebad news: we might not have enoughtime to do the projects. It would be arace against time and the weather.

By late June, the new forgings forlocomotive 93's axles were delivered toSalt Lake City. The wheel centers werebeing built up. Here in Ely, work wasprogressing on the locomotive as well.Things were beginning to look good; itlooked like we could have locomotive93 running by Labor Day. To celebratewe planned to have an open housefeaturing locomotive 93.

The 4th of July came and we carriedmore people than we had the previousyear. Locomotives 204 and 109 wererunning just fine. Ridership was off, butit was stronger than it was earlier in theyear. The RFP came in for the Club 50

project and with it a disaster. Theproject bid was a lot higher than weexpected or that we had money for. Atthe same time, the track project wasconsuming more resources than wasplanned for. And more was being foundwrong with locomotive 93. All threeprojects would take more money thanwas budgeted for them.

The Club 50 crossing project was tobe paid with grant funds. If we didn't dothe project, we'd lose the funds. If wedidn't renew the crossing, the nextoption was to remove it and pave overit. Then if we could find the funds, theproject would be even more expensive.

The Club 50 crossing was tied intothe track rehabilitation project. It wouldmake no sense to rehabilitate the track,if the Club 50 crossing was not done.Meanwhile, we found anotherunexpected problem with the wheelcenters from locomotive 93. The goodnews is that the problem was repairable;the bad news is it would cost moremoney and delay the project. Thissetback was discovered right after allthe summer issue of Ghost Tracks hadbeen sent out inviting everyone to cometo East Ely to see locomotive 93 operateLabor Day weekend.

Additional money was found for theClub 50 project, it was now a go. Workwas continuing on the track leading upto the crossing. In addition work wasnow being done on the McGill Depot,the Transportation Building, theGarages, the Bus Garage, ChiefEngineer's building, the MasterMechanic's Building, the Electric Shop,the Ice House, the Enginehouse and theMachine Shop. Work also continued onlocomotive 93. And did I mention as allof these projects were going on, we alsohad a railroad to run? During thesummer months, we operated two trainsa day, every day, except Tuesday. So inaddition to all of the projects, we had atrain schedule to maintain.

July, August and September fly by,ridership was still off but it wasimproving each month. The Club 50project was going on and looking good.The track project was on going. Thestate track inspector came to town.Together we inspected our track andsuccess! We opened the track from EastEly to Hiline Junction and then openedthe track from Hiline Junction to MP130. He complimented us on all of thework that had been accomplished.Unfortunately, the track to Adverse isstill out of service.

Things were looking up, ridershipwas improving month by month, gasprices were falling, projects were beingcompleted, and now it was time to startour fall fundraising drive. Letters wereprepared, mailed out and then the bombhits. The State of Nevada announces the

East Ely Depot Museum is slated toclose July 1, 2009.

Wow! This is devastating not only tothe state employees who work at thedepot but also to us. All of a sudden, westart getting phone calls from peoplewho believe we're closing. They areconfusing the East Ely Depot Museumwith the Nevada Northern RailwayMuseum. We put out press releases totry and clear up the confusion but it's atough fight. The news that the Easy ElyDepot Museum may close travels likewildfire. The state attempts to separatethe two of us, but the message wasalready out there.

October comes and with it theHaunted Ghost Trains. The amount ofeffort to do the Haunted Ghost Trains isenormous. Not only do we need traincrews but ghosts and goblins are neededtoo. And my hat is off to these ghostsand goblins, they're real troupers. Theyare at their haunting place regardless ofthe weather. This year we had snow,rain, and wind—sometimes at the sametime.

It's heading into November and theweather was great! Projects arebeginning to get wrapped up. Thebuilding projects are almost done. TheClub 50 project was almost done. Thetrack work was over for the year. Theannual food drive with the local scoutswas a success.

Next up are the Polar Expresses! Andnow the economy was heading south.We depend on the Polar Expresses forour end of year revenue. The bad newswas that the pre-ticket sales were down,but walk up traffic was way up. Wewere actually running ahead of lastyear.

Now it’s December, the weather iscooperating, we're getting snow for thePolars and all of our constructionprojects are winding up. On December9, locomotive 93's wheels and axlesarrive back in Ely. The shop forcesjump in and start the reassembly oflocomotive 93. She looked strangefloating in the air since April waitingfor wheels. In four days, all of the axlesare installed. Then the rods and brakerigging go back on and just beforeChristmas locomotive 93 is backtogether! What a Christmas present!

At the same time, the PolarExpresses were going well except theflu was knocking out staff andvolunteers. People are juggled to fillpositions and the Polar Expresses keeprunning. On December 26, locomotive93 rolls out of the enginehouse to thecoaling area and the tender is filled withcoal! December 27, a fire is built andlocomotive 93 is hot for the first timesince July 2007. December 28 is THEDAY!!! Locomotive 93 was runningand everything appears to be great!

11

On December 29, after someadjustments locomotive 93 was out thedoor again for some additional testing.Everything was looking good.

Last year we received $2,235,000 infunding for a long list of projects. Thebiggest project was the rebuilding ofwhat we refer to the Club 50 crossingon US 93. Other projects were trackrehabilitation along with buildingrepairs and renovations. These projectswere all funded through grants.

In addition to the above projects, thefoundation undertook $470,000 inlocomotive repair projects and $58,600in additional track repair projects. Theseprojects were funded by privatefoundations and local grants along withmoney raised from our members.

So the year ended as it started. Wehad our ups and we had our downs,sometimes within minutes of eachother. At the end of the year,locomotives, rolling stock, buildings,and track all received needed attention.We're not done by any stretch of theimagination, but indisputably, progresswas made on all fronts. The rollercoaster ride continues in 2009, and I'mhere to tell you—it's unquestionably anE-ticket ride.

REPLACEMENTMATERIAL FOR

PANTASOTE WINDOWBLINDS

By Michael Jansson

The Pantasote Companymanufactured a “vinyl like” material foruse in the transportation, upholstery,and wall covering industries. Thecompany switched to petroleum basedvinyl products in the 1950’s and wassold in 1989 owing to liabilities incidentto the contamination of manufacturingsites, work related employee healthproblems, and financial problems. Thispaper describes a technique forreplicating two sided (printed cotton onreverse) Pantasote railway coach blindmaterial using modern vinyl, and silkscreen processes.

Company HistoryThe Pantasote Company put a faux

leather product named Pantasote on themarket in 1891. “Pantasote” is a coinedword from Greek meaning “to serve allpurposes”. The product was used forwall covering, vehicle covers,upholstery, and blinds. It was probablyderived from coal tar and as such,would be considered a precursor tomodern petroleum based vinyl products.The company did move to a petroleumbased manufacturing system for its fauxleather and sheet goods in the 1950’s.

Owing to a lessening demand for itswall coverings the company sold thisbusiness in the mid 1990’s. Thesuccessor company closed in early2003. The Pantasote Company wasfaced with an increasingly difficultbusiness environment stemming fromliabilities incident to its contaminationof manufacturing sites (now on SuperFund site lists), employee work relatedhealth claims, and financial problems.The remaining business units were soldin a leveraged buyout to the ButlerPrinting and Laminating Company. Abrief communication with Butlersuggests that they have copies ofPantasote’s pattern books. Butler canproduce a product similar to olderrailway coach blind material. However,they appear to have only two colours inwhich Pantasote was formerlymanufactured and will only make largeamounts in a product run. They have thecapacity to laminate cloth to vinyl andcan print up to six colours. Custom runswould be exceedingly large andexpensive.

The highest demand for Pantasotewas not from railway coach builders butfrom buggy and carriage makers,upholsterers, and automobilemanufacturers. Most autos were openwith a cover that could be used in foulweather. Pantasote was the chosencover material well into the 1930’s.Prior to WW I embossed Pantasotewallpaper similar to Lincrusta-Waltonwas sold in a very competitive upscalemarket.

Availability and SubstitutionThe type of Pantasote used in railway

blinds is no longer manufactured nor isold stock available from commercialsources. Some museums have smallstocks for their own use. Therefore,restoration shops are required tomanufacture their own Pantasote, avirtual impossibility, or find a goodsubstitute – a replica material.

Most Pantasote blinds used in railcars are constructed on a plan utilizing asprung roller (without stop ratcheting asin home window shades) at the top ofthe blind. The bottom of the blindincorporates a horizontal rod with pinchhandles to free the rod ends from stopsin the window jamb, allowing theattached blind to travel vertically in atrack in the window jamb. The rod isheld to the jamb stops by internal springexpansion pressure on each end.Sometimes one inch wide (1/8” thick)flat stock steel cut to the jamb widthwas sewn into the curtain at additionalpoints. These “sash guides” ensured thatthe curtain stayed in proper appositionto the window and traveled smoothly.

To avoid problems in attaching therelatively thick Pantasote to the steel

roller a six-inch long piece of highcount tight twill weave cotton the widthof the shade less side hems wasattached to the un-hemmed top of thePantasote. The sheeting was insertedinto the roller and retained by a steelwire. A common roller was the ‘REX’made by the Curtain Supply Companyof Chicago. Adams & Westlake (still inbusiness and may still have some)made a number of models of rollersunder the trade name “Adlake”.

When compiling specifications forthe construction of new blinds, Icarefully disassembled original, butnow distressed blinds retrieved fromold car bodies and body owners. Afterhaving verified that a particular blindwas correct for a restoration job bytype, model, reverse finish or pattern,length, and width, I completelymeasured the hems, bottom rod loopand the hemmed and surged leader. Thestitching patterns were also noted.Measured drawings of each blind type(e.g. side window, vestibule, etc.) werethen made . Next I tried to identify thefabrics by fiber and weave in order tofind duplicates. I examined a secondblind in detail to confirm theconstruction and materials. Fiberspecifications and weave types wereconfirmed by a university fabricslaboratory. I was also able to get asecond confirmation on textiles fromthe upholstery shop.

There appear to be two basic typesof Pantasote blinds based on the typesof material used. All were of the sametype of general construction assummarized above. The only departurefrom this construction are horizontalblinds for separating the streetcar bodyfrom the vestibule and/or motorman’scabs, and perhaps some customizedshapes in railway cars.

The first basic window blind type isthe “one sided”. This blind consists ofwhat appears to be a single sheet ofPantasote, generally embossed with thefigures visible on the inboard side ofthe blind. I have not personallyexamined this type of blind in detail butdo know from personal experience thematerial was heavier than that used intwo sided blinds discussed below. Thematerial may have been two ply (i.e.two thinner sheets glued together),which would allow reverse embossing,or just a thicker material. This paperdoes not discuss the replication of “onesided” Pantasote.

The two-sided blind consisted of asheet of Pantasote with a sateen weavecotton (medium thread size) bonded tothe reverse or non finished side. Thesheeting was printed with a pattern ofone or more colours. The blinds mayhave been hung with the print sideeither in or out, however, the print side

12

usually faced the car interior. There is some controversy as to how

the cloth and vinyl were bonded to oneanother. The attached GSA documentsuggests a “Pantasote Gum” was used.Those that I consulted, as well as myown investigation suggest a hot rollingprocess. The Pantasote leather andprinted cloth were bonded by rollerapplied pressure when the Pantasotewas still warm from manufacturing.This would have been a continuousflow process.

Pantasote was available in a varietyof finishes and colours. Various printpatterns and colours were available forthe backing. Many specificationdocuments for the purchase of railwayand street cars indicate the finish,colour, and pattern by cataloguenumber. As an example a City ofEdmonton purchase specification forstreetcars included the following: “Allside windows to be provided withcurtains made of Pantasote, mounted ontin barrel shade rollers, and fitted at thebottom with Forsyth Roller Tip PinchHandle fixtures. Curtains also to beprovided for doors and windows inbulkheads. Sliding doors to be fittedwith curtains rolling with door.Pantasote material to be pattern H,colour #74.”

Still extant Pantasote catalogueswould be a valuable research tool.However, an actual sample would bemuch preferred for the replicationprocess.

How to Produce Replica BlindsThe first step is to identify upholstery

and graphics shops interested in thishighly customized work and possessingthe equipment required. The proprietorsof these shops should display a genuineinterest and appreciation of what youare trying to achieve as well as have anappreciation of the history involved.Such highly motivated people can oftenhelp in finding solutions to processproblems and give insight intohistorically correct fabrics and colours.As an example the upholstery shopowner doing blinds for a 1912 car wasvery familiar with streetcar blindshaving often rode the cars as a child. Hewas emphatic in stating the Pantasotesample was “burgundy”. I had alwaysthought of burgundy being a deeppurple wine like colour. It turns out hewas correct. Evidently 90 years agoburgundy was basically dark brownwith only the slightest hint of purple.Similar changes in colour nomenclaturethrough time have been noted by others.

The chosen upholstery shop shouldbe familiar with working with largepieces of vinyl and have the requisiteequipment. In the Yellow Pages(Upholsterers) these firms will usually

advertise that they make custom boatcovers, antique car roofs, car interiors,and other custom fabricated vinylproducts.

The upholstery shop is also critical tothe choice and purchase of the vinyl tobe used for the project. The shop shouldhave sample books from severalmanufacturers and access to theirrespective wholesalers. In the textilebusiness wholesalers will not usuallysell to persons or organizations outsidethe trade. This actually makes theproper selection easier and moreconvenient.

The choice of a graphics shop shouldbe guided by the same generalprinciples applied to the choice ofupholstery shop. The shop must have alarge format (at least 48” x 96”) silkscreen table, scanning equipment andcomputer graphics abilities, and thephotographic equipment to produce thecolour separations required to print thereverse pattern. These shops may befound under “Advertising Design” and“Decals” in the Yellow pages. Theymost commonly produce billboardadvertising sheets, car cards, sportsvenue advertising, vehicle decals, andother large format low volume printeditems. As well the shop should beexperienced in the colour matching andmixing of silk screen inks. Most of theshops listed under “Graphic Design”produce logos, menus, posters,brochures, and other small format itemsand are not suitable for work of thisscale.

Hopefully the graphics andupholstery shops are close together.This will make the transport of thematerials between the two shops lesstime consuming.

The Step by Step Process – Two sided type

The process is described in somedetail and may seem overlycomplicated. It is not, it merely reflectsthe necessary work and documentationto properly make replica material forhistorical restoration. The backgroundmaterial and details given here mayspeed your examination anddocumentation of original blinds, andthe creation quality replicas.

1.) Choose the vinyl. Using a sampleof an original Pantasote blind choose avinyl that is similar in finish, colour,and weight. Most modern vinyls will bethicker than Pantasote. A thinner vinylis most desirable.

The most important factor in thechoice of vinyl is the closeness of theweave of the cloth on the reverse side.All vinyl has a cloth backing. On mostvarieties the weave is loose and has alow thread count. Some vinyls do havea more substantial backing cloth that is

printable.NOTE: We did conduct numerous

experiments in bonding cloth to vinyl.All ended in failure.

2.) Calculate the amount of vinylrequired. This must include extra forhemming, experimentation, and generalwastage. Since vinyl will stretch a greatdeal on one axis it is most importantthat the ordering calculations andcutting plan are based on the shorterdimension, i.e. generally the width ofthe vinyl being on the high stretch axis.This is most important for the silkscreening. Failure to do this will resultin out of register multi- colour printing;also deformation of a pattern may occurduring printing if the stretch axis isgoing the wrong way.

Using your previously made drawingthe upholstery shop cuts vinyl blanksfor all the curtains required. NOTE: Amore conservative approach on yourfirst attempt at curtains would be tohave the shop order and cut 2-3 blanksfor experimentation; first in thegraphics shop and then returned forfinal sewing and attachment of thecotton leader. This is a less riskyapproach and allows everyone tobecome familiar with requirements.

3.) The blind blanks are nowdelivered to the graphics shop. Most ofthe graphics procedures are quitetechnical and will be competentlyhandled by shop staff. They will alreadyhave the technical knowledge for thesteps outlined below.

4.) The graphics shop, using asample of the original Pantasote scansthe printed cotton pattern. From thecomputer scan file colour separationpositives are made for each print colour.At this point the shop can provide youwith a computer printed sample of thepattern for comparison with theoriginal. While the colour match maynot be exactly perfect, any lines andfigures should have clean edges as goodor better than the original.

5.) To help maintain the dimensionalintegrity of the vinyl during the printingprocess a Sandblast™ card is glued tothe obverse side of the vinyl. This isalso necessary to attain properregistration, the card is registered to thetable.

6.) Ink is mixed to achieve propercolours. A lot of ink seems to berequired to get good results. This isprobably due to the large spaces in theloose weave low count backing.

7.) Silk screening is completed andbacking card removed. cleaning may berequired to remove all glue. Theoperator must be careful to minimizeeffects of stretch.

8.) Printed blanks are returned to theupholstery shop.

9.) At this point the upholstery shop

13

will need the bottom rods with pinchhandles and any other hardware thatwas sewn into the finished blind.

10.) All blanks are hemmed and allother sewing, including theincorporation of the bottom bar iscompleted as per the supplied drawings.

11.) The cotton leader, unbleachedtight twill, as per original sample is thensewn to the un-hemmed top of theblind.

12.) Blinds are attached torefurbished or new spring rollers. Sashguides, if used in the original blinds, arethen inserted into the sewn strips.Blinds are installed in car.

The visual quality of our replicablinds is quite high. Installation did helpus identify one anomaly that does noteffect the functionality of the blinds inthe car in which they were installed. Asnoted previously most vinyl is thickerthan Pantasote. In cars with tightclearance for the top roller there couldbe problems. The initial choice of a thinmaterial and fine hemming is essential.The value of having a prototype blind isobvious.

The blinds were installed in a car thatis not yet operational so theirperformance in regular service has notbeen tested. There is some distortion ofthe edges from the unavoidablestretching inherent in the printingprocess. Exposure to hot sun mayremedy this. The aging qualities of thematerial in this kind of use is unknown.At this time there is no deteriorationevident.

RESTORING ATLANTICSHORE LINE #100

PART 8

By Donald Curry, Seashore Trolley Museum

At long last it looks as if we’veturned the corner. We’ve removed thelast significant pieces of wood and areputting on new.

The ends – All deterioratedframework pieces have been replaced orrepaired with an infusion of WestSystem epoxy and new/old southernyellow pine (syp). The no. 1 end is leveland ready for the big 8 x 8 in. end sill,fabricated by Tom Dow last summer.We did a temporary leveling of the sillson the other end but some fineshimming and trimming is still required.We still have to dado near the outerends of sills 4 and 5 on each end for theheavy reinforcing plates over thecoupler braces.

To bolt or not to bolt – The originalsills were 5 x 11 in. 30 ft. solid piecesof southern yellow pine. At some time

ASL or more likely YUCo had done thesame kind of replacement of the top 3in. of their ends. They did an excellentjob of trimming and smoothing theremainder of the long sills so the newwood lay smoothly on the old. Tofasten the joint they used square-headmachine bolts. We have used the WestSystem epoxy and no bolts but arewondering if we shouldn’t do a ‘beltand suspenders’ thing and also installbolts. If we do, we’ll have to makeanother 25 or so bolts.

The body bolsters – These heavysteel fabrications are located about 5 ft.in from each end and in addition to theirfunction of connecting the truck withthe body, also tie the eight longitudinalsills together. Before the ‘new’ outsidelong sills could be installed, bothbolsters had to be solidly in place. Theno. 1 bolster was installed in the falland in December the no. 2 put in.

As we put them together we noticedthat YUCo had installed shims betweenthe side bearing castings, the centerbearing and the bottom of the bolsterframe. Those on the side bearings arerectangular pieces of steel. Over thecenter bearing the two pieces are stripsof steel about 4 in. wide x 18 in. longwith a large scoop out of each to makeclearance for the king pin. We wonderwhy they felt they had to do thisbecause the castings are shaped to‘surround’ the bottom plate of thebolster? With the shims in place, theonly thing which keeps these castings inplace is the tightness of the bolts. Couldit be the springs in the trucks or thewear of the wheels lowered the heightof the couplers so they didn’t meet

those on freight cars properly?Because we had covered and/or

filled in the pair of holes down througheach sill at the bolster with new wood,and because the new holes in the bolsterwere slightly different than the original,getting them to line up all the way fromthe top to the bottom was a matter ofcareful ‘guestimation’. We drilled upfrom the bottom and down through thetop with a metal-cutting bit about 9 in.long. The holes lined up better but stillthere was a bit of a bent, making it verydifficult to get the bolt down through.So we then purchased an extra-length13/16 in. twist drill which could gothrough the metal. This did the trick.With the help of Dick Avy and BrendanBarlow all 12 of the 14-in. square headbolts were inserted in sills 2-7 and thebolsters are firmly in place. Now thereis something to support the side sills.

The long sills – as you look at thefront of 100 from the no. 1 end, the sillsare numbered 1 through 8 from left toright. The original no. 8 sill has beengone since 1965, replaced by a largespruce timber by an enthusiastic groupof early Seashore restorationists. It hasnow been replaced by a ‘new’ no. 8syp. Sill. The no. 1 sill had beenfabricated and installed the weekbefore.

We would love to have seen the hugemachinery at Laconia Car Companywhich made the two tenons on each endof the sills. We didn’t have thatadvantage. After carefully laying themout, we cut the tenons with acombination of circular saw (whichcould only get half-way through the 5in. thickness), a very coarse-toothed

14

The original body bolster--note how it supports the eight sills that run the lengthof the carbody.

timber saw and a chisel. On the bottomend of each sill we copied the‘aerodynamic’ curve of the original,telling people this apocryphal tale:

The Cabot Paint Co. has been inbusiness for well over 100 years andthere is no question that Laconia CarCo. used it on their cars. So, they musthave used one of Cabot’s gallon cans asthe pattern for the curve because it wasexactly the same as what we found onthe old sills.

This involved cutting with the coarsesaw followed by some ‘trimming’ withthe very coarse belt sander.

However, first the old sills had to beremoved. There were a number of boltsthat required the use of the Sawzall,then driving out to be turned into no. 1scrap.

We had pondered what to do with theno. 8 sill, which was still in one piecewithout rot or deterioration. Howeverreality set in as we saw it would beimpossible to store it inside anywhere,let alone handle it so; reluctantly wealso cut this into three chunks. It’sprobably going to end up as first-classblocking.

Cross sills (needle beams) - About1/3 of the way down the body fromeach end is a cross sill, 5 x 7 in. syp,with notches in the top into which thelongitudinal sills were set. These musthave served to hold the sills in line asthe frame was constructed. There is asquare head bolt going down throughthe sill and holding the cross sill in.place (two each on sills 4 and 5). Theirother function is to hold and be theanchor for the casting under which thelongitudinal truss rods pass. The trussrods also pass through the end sills andthe pole pockets in each corner of thecar. As the big square nuts on the endsof the rods are taken up, the truss rod,which is now unsupported in the middlebows way down, will tend to straightenand provide a lifting—straighteningforce to keep the outer sills straight. Asthis is written, the cross sills and sidesills are all ready to be drilled andbolted into place.

Finishing treatments -Unfortunately the physics of dryinglarge pieces of wood means they willinevitably form longitudinal cracks. Thetwo long sills have cracks which do notaffect their strength however, we havefilled them with the West System resinand sawdust mixture and sanded themdown smooth with a Bosch random-orbital sander and 60-grit paper. Theyare now probably as smooth as thosewhich left the Laconia plant.

We were pleased with how smooththe beams were considering their size.John Rousseau, President ofBarnstormers! told us that they were cutusing an electric-powered ‘Woodmizer’

horizontal band saw. He didn’t haveone with a sufficiently long carriage sohe ended taking the beams acrossMassachusetts to a company that did.

There is strong evidence of a wiringfire between sills 6 and 7 above motorno. 4. The surface of these sills wascharred. (The motor wiring in generalseems to be a patchwork of spliced andfriction taped bits, so there probablywere other incidents of this sort thatdidn’t get to the point of actuallystarting a fire.) Using the random-orbital sander with 60-grit paper thisarea was quickly sanded down to solidwood and given a coat of Cabot’s stain.

When the locomotive was built, theunder framework, except in the veryouter surfaces was given a treatment ofsome sort of wood preservative—a barnred. We have seen this in virtuallyevery wood car we have but don’t knowwhat it was. We have found it has lostany preservative value as it scrapes orsands off readily. (The air compressor,located under the no. 2 end hood, musthave leaked oil badly because the sillsin that area are coated with a mixture ofdust and oily mud, which has done agood job of preserving the sills’integrity. We have scraped off as muchof the grit as we can.)

For want of anything better we havepainted what we can reach of the sillswith Cabots’ oil-based wood stain, BarnRed. It covers well and looks about thesame as the original treatment. Weapply it with a small foam roller. Wherethere are joints-at the intersections ofthe sills, we will insert a layer ofPhenolseal caulk.

As we were scraping the tops of thelong sills, in the area of the aircompressor, where things were betterpreserved, we noted the remains of awhite coating. It is probably white lead.We did try the Seep ‘n Seal but foundour supply was old and didn’t dry. Sowe’re going to go a bit modern and usestrips of ice and water shield, therubberized sheeting used to prevent icedams on house roofs. While notnecessarily curatorially correct it willprovide the best possible protection forthese vulnerable areas.

The paint system, for the wood areaswill be Fine Paints of EuropeHollandlac enamels over their grayprimer-undercoat. These will bebrushed and rolled on. The price is now$100 per ‘euro gallon’ (2.5 liters) forthe enamels and $90 for the undercoat.

1. Basic body exterior black2. Cab interior lower wainscot brown3. Cab interior window posts and

ceiling ochre4. Windows and doors tile (barn) redWhat’s next for the body work?

Before anything can be done above thesills, while things are open and

accessible, the following must be done(starting from the least flexible):

1. The two truss rods (between sills 1& 2 and 7 & 8)

2. The two coupler through-rods(between sills 3 &4 and 5 & 6)

3. Air piping and air brakeequipment (we have a purchase order toget the pipe)

4. Motor wiring and headlightwiring, ground wire (the wire is now onhand)

Barnstormers! makes their finaldelivery, the remainder of the recycledwood. For that we presented him with acheque for $4,750, the other 50%. Wehave enjoyed dealing with him findinghim genuinely interested in what we do,and furnishing us exactly what weasked for including some extra (just incase!). He apologizes for delays butalso says you can’t rush in thisbusiness.

What came in this delivery was redoak for the decking and pilots. Some ofthe pieces are absolutely beautiful—fitfor living room use! The decking ismilled in 6 and 8 in. widths. (Theoriginal was in various widths.) It hasbeen stacked up against the walls of thebox enabling us to walk safely aroundthe body. (Now with the sills in placethe box is actually much more‘spacious’. The pilot ‘kit’ is a bunch of2-in. pieces all labeled and ready formilling and assembly.)

The cab – Bob Reich and JohnFatula are overhauling the ten cab sash.(six rectangular ones for the ends andfour large squarish ones for the sides)The end sash are in pretty goodcondition although they are repairingany deteriorated joints. They havenoted that whatever the original coatingon them was, it is extremely hard toremove! Paint remover and elbowgrease don’t work as well as they wouldlike.

The wood appears to be cherry butit’s hard to tell. What I have seen looksas if they used the light coloredsapwood that they would not use in apassenger car. It’s very hard to tell whatthe color was originally and wecouldn’t afford another color match.What they have found under the presentvery deteriorated barn (or tile) red isbrown, green, white, black, etc.Possibly the sash was originallyvarnished but, since we’re going for the1930s era, we’re going to use a barn redenamel, inside and out.

One of the side sash appears to havebeen a replacement. Whatever woodwas used was certainly not kiln driedand has warped about 2 in. along thestiles (sides) (bow-shaped) from beingstraight. We will have to make a newsash in this case while the others appearto be salvageable.

15

For some reason the two side sash onthe right side have the glass divided inhalf by a horizontal rail, while the two onthe left side are the original single pane.There is evidence of this change havingtaken place quite early and certainly wasthere during our period of restoration.The work of adding the rail is a bit crudeso it definitely wasn’t Laconia.

Truck work – Dean Look fabricatednew motor mount angles to replace theeight originals that are badly rust-eroded.The original angles were bent from 1 x 4in. bar in Alco’s blacksmith shop, verylikely using a steam or mechanicallyoperated bulldozer. Dean joined thesefrom two lengths of the bar by bevelingone end of each piece and filling themwith weld. Chuck Griffith trimmed offthe corners of the angles and ground thewelds. Bill Pollman and Bert Rendallprimed and painted them. Bill is nowfitting and installing them on the firsttruck. Dean fabricated eight motormount bolts. Lloyd Rosevear blastedthem, preparing them for Bert to primethem.

With the extreme (record) amount ofsnow in late fall and early winter we arerecalling how lucky we were last yearwhen we were able to take the trucksapart outdoors before bringing theminside for their final disassembly. Also itwas fairly comfortable in the boxbecause of the warm temperatures.

Air reservoirs – 100 is equipped withthree reservoirs, all of which are the old-style riveted construction:

Two main reservoirs 16 x 48 in.One auxiliary reservoir 12 x 36 in.We were planning to send them to A.

C. Electric for sand blasting but itseemed prudent to hydro-test thembefore that.

We set up the high-pressure test pumpand found it leaked to the point itrequired repacking and a new checkvalve. Fortunately it is a simple-mindeddevice and was easy to fix. Mainreservoir no. 1 passed at 185 lbs. (1.5

times the operating pressure of 110 lbs.)We set up the other two tanks for testingbut before they even filled with water,holes were found in each. On both thefailure was under where the supportingstraps were—not an uncommon thing.We also found that the auxiliary tank hadbeen brazed in at least two places, not agood sign. Both tanks were unusable.

So we set out to look at our large andvaried supply of air tanks, scattered hereand there on the grounds. Unfortunatelymany were buried in snow and all are inareas which make them subject tocorrosion. We did find one 16 x 60 in. asa replacement for the secondary mainreservoir. Fortunately there is room forthe larger tank on the locomotive’s left-hand side where there is only that tank.The auxiliary reservoir will be a verynew tank, constructed in 1999. It wasdesigned to be mounted to bracketswelded to the tank but we plan tocarefully remove them and return to theoriginal strap style of mounting. Becausethere are two tanks on the right side thereis limited room so it can’t be any longerthan the original 36 in. (The distancebetween the trucks is short. Given thepoor conditions under which our sparetanks are stored, it’s very likely manymore of these tanks will fail their test.)

THE MUSEUM REVIEW

Canadian Museum of Rail TravelCranbrook, BC

When the privately owned GranvilleIsland Museum in Vancouver closedrecently, it donated a 65 x 15 foot Ogauge model railroad that depictsrailroading in the British Columbiamountains. It had to be cut in 30 piecesand transported in three trucks toCranbrook.

Connecticut Trolley MuseumWindsor Locks, CT

The museum has a number of

formerly operational cars that are nowout-of-service due to mechanicalfailures. They have started a campaignto make those cars operational. The firsttwo to run again are ConnecticutCompany open car #355 (St. Louis1902) and Connecticut Companyclosed city car #1326 (Osgood-Bradley1910).

Edmonton Radial Railway SocietyEdmonton, AB

The society’s streetcars currentlytraverse an unpaved recreatedcommercial street in Fort EdmontonPark. That experience will becomemore authentic when the parkcompletes a $10 million project toreplicate actual long-gone buildingsfrom downtown Edmonton. These areclassic 1920s one- and two-storycommercial blocks, including a silentmovie theater, bookstore, barber shop,beauty parlor, furniture store and tailorshop. In addition, the street will bepaved. Construction is expected to becomplete in 2010.

Ft. Smith Trolley Museum Ft. Smith, AR

Federal and city funding totalingover $450,000 has been approved for atrack extension.

Fraser Valley Heritage RailwaySociety

The Society, already owner ofBritish Columbia Electric interurban#1225, has purchased BCE interurban#1304. The car was located at theOregon Electric Railway Museum. Car#1304 has an unusual history. It wasoriginally built in 1911 by BE Electric'sNew Westminster Shops. It was almosttotally destroyed by fire in 1945 TheBCE Kitsilano shops rebuilt it in 1946,complete with wooden body and archedwindows, perhaps the last woodeninterurban to be constructed in NorthAmerica. It was preserved by SeashoreTrolley Museum and loaned to OERM.

Friends of the Cumbres & ToltecThe Friends have entered into a

cooperative arrangement with theMontana Heritage Commission. TheFriends will volunteer for a variety ofprojects at the Alder Gulch Short Linein Virginia City, Montana. In exchange,the Friends will receive up to twelvepairs of narrow gauge trucks that arecorrect for the C&TS’ narrow frameUTLX tank cars. That in turn will freeup trucks that are correct for recentlyacquired “frameless” tank cars.

In the last issue of RMQ, the Editorremarked on how much better the trackwas than during his last visit in 2001.The latest Dispatch newsletter includesa detailed description of the workcompleted over the last three years.

16

Hydro testing an air reservoir.

South Shore & South Bend line car#1100 (St. Louis Car 1926). It’s aclassic heavy steel interurban that wasbuilt for Indiana Service Corporation,which was absorbed by the IndianaRailroad. The South Shore bought it in1941. The car had been donated toanother preservation group by theNorthern Indiana CommuterTransportation District, but they wereunable to follow through and the carwas made available to IRM.

As the largest North Americanrailway museum, IRM not surprisinglyhas a very active website. Its activitynumbers for February 2009 give an ideaof the potential impact of the web onrail preservation. The month saw2,251,143 page views, an average of167,339 per day by 18,932 uniqueusers. Of those, 25 percent visited morethan once. These numbers are for theoff-season, and certainly increaseduring spring, summer and fall.

Museum of Transportation St. Louis, MO

Continuing a trend that started withthe California State Railroad Museumand the National Railroad Museum inGreen Bay, the Museum ofTransportation is reducing the size of itscollection. It is deaccessioning thefollowing pieces of equipment.

Steam locomotivesGreat Lakes Carbon #7 Fireless

0-4-0 (Porter 1941)Great Northern #2100 Vanderbilt

tender only (Baldwin 1923)

Diesel LocomotivesCB&Q/MARC #66 E8A (EMD

1954)Wabash #547 GP-35 (EMD 1964)US Army #1844 H-1244 (Fairbanks-

Morse 1955)Minneapolis & St. Louis #546 RS1

(Alco 1946)US Army #7765 tiny single truck

switcher (GE 1943)

Electric LocomotivesFDS (Italian State Railway) side rod

steeplecab E550.025 (Westinghouse1910)

Passenger CarsSt. Louis-San Francisco #200 steel

sheathed wood office car (St. CharlesCar Co. 1891)

Lehigh Valley/Chicago & EasternIllinois #405 1911 steel coach

Chicago, Indianapolis & LouisvilleMonon #90 steel sheathed wood officecar pre-1885

Colonial steel sheathed wood officecar (Pullman 1905)

Minneapolis, St. Paul, and Sault Ste,Marie #49 steel sheathed wood office

17

30,000 ties-14 percent of the entiremain line complement-have beenreplaced. 52 of the 64 miles have beenballasted, surfaced and aligned. In thecourse of this work, 81 kinks have beenremoved by cutting excess rail length.

Beyond the main line improvements,the Osier loop has been madeoperational, the Cumbres wye has beenlengthened, and ties have been replacedin the Chama yard and at mainlinesidings. The work has come in underbudget, in part through the purchase ofalmost-new wood ties from class onerailroads converting to concrete.

The Friends has a restoration site inColorado Springs, which rebuilds onerail car at a time. This year it completedthe rebuilding of 1891 pile driver #OB.Its new project is Maintenance of Waykitchen and diner car #0252 (Pullman1889). The work is being moved to anew site, on the grounds of the PikesPeak Historical Street RailwayFoundation, host of the 2008 ARMAnnual Conference.

Halton County Radial RailwayMilton, ON

Barn 4 has been erected and$660,000 has been expended to date. Ithas received $20,000 from the Town ofMilton Community Fund, but needsanother $80,000 to install the doors andtrack.

Houston Railroad Museum Houston, TX

A grant from the HoustonEndowment has funded the repaintingof Missouri-Kansas-Texas andSouthern Pacific cabooses, Spokane,Portland & Seattle heavyweightbaggage car #50 (which serves as themuseum’s library car) and HoustonBelt & Terminal Alco S2 #14. As partof the painting initiative, volunteers arereadying sleeping car Verde Valley forrepainting.

Huntsville & Lake of Bays RailwayHuntsville, ON

The 36th Annual G8 meeting ofworld leaders will be held in Huntsvillein June 2010. In preparation, a largemedia center building will beconstructed during 2009. The newbuilding requires the relocation of therailroad’s Rotary Station, which servesthe Muskoka Heritage Place historicvillage. The railroad will not operateduring 2009. The station will be movedfurther into the village, requiring atrack extension up a rather steep hill toreach the new site. This year will beused to relocate the depot, build thenew track and refurbish the line’srolling stock.

Illinois Railway Museum, Union, ILThe museum has acquired Chicago,

car (Barney & Smith 1911)Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul &

Pacific Milwaukee lightweight officecar (Milwaukee Shops 1948)

Baltimore & Ohio #5551 low profiledome car (Pullman-Standard 1949)

Union Pacific #903673 lightweightbaggage-mail (ACF 1949)

CaboosesWabash #2229 wood cupola

(Wabash 1904)Missouri Pacific #1155 side-door

steel (Missouri Pacific 1940)New York, Chicago & St. Louis

(“Nickel Plate”) #1143 wood cupola(ACF 1909)

Southern Pacific #1859 steel baywindow (International Car 1970)

StreetcarsSEPTA #2186 PCC on standard

gauge trucks (St. Louis Car 1948)

Maintenance of Way US Army #226 25-ton locomotive

crane (Orton 1953)

National Capital Trolley MuseumColesville, MD

All the museum’s streetcars havebeen moved into the new displaycarbarn. The carbarn yard and loop atthe old site have been removed. The railis going to the Shore Line TrolleyMuseum and the original ex-Baltimoreoverhead wire to the BaltimoreStreetcar Museum. Completion of thenew Visitor Center awaits theinstallation of the storm watermanagement system sand filters. ATransportation Enhancement grant hasbeen awarded for two of the sandfilters.

Niles Canyon Railway Sunol, CAThe museum has acquired Santa Fe

steel cupola caboose #999081. It hadbeen owned by a private individual whorebuilt the trucks with new wheels,rehabbed the brakes, replaced thecouplers, replaced exterior sheet metaland stripped the interior for rebuilding.

Northwest Railway MuseumSnoqualmie, WA

On January 7 and 8, the SnoqualmieValley experienced heavy flooding. Itwashed out the museum’s railroad innumerous places and rose almost to theunderframes of the rolling stock storedoutdoors. Uninsured damage to thetracks totaled $116,000. To date$70,000 has been raised to fill, ballastand resurface 2000 feet of track.

Oklahoma Railway MuseumOklahoma City, OK

The museum has purchased an ex-Army SW8 switcher (EMD 1954)through the State Surplus Property

program. It will serve as backup powerfor the regularly scheduled trains.

Orange Empire Railway MuseumPerris, CA

Although not yet complete, the largenew Ruffalo carhouse has all its tracksand is connected to the rest of themuseum’s railroad. However, a numberof pieces have been located for years onpieces of isolated track. On April 1-3,twelve of them were moved to livetrackage and then into the new barn.This was a major undertaking, as mostof these pieces hadn’t moved fordecades. Some had been used forstorage and had to be emptied. Inaddition, a carbody that had been storedon the ground was placed on trucks andmoved indoors. The moves wereaccomplished using a rail tilt trailerfrom Silk Road Trucking, known formuseum equipment moves. It haddelivered a pair of power trucks fromthe Electric City Trolley Museum,scheduled to arrive in Perris for theOERM project.

The museum has taken delivery of18

By rendering modern surroundings invisible, darkness can help a museum recreate historic scenes, such as these evocativeones provided courtesy of the Monticello Railroad Museum.

Union Pacific 1928 modernizedheavyweight buffet diner #4051 .

Pennsylvania Trolley MuseumWashington, PA

Two significant private artifactcollections have been donated. JohnWilkins’ includes 243 PittsburghRailways signs, maps and drawingsdating as far back as the 1890s, and 45West Penn drawings. Cy Hosmer hasdonated a large group of images andcatalogs which had been discarded byWestinghouse Air Brake Company.The photos include early PittsburghRailways air brakes and the 1928 signalinstallation on the interurban toWashington, PA.

According to the latest Trolley Farenewsletter, Bombardier contacted themuseum to say they could donate sevenflat files, good for storing drawings andmaps. This turned out to mean sevenpallets of flat files, totaling 17 cabinetswith 112 drawers, worth $19,000 ifpurchased new. This is good news,since the museum’s archive hassufficient items to fill all the drawers.

Seashore Trolley MuseumKennebunkport, ME

Seashore members have always beengenerous financial contributors, and2008 was no exception. Total supportfor the year reached $338,000, from579 members.

19

Shore Line Trolley Museum East Haven, CT

During 2008, volunteers contributed16,458 hours. The Tripper newsletternotes that 110 different volunteers werethe equivalent of eight or nine full-timeemployees, and even at minimumwage, have a value of over $100,000.Compared to most charitableorganizations, volunteer-based railwaymuseums are extremely efficient.Ninety percent of each donated dollargoes directly into operations,maintenance and restoration, asopposed to administration.Volunteerism should insulate museumsfrom the current financial downturn.

Steamtown Scranton, PAThe National Park Service has

announced nearly 800 projects totaling$750 million that can be completedacross the country with funding fromthe American Recovery andReinvestment Act of 2009. Of this,$3.3 million will go to Steamtown tostabilize 27 pieces of historic railroadequipment, remove asbestos, improvePark infrastructure and maintain/repairand restore operational locomotives andpassenger cars.

Western Pacific Railroad MuseumPortola, CA

Equipment acquisitions: Pacific FruitExpress refrigerator car #100468 hasbeen acquired from the California StateRailroad Museum. Built in 1953, it was

part of the first group of PFE cars withmechanical refrigeration.

A&K Railroad Materials has donated44-ton center cab diesel #735 (GeneralElectric 1946), the first diesel on theTidewater Southern.

Western Railway Museum hasdeaccessioned Denver & Rio GrandeWestern wood boxcar #62962 (ACF1909), and it is now part of the WPMuseum collection.

Wiscasset, Waterville & FarmingtonRailway Museum Alna, ME

A 30 x 41 expansion of the shopbuilding is nearing expansion. Theadditional 1230 square feet is about thesize of a three-bedroom ranch houseand has a high ceiling.

THIRD HANDINFORMATION

The Galveston Railroad Museumsuffered major damage from HurricaneIke. Floodwater that topped seven feetruined most of the displays and artifactsinside the museum’s four buildings.The 50 pieces of rolling stock in thecollection sat in eight feet of water.Total damages are estimated at $7million. Insurance is expected to coveronly a small portion of that amount,although about $5 million in FEMAfunding is anticipated. Gulf CoastRailroading

Association of Railway Museums, Inc.1016 Rosser StreetConyers, GA 30012

ARM is a Professional Affiliate Member of the American Association of Museums

At the Maine Narrow Gauge Museum, Sandy River & Rangeley Lakes two-foot gauge combine #15 has been restored by thePenobscot Company. The work was a donation. Photo courtesy Maine Narrow Gauge Museum

Address Service Requested

PRSRT. STD.U.S.POSTAGE

PAIDMINNEAPOLIS,

MNPERMIT NO. 1096