Still searching at HVRM 2/23/13

Greetings -   Cold, cloudy day at Hoosier Valley today with temp maxing out at about 30 degrees.   We had some snow overnight on Thursday into Friday although nothing like what hit the Great Plains.  The 3" or so at North Judson was "crunchy" when walking on it.  I started out the day putting salt on the depot platform and on the steps leading into the NKP kitchen car.   Joe Baker and Joe Kingsbury were working on the Long Island commuter coach, including Joe B. doing rewiring.  Car was fired up during the day and heat and electric seemed good but Joe K. say that the governor is not holding voltage high enough.   Doug Kosloske and John LaOrange removed the brake valves from EL Alco # 310 to send out for testing.  Meanwhile, the valves for GE # 11 have been received but have not yet been installed.   Fred Boyer and Bob Albert continued working on the yellow IC display caboose.  Since the plan is apparently to repaint the caboose into an orange Illinois Central paint scheme once the car is finished, I decided to try one more time to find the original IC number.  Did some sanding over the platform door but had no luck.  I have looked for this number through the years, but have never had any success.  Some things don't change.  Oh well!  After giving up my search, I took some old partially damaged panels down in the caboose that Doug Kosloske had cut out.  Messy!   Bjarney Henderson and John DeGan worked on the Pullman Troop Sleeper, cutting a number of plywood panels and piecing them into the walls to replace the old pieces that had suffered water damage.  These guys are doing great work!   Bob Jachim was working on a project.  Steve Newland continued to work on the shelving for the new G gauge layout in the depot building.  Loretta Kosloske managed the gift shop and worked on future passenger train plans.  Diane Bennett brought in lunch today.     During the late afternoon, Mark Knebel and I helped John LaOrange move a pallet that had some heavy equipment on it.  The pallet had broken from the weight of the items so this was not a fun job, but we eventually managed to get it done.  John has been trying to clean up the Shop and has made some progress during the last month.   Enjoy the upcoming week everyone.  Stay safe!   Les

Cold wind at HVRM 2-16-2013

Greetings!   Cold day in the mid-20's, with a very wicked wind!  Despite the weather, things were still going on at Hoosier Valley.   Loretta Kosloske, with help from Bill Dauber, was making "goody bags" to pass out to riders on the Easter Bunny train that is upcoming at the end of March.   Bob Barcus rode out with Mark Knebel to show him some ties he had previously found from the old, long abandoned, Erie Railroad wye track.  These ties were from the east leg of that old wye.  Some ties were also found in the "tail track" although this part of the wye actually tied in to the New York Central to form the interchange between the two North Judson railroads.   I made it over to the Shop where I took a couple of photos of the front end of C&O Kanawha # 2789, one of which is hopefully attached to this report.  The photo shows the new numbers in the lamp box up at the top of the 2-8-4's boiler.   The locomotive long had a number in one of the lamp boxes that unfortunately, had an incorrect font.  The frame for the other lamp box was missing and Fred Boyer first had a new frame made, then sized it correctly and then made the 2789 numbers in the correct font after Jeff Kehler of the C&O Historical Society finally found the company records with the correct diagrams in the C&OHS archives.  Fred recently put the two sets of numbers in the lamp boxes and this is the result!  Eventually, the numbers with the correct fonts for the headlight number boards will also be done (the ones shown in the photo are also incorrect) but right now Fred is holding out to get new studs welded in so that he can put the classification lights on the locomotive.   In the other photo with this report, Fred is shown in the foreground working on the cupola area of the ex-Illinois Central Railroad yellow display caboose.  Steve Henrichs is in the background partially hidden behind Fred.  Steve ended up making a very nice metal patch for a rusted out area of the cupola.   In the meantime, Bob Albert was working inside the yellow caboose, putting some new solid supports in for future plywood panelling.  I did just a bit of work inside, removing some small pieces of wood and also taking down an electrical box that will not be needed for the future display plan.   Joe Kingsbury continued working on the interior of Long Island commuter coach number 2937.   Cory Bennett and Rich Warner went out to the wye area after lunch and looked for the survey stakes that had been put in some time ago when the wye area (which the museum eventually purchased) was surveyed some time ago.  Enough of the stakes on the one side were found so that the museum will be able to start removing the old scrub trees in that area.   Steve Newland took some additional measurements for the new G gauge railroad to be put in the waiting room area of the depot.  This addition will connect with the G gauge track that currently runs around the gift shop area and provides such enjoyment for visitors.   There were also a surprising number of folks that stopped by the museum; the nasty weather not preventing a visit.   The first reservations were received for the museums Annual Dinner to be held at the Monon Connection Museum on Sunday, March 10th.  Attendees will be able to visit the displays there at the museum and in addition, Diane Bennett promises a good program for everyone's enjoyment.   Have a good week everyone.  Some bad weather reportedly on the way for later in the week.  Let's hope the weatherman gets it wrong again.   Les

No blizzard, no snow at HVRM 2/9/13

Greetings friends!   Unlike those of you on the east coast that are getting dumped on this weekend, we had sunshine all day today with temps in the mid to high 30's.  The bit of snow still on the ground is slowly disappearing!  We know that winter is not yet over, and could still bite us in the rear end.  But we will be thankful for our continued good fortune and hope those of you in other parts of the country, are holding up as best you can.   Hoosier Valley Board meeting this morning at 8:00 and I was only a few minutes late.  Bob Barcus showed off his drawing for the museums 25th Anniversary celebration.  Really well done.  Fred Boyer came in and announced that he had put up the second set of 6" numbers for the 2789 in the number lamp box up at the top of the Kanawha's smokebox.  We've had one of the lamp boxes with a set of 2789 numbers for a long time but the font was incorrect.  Jeff Kehler of the C&O Historical Society was able to get us the correct font blueprints and Fred got the boards made.  He would have had both done last Saturday, but one glass plate was about an inch too long and wouldn't quite fit.  The new (correct) numbers look great.  Fred intends to do the numbers for the headlight too with the correct font for them, but is holding out now for new studs so that he can put the classification lights up on the 2-8-4.         It was great to see Tom Travis at the museum today.  It's been a very long time since Tom has been in North Judson, mainly caused by hip problems.  Tom got a new hip about 4 months ago and it seems to be coming along nicely.  He brought down the new air brake pipe that Ross Robinson had made some time back and Tom and I marked it and put it on the storage shelves in the shop.  Hopefully it won't end up in the scrap bin!  The pipe is for GTW transfer caboose # 75072, that is currently being used as our "curio sales" shop.  Once the weather turns warmer, we'll try to get the pipe installed under the 75072.   The boys thought that they had the diesel generator under Long Island commuter coach # 2937 repaired, but had another problem pop up this morning.  Cory Bennett, Rich Warner, Dave Cook and Steve Henrichs worked on it and finally got it running smoothly.  Joe Kingsbury continues to work on the interior heating pipe problems.   Bjarne Henderson and John DeGan worked on the air vents along the top of the Pullman Troop Sleeper.  Some of these have apparently been leaking, causing some of the water seepage problems on the interior walls of the car.   Meanwhile, Bob Albert and Fred continued their work of the restoration of the interior on the yellow display caboose and I joined in and helped them.  I managed to finally get the large display cabinet pulled away from the one wall of the car.  Not sure if this cabinet will be used in the new display configuration, but at least it can now be removed if that is the final decision.   John LaOrange was making repairs on the door of the operating crew sign-in room in the shop.   Mike Koehler showed up with a truck to remove some private locomotive parts from the shop building.  Bing Risley loaded some of these items with his fork lift.   Steve Newland continued with building the shelves for the new addition to the G Gauge layout in the waiting area of the museums depot.   Number of other folks working on various things at the museum today including Judy Boyer, Margrett Cook, Randall Downs, Mark Knebel, Tom McKee, Doug Kosloske and Bob Jachim.  Probably missed some folks.   Have a great week everyone.  Remember, February is a short month and once March gets here, so will Spring!   Les

Snow before the storm at Hoosier Valley RR Museum 1/26/2013

Greetings -   Finally had a  bit of snow earlier this week.  So there was snow on the ground at the museum, but some sun today, although temps stayed in the 20's.  Snow/sleet/ice storm forecast for tomorrow.   Big project at HVRM today was work on the diesel power plant under Long Island commuter coach 2937.  The diesel had apparently been overheating in train service this past season, so a number of the guys were working on it including Cory, Steve H., Dave, Joe K., Joe B. and Rich.  Dirty work!   Fred, Bob J. and I spent the day working on the ex-ICRR yellow display caboose.   John D. and Bjarne continued working on the interior of the ex-Pullman Troop Sleeper display car.   John L. and Bob A. worked on the storage racks in the East Annex of the Shop.   After lunch, LIRR 2937 was pulled out of the shop so that the repaired diesel power plant could be fired up without the exhaust filling the shop building.   When the two display cars were placed in the Shop a few weeks ago, the yellow caboose had been pushed in about 2/3rds of the way into the West Shop Annex so that there was a separation between it and the Troop Sleeper.  Unfortunately, this meant that the heavy canvas curtain that separates the West building from the rest of the Shop could not be lowered.  The West Annex is the only shop section that is insulated so by having the curtain remain up, the insulation advantage was lost.  So after lunch, a discussion took place to see if the caboose could fit into the West Annex behind the Troop Sleeper and the curtain lowered behind it.  Original placement had been made because it was not believed that the two cars would fit, but a measurement seemed to indicate that they might!  No motive power to move the cars so Mark K. got a manual car mover and shoved the Troop Sleeper up about a foot to the very end of the track.  Then he tackled the yellow caboose and soon a number of us were pushing on the car too, and eventually we got it in motion and a coupling was made between the two cars.  They cleared by about 6 inches!  Then we had to climb up and release the canvas curtain which had been tied up in place.  Kudo's to Steve H. for making the climb and cutting the ropes.  This should help keep the guys working on the two display cars a bit warmer this winter!   Bob Barcus manned the depot all day.  Actually had one or two folks drop by!   Temp was at 27 degrees on the thermometer attached to the wall of the watchman's shanty when I pulled out of the museum at 4:15.   Enjoy the weekend, and let's remember to be careful out there!     Les

Tearing it up at HVRM 1/12/13

Greetings friends!   What was supposed to start out as a warm day near 50, and then see the temp progressivly drop all day with rain eventually starting, turning to ice and then to snow showers, did none of that!  The temp after the morning Board meeting was 53 degrees and when I went to lunch, there was hazy sun and a temp of 59!  It moderated in the late afternoon, but no precip as I write this after 6:00 p.m.  Our mild winter continues!  Let's hear it for global warming!   Lots of stufff going on at the museum today.   Bob Jachim, Steve Henrichs and Steve Newland were digging out loose stone and mud from the old unloading area just west of the depot.  This area had been filled with stone up to the top of the rail many years ago, to aid in unloading railroad equipment that was moved in to the museum by truck.  The ties unfortunately, which were old to begin with, were thought to have deteriorated through the years and when the extra stone was dug out a couple of week ago, this was confirmed.  Some new ties will be needed before the next operating season.    Cory Bennett, John LaOrange and Mark Knebel were going to apply a new rain gutter to the old Erie building that John had recently repaired.  The one wall of this old Erie maintenance-of-way building had rotted out and John put in a new wall.  Hopefully the new gutter will keep most of the water away from the interior walls.   Doug Kosloske and John DeGan worked on pulling the heads from the Erie S1 diesel preparatory to sending them to Pittsburgh Air Brake.  Hope I got that right!  John told me later that Doug had suffered a minor injury during this work.   That reminds me that if I usually come home from a day at the museum with some kind of bruise or nick or muscle pain.  I guess I should expect that as I am probably one of the more clumsy people in existance.  No problems today though despite working with Bill Dauber and Fred Boyer on continued restoration work on our old IC yellow display caboose.  We managed to pound and hammer and unscrew and get the old display cabinets out of the car.  Fred finished off removing the dried up tar that had been put in the seams of the cupola where it met the caboose roof.  This had dried and cracked through the years and is probably where we were getting some of our leakage problems, along with the leakage from the windows we had put in.   Bob Albert took the torch to the old C&EI car (ex U.S. Army kitchen car) again, this time in an effort to cut the bolts off of the bottom of the car which held the cars stove and the oil tank for the stove.  The mission was accomplished and eventually those will have to be removed from the car.   Bjarne Henderson started in on the restoration of our Pullman Troop Sleeper.  This car has experienced even more leakage problems than the aforementioned yellow caboose.  Bjarne started removing plywood panels in an effort to determine just where the leakage was occouring.  John DeGan, eventually went over to help him, and Fred and I did likewise when we had finished for the day with work on the caboose.   Matt Lasayko showed up in the afternoon and started working on signals.  I noticed that the EJ&E searchlight signal was lit, after a period of time when it was not working.  Good to see that!   So, quite a bit of work ongoing at the museum.  This is the time to be doing stuff like this.  Tear down before you can build up!   Next Saturday will be the museums Annual Meeting.     Colder weather on the way this week folks, so bundle up!     Les

Hot times at HVRM....aftermath 1-5-13

Greetings!   Happy New Year everyone!  Missed last Saturday at Hoosier Valley but the boys were busy.  Work had gone forward on C&EI #A-1054, the ex-U.S. Army kitchen car.  This is the car that is planned to be used as an extension to the NKP camp car that HVRM uses for its members lunchtime meals.  A number of steel shelves and other metal items needed to be removed and last Saturday, these items were torched out.  Around 2:00 on Sunday morning, Bing Risley's dog Corky, woke Bing up with loud barking.  Bing's is the first house north of the museums Shop building and Bing looked out to see flames reflected off the metal sides of the Shop.  He quickly called 9-1-1 and the North Judson fire department arrived to find the C&EI in flames!  Heroic work by the NJFD saved the body of the car, but all of the wood interior walls and ceiling were completely destroyed.  So much for the question about how much of the interior should be removed from the car for the upcoming work.    With that background, I arrived at the museum today for a short work day.  Saw a number of folks working on removing debris from the C&EI car.  This included Dave Cook, Doug Kosloske, Cory Bennett, Steve Henrichs and John LaOrange.  There may have been others, but I stayed out of their way.  Instead, went inside the Shop where I found Fred Boyer, Mark Knebel, Bob Jachim and Bill Dauber working on the CIND,  ex-IC, yellow display caboose.  This is one of the display cars that is planned to be worked on over the winter.  All of the previous displays that were in the car had been removed.  The car previously had a fire (BEFORE it came to Hoosier Valley) that caused much damage, especially to the cupola area and the roof.  Years ago, a restoration was undertaken before displays were moved in, but the car has recently developed a number of bad leaks, especially in the cupola, and the plan is to try to rebuild the cupola windows, and also the leaking body windows.  I got up on the roof and started trying to remove the cupola windows on the long roof end of the car.  Although these windows have developed leaks, the are very difficult to remove.  Much hammering and crowbar work!  I should feel this tomorrow!   Meanwhile, other things were also ongoing at the museum.  Bob Barcus and Loretta Kosloske continued work on the museum passenger schedules for 2013.  There were also some visitors, including a family from Watseka, Illinois!  Joe Kingsbury was working on the LIRR commuter coach, trying to find out the reason behind heating problems in the car.  Steve Newland worked on cutting new shelves for the extension on the G gauge layout in the museums depot building.   After lunch, I decided to go over and look at the C&EI car.  Steve Henrich's asked me if I wanted to give him a hand with the one side center door of the car.  The firemen had jammed it, trying to get it open, eventually getting in through the door on the other side of the car by taking it off of its track.  Steve managed to get the bolts out of the door, we worked to get it unjammed and we then moved it back in the car, setting it up against the side.  We then knocked out the boards that were behind the door, which were the last of the burnt wood.  The car is now down to the bare metal on the inside and work can now commence on restoration.   Finished up doing some more work on the yellow IC caboose and headed for home about 1:30.  A short, but eventful day.   Hope the week goes well for everyone.     Les

Man with beard again at HVRM 12-8-12

Greetings!   Santa put in his appearance at Hoosier Valley again today.  Losing his reindeer and sleigh, he hitched a ride on the 11:00 train to English Lake asking riders to "keep an eye out for my reindeer".  The kids spotted them and if the train hadn't been going so fast (?), he could have hopped off and rounded them up.  He tried again on the 1:30 train and more reindeer were seen.  Again, the breakneck speed of the train prevented Santa from taking off after them.  Since he was on  the trains anyway, he was able to visit with each child and pass out some goody bags.  Cookies and hot cocoa were available for one and all back at the depot.   Yours truly had Santa transportation duties today.  Most of the members were tied up with operating the two trains.   But Steve Henrichs managed to get some painting done on the inside roof of Grasselli Tower's second floor.  Steve Newland was also working on Grasselli.   Bing Risley found time to get the stone around the Hibbard building, future motor car shed smoothed out using his little Bobcat.  John LaOrange and Fred Boyer were in the cab of 310 with Doug Kosloske as conductor.  Joe Kingsbury and Bill Dauber collected tickets on the train.  Mark Knebel and Bob Jachim red flagged the various grade crossings.   Bob Barcus and Loretta Kosloske manned a very busy depot.  Other ladies helping out included Judy Boyer, Margrett Cook, Louise Kingsbury and Dianne Bennett.  Not sure who choreographed the deer scared up for each of the trains today, but I can only say "well done"!   Earlier in the week, when we had temps in the 60's and 70's (unlike the low-40's of today), I managed to get to HVRM on Tuesday and get about a third of the north side roof of passenger car 899 painted black.   Bob Jachim was working that day on the new wood porch for the Secretary's office which had been resided earlier this fall.  Saw today that Bob had managed to get the porch mostly finished except for spindles needed on the railings.   Loretta advised we had a total of 220 riders on both trains today using only Long Island coach 2937 on the train behind EL Alco 310.  Number 2937 was warm and toasty!   One more day of Santa trains next weekend.  Then we are done with train rider operations until next Spring.   Hope everyone has an enjoyable week.   Les

Turnaround at HVRM 11-24-12

Greetings!   Had a week that started out mild with temps in the low 60's.  I managed to get to the museum on Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving, to work on passenger coach # 899.  Did some painting (touching up black paint drips on the pullman green body paint) and also painting the one end of the roof that I could reach from the Alco C420 platform.  Then removed the blue tape around the inside of the windows I painted earlier this year, and also the blue tape from the outside of one window that I missed last week.  Cory Bennett was also there on Wednesday loading up the dump truck with stone ballast.  He said that he and Joe Kingsbury and someone else had put 22 new ties under the Main Line Shop Lead switch and the Shop switch itself.    The great weather held through Thanksgiving Day but started to turn around that evening.  Temps on Friday were in the low 30's and this is where it was today when I checked the thermometer on the Mulberry Street trackside watchman's shanty.  I pulled in this morning around 10:00 a.m. and a crew was already hard at work spiking down the new ties, tamping, levelling and removing the old ties from the area.   During the day, I saw Cory, John LaOrange, Dave Cook, Bob Jachim, Doug Kosloske, Steve Henrichs, Mark Knebel, Rich Warner and Bing Risley, all in this crew.  By the end of the day, both switches had been done.  Because the switches were being worked on, the planned move of the two display cars into the shop, obviously did not take place.  Next week!   Meanwhile, Joe did some additional painting on museum motor car # 591.  The temp in the original Shop building was only about 40 degrees, barely warm enough to paint!   Someone had turned on the signals.  Always nice to see them lit, even if no trains are running.    Fred Boyer was working on C&EI MofW car # A-1054 (ex-Army kitchen car # K325) so I joined him.  We managed to take down the wood center wall that divided the two ends of the car.  Then worked on removing more of the rotten plywood under the windows on one wall.  Fred went to lunch and I swept up the car, throwing wood chips and pieces and dirt into a wheelbarrow that Fred had requisitioned from the East Shop Annex.   After Fred returned, I went for beans and Fred started in on the steel tool bench that the C&EI had installed on one wall.  I gave Fred a hand with it when I returned and he finally got it removed.  We burned a bunch of the junk wood in the Shop's wood stove.  That stove doesn't do much to keep the old Shop area warm, but is a handy way of getting rid of scrap wood.   A new sign was made to put on a Billboard that the museum had rented out on the U.S. 35 and State Route 10 intersection area and some of the guys went out there at the end of the day, to put it up.   I actually saw a few snow flurries earlier today so the cold weather is probably now here to stay.  We still have two days of Santa trains scheduled for next month, so the train season is not quite over yet.    Stay warm this week folks!  Have a great one!     Les

Weather holding and tasks performed at HVRM 11-17-12

Greetings!   Another fair weather day at North Judson yesterday.  Sun all day with temps in the low 50's.    Operations crew of Doug Kosloske, Fred Boyer and John DeGan spent the morning switching out the equipment on the caboose track.  Plan was to jack up cars and grease king pins.  Some of the equipment already had this done but others did not, thus the switching operation.  Cars were set down by the shop and then EL Alco 310 had its system drained of the water that was put in earlier in the day.  This is one of the problems of operating at this time of the year.  The diesels have to be drained to prevent freezing, but then must have water put into the system if the units are needed for use.   Steve Henrichs had the generator going outside of Grasselli Tower providing power for a portable heater in the second floor to take the chill out of that work space.  He and Steve Newland continue scraping and painting up there.   Because of the decent weather, I was able to get the wood door on the one end of coach 899 painted.  This is the door that I primed last Saturday.   Meanwhile, the gandy dancers went out and worked on the interchange switch on the old Erie Railroad mainline.  Mark Knebel told me later in the day that he and Cory Bennett had put 17 new switch ties under this turnout on Friday and today he, Cory, Dave Cook and John LaOrange tamped and spiked those ties in place.  One switch done!   Rich Warner brought in various goodies that his wife had made and also his famous Chili for lunch.   The bi-monthly membership meeting was held after lunch.  Details in the upcoming museum newsletter.   After lunch, Fred went down and worked on removing more stuff from the interior of C&EI A-1054, the old U.S. Army kitchen car.  He then went over and helped the gang doing the kingpin greasing.  This is not an easy job, to say the least!  An overhead crane in the Shop would make this job a lot easier than the jacking up one end of each car, but you do what you have to do to get necessary jobs done!   Joe Baker and Bob Jachim worked on removing the electrical connection for the ex-IC yellow caboose and the Pullman Troop Sleeper which will be moved into the Shop next week so that needed interior repairs can be made to the two cars.  Jon Oram brought down some tarps to be used to protect the N gauge display layout in the Troop Sleeper once these repairs are started.   I spent the afternoon trying to remove the painters tape from the edge of the many windows that I replaced on coach 899 during this year.  This tape was "baked" on and fun to remove.  After I finished, I managed to get the Manlift back over to the West Shop Annex and put away.  Always an exciting proposition!   Have a good week folks!  And a great Thanksgiving!     Les   This is a report on the Saturday "goings-on" at the Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum for those members not in attendance and for those who might have an interest.  Always willing to take your name off of the e-mail list by simply contacting me to do so.

Last good day (?) at HVRM 11-10-12

Greetings!   Arrived at the museum this morning in time for the Board meeting at 8:00 a.m.  Gave a short report on an idea for the museums 25th Anniversary next year.    The weather was cloudy with a temp of 59 degrees  but the weatherman had promised mid to upper 60's.  So....a good day to paint!  Managed to dig the Manlift out of the West Annex of the Shop and finally got it moved over to the south side of the 899 passenger car.   Started out by priming the one wood door on the west end.  Then started in with black paint on the east end of the car.   Spent all day at it, not finishing until 4:00 p.m.  Rain, high winds and falling temps are forecast for the coming week so this may have been the last good outside painting day.     Because I spent the day on 899, I am not sure what else went on today.  I know  that the last Guest engineer of the season ran Alco # 310 in the morning.  Then the Chesapeake & Indiana came into North Judson to pull out the last of the storage tank cars and repaired covered hoppers.  Then non-operating department  museum members were given the opportunity to take a ride in the cab of the S-1.   I paused at times during my painting to take a look as the EL unit headed out east over museum trackage.  It looked like a good time was had by all!   I know that the two Steve's (Henrichs and Newland) worked in Grasselli Tower.  I know that Mark Knebel planned on greasing the cables in the boom of the Purdue crane to get ready for winter, but I don't know for sure that he was able to get that job done.  I also saw John LaOrange heading out with two switch ties on the payloader and later saw Cory Bennett go by with the backhoe.  I assume the ties were probably meant for the interchange switch, but again, not sure.   After all the members were done riding in the S-1's cab, the crew went down to the Shop and eventually came back with the 2789's tender.  This was put on one of the storage tracks to clear space for winter car projects in the Shop.  Two cars that are on the schedule are the yellow ex-Illinois Central caboose and the Pullman Troop Sleeper.  Both are currently set up as museum display cars.    I managed to get the entire south side of the roof of coach 899 finished, and after cleaning up the paint brushes, and putting away the rest of the paint, I moved the Manlift back to the Shop, parking it in front rather than putting it back inside, as per Mark's instructions.  Bing Risley gave me a ride back to the coach in his John Deere contraption, saving me a long walk.  I was tired after all the painting, so appreciated the ride.   Finally rolled out of the museum at 4:30.  Don't forget to remember our Veteran's tomorrow by flying your flag for Veteran's Day!  Have a Super week everyone!   Les

Starting to button it up at HVRM 11-3-12

Greetings!   Another report by a member of the Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum of some of the days activities at the museum.  Typed up for absent members and other interested folks.  As always, if not interested in future reports, a simple note to the writer will spare you future notes.   Got to the museum shortly after 9:00 a.m.  Temp started out in the upper 30's and moved into the mid-40's in the afternoon.   After the Halloween train of last Saturday, our last scheduled runs for the season except for Santa trains on two Saturdays in December, guest engineers were at the throttle of Erie Lackawanna # 310 today.  Five different folks forked over their money for the privilege of having a bit of time running the old S-1 Alco.  One additional guest engineer is scheduled for next week.   Steve Henrichs was busy again scrapping loose paint off of the walls and ceiling of the second floor of Grasselli Tower.  Steve said he needed some of the old cast iron radiators moved around so that he could get his ladder into certain places.  These radiators carried steam heat from the old first floor boiler when the tower was built in the early 1900's.  Although the radiators will not be used in the future, they will be put back on the walls so that the towers appearance will be the same as when it was built.  I  told Steve I would give him a hand with the radiators later when more helped showed up.  They are heavy!  Steve said he was ready to go for a cup of coffee, so we walked over to grab a cup in the kitchen car.   Margrett Cook had finished putting heavy plastic film over the windows on the inside of NKP camp car # X58538, which the museum uses as its members-only kitchen and eating car.   Margett said she had a heavy piece of plastic to go over the end door of the car, but needed someone to put it up on the outside of the door.  I volunteered.  Needed to scrounge some lumber from the Shop and cut it to length.  Then spent about two hours getting everything nailed into place.  Hope it holds up for the winter.   When in the shop, I noticed that the recently donated motor car trailer EJ&W # G1 had been moved onto the end of the track in the West annex of the shop.  Good to see it sitting on rails again.  Joe Kingsbury pointed out the spots where he repairied the roof of the museums motor car # 591.  Joe has done a great job and that car is really looking good.   Todd Flanigan was working on Interlake Steel # 11, finally getting the GE fired up and running.  Kyle Flanigan had one of his classmates from high school at the museum showing him around.  Kyle didn't realize until recently, that his friend also had an interest in trains.   We keep one of our baggage wagons on the depot platform as a display during the summer and Bing Risley brought his little Bobcat over and picked it up and moved it into the storage shed to get it out of the coming cold weather.   Dave Cook recently returned from a Canadian fishing trips and he and Margrett prepared a fish dinner for the members for lunch.  Diane Bennett also brought a caserole in for lunch.   Whenever someone signs up for the guest engineer program, they usually bring friends and family along.  Today was no exception, and I showed some of these folks around the museum displays.  The Troop Sleeper with its rows of triple bunks and the N gauge layout of North Judson proved popular subjects.  Some of these visitors also toured Grasselli where Steve Henrichs, Steve Newland and Joe Baker acted as hosts.   Our gandy dancer crew of Cory Bennett, Mark Knebel, Rich Warner and Dave Cook worked on the switch that leads into the caboose track.  There is a minor problem with the points and they were working on it to try to find the problem.   I went over to help with moving the radiators in the tower, only to find out that the two Steves and Joe Baker had already done it.  Good timing on my part I must say!   Hope everyone has a great week.     Les

Near nothing to report at HVRM 10-6-12

Fellow Travellers -   Arrived at the museum a bit after 9:00 a.m.  Today was our first three Halloween trains of the season and I volunteered to carhost for the day so won't have much else to report as I didn't get around to see much of what was going on.  Cold overnight.  Temp mid-morning was 39 degrees and at the end of the afternoon it stood at 51 degrees.  Probably mid-50's for a high.   These cool temps probably kept riders down a bit.  Still, Loretta Kosloske reported 387 riders total.  The first trip of the day had a nearly full LIRR coach 2937 with people in the B&LE, EL, NKP and EJ&E cabooses and, with some sunshine at that time of the day, even some folks in the Katy open car.    Joe Baker was painting the inside walls of Grasselli this morning with Steve Henrichs continuing his hard at work on scraping and priming under the second floor eaves.  I noticed a hole from the ground and Steve says it is just below where the chimney was.  Some new wood will be needed.  Steve reports that this is the only bad section he has found.  Everything else seems solid.  Steve Newland also worked on the tower later in the day.   With so many members tied up with the pumpkin train operations today, there wasn't a lot of other stuff going on.  Cory Bennett and Dave Cook were working on the fence line out near the old milk station location.   I told Joe Kingsbury that I had seen the two ends put back on the museums motor car when I was at the museum mid-week.  Joe says that the roof on the car is in pretty bad shape, with a lot of rust and deterioration.  He has welded some new pieces in, but much remains to be done.   I'll try to list those involved in the train operation and support work for the trains today.  They include Bill Dauber, Bob Barcus, Joe and Louise Kingsbury (and 11 year old granddaughter), Mark Knebel, Judy Boyer, Bob Albert, Randall Downs, John and Pat DeGan, Bob Jachim and yours truly.  Fred Boyer and John LaOrange were in the cab of EL S-1 # 310 with Doug Kosloske as Conductor.  I probably missed someone.  If so, I apologize.   Have a good week everyone!   Les

Busy pumpkin day at HVRM 10-20-2012

Greetings -   Rain ended last night and we had a cool day (about 60 degrees) with sun on and off all day at Hoosier Valley.   I showed up a little after 9:00 a.m.  Swept out the station a bit while Loretta Kosloske went after it with the depot vacuum cleaner.  Three "straw people" were put out on the depot bench seats and I decided to transfer them to folding chairs to clear space for passengers on the benches while they waited for the pumpkin trains to leave.  These "straw folks" lend a certain "harvest time" atmosphere to the station platform, but shouldn't use up space that riders can use.   I then wrote the train schedules on the depot information board.   Walked across Mulberry Street to Grasselli Tower where I found Steve Newland cleaning up some of the "junk" boards from the inside of the second floor while Steve Henrichs was priming the walls.  Mr. Henrichs says he is probably done with scrapping and painting under the eaves due to the cooler weather.  I've included a couple of photos of the tower that I took last week.  One shows Steve Newland putting up a support 2 x 4 while the other shows four of the new windows that he built and installed.   First train was at 11:00 a.m. and had over 150 riders.  The Long Island coach, Katy open car and the three cabooses (B&LE # 1989, EL # C345 and NKP # 471, all had their full share of passengers.  I collected tickets in EL C345 on this run, and the two subsequent trips.  There were about 180 riders on the 1:30 run and just over 100 for the final run.  All the pumpkins in the pumpkin patch out at State Route 10/39, were sold.   Lots of folks helped out today.  In the cab of EL S-1 Alco # 310 were John LaOrange and Fred Boyer while Doug Kosloske was the "skipper" all day.  A number of folks besides myself collected tickets.  Others helped put out pumpkins in the "patch", or acted as crossing guards or directed traffic or did various other jobs.  Thanks to all!      The gift shop in the depot seemed very busy and the display cars had a lot of visitors.   Didn't leave the museum until nearly 6:00 p.m.  A busy day for sure!   Have a wonderful week everyone.   Les

Miserable Day with high points at HVRM 10-13-12

Greetings!   Well, temps were forecast today to approach 70 degrees with rain on and off.  Instead, we had rain prettty much all day with temps barely reaching 60 in the afternoon.  Only one train today; a fall foliage special at 1:30 p.m. going all the way to La Crosse.  Reserved ticket sales approached 100 but the bad weather kept walk-up sales to a minimum.  I worked as a car host on the Bessemer & Lake Erie caboose, so not sure of what else was going on at the musuem today.    One thing that was happening is that Steve Newland was working on the wood trim on the second floor of Grasselli Tower this morning.  But, Steve was pressed into service as a car host for the train, stopping that work for the day.   Other car hosts besides Steve and myself were Joe Kingsbury, Doug Kosloske, Mark Knebel and Randall Downs.  John DeGan and Fred Boyer shared the throttle while Bob Albert was conductor.  Speaking of the throttle, we also had a guest engineer this morning.   It was good to see Elmer Mannen at lunch.  Elmer recently had open heart surgery and says he is doing well.  Unfortunately, he also has a lung problem, so more surgey may be upcoming in the future.   A rider on the B&LE caboose asked me about HVRM member Dan Siple.  I told him I knew Dan and he then asked about Dan's big brother Bob who used to cook in that very Bessemer caboose when the guy was a member of Hoosier Valley years ago.  I told him that brother Bob had, unfortunately, passed away a while back but that I remembered those meals in the B&LE caboose too.  Turned out the rider was Andy Wilson who had moved to Texas way back in 1992, not too long after I joined the museum.  It was good to see Andy and his wife and two kids and talk about the way things were back then!  A lot has changed since those days.  And next year, the museum celebrates its 25th Anniversary at North Judson.     There was a Board meeting this morning and the plans are to move the two display cars (ex-IC caboose and Pullman Troop Sleeper) into the West Shop Annex this winter for restoration once the passenger train season ends.   C&EI maintenance-of-way car # A-1054 is going to be completely gutted and restored for use next to NKP kitchen car #X58538.  That project also will be done this winter.   Arrival of the train back at North Judson was on-time at 3:30 p.m.  The rain stopped shortly thereafter.   Have a good week folks!     Les

September like it should be at HVRM 9-29-12

Greetings -   Had one of those great early autumn days at Hoosier Valley today.  Mostly sunny with a nice light breeze and temps in the low 70's.  EL bay window caboose # C345, which was recently repainted by Eagle Scout Paul Henderson with some help from his family, was coupled on to the rear end of the train to La Crosse today.  Fred Boyer, Doug Kosloske and John DeGan, wiped down the cars interior.  In honor of the Erie Lackawanna Historical Society visit to HVRM as part of their Annual Convention being held this weekend in Valparaiso, Indiana, the La Crosse train was scheduled out at 10:00 a.m. instead of its normal mid-afternoon departure.  Before and after the train, the EL members roamed around the museum, including time spent in Grasselli Tower.  Steve Newland was on hand in the tower to answer questions.  Bob Jachim preformed docent duties in the Shop, including a lot of questions on the museums C&O 2-8-4.   Speaking of Grasselli, Steve Henrichs started the priming of the wood gutters and roof overhand on the north side of the tower.   After the morning departure of the train to La Crosse, I started in on painting a couple of boards on the new "porch" off of the depot platform using orange paint for visibility and safety.   Meanwhile, the track gang tackled the important Shop lead switch located just west of Mulberry Street.  New ties were installed and one of the rails was "turned around" to get the worn side to the outside and the unworn side toward the switch points.  Gang consisted of Dave Cook, John LaOrange, Cory Bennett, Mark Knebel and Matt Lasayko.   Matt completed restoration of the Erie block occupancy indicator for use by motor cars and put it on display in the depot.   Apparently many of the covered hopper cars that arrived for storage, have already moved back out.  There are some remaining, but I am not sure of the exact figure.    I had to leave early today due to a family committment, chugging out of the museum around 2:00 p.m. after the afternoon train to English Lake had departed.   Enjoy the week folks.  The upcoming weather is supposed to be nice.     Les

Ties that bind at HVRM 9-15-12

Greetings!   A disclaimer; this very unofficial report is sent out to HVRM members who are not at the museum and to a few other folks who have shown an interest.  Anyone can opt to not receive any future reports by sending a simple note to the undersigned at the e-mail address shown.   Nice today with temp estimated about 80 degrees and sunshine almost all day.   Arrived at HVRM at 8:00 a.m. for the bi-monthly membership meeting.  Items of interest included the membership approving the purchase of over 100 wood switch ties.  Our switch ties (most of which were put in place already in a used condition) are greatly in need of replacement.  Also approved was welding and repair of switch points and the purchase of a small segment of property adjoining the museum.  Details forthcoming in the upcoming newsletter.   After the meeting, Mark Knebel asked me if I could flag road crossings for the 11:00 and 1:30 p.m. trains.  The crossings involved are Arlington Street in North Judson, then CR 500 South, CR 400 South, English Lake Road, Toto Road and CR 650 West.  This last road is located just before the crossing of the Kankakee River. Bob Jachim flagged the Mulberry Street crossing located just to the west of the depot.   I spent the day (taking time out to do the flagging described above), applying putty to the arch windows on the north side of coach 899 and also some wood filler to various regular windows on that side.   Cory Bennett, John LaOrange, Dave Cook and Mark, continued putting in new ties on the old Erie in the vicinity of the interchange switch.   Joe Baker and Steve Henrichs continued working on Grasselli Tower.   Matt Lasayko was working on moving signal parts from NKP flat car #2733 into the Signal Department boxcar.   Trains today were handled by Fred Boyer and Doug Kosloske with Randall Downs and Joe Kingsbury as car hosts.   No sign yet of the covered hoppers that are supposedly coming in for storage on museum trackage.   Have a good week folks!     Les

Old friends and cool weather at HVRM 9-8-12

Greetings!   Arrived at Hoosier Valley at 8:00 and sat in on the Board meeting.  Great weather today with temps in the low 70's!    Fred Boyer and Andy Hershman shared cab duties in GE # 11 while Bob Albert was conductor for the 3rd week in a row (does that give him permanent possession of the job?).  Joe Kingsbury, Bill Dauber and Randall Downs were car hosts.  All 3 trains seemed to be well patronized.  The operating crew also managed to squeeze in a Guest Engineer between regular runs.   Steve Henrichs continued painting the exterior of Grasselli Tower while Steve Newland continued his work on the windows in the second floor.  Steve N. reported that Joe Baker had located the correct round downspouts in Chicago for the type originally used on the tower.   I worked on getting the last replacement arch window installed on passenger car # 899.   A number of folks showed up who have not been at the museum in some time.  HVRM member Ross Robinson of Ottawa, Canada stopped by with his camper as he prepares to head out west to the Great Plains and eventually California.  Ross brought along Tom Travis who has not been at the museum for a while. Great to see Tom.  Also showing up along with his 4 kids in tow, was Donnie Lewandowki.  It was also great to see Mike "Moose" Ross again.  Mike says he has rejoined the museum, which is wonderful news.   Cory Bennett, John LaOrange and Mark Knebel were putting in new ties down on the old Erie in the vicinity of the interchange switch.  Not sure who else was working down there.    Although the storage tank cars have left, Mark reports that we can expect about 15 covered grain hoppers to arrive soon for a short lease period.   Bob Barcus was holding down the fort in the museum's depot, selling tickets and also handling gift shop sales.   Rolled out of North Judson at just about 4:00 p.m.  Hope everyone has a good week.   Les

Remnants and Cool arrive at HVRM 9-1-12

Greetings!   Arrived at Hoosier Valley at 9:00 a.m.  The remnants of Hurricane Isaac were already in evidence.  The rain was light, slowly got heavier around mid-day and finally tappered off to nothing by 3:30 p.m.  After this hot summer, it was nice to have temps in the high 70's and no one seem to mind the rain that much.   Joe Baker was already working on Grasselli Tower when I arrived, and Steve Newland arrrived later to join in.   Bob Barcus manned the gift shop while Loretta Kosloske sold train tickets.   John DeGan and Doug Kosloske were in the cab of Interlake Steel GE # 11.  Bob Albert was conductor, while Joe Kingsbury, Bill Dauber  and Randall Downs were car hosts.  The rain did not keep passengers away.  The last train of the day departed at 3:30 and was a picnic train.  After this last train left for LaCrosse, I noticed in the parking lot, cars with license plates from Michigan, Wisconsin and Illinois, in addition to the expected cars from Indiana.   I managed to get the third arch window replacement installed in passenger car # 899.   Fred Boyer was working on emptying items out of C&EI work car # A-1054, a job that is apparently nearing completion.   I noticed that the storage tank cars had been moved over to the interchange track so that the C&I can pick them up thus ending that income source for the museum.  There are a number of covered grain hoppers on the C&I runaround track, but apparently that storage agreement is not with HVRM.   I see where Ryan Kertis dropped off his EJ&E push cart, numbered G1.  This will be a welcome addition to the museums roster of these valuable little 4 wheel cars.  Speaking of push carts, Joe Kingsbury continues to work on our motor car.   Harold Lambirth visited the museum and he and I talked for a few minutes.  Harold remined me that our Purdue University crane was originally built in 1945 and that Harold joined the university in 1946 and operated the crane for many years.  It was eventually retired and was donated to HVRM in 1992.  This Orton crane continues to be a major asset of the museum.  Good to see Harold again.     Cory Bennett, John LaOrange and Rich Warner were working on an air leak in the braking system of EL Alco # 310.  Fred came over later in the day and gave them a hand.  Supposedly the leak is now fixed.   Left for home at 4:00.  Hope you all enjoy the long 3 day Labor Day weekend.     Les

Hot day at Hoosier Valley 8-25-12

Greetings!   Had a short day at HVRM due to a family committment.  Arrived at 9 and left at 1:00.   Checked the temp and found it was 95 degrees at about 11:00.  Spent my time working on passenger coach # 899.    The operating crew was switching Long Island coach # 2937 into the train consist and the air conditioning unit on 2937 was obviously working.  I was surprised to see that the crew was using GE # 11 instead of the Alco.  I asked John DeGan about it and he advised that EL Alco # 310 had broken down the week before after arriving back in North Judson after a run.    I found Todd Flanigan, Doug Kosloske and Joe Baker had been working on the problem, which turned out to be a minor electrical relay.  It was fixed and the Alco will be available for next weeks train.   John DeGan was engineer/fireman for the days runs, sharing the cab with John LaOrange.  Conductor for the day was Bob Albert.  Randall Downs was one of the car hosts.   Steve Newland has 4 of the 5 south facing windows in the second floor of Grasselli Tower now installed in place and is "tweaking" their operation.  Steve Henrichs was priming the west side of the tower after he had recently completed the scraping, priming and painting the wood gutters and undersoffits on the east and south side of the tower.  The dark green paint really looks good!   Also on Grasselli, Joe Kingsbury built and placed a sign in front of the tower and facing Mulberry Street.  The sign honors the major benefactors to the donation and move of the tower from East Chicago to North Judson.  A beautiful piece of work by Joe (as usual)!   In the west annex of the Shop, I found EL bay window caboose # C345 sitting completed and looking sharp!  The Eagle Scout, with some assistance from his friends and family, did a terrific job.  The caboose will be used with Alco 310 for the Erie Lackawanna Historical Society group that is visiting HVRM at the end of September during their Annual Convention.   Bob Barcus was busy labelling new items recently received for sale in the museums gift shop while Loretta Kosloske was selling passenger train tickets.   The "dog days" of summer are still with us, with slightly cooler temps and light rain in the forecast for Sunday but a return into the 90's forecast this coming week.  Stay cool folks!     Les

Short day (for some) at HVRM 7-14-12

Greetings -   Arrived at HVRM about quarter to 8 for the museum Board meeting.  Another day in the 90's forecast, with slim chance of rain.  What new?   Board meeting lasted until about 10, with the big news being that more storage cars are on the way!   Interlake Steel GE # 11 was at the head end of the 11:00 train to English Lake.  LIRR coach 2937 not in the consist due to motor problems.  So no air conditioned car today.   Bob Jachim started building the new steps off of the station platform.     Steve Newland and Joe Baker continued their work on Grasselli Tower with Steve starting the windows on the west side of the building.   Work started on putting the new metal siding on the Secretary's office.   I worked on passenger coach 899.  Managed to get a new window cut and installed in the door on the east end of the coach.  This is one of the many windows that were broken by vandals last year.   Speaking of vandals, Bob Harris had a crew at the museum today doing some repairs for some more recent vandalism to his South Shore passenger cars 4 and 31.  I talked to Bob briefly and also to Kevin Heggi, one of those who was helping him today.   Bing Risley was out mowing grass.  Our drought-like conditions have not stopped the weeds from growing!    Due to a family committment, I had to leave the museum early at about 12:30.   Stay cool as best you can this upcoming week.  The beginning of the week is supposed to be another scorcher.     Les

Short day (for some) at HVRM 7-14-12

Greetings -   Arrived at HVRM about quarter to 8 for the museum Board meeting.  Another day in the 90's forecast, with slim chance of rain.  What new?   Board meeting lasted until about 10, with the big news being that more storage cars are on the way!   Interlake Steel GE # 11 was at the head end of the 11:00 train to English Lake.  LIRR coach 2937 not in the consist due to motor problems.  So no air conditioned car today.   Bob Jachim started building the new steps off of the station platform.     Steve Newland and Joe Baker continued their work on Grasselli Tower with Steve starting the windows on the west side of the building.   Work started on putting the new metal siding on the Secretary's office.   I worked on passenger coach 899.  Managed to get a new window cut and installed in the door on the east end of the coach.  This is one of the many windows that were broken by vandals last year.   Speaking of vandals, Bob Harris had a crew at the museum today doing some repairs for some more recent vandalism to his South Shore passenger cars 4 and 31.  I talked to Bob briefly and also to Kevin Heggi, one of those who was helping him today.   Bing Risley was out mowing grass.  Our drought-like conditions have not stopped the weeds from growing!    Due to a family committment, I had to leave the museum early at about 12:30.   Stay cool as best you can this upcoming week.  The beginning of the week is supposed to be another scorcher.     Les

A short, hot day made shorter at HVRM 7-7-12

Hello!   Our extremely hot summer continues, with the thermometer at the museum reading 103 degrees in the afternoon.  Because of the high temps this past week, Mark Knebel had sent out an e-mail announcing that the 2:45 train to La Crosse would not run.   Tim Wills was the agent today and advised that, surprisingly, 18 hardy souls showed up to ride the 11:00 train out to English Lake, despite the heat.  At least some of them rode in the air conditioned Long Island coach # 2937.   I brought a primed window frame for coach 899 with the idea of painting it and putting a piece of plexiglass in it as a temporary replacement for a window to be rebuilt by Norwayne Lumber.  Despite the hot temp, the paint remained sticky, probably due to the high humidity.  At 2:00, with Norwayne closed for the day, I threw in the towel and put the now painted window frame aside for another day.   Fred Boyer finally received the printed plaques to put in 2937 from Task Force Tips, a company in Valparaiso, Indiana honoring Clyde McMillian, the companies founder.  TFT donated most of the purchase price of the 2937.  Fred put plaques in the coach as it sat between runs, one at each end of the car.  Unfortunately, the extreme temps today later caused the motor on the 2937 to overheat and automatically shut down.  With no air conditioning, and only two passengers holding tickets for the 1:30 train, the train was annulled.   Joe Baker and Steve Henrichs were working on Grasselli Tower again today.  Steve Newland was not at the museum but reported to Bob Barcus that sashes for additional windows for the tower have been received.   Matt Lasayko worked on the wig-wag signal and was able to get it operating again.   The boy scouts continued their painting of EL caboose # C345 in the West Annex of the shop.   The train crew switched the 2937 out of the consist when the cars were being put away for the day and placed it over next to the Shop to be looked at this coming week.   Some cooler air was moving in as we wrapped up the museum's day.  Have a good week folks!   Les