| 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 | 
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