next chapter meeting: september 18 · 2016. 4. 2. · scanlon’s huber wabco grader which is...

HEY, DON’T WE KNOW EACH OTHER? Former Philadelphia & Western trolley 161 from NewYork Museum of Transportation meets LV 211 from theRochester & Genesee Valley Railroad Museum at BOCES Crossing on our shared railroad. More than ten years of hard work from both volunteer organ-izations made this meeting possible.This photo was part of the evening entertainment at the August chapter meeting. PHOTO AND LIGHTING BY CHRIS HAUF

SEPTEMBER 2008VOL. 50 No. 12

FOR FRIENDS AND MEMBERS OF THE ROCHESTER CHAPTER NRHS

NEXT CHAPTER MEETING:

SEPTEMBER 18 Keys, Locks & Lanterns

Past president Jeremy Tuke will give apresentation on collecting railroad

hardware. Bring your pieces!

Mission: PossibleA trolley running under its own power ransouth from NYMT to meet a vintage dieselfrom R&GVRRM that ran north fromIndustry and met at BOCES Crossing. Aspart of the entertainment for our AugustChapter meeting at the museum, a nightphoto shoot was set up to highlight theaccomplishments of our two groups. Itwasn’t long ago when NYMT set the firstpoles for electrification. It wasn’t long agowhen we drove the Golden Spike on ourjoint demonstration railroad. For some ofus, it doesn’t seem that long ago when wefirst purchased Industry depot!

As a preservation society, we have muchto be proud of. We have saved and restoredmany pieces of equipment and artifacts.We have helped educated thousands,

explaining what railroading is all about.See inside for photos from our last DieselDays weekend to see the results.

With all we have accomplished, we’veonly just started down the road. Now wemust look to the future and indentify newchallenges. What are our goals? What dowe want to accomplish in the future? Howdo we want the public to experience a visitto our museum? What are we trying to say,and how will we demonstrate our “tirediron” for future generations?

The good news is that we can build uponour experiences and meet our new chal-lenges. We have developed creative solu-tions for many issues that face the muse-um, we will continue to do so in the future.

—Otto M. Vondrak

INSIDETrain Bulletin . . . . . . . 2

Museum News . . . . . . 3

Funeral Train. . . . . . . . 8

News and Updates . . . 9

PRR Pine Falls . . . . . 10

Off the Train Wire . . 12

ROC H ESTE R C HAPTE R , NAT IONAL RA I LWAY H ISTOR ICAL SOC I ETY • EST. 1937 • ROC H ESTE R, N EW YOR K

Identifying and meeting our new challenges is key to success

2 • SE PTE M BE R 2008 • TH E SE MAPHOR E • ROC H ESTE R C HAPTE R N R HS

The official publication of the Rochester Chapter,

National Railway Historical Society

Volume 50, No. 12

EDITOROtto M. Vondrak

PRINTING AND MAILINGGale SmithBob Miner

©2008 Rochester Chapter, NRHS. TheSemaphore is published monthly by theRochester (New York) Chapter, NationalRailway Historical Society. It is mailed freeto all Chapter members. Non-member subscriptions are $10.00 and run fromJanuary 1 to December 31. Chapter meetings are held the third Thursday of eachmonth, and the Board of Directors meets thefirst Thursday of each month. Any itemsrelated to the activities of the RochesterChapter the Rochester & Genesee ValleyRailroad Museum, and regional railroad history are gladly accepted.

www.rochnrhs.org

CHAPTER OFFICERS

PRESIDENTDave Luca

VICE PRESIDENTRobert Achilles

TREASURERDon Wawrzyniak

RECORDING SECRETARYJoe Nugent

CORRESPONDING SEC’YDave Scheiderich

NATIONAL DIRECTORBob Miner

TRUSTEESRon AmbergerLuther Brefo

Mike DowHarold Russell

Joel ShawJohn Stewart

TRAIN BULLETINSHORT NEWS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS REGARDING

THE ROCHESTER CHAPTER NRHS

MEMBERSHIP REPORTA new member signed up during Diesel Days. He isan engineer with New Jersey Transit.

George S. Petrie324 E. 11th AveNorth Wildwood, NJ 08260e-mail [email protected]

NEW YORK CENTRAL STATION IN LE ROYMember Charles Woolever is looking for qualityPhotos/scans/photocopies showing the New YorkCentral depot in LeRoy, NY. Please contact Charlesat 585-594-4721 or [email protected]

UPCOMING PROGRAMSA list of upcoming programs has been provided byHarold Russell. If you are interested in giving apresentation at an upcoming chapter meeting,please contact Harold at [email protected].

October 16, 2008 - The Lehigh Valley Railroad byJohn Stewart

November 20, 2008 - Modern Day PassengerService in Europe and Trains in the United Kingdomby Sam Rosenberg

December 18, 2008 - VACANT

January 15, 2009 - Western American RailroadSlides from Long Ago by Ron Stacey

February 19, 2009 - Steam Freight Photo Charterby Irene Szabo

March 19, 2009 - Rochester’s Street Cars byCharlie Lowe

April 16, 2009 - The Dansville & Mount MorrisRailroad by Douglas Morgan

May 21, 2009 - Members’ Slide Night and ChapterElections - Everybody is Welcome!

VISIT OUR WEB SITE:WWW.ROCHNRHS.ORG

PLAN AHEAD: Next Meeting:

October 167:00 PM at 40&8 Club

JOIN ROCHESTER CHAPTER NRHSAnnual Dues: $53.00

Rochester Chapter NRHSP.O. Box 23326

Rochester, NY 14692-3326

Dan Wawrzyniak in the excursion set “window shop”inside our former Erie Stillwell coach. Our volunteershave made great strides in replacing our old Buddcoach windows! PHOTO BY RAND WARNER

Chapter president Dave Luca presents the FairmontCup award to immediate past president Jeremy Tuke asthanks for all his years of hard work. The award is presented as a sign of gratitude to an outstandingChapter member each year at the Chapter Picnic.PHOTO BY DAVID SCHEIDERICH

WWW.ROC H N R HS.ORG • TH E SE MAPHOR E • SE PTE M BE R 2008 • 3

MOTIVE POWER DEPT.August was a fairly quiet month for loco-motive restoration. However efforts werefocused on preparation and operations dur-ing the Diesel Days weekend. The motivepower group worked on preparing LV 211and R&GV 1654 for Diesel Days by clean-ing them, checking fluids and washingwindows and other details. Both enginesperformed flawlessly both days of theevent due to this careful preparation.Thanks go to all who helped with thesetasks.

RG&E 1941: Although restoration workwas subdued it was not entirely quiet. JoeNugent and Mike Dow worked on cuttingout the rusted out exhaust pipe recesses inthe hoods of the GE 45-tonner. Steel wasordered by Joe to fabricate new recesses.Ron Amberger did additional work on theengine by wire brushing scale away fromthe window openings and portions of thecab interior and priming these areas inpreparation for the repainting of the entirelocomotive. Also, member Joe Wernerconstructed new step boxes for RG&E1941. They will be fininshed in the samepaint used on the locomotive. Thanks froman appreciative Motive Power Team!

Motive power needs:

• Donations for the LocomotivePreservation Fund; on-line or by mail.

• A person skilled in welding and brazingto do minor repairs on the 1941 (contactJoe Nugent).

• Drawings for making air whistles to beused on our diesel locomotives.

—Ron Amberger

ESE WINDOW REPLACEMENTRehab work on the former New YorkCentral Empire State Express Budd stain-less steel passenger cars continues with ourteam working Saturdays and Tuesdays,usually starting about 9:30 AM, both days.The regulars are Don Wawrzyniak, Bill

Blaesi, Dale Hartnett, Lynn Heintz andDave Peet.

During August we completed 9 smallwindows—all the windows in cars 2 and 3have been rebuilt and we're reinstallingthem in car 2 (car 3 is done!). Four win-dows in car 1 are done as well. The next

ROCHESTER & GENESEE VALLEY RAILROAD MUSEUMV I S I T O U R W E B S I T E : W W W. R G V R R M . O R G

MUSEUM MANAGERS

RAILROAD: Chris Hauf(585) 381-8583 [email protected]

INFRASTRUCTURE: Dave Luca(585) 288-0318 [email protected]

DEPARTMENT OF MOTOR VEHICLES:TOP: The Ford hi-rail dump truck and hydraulic boom cranewas returned to active duty in late June. Pete Gores is seen inspecting the hi-rail gear with the truckparked on NYMT tracks at Giles Crossing.We are currently trying to locate the rail rack that becameseparated from the truck bed when it was pressed into wire duty. ABOVE: Sheet metal cut for theInternational REA truck was test-fit in place. This project is slowly taking shape after many yearsspent working on mechanical issues. PHOTOS BY RAND WARNER


TOP: For the first time ever, our Pennsy Pullman/Lounge “Pine Falls” rides the rails, providing short trips for guests at our September 6 Chapter Picnic!We let the Pine Falls stretch its legs a bit after we pulled it from Track 2 at Industry. Of course, our demonstration railroad didn’t exist yet when thecar was donated in 1986. The Pine Falls will be moved up to long term storage at the Restoration Building for evaluation and possible stabalizationefforts.The all-red (Tuscan and Cornell) consist looked great! LV 211 is a former PRR passenger loco. ABOVE LEFT: Nighttime configuration of a bed-room, with ladder to upper bunk. ABOVE RIGHT: Daytime confiuration shows the upper bunk stowed away. See page 10! PHOTOS BY DAVID SCHEIDERICH

MUSEUM NEWS CONTINUED


step for these cars is to paint the windowband to cover the blue paint added by Metro-North during their stewardship [But I kindalike it, though! Reminds me of home! -Ed.].

We need help to start repairs to the inte-rior walls where age and water leaks havedamaged the wall panels. This work needsto be done before any interior painting. Ifyou can help with this effort, please comeon out to Industry on Saturday or Tuesday,or see Dave Luca for instructions! Moneydonations to buy polycarbonate sheet andwall panel material will be gratefullyaccepted and put to use immediately!Since we began work in early January, wehave rebuilt 23 large and 26 small win-dows. As 16 large windows were done inpast years, that leaves just 26 large and 29small windows to do!

—Dave Peet

TRACK DEPARTMENTSwitch 6 continues to get attention to ties,ballast, elevation and tamping from MikeDow, Luther Brefo, Mike Roque, RandWarner, Dave Chapus, Chad and others.The results were evident in smoothertracking of locomotives and equipmentduring Diesel Days weekend. Additionalwork on this critical switch will continuethrough the operating season.

The LA&L track crews will soon bepre-fabbing and installing the new switchthat will lead into our yard at Industry,located one rail length to the north from itscurrent location. This should ease thecurve and reduce wear and tear. We will bemoving all of the displayed equipment offTrack 1 and Track 2 and deactivatingSwitch 2 in preparation for new track toconnect to the new switch. We will thendismantle Track 1 and 2 and re-use thematerials elsewhere.

The new siding on the west side of theLA&L continues to grow. We are now up tofour rail lengths from where we started.Work is being led by Dave Luca and LutherBrefo, assisted by Mike Roque, JeremyTuke, Dave Chapus, Rand Warner, Chad,Scott Gleason, Dave Waterstraat, “Super”Dave Scheiderich, Jessica Stallone andmany others. We currently have a flatcarand Trackmobile on the siding.

—Rand Warner

CONSTRUCTION EQUIPMENTOur Caterpillar Model 225 road grader hasbeen used heavily on our grading projectssouth of the Restoration Building and forthe new siding for the excursion cars. TheChapter has recently acquired JoeScanlon’s Huber Wabco grader which islarger than our Cat 225. Dan Waterstraatand Rand Warner are getting the Hubergrader up and running and ready for serv-ice around the museum grounsds.

The new siding for the excursion coach-es has entailed the use of our Ford forklift,Cat 225 grader, Trojan bucket loader,Schram air compressor, Army 6x6 flatbedtruck, Cat D7 bulldozer, and we may useour Galion road roller. Thanks to everyonewho make it possible to operate and main-tain our fleet of vintage constructionequipment.

DIESEL DAYS 2008Once again, all of our hard work paid off,resulting in an enjoyable and trouble-freeexperience for our guests of our TenthAnnual Diesel Days weekend. Engines1654 and 211 were the stars of the show,with 1843 on standby. Our two museumswelcomed 648 paid attendees who cameout to ride the trolley and experience ourvintage diesels. While we don’t get achance to talk to everyone, it’s clear fromour repeat business that we must be doing

something right. A hearty thank you to allour volunteers who made it possible, andall of our Chapter members who support usthrough donations and annual member-ship. Also thanks to our friends at the NewYork Museum of Transportation for pro-viding crews for trolley operations.

CHAPTER PICNICThe 2008 Rochester Chapter MembersPicnic was a huge success. As opposed toprevious years, the meal was catered, free-ing up people to enjoy their time with oth-ers. Despite the overcast day, there was agood turnout. The highlight of the day wasfreeing the Pine Falls from its 22-yearhome on Track 2 for the first movement upand down our demonstration railroad! Ofcourse, when the Pine Falls first arrived atIndustry in 1986, there was no demonstra-tion railroad to ride on! The ride aboard thePine Falls was smooth and enjoyable. TheChapter’s Fairmont Cup award was pre-sented to Jeremey Tuke for his dedicatedyears of service as president. Jeremy'srecent contributions to our organizationinclude helping with the water and sewerissues, negotiating our new land permitacquisitions, as well as the construction ofthe excursion set siding. We look forwardto future contributions towards the contin-ued growth and success of the RGVRRM.

—David Scheiderich

ROCHESTER & GENESEE VALLEY RAILROAD MUSEUM NEWSV I S I T O U R W E B S I T E : W W W. R G V R R M . O R G

Museum volunteers gather at Industry Depot for their safety and operations briefing on the firstmorning of Diesel Days.Turn the page for even more Diesel Days pictures! PHOTO BY CHRIS HAUF


MUSEUM NEWS CONTINUED

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1. Visitors board trains at Industry Depot, choosing to ride either caboose or locomotive (VONDRAK). 2. Late in the afternoon, R&GV 1654 and the ErieCaboose head north up the ramp. (ROQUE) 3. Engineer Ron Amberger and his wife. This was Ron’s first season as a qualified engineer under the newtraining program. (COURTESY AMBERGER) 4. Here we see the transfer point loaded full of equipment, including two of our excursion set cars used as ainclement weather waiting room and snack bar! Step boxes are down, car hosts are ready, and the first trolley from NYMT is dropping off passengers...time to start the show! (PLAYFORD) 5. Looking every bit at home on our demonstration railroad, LV 211 descends the grade into Industry Yard. (ROQUE)


ROCHESTER & GENESEE VALLEY RAILROAD MUSEUM NEWSV I S I T O U R W E B S I T E : W W W. R G V R R M . O R G

• No. 3A crushed stone ballast for newtrack construction

• Non-asbestos boiler lagging for Heislerfireless steam locomotive

• Cantilever passenger car jacks for useon our excursion trainset

• Donations/sponsors for proper grade ofLexan plastic sheets for fabricatingouter window panes on excursion cars

• Sheet steel in 0.085” thickness forrehab of Rochester Subway car 60

• Cases of soda/pop in cans

• Steel stationery cabinets for tools

• Four-drawer file cabinets

• Pallet racking crossbeams

• Good used, or new, rims for Bobcat 610

• Socket sets - 3/8", 1/2" and 3/4" drive

• Sturdy wood, metal, or plastic pallets

• Track bolts for 80-lb. or 90-lb. rail

• Working tractor backhoe

• Ballast hopper car

IF YOU CAN HELP PROCURE ANY OF

THESE ITEMS PLEASE CONTACT:

Chris Hauf at (585) 381-8583Dave Luca at (585) 288-0318

Rand Warner at (585) 425-8586

Visit the Museum on-line:

www.rgvrrm.org

WANTED

MUSEUM CLOSES:

October 26

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6. Crowds of visitors board the NYMT trolley at BOCES Crossing. (SCHEIDERICH) 7. LV 211 comesdown the hill with a full load of visitors. (PLAYFORD) 8. Diesel Days volunteers meet at Industry depotfor their job briefing. (VONDRAK) 9. Engineer Mike Roque poses on LV 211. (VONDRAK) 10. Chris Haufand his two daughters enjoy a ride in our restored Penn Central transfer caboose. (VONDRAK)


Billy’s Last Train HomeFriends and family of William “Billy” Reidgathered in Medina on Saturday, August 9to board a special memorial train toBrockport. Billy Reid had recently retiredfrom Genesee Valley Transportation, oper-ators of the Falls Road Railroad betweenLockport and Brockport. Alco RS-322035 would have the honors, pullingMedina Railroad Museum’s leased NewYork Central stainless steel coaches. Theidea for the funeral train came from GVTowner and Chapter member DavidMonteVerde. According to an article in theAugust 11 issue of the Batavia Daily News,“He had so many friends and everybodyliked him,” MonteVerde explained, “I justhad to do something to honor him.”

Chapter member Lynn Heintz ofBatavia was aboard, remembering hisfriend. “He would be the first person toarrive for a work session on Saturdays,and the last one to leave at night.” A ded-icated museum volunteer, Reid’s Crossingis named in his honor. “He always hadhalf a smile on his face, you never know ifhe was kidding or serious,” Heintz said.

Immediate past Chapter presidentJeremy Tuke was also riding this day.“This was simply the right thing to do,”said Jeremy, “He helped build our rail-road.” Reid’s Crossing is named in honorof Billy’s contributions.

The locomotive was draped in tradition-al black bunting, with a placard reading

“In Memory of Billy Reid” placed on thefront. More than 100 freinds and familyrode the train to Brockport and back topay tribute to their friend and rememberthe good times. During the trip, a momentof silence was observed for Reid, and alsofor GVT engineer Kevin Kniese who diedfrom leukemia more than a year ago.

William “Billy” Reid died July 15,2008 at Strong Memorial Hospital fol-lowing am extended illness. He was bornin Albion in 1942, to William and AgnesReid. Bill was a railroad man most of hislife having recently retired from GVT.

—Otto M. Vondrak with thanks toDavid MonteVerde. Portions quoted

from the Batavia Daily News.

TOP: Falls Road ran a special “Memory Train” inhonor of Billy Reid, seen here in Billy’s home-town of Albion, New York. ABOVE LEFT: Earlierin the day, the train was eastbound at Albion.ABOVE RIGHT: The special train passing thegrain silo at Knowlesville. PHOTOS BY MIKE ROQUE


The Rochester Chapter is the third oldestchapter in the National Railway HistoricalSociety, dating back to 1937. Ever sincewe held our first meetings in the old NewYork Central station downtown, we havebeen actively seeking out artifacts of rail-roading to preserve. Having no permanentmuseum of our own until the the early

1980s, storing and displaying these itemswas difficult at best. With our collectionsurviving the move from RochesterCentral Station to our location on SouthAvenue, and then to our research library inWebster and now to secure, climate con-trolled storage, the time has come toaccount for everything we have andupdate our records.

The Chapter’s Collections ManagementCommittee will be conducting severalaudits to update our records. The first auditwill inventory all Chapter-owned assetscurrently stored in members homes or else-where off-site. Phase one will be to get anupdated list of exactly what is out there.

Phase two will be to return these assets toChapter. The second audit will cover allprivately owned items currenlty located atthe Rochester & Genesee Valley RailroadMuseum. This includes any tools or miscellaneous equipment.

If you can help us update our recordsand help us track down missing parts ofour collection, please contact John Stewartvia email at [email protected] or

John Stewartc/o Rochester Chapter, NRHSPO Box 23326Rochester, NY 14692-2366

—John Stewart

Collections auditwill help updateChapter records

Board approves engineering study for trolley extensionThe Rochester Chapter NRHS Board ofDirectors voted in June to approve an engineering study to be compeleted byNYMT’s Charlie Lowe that will outlinethe extenion of overhead trolley wire fromScanlon’s Curve up to Switch 6, and even-tually down to Industry Depot.

Currently, the New York Museum ofTransportation is the only operating trolleymuseum in the state, since its first test runsof 2001. Increasing the length of the ridewill increase interest in our joint museumoperations, and encourage more visitorsand support for our programs. The aggres-sive construction nearly doubled the lengthof operable wire by Diesel Days, the current end of wire is at Scanlon’s.

Extended electrification to Industrywould allow regular trolley servicebetween our two museums, meaning apotential increase in visitors to both facil-ities and a far more efficient way to trans-port them. It would also allow for even-tual operation of our Rochester SubwayCar 60, currently undergoing a multi-yearevaluation and reconstruction in theRestoration Building. —omv

TAKE THE TRAIN TO THE TROLLEY... The hard work of volunteers from both RGVRRM and NYMTmade this scene possible.Trolley 161 from NYMT meets LV 211 from RGVRRM at BOCES Crossing atthe August Chapter Meeting. Look for expanded service in the years to come. PHOTO BY CHRIS PLAYFORD

Rochester City Council votes to fill old Subway tunnelRochester’s subway tunnel under BroadStreet carried passengers until 1956, andsome freight until 1996. Ever since theSubway was abandoned, the tunnel hadbeen mostly dormant. The city, owners ofthe former Subway tunnel, spent millionsto rebuild the Broad Street road surface inthe 1970s. The time has come again torepair and rebuild the tunnel.

In July, the Rochester City Council voted tofill in a deteriorating part of that tunnel.Leaders say that structural damage threatenssafety on the road above. However, thatvote also put a consultant on board toexplore the possibility of transforming otherportions of the tunnel and putting them touse. The focus will be on the acqueductspanning the Genesee River. -omv

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The faded red passenger car that lived onTrack 2 at Industry for so many years has ahistory that includes serving passengers onfirst class limiteds and later serving drinksto commuters on Long Island’s east end.The car we know as the “Pine Falls” wasbuilt in 1939 by Pullman-Standard for useon the Pennsylvania Railroad. It saw regu-lar assignments on first class trainsthroughout the system. Configured as aPullman/Lounge, half of the car was builtas sleeping car space with 6 double bed-rooms, while the other half was configuredas a buffet lounge. A small galley kitchenwas located amidships, and was capable ofproducing beverages, sandwhiches, andother light meals and snacks. A neat featurein the lounge is a telephone set, which wasan early implementation of a radio tele-phone that allowed passengers to makecalls from the train! We are also lucky thatmost of the furnishings in the lounge carare original, with the exception of one ortwo pieces we cannot trace or verify.

After providing years of service on thePRR, the “Pine Falls” was purchased bythe Long Island Rail Road in October 1968(interesting to note that the LIRR was aPRR subsidiary until it was purchased bythe state in 1966). On Long Island, the carwas known as “Poquott,” and was pressedinto parlor car service on “east end” trainsto Montauk and Greenport. According toone web site, it was retired in 1976 andsold to Naparano Iron & Metal in 1977.[Note: This conflicts with our 1979 retire-ment date and NYS Liquor License on dis-play in the kitchen, issued to LIRR! —Ed.]This could have been the end of the line forthe Pine Falls...

Conrail engineer Don Jilson purchasedthe former Pine Falls from Naparano in1978, and had the car moved to Owego. Itwas later moved to Flemingville before itwas moved up to the Ontario Midland. Itsat there for many years before Jilsondonated the car to the Rochester Chapter in1985. It arrived at Industry in 1986, and

has been on display ever since as an exam-ple of prewar design.

A number of efforts towards stabilizingthe car since its arrival. Several volunteersworked on the electrical system in the car,which allowed us to turn on most of thelights in the lounge and kitchen and someof the lights in the bedrooms. A window airconditioner was installed in the lounge,and the car was used for many Chaptermeetings over the years. At various pointsthroughout the years, a general cleansingwas attempted to keep the car hospitable.However, the deterioration of the bodyfrom the inside proved to be an over-whelming task, and cosmetic restorationefforts stalled. In an effort to rebuild theyard tracks at Industry, it was decided to

move the Pine Falls off Track 2 and up toour Restoration Building (which did notexist when the Pine Falls first arrived!).The car will undergo a careful evaluationfor possible future preservation efforts.

—Otto M. Vondrak

AT A GLANCEBuilder: Pullman-StandardBuilt: 1939Road/Number: PRR 8139 “Pine Falls”/LIRR 2063 “Poquott”Retired: 1976/1979Acquired: 1986

Pennsy PullmanPINE FALLS

TOP: Former Pennsylvania Railroad Pullman/Lounge “Pine Falls” on display Track 2 at Industry.Thecar arrived at Industry in 1986, after it was donated by Don Jilson. PHOTO BY DAVE SCHEIDERICH

ABOVE: Long Island Rail Road parlor 2063 “Poquott” is on the rear end of the eastbound “ShelterIsland Express” at the station platform at Greenport, NY on a hot, hazy, August day in 1971. The“Poquott” served in parlor car service until it was retired in the late 1970s. PHOTO BY DAVE KELLER

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Another whirlwind month comes to a close! Itwas great to be in Rochester again and tohelp volunteer at Diesel Days this pastAugust. At right is a photo SuperDave took ofme delivering the August Semaphore to theNYMT print server during a visit earlier thatmonth.While I didn’t mind bringing the hi-resPDF file with me this time, but I gotta tellyou, the six-hour commute back toWestchester County is killer!

I always enjoy Diesel Days, and not justbecause it’s an excuse to carry a radio andride the trains. I like meeting visitors to ourmuseum and showing them everything wehave to offer. It’s great to hear parents whoconfess that their young child is “totally intotrains” and “We come back here every year”or better yet “We joined up and becamemembers!” Oh, those darn kids!

Our museum is constantly changing andevolving to meet new challenges every day.The rising costs of fuel, the scarcity of fundsfor restoration work, and a poor economy cur-tailing everyone’s discretionary spending arejust some of the issues we face. How can wereinvent ourselves to make the museum moreattractive, not only to prospective visitors butto our own membership as well?

We have a diverse collection of equipment,most of which has some tie to the greaterRochester area. Perhaps it is time we moveforward on using our collection to better tellthe story of railroad history in our area. Weare partnered with the NYMT, currentlyoperating the only trolley ride in the state.Perhaps there are more opportunities towork together and develop interesting newvisitor experiences.

Finally, I just want to thank everyone forthe very kind words of encouragementregarding The Semaphore. I appreciate yourfeedback, positive or not!

—Otto M. Vondrak

Editor’s Corner email: [email protected] telephone: 585.820.2341

EDITORIAL SUBMISSIONS: Any materials related to the activities of the Rochester Chapter, the Rochester & Genesee Valley RailroadMuseum, as well as the history of Rochester’s railroads are welcome for publication in the Semaphore. All written materials should be submitted as Microsoft Word or plain text documents, and all photographs as high-resolution JPEG files. Materials and inquiries should beemailed to the Editor at [email protected] or call (585) 820-2341.

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Enjoy these additional photos from our TenthAnnual Diesel Days weekend,August 23-24,2008.More than 600 people visited our museum!11. Engineer Ron Amberger in the cab of R&GV1654, which ran in tandem with our Eriecaboose. (HAUF) 12. In a scene straight out ofthe 1930s, NYMT 161 negotiates the S-curvesnear BOCES Crossing en route to the transferpoint to meet our diesels. (HAUF) 13. Our ErieCaboose backs down into Inudstry Yard with afull load of visitors. Many of our trains ran at fullcapacity throughout the weekend. (HAUF)14. Bob Achilles helps a passenger off of NYMT161 at the Transfer Point. Bob has been an activevolunteer with both organizations for manyyears now. (HAUF)

NON PROFITU.S. POSTAGE

PAIDROCHESTER, N.Y.PERMIT No. 826

THESEMAPHOREROCHESTER CHAPTER

NATIONAL RAILWAY HISTORICAL SOCIETYP.O. BOX 23326ROCHESTER, NY 14692-3326

TRACK CARS: Our TC-3 track motorcarreceived special attention from “Doctor”Mader. The work was performed in com-fort of our Restoration Building. The carwill be returned to NYMT by the time youread this.

MILK CAN MADMAN: Lynn Heintz con-tinues to paint more of our vintage milkcans, restoring them to their in-serviceappearance with a coat of clean finish.Expect to see them around the museum, inthe depot waiting room, and on display upat NYMT as well. They will also show upin our Erie milk car when it goes on dis-play as part of our end-to-end milk depic-tion of milk delivery by rail.

WEEDWHACKER WARRIORS: DaleHartnett, Dave Luca, Dan Waterstraat,Dave Peet, Chris Hauf and others have

been battling the weeks with our hand-heldand walk-behind machines. This year hasbeen very challenging because of theweather pattern of extensive rain followedby hot sun. Thanks for keeping MotherNature from taking over our grounds!

NORTHWEST QUADRANT ACCESS:Dan Waterstraat and Scott Gleason haveput in the second road ramp leading fromthe LA&L right of way westward anddown to our new permitted land area.This second ramp will be a big help inrelocating construction equipment to per-mit building the new siding that willhouse our excursion cars.

B&O TURNTABLE: Dan Waterstraat ispainting and preserving our historicturntable that was once located at the B&O(former BR&P) Lincoln Park shops indowntown Rochester. You can readily seethe improvement. He will be placing anidentifying placard on the turntable, simi-lar to what we have on our other equip-ment displays.

PINE FALLS RELOCATION: A rebuiltbrake valve was installed and tested on our

PRR "Pine Falls" Pullman/Lounge inpreparation for moving the car off Track 2and up to the yard north of the restorationbuilding. Upon installation of the rebuiltvalve, everything checked out OK for themove. Rides in the “Pine Falls” were a bighit during the Chapter Picnic. The carshould be relocated by the time you readthis. Thanks to Dave Luca, Luther Brefo,Dave Scheiderich and others who assisted.

HI-RAIL DUMP TRUCK: Bob Mader, PeteGores and Rand Warner have essentiallycompleted all work on the Ford hi-railtruck. By the time you read this, the unitwill be moved back to R&GVRMM, readyto be put to work. It would be very useful ifwe could find the rail rack that originallycame with the unit. The rack fits the backof the truck’s dump bed, which wasremoved during the rebuilding process-can you help us find it? The truck alsosports a hydraulic boom crane. [This cranewas used extensively in 2000 and 2001 bythe RIT gang to relocate rail piles—Ed.]

Off theTrain Wire

—Compiled by Rand Warner

Visit the Museum on-line:www.rgvrrm.org

Chapter Meeting:

September 187:00 PM at The 40&8 Club933 University Ave., Rochester

Next Chapter Meeting:

October 167:00 PM at The 40&8 Club933 University Ave., Rochester

next chapter meeting: september 18 · 2016. 4. 2. · scanlon’s huber wabco grader which is...

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