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

HVRM 11-27-10; The Good, the Bad and the (not so) ugly!

Greetings Black Friday survivors!     Temps today in North Judson topped out at about 34 degrees, but it really wasn't that ugly as the sun shone most of the day.   Usually the Saturday after Thanksgiving is a light day attendance wise, and this day was no different.  Still, activity continued with those members present.        Rolled in about 9:00 and found Loretta Kosloske and Bob Jachim setting up the Christmas tree in the depot.   Went down to the Shop and managed to finally get the wood stove fired up.  Suprised no one had started it earlier.    Headed over to coach 899 and started in on trying to get the arch window on the northwest end of the car out.  This window had a small hole put in it earlier this year, and I decided to try to fix it up for the winter.  Finally managed to get the frame out with the broken window still attached which was good, and headed over to the Shop to work further on it.   A crew had Whitcomb # 27 fired up and when I asked Doug Kosloske, he said that they were going to pull the South Shore flat off the turntable lead siding and move it into the Shop to start on its conversion into an open car for passengers.   Cory Bennett got the Payloader running and he, Mark Knebel and John LaOrange headed down to the Erie to pull out some more bad ties and replace them.  The bad news was that Cory showed up some time later and when I asked him what had happened he said that the ties were frozen in place and couldn't be budged.  So much for trackwork until next spring!   The crew got CSS # 18010 spotted on track 1 of the Shop and started on removing the uneven deck from the car.  Joe Kingsbury handled the torch, cutting off balky bolts and Bill Dauber, Elmer, Bing and Doug started in getting the planks off of the car.   Chris Zardt showed up and I talked to him for just a few minutes.  Apparently Chris now works for the Strasburg and right now is involved in repairs to their ex-Canadian National 0-6-0 # 7312 and also working on the 1472 day inspection on ex-Great Western 2-10-0 # 90.   Stopped for lunch which consisted of hot grilled ham and cheese sandwiches or home made sausages, home made potato salad and cake for desert.  Good eats!   After lunch, Cory, John and Mark decided to tackle taking the signs off of the Model 40 that is parked out near SR 10/39.  We usually take these signs off of the little diesel for the winter to prevent them from deteriorating too much, but this year they are in bad shape and will need to be repainted before being put out again next year.   Loretta got the new train in operation around the depot Christmas tree.  A number of folks had a chance to operate the little 0-6-0 and its train using its radio control transmitter.   Steve Newland was working on cutting out stringers for the lower portion of the Grasselli Tower steps.  Bad news is that when he ordered the wood from Norwayne Lumber, he failed to take into consideration that the Tower now sits higher than it did when it was still in East Chicago.  So, he will need at least one more step.  Good news is that Bruce Fingerhut had told him that there some nice pieces of lumber in the old Hibbard building and Steve looked them over and decided that he could use them for the extra material needed.   CSS 18010 looked entirely different when the boys finished with it after lunch.  All the decking had been removed and the car needs to be scraped, primed and painted before a new deck is put on.  Should keep folks busy for a while.   I worked all afternoon on the arch window from 899 and finally was able to get the hard-as-a-rock dried putty cleaned out enough to accept a replacement window.  Although I was able to make a pattern, I couldn't find a suitable replacement.  So the bad news is that that job will have to carry over to next week.  I was able to find a temporary piece of wood that (mostly) filled up the now gaping cavity where the arch window once sat in the car!   Finally hit the road at 4:00 p.m.  Enjoy the week everyone!   Les

Short day/short report

Tom -   Got to the museum at 9.  Grandkids over today so had to leave after the meeting at 2:30.   John L., Cory, Mark K. and Dave C. worked on ties/spiking.   John D. and Joe K. used the lift to try to fix a burned out light on the north side of the West Annex of the Shop.  They were not successful.   Joe Baker and Fred B. worked on putting duct tape over the seals of the windows on the north side of LIRR 2937 so when eventually painted, paint will not come into the cars interior through those cracks.   Steve showed up to work on Grasselli, but no lift of course.   Judy B., Margrett C. and Pat D. manned the gift shop.   Loretta K. picked up Whoppers from Burger King for lunch (some kind of special deal) and furnished potato salad, macaroni salad and homemade chocolate cake for lunch.   Meeting went well.  CSS 18010 approved by membership for new open air car.   Over and out!   Les

Indian Summer comes to a screeching halt at HVRM 11-13-10

Greetings!   Temps in the 60's all week!  I managed to get the roof on 899 mostly wire bushed and scraped and then primed on Monday, except for two small sections.  Would this wonderful Indian Summer weather hold and allow me to finish it on 11/13?  Forecasts during the week called for a change with colder temps and some rain for Friday.  Then pushed back to late Friday night/early Saturday.  Finally, the cold front was supposed to come in late Saturday morning.  A chance!   Arrived a bit after 9 and grabbed the key for the lift and finally got the cantankerous machine fired up.  Took it down to the 899 and started to work.  A rain drop...or three.  But it held off!  And after an hours work, the deed was done!     Moved the lift back over to Grasselli Tower where Steve had arrived to work on the final section of railing for the upper floor landing.  He was on a tight schedule too, as he had to leave early to take one of his pets in to the vet for examination.   Joe Kingsbury was taking measurements and working out an estimate for converting one of the other flat cars at the museum into an open car.   Doug Kosloske and Bill Dauber took a diesel and went down to push the last 6 storage tank cars unto the interchange where they could be picked up later by a crew from the Chesapeake & Indiana.  After the old motor car was removed from the west end of the track in the West Annex of the shop, the train crew then pushed LIRR coach 2937 to the end of that track.  Fred Boyer then continued his work on the windows of the car.   Tom Travis was wire brushing rust off of the REA trailer and then priming those cleaned areas.  He and I broke for lunch at the Nickel and when we came out, found out that it had rained hard.  The temp had started its drop too.   Went past the tower, and saw that Steve had managed to get the railing finished on the upper landing before he had to leave.   Cory Bennett stopped by the West Annex and stated that the rain had stopped their trackwork.  He, John LaOrange and Mark Knebel had managed to spike and tamp 28 ties on the Erie Division before the rain hit.   Tom and I, with some help and encouragement from Randall Downs and Fred, managed to finally get the one side door of the REA trailer off.  The hinges on the two side doors had been rusted solid.  With the one door off, we managed to open the door about half way.  Eventually, these two doors will have to be rebuilt.   Temp was down to 44 degrees as I drove out of North Judson.  Even with the wind and rain and cold, a good day!   Les  Couple of items to add, on weekends the signals will be lighted and go off on Monday mornings. The trainorder board will turn on at 4pm every night.   Many thanks to Les for helping today on the REA door hinges. The hinge bolts may be bent is the reason the doors will not open easily, but soaking in WD-40 may prove me wrong. With the doors off, I will take them home to measure and rebuild, taking off the hardware. It will be easier to remount the doors and put the hardware back on.   My new scaffolding is working out very well, easy to assemble, easy to move and easy on the feet to stand on. It is certainly nicer to work inside the shop rather than out in the wind and rain.   Tom

Snow at HVRM 11-6-10 and a train chase!

Greetings!   Especially to you lovers of winter!  Got up this morning to find the ground and the car white.  Since neither are usually this color, I figured we must have had a light snowfall and going out to start the car confirmed it.    Managed to make it to the Board meeting by 8:00 a.m.  Interesting meeting.  Included in the discussion were the website for the museum; a report on the good passenger totals for October special runs; possibility of converting another flat car into an open car for the train; windows for Grasselli Tower; looking into moving the Monterey depot; expected finish date for LIRR coach 2937; checking in to possible future usage of a Metra car; future Santa, Valentine and Easter trains; extension of the North Judson depot platform and new stone unloading at the trail area site and at LaCrosse; along with other subjects.     After the meeting ended, Bob Jachim took a new wood frame for the replacement window on 899 to the car to measure it for a fit.  The snow had already mostly melted by this time.   A crew including Doug Kosloske, Mark Anderson and John DeGan were working on a brakeshoe on Alco 310.  Bill Byers, a surprise visitor, helped out on this project.  Good to see Bill at the museum and I showed him around a bit after lunch.  A young man who was a volunteer at Hesston showed up and Bill and he talked about some of the other volunteers at that organization.   Good sandwiches on Kaiser rolls, ravioli and split pea soup for lunch, with a couple of different deserts.   Mike Koehler finished sanding the Bondo on the north side of 2937 and then primed it while Fred Boyer and Joe Baker worked on the south side, grinding welds and removing the rubber gaskets around the windows.  Fred and Joe applied a plastic sheet below the windows on the south side to protect the already primed sides.  I joined in to help Fred and Joe later in the afternoon.   Pat DeGan and Margrett Cook manned the gift shop in the depot.   Bob Barcus and Loretta Kosloske worked on a tentative schedule for train rides for next year.   Rolled out of the museum at 4:00.  West of LaCrosse on the way home and far off in the distance, I noticed a string of covered hopper cars parked on the Chesapeake & Indiana's ex-C&O main line.  I then realized that there appeared to be a red diesel on the west end of the string.  "Could this possibly be a moving train?"  Cut down the next county road and headed north.  Finally made it past the string and yes, they were on the move!  A genuine train chase!  Hadn't done anything like that for a while.  And then I realized that the train chase was more like a snail chase, the train was moving that slow.  I estimated 5 m.p.h. if that fast!  Still, the slow pace had allowed me to catch up with the train.  Unfortunately I did not have my camera.  Dang!  The two units, chopped nose Geep # 2003 and ex-P&L chopped nose Geep # 8314 running in reverse, and the 45 mostly CSXT covered hoppers, would have made a great photo running into the lowering sun.  The very last hopper on the train was L&N 242294.  Rather surprising to see a Louisville & Nashville car still so lettered.   Have a great week everyone.  Don't forget to turn your clocks back an hour tonight as we go from Daylight Savings Time to Standard Time!   Les

Halloween Excursion to La Crosse IN 10-30-2010

Never a more perfect day and evening for an excursion to LC. Over 100 riders enjoyed
the train ride and the animal program at La Crosse. The kids were thrilled by all the
wonderful showing of animals, skunk, owl, bull frog, big dog. Don't worry the skunk
is as calm as a kitty cat. Train left at 4:15pm and arrived in LC still in daylight, but as
the time flew by, it was getting darker by the minute. The engine crew even spooked
a 6 point buck up and across the tracks, narrowly missing it by a foot with the locomotive.
Coming into North Judson all the railroad signals lighted up and looked ever so nice.
After disbarking the cabooses, the crowd dispersed and all that was left was the locomotive
shining its headlights down the track off the sides of the railroad cars and the signals.
Rarely is this event seen at HVRM. Lots of hard work put in by Loretta an Pat to put this
all together. All the train crew and the car hosts were much appreciated.
 
Now that the excursion season is over, its back to traditional grunt work at the museum.
Car 899 had the east end wire wheeled and primed yesterday. Track work continued on
the Erie main with the air compressor and tamping ballast where Mark had installed new
ties. Some new stone put down on the driveway to help fill up the pot holes. Matt
the signalman and the crane with man cage, replaced some bulbs in the signals on
the east end of the Erie. The Pennsy flat car was moved out to help pulled out the
C&O 2789 tender from the the locomotive. Tender was put down on the east end of the
yard. Grasseli's tower name is now back up on the stairs. Tower gets a little more paint
each week. 
 
Lunch was highlighted by a nice birthday cake for Les Beckman who is a young "70". Les's
mother turned 96 a week ago, way to go girl.
 
Elections are coming up in January, VP, Sec, Board member, sign up is in the kitchen car
to get your name on the ballot.
 
Board meeting is next Saturday morning, 8am in the depot. Have a good week, drive safe.