FW: Snow leaves, sun shines, at HVRM 2-19-11

Greetings!   With bright sunshine and a temp up to 40 degrees today, most of the snow has disappeared from the museum grounds in North Judson.   Crews were hard at work upon my arrival at 9:45.   Mike Koehler and his painting friend Carl, were busy all day working on LIRR coach # 2937 in the West Shop Annex.  The south side of the car had had a very liberal coating of Bondo applied; so much so that the car sides appeared white!  Mike was smoothing out the roof and this side of the car.   John LaOrange, Dave Cook and Cory Bennett were in the other bay of the West Annex, working on the Payloader.  Since I was in Wisconsin last Saturday, I asked Dave how the repairs had gone on the new backhoe, and he said that it was running "like a top!"   Crew working in the Old Shop section on MKT # 13833, the open air flatcar, consisted of Elmer Mannen and Bob Jachim putting in two cut sections of 2 x 4's between each of the roof ribs of the car, while Joe Baker worked on the electrical.  That's right!  Joe volunteered to install lighting on this car and from the looks of it, is probably about 80% finished.  Meanwhile Joe Kingsbury was working on the cars roof.  I gave Elmer and Bob a hand, and then Elmer was eventually called away to help fire up the Erie 310 to do some equipment switching.  A short time later, Bob went down to talk to some visitors so I finished up the last few sections.  Hope folks don't look to close at that end of the car!  Eventually, the wood roof panels will be screwed down into these 2 x 4's and then a rubber roof installed over the entire car.   Elmer got the Alco running with the help of Bill Dauber and he and Bill, with Doug Kosloske and Fred Boyer as switchman and conductor respectivelly, switched equipment around.  The new valves for the 310 had arrived from Pittsburgh Air Brake Company after rebuilding, and been installed and apparently worked well.  EJ&E transfer caboose # 184 was brought into the shop for work.   Steve Newland bolted the one bottom stairway stringer from the Grasselli Tower landing, down to the ground so that he could measure how much concrete would be needed for the pad upon which the bottom of the stringers are going to eventually sit.  Steve also advised that the plan is to put heavy plastic over the levers in the second floor of the tower to protect those cleaned and oiled levers when he starts in on removing the old peeling paint from the second floor interior.  Steve also says that he intends to finish replacing the small section of rotten boards on the outside of the west side of the tower before the 765's arrival in May.   Bob Barcus reported that nearly all of the 2 days of slots for guests to operate the Berkshire when it is here this Spring, have been spoken for.  The cost for these guest engineers to sit at the throttle of the 1944 Lima built engine cost $765.00, so that is good news for the museum.   Margrett Cook, Judy Boyer and Loretta Kosloske were working in the gift shop today, helped by Andy Roeske and his youngster.   A great lunch consisting of tomato/pasta soup, meat loaf, hot Italian beef sandwiches, pasta salad and numerous other goodies was served.   In the afternoon, I took a ride to Monterey and looked over the old Erie depot there.  The 1883 structure is rough, but looks restorable.  Its location (16 miles from North Judson) with the rail connection no longer in place, is a problem.   Returned to the museum and found the equipment all put to bed.  Cory and John had found some bad leaks in the gas tank of the backhoe, so Jason Annen got out the welder and set out to patch them.  He then ground everything smooth.  Tank was checked but another leak was found.  So, Jason went back at it.  Eventually the gas tank was successfully repaired.  When I left the Shop at 4:45, John was spray painting the tank.   Have a great week everyone!   Les

Shades of Henry Ford at HVRM 1/29/11

Greetings!   Still much snow on the ground but a day where temps got up into the upper 30's, so some slush around.   Showed up in the Shop at about 9:30 and the boys were already hard at work on the new open flat car, MKT # 13833.  Went back into the West Annex and found Cory Bennett, John LaOrange and Dave Cook continuing their work on the backhoe.  Meanwhile, Fred Boyer was continuing his work on the windows of LIRR coach # 2937.  So, I wandered back into the main Shop and watched the work going on on the flat car.  Doug Kosloske was cutting the tops off of the tall side support posts.  I joined in and soon found myself as part of the team putting the three horizontal side rails onto the posts.  Elmer Mannen drilled pilot holes for each side rail through the posts, then Bob Jachim, up on the car deck, drilled through the holes, making them large enough for bolts to go through.  I grabbed a different drill from Elmer, and started counter sinking larger holes from the outside of the car, one for each of the three side rails into each post so that the long bolts wouldn't stick out from the side of the car.  After I was done, Bill Dauber, also on the car deck, pounded a long bolt through each of the three previously drilled holes.  Then Bob Albert came along and applied a washer and nut to each bolt into the counter sunk holes and finally, John DeGan, tightened each nut.  This "assembly line" of Elmer-Bob-myself-Bill-Bob-John, moved along quickly finishing one side of the car and then moving over to the other side.  Henry Ford's Assembly Line had nothing on us!  We managed to finish the job by lunch.  Others working on the flat included Joe Baker and Joe Kingsbury.  Randall Downs also spelled me for a while on the "assembly line".   We broke for lunch, which consisted of hot chicken/barley soup, cheeseburgers, lasagna, and assorted other goodies.   After lunch, John DeGan went over to do some welding for the boys working on the back hoe.  I visited with Fred Boyer who needed some help removing a short piece of rubber molding from one of the windows he was working on.  Fred reported that he was down to near the end of his third, and last, wire wheel and wasn't sure if he was going to be able to finish cleaning the paint from the windows on the south side of LIRR 2937.  Meanwhile, the boys working on MKT 13833 started putting the roof struts up on the one end of the car.  Joe had cut these struts at home during the week, angling then so that they had a slight peak so that the car would not have a flat roof.  Bob Jachim made a run to Norwayne Lumber for some additional long two by sixes, which were going to be needed for the other end of the car.  Bob cleaned the snow and ice off of these 2 x 6's, and I carried them in and set them up on some wood struts so that they can hopefully dry out a bit so that the Wednesday crew will be able to use them.  In the meantime, about 5 roof struts had been put up on the other end of the car before we ended up calling it a day in the Shop.   Other members at the museum today included Bob Barcus, Andy Roeske, Loretta Kosloske, Margrett Cook, Mark Knebel, Tom Travis, Chuck Ness, Tom Royce and Jason Annen.  Might have missed a few.  Sorry if I did.   Went over to the depot where some of us sat around and kibitzed for a while.  I noticed that Bob Albert had put up some new photos in the depot waiting area, these of Indiana Harbor Belt steam locomotives.  They look good.  HVRM's new website is apparently getting close to going on line.  Looking forward to that.      Steve Newland was doing some work on the G scale layout in the gift shop area of the depot.  Getting closer to operation all the time.   We may be getting a major storm toward the middle of this coming week.  At least, that's what the weather folks tell us.  We shall see.  In the meantime, we are nearly into February, which is a short month, so winter will eventually be ending.  In the meantime, hang in there, and have a great week.   Les

Cold outside, cold inside at HVRM 1/22/11

Greetings!   Cold morning with a light snow.   Wasn't sure if I was going to the museum today or not, but finally decided to scrape the snow off of the car and make the effort.  It stayed in the teens all day today!   Rich Warner and his friend, continued with the installation of the G gauge track in the gift shop area of the depot.  The depot was warm at least.   Joe Kingsbury, Joe Baker, Bill Dauber, Bob Jachim, Doug Kosloske, Randall Downs and Elmer Mannen continued work on MKT # 13383, our new open air flat car for riders.  Joe and Elmer and others, have also been coming down on Wednesdays to work on the car.  At least 2/3rds of the side posts have now been installed, along with other construction.   Fred Boyer was wire wheeling the metal window frames on LIRR # 2937.  Fred finished the windows on the south side of the car and moved over to the north side.  Mike Koehler has had put some new Bondo on the sides of the car when he was here, so I grabbed the belt sander and tried to smooth out some of these patches.   Lunch consisted of ham and bean soup, spaghetti, sausages on hot dog buns, blueberry muffins, cake slices and fresh fruit.   Despite a torpedo heater and the wood stove going full blast, the temp never got above the mid-20's in the shop buildings.   The cold finally got to us and things were wrapped up by 3:30 or so.   Stay warm this week.  And GO BEARS!   Les

Snow meeting at HVRM 1/15/11

Folks -   More snow greeted us at North Judson today with temps in the mid to high 20's.   Steve Newland had been wire brushing CSS 18010 last Saturday, the 60' flatcar that the museum is in the process of remaking into an open air car for the passenger train, when he made an interesting discovery.  He noticed another number under the surface South Shore paint and thus we have found out the the car was originally a Katy flat!  The decision has thus been made that the car will be repainted as a Missouri-Kansas-Texas flat when she is put back into service later this year.   Elmer Mannen and Joe Kingsbury were in the process of bolting some of the side upright posts into the pockets of the MKT flat, so Bob Jachim and I helped out a bit. In the meantime, Fred Boyer was wire wheeling rust and old paint off of the car on the other side.     Cory Bennett, John LaOrange and David Cook continued work on the new backhoe/tractor that the museum recently purchased.   Doug Kosloske and Bill Dauber boxed up the 6 valves from Alco # 310 preparatory to sending them off to Pittsburgh Air Brake for rehabbing or replacement.   Jason Annen and Mitch Montgomery worked on firing up GE # 11.  When the unit finally started, a train crew came back with the engine and pulled LIRR coach # 2937 out of the Shop, then came back in and pulled the Katy flat out of the West Shop Annex.  Some switching was done outside and the two cars were pushed back in, exchanging places.  Mike Koehler was going to be starting the preparation to paint the Long Island coach and needs the warmer temps in the West Annex to do this priming and eventual painting.   Thanks to Mike Healy and John DeGan for their assistance in lifting the heavy canvas that separates the West Annex from the old Shop building.   We broke for lunch, and then had the Annual Meeting over at the North Judson Public Library.  Mark Knebel was re-elected as Secretary and Bob Albert as a director.  The vote for Vice-President (replacing a retiring Elmer Mannen) ended up deadlocked between Steve Newland and Doug Kosloske so a new vote had to be taken.  The re-vote resulted in Doug being elected VP.  Congrats to the winners.  Special thanks to Pat DeGan, Judy Boyer and Louise Kingsbury for running a smooth election process.  Much important business was conducted, so be sure to read your newsletter when it is mailed out.   Have a good week.  Stay warm.  And Go Bears!   Les

Saturday HVRM 1-8-2011 Typical January Day-Cold

Greetings to All
 
Hope that everyone had a good holiday season between snow and cold. I was gone
for 18 days to Ottawa Ontario for the holidays. On 27 Dec 2010, Maureens mother
passed away. She was 83 and had some medical issues. Only last night did we learn
that Maureen's Uncle Sandy passed away in Washington DC. He was 85 and had served
in the US Navy for 30 years and US postal employee and retired after many years. We
are hoping that his remains will be buried in Arlington Cemetery Washington DC.
 
A cold start to Saturday morning with heavy lake effect snow in La Porte and St Joe
counties. Total for South Bend was some 25 inches and has shut the city down till
roads are cleared. South of US 30 it was blue sky and blowing snow. Cold temps.
 
First agenda was breakfast at Fingerhut Bakery with the Starke County ARC group.
Good to see everyone again after almost a month since the Christmas party at the
Wooden Nickel in Dec. Next was board meeting at HVRM. Hightlights, Ft Wayne  
group NKP 765 will return in late May, early June and Fathers day weekend for
steam excursions. Many details to follow, watch for news on HVRM website with
I think a new look for the web. NKP 765 will go on to the Train Fest for July festival.
BTW, Trains magazine did a nice article on NKP 765 and HVRM, 8 pages long in a
recent issue from the spring of 2009. Wabash cantilever signal will be arriving soon.
Doug and Ron are gearing up for the RPO car move from MRM sometime soon.
January 15 is HVRM election day, 1 pm at the North Judson Library. Up for election is
VP, Secretary, Director of Grounds an Buildings. Over the last couple of weeks, a CASE
backhoe was purchased for track work. It is inside the west shop getting some
new bushings and pins for the hydraulic rams. Overall condition is good, tires have
thread, if only Cory and John can keep the spikes out them. Malden C&I buildings will
be tore down soon. Anyone interested in saving or moving the buildings, contact
Mark or Jason. Monterey IN Erie depot will be tore down if not removed.  Some good announcements will take place for 2011 train operations. Meeting over about 11 am.
 
John and Bob were busy trying to get a broken spoke wheel off a baggage cart, unsuccessful
as the nut was crossthreaded and would not turn. Bob busy hauling kerosene cans to
fill up the stove tank in kitchen car. Joe/Doug  have completed wood deck work on the CSS
open air car. Wired wheeled and primed steel. Sides of car will be painted in yellow paint,
with black lettering with HVRM logo.  Temp in west shop was 20 degrees and had risen
to 25 with the salamander heater turned on. Still cold. Jason/Andy fabricated some new
cut levers for I think the LIRR car?. Elmer/Doug/Bill D.removed  air valves on Erie 310
to be sent out for testing. Steve sanded wood for creostote markings removal. Not much
outside work being done.
 
Les got his marker bracket for the passenger car that needs replacing from Ross Robinson
had made in the foundry at Renfrew ONT. Brought back from Ottawa when I returned.
 
Did not stay as it was too cold for me, my feet freeze up, clear skys till north of US30,
then heavy lake effect snow. Tough driving thru the blowing snow.
 
Remember meeting 15 January 1 PM.
 
Tom

Digging out and digging in at HVRM 12-18-10

Some Additions were added by Tom

Hi -     The 20" of snow reported at North Judson from the snowfall this past week, including a lot of lake effect snow, greeted members at the museum today.  Fortunately today's weather was sunny with temps getting up to 25 degrees by the afternoon.   Bing Risley had his Bobcat out and did a great job of cleaning up the parking lot at the depot and plowing the road and parking spots at the Shop.  Cory Bennett used the Payloader to tackle the snow on the road and parking around the museum office and display car area.   Meanwhile, Bob Jachim shovelled out a path on the platform into the depot while John DeGan worked on taking care of the snow out behind the Erie shed.  When I showed up, I took a crack at making the Jachim path into the depot wider, and spreading salt on some ice patches.   Bob Jachim was delievering Christmas baskets to needy familys from the American Legion. Over 100 baskets were made up, so many thanks to Bob for his volunteering.   The inside woodpile for the stove in the Shop had shrunk to next to nothing, so someone went outside and dug out wood from the pile buried under the snow.  The snow never did melt in the cold inside the Shop and each piece fed into the wood stove all day, sizzled momentarily as the snow quickly melted.    Mike Koehler was finishing up his second day of work on LIRR passenger coach # 2937.  Fred Boyer was helping out on this and later Andy Hershman showed up to start in on some welding under the windows of the 2937.   Judy Boyer, Loretta Kosloske and Margrett Cook worked in the Gift Shop in the depot.   Joe Kingsbury/Elmer Mannen started in on applying primer to the B end of CSS flat car # 18010.   Lunch consisted of hot beef sandwiches, stuffed peppers, chili soup, and pumpkin bread for desert.   Mike Healey, John DeGan and Tom Travis removed additional snow from the depot platform after lunch.   After chow, I went down and took over for Mike on grinding the window frames on the north side of LIRR 2937 to remove old paint.  Got a few windows done before the grinder seized up on me.  Meanwhile, Fred was grinding off Andy's weld beads on the south side of the car.   Jason Annen reported that the IHB had turned down our request for the donation of one of their last two NW2's.  Both 8811 and 8814 will have to be scrapped so that the Harbor can receive stimulus monies for new Genset units.  A sad end to the IHB's long history with the EMD NW2 units.   John LaOrange and Cory, with an assist from Tom Travis, worked on the engine of the Payloader. Earlier in the morning hours, the west shop had some rearranging taken care of. The REA trailer was repositioned further to the east, lots of pallet loads were moved to the north side of the shop and Steve's woodshop was reorganized. This effort was to provide a warm place to work on equipment during the winter season. Payloader fuel/oil filters changed, crankcase oil changed/replaced, air filter blown out.  The valve oil cover was leaking oil on the block, so it was decided to take it off and put a new gasket on. Many accessory items needed to be removed first to get the cover to clear the valves, some heat was needed on 2 bolts and with some muscle from Cory they were removed slowly. John cleaned the head with cleaner, while Cory scrapped off the old cork gasket and cleaned the inside of the cover. Gasket material was applied and cover reinstalled quickly. With only one Salamander heater working, temp in the west shop was up to 50 degrees, making it comfortable. Joe said that up on the CSS flat it felt nice, with some ceiling fans to blow the warm air down it will make a difference at ground level.   Well folks, northwest Indiana got hit hard by snow this week.  Besides the 20 inches at North Judson, other totals I heard included 25" at La Porte and 33" at Wanatah.   The forecast is for some additional snow this coming Monday, supposedly anywhere from 4 to 8 inches.  Looks like we will have a White Christmas for sure!     Have a great Holiday everyone!     Les/Tom

FW: Winter shows up at HVRM 12-4-2010

Just a note, volunteers are needed to help work on the CSS flat car to convert it into
another open air car. Contact Joe Kingsbury for more info.

Hello!   Well, winter finally decided to drop in on northwest Indiana.  Beginning late Friday night and continuing into Saturday morning, about 4 inches of snow was dumped on the area which included North Judson.  This made for snow packed roads and I arrived about 25 minutes late for the Board meeting.   A number of things were discussed including a presentation, with subsequent approval, of next seasons train schedule.   John LaOrange successfully fired up Whitcomb # 27.  Then John with Doug Kosloske and John DeGan, pulled out B&LE caboose # 1989 from the caboose storage track and went out to the east end.  They brought Santa Claus in to North Judson at 12:30 p.m. and he detrained and then rode in a horse drawn carriage over to town for its parade.   Fred Boyer and Joe Baker spent their morning duct taping the balance of the windows on LIRR # 2937 so that when the car is spray painted, no paint will seep into the cars interior.   Loretta Kosloske, Judy Boyer and Pat DeGan manned the gift shop all day.     It was decided to move equipment around and the train crew did the switching, pulling out LIRR 2937 and moving CSS flat car # 18010 back into the West Annex of the Shop, respotting the Long Island coach on track 2 in the old Shop building in front of the flat car and setting GE # 11 in front of the coach in the east shop annex.   Cory used the Payloader to move the old timber decking that had been removed from the CSS flat car last week, to a spot back out behind the Shop.  Eventually this wood will be used as new decking on NKP flat car # 2733.   Lunch consisted of tuna salad and crackers, chicken soup, hamburgers and deserts.   I spent time working on the arch window on coach 899.    In the afternoon, Joe Kingsbury started in on cleaning the loose rust off of CSS 18010.   Steve Newland started notching the stringers for the lower steps of Grasselli Tower.     Have a good week everyone.  Enjoy winter!   Les