Unspringlike Spring continues at HVRM 3/29/14

 

Greetings!

Well, our cold, unspringlike weather continues.  Clouds, and with temps in the 30's all day.   Still, work

continues at Hoosier Valley.

Arrived a bit after 9:00 a.m. and found out from Bob Jachim that the ballast under the ties that were put

in on the main line in front of the depot last week, were tamped in place before my morning arrival.

The air compressor, which was not operable last week, was fixed by Rich Warner to enable this work to

get done.

Walked down to the Shop and found out that the IC caboose, which was in primer when I last saw it two

weeks ago, had been given its coat of orange paint (see photo attached).  Next up with be the Illinois Central

lettering.  Fred Boyer was needle scaling the two roof walks that go around each side of the cupola when

I arrived.  These still have to be primed and painted before being reattached.

I noticed that I could see my breath in the West Shop building and when Bob Albert arrived, I asked him

if the new heater was already out of order.  He checked the thermostat and found out it was set at 38 degrees.

I said I couldn't paint at 38 degrees so he adjusted it upward and it finally got up to about 52.  I needed the

warmer temps because I wanted to start in painting the little amusement park type diesel that usually sits on

our depot platform.  Little kids like to sit in its seat, and have their picture taken!  The unit has been looking

a bit forlorn lately, so I decided to give it a new coat of paint.  Found remnants of white in an old paint can

in the old McGill section of the Shop, so I stared applying it.

Meanwhile, Fred had finished the work on the IC caboose roof walks, and started applying the black bed liner

"gook" to the steps treads which, hopefully, will give some traction to folks entering and leaving the caboose

once it is finished and finally put back on display.   Bob Albert was working on painting the interior which

Louise Kingsbury had done a nice job on, but who doesn't do ceilings or cupola wall interiors.  Smart to stay

off those ladders Louise!

Mark Knebel, who had worked on the tamping in the morning, went down to the future wye area to burn the

brush piles there, assisted by Bing Risley.

Loretta and friend were hard at work in the depot packing goodies for the upcoming Easter

Egg Hunt train, which is coming up on April 19th.  Joe Kingsbury had the diesel power unit fired up on Long

Island coach #2937 to make sure it is in working order.

Todd and Kyle Flanigan were at the museum doing paperwork today and Doug Kosloske led them on an inspection

of ND&W Porter diesel # 5332.

Rich Warner was continuing to do work on the expansion of the G scale train that runs around the top of the

depot building.  Rich has his Union Pacific "Bull Moose" 2-8-8-0 on the line now, and it really is a nice addition

to the Erie Triplex freight and U.P. PA diesels on the passenger train. 

Diane Bennett hosted lunch which included various goodies including homemade Broccoli/Cheese soup.  I had

two bowls!  Yum!

After lunch, the white paint on the little diesel had dried and I was able to put on a second coat.  Next week I'll

apply the second color!  Right after I finished, Tom Travis showed up after his morning Union meeting at the school

bus garage.  Fred Boyer told us we could put some primer on the two roof walks he had cleaned in the morning,

so we found the remnants of some red oxide in the McGill building again and went to work.  We ran out of primer

with one walk done and the other about three quarters done and Tom said that he might have some similar primer

out in his van which, fortunately, he did have!  So we managed to get the balance of the second roof walk finished.

Now we can put on the finished coat of orange, and get the two back up around the cupola where they belong.

We pretty much rolled out of the museum by about 4:00 p.m. but Mark was still burning brush at that time.

The Major League Baseball season starts this week so right now, every team is in first place!  Enjoy the upcoming

week everyone.  Spring MUST BE right around the corner!

Les    

  

 

 

  

      

Spring? Track Work & Caboose Painting 3-22-2014

Greetings to all,
 
A late start this morning got me down to HVRM about 10am. As I drove
up to the museum entrance, the lake in the parking lot was gone, no
snow to be seen. The 60's yesterday must of done the trick to get rid
of all that water. But wait, the front of the depot was abuzz with activity.
Yes the backhoe was busy pulling ties out from in front of the platform.
The payloader had a load of new ties on the forks. Yes my friends, the season
has commenced, the dreaded TRACK WORK that consumes Mark,
Cory, John, David were all at it. How dare those guys start something
without consulting me. Well it was on a moments notice that they decided
to start. In addition Sparky was conned into helping also. A goal of 14 ties
were decided to be replace.  I joined in on the work party, careful not to fall
down on my first real work session of the season. Lots of shoveling stone
away was physically  draining. Broke for lunch and returned to get a couple
more ties put in. Spikes were started, David went down to get the air compressor,
but needed to check the battery to make sure it had a full charge on it.
He was gone an awful long time in front of the shop with the compressor. We
all believed it was running, but actually was the LIRR coach engine running.
A small problem had occurred on the compressor, it would not turn over,
the starter had gone bad. One is on order for over 200 dollars now.
 
In the mean time, the LIRR coach was been cleaned of the winters dirt. Bjanrne
and a couple of others made it clean once again for the Easter ege hunt
coming up in April.
 
Back to the depot, no compressor, meant the dreaded spike maul had to
be used to pound all those spikes into the ties. Everyone took a turn,
even Richard took a couple of swings with the maul. Everyone was
just about exhausted by the time it was completed. The old ties
were stacked for removal by the payloader, guess what, the payloader
would not start, dead battery, so the battery charger had to be tracked
down and electric cord layed out. Battery charged, payloader started, ties
removed. Mission accomplished.
 
Down in the shop had a paint crew working on the IC caboose, Joe, Louise,
Fred, Fred and Bjarne were painting inside an out. One coat of orange has
been applied, with a 2nd coat on the north side of the caboose. Inside primer
has been applied to the wood. Louise has worked 4 days on the inside priming.
I did not see it, but all say it looks good.
 
Richard was inside the depot working on getting the wiring in for the switches
in the west depot room. A number of people showed up to visit the depot
an tour the grounds. Spring is here, cabin fever. Some donations were brought
to the museum today, magazines and books.
 
It was decided to put down rubber flooring in the IC caboose, Doug was going
to get 20 boxes at about 600 dollars from Menards tonight to cover the entire
floor. With a 11% discount, some money was saved.
 
Doug held a morning session of conductor training with 4 members.
 
So a fun filled day was had by all, some may certainly feel it tomorrow morning
in areas that have not been used all winter, muscle wise.
 
Hopefully things will go better next week. Come on out and enjoy the spring
weather.......
 
Tom

St Patricks Weekend at HVRM 3-15-2014

Greetings to all,
 
You would think by this time of the year, at least some green would be showing
up. But not this winter, still snow on the ground, and 4 feet of frost in the ground.
Baseball opening day might be in jeporady in some areas, but the work never
stops down at HVRM on a Saturday.
 
A late start, due to a grueling week driving bus, I slept in. Upon driving in the
lot, I saw Dave Cook in the dump truck an a load of rock ballast, dumping piles
of it along the turntable lead track. I knew the UP tamper had been loaded
and was in a storage yard till unloading at HVRM. Cory was to the west of
the shop buildings in the huge pile of ballast picking away at the frozen stone
ballast. Once breaking thru the frozen cover, lots of loose gravel was available.
Dave said that at least 15 loads were dumped on or near the tracks. Cory
brought the backhoe to the dumped ballast an started to level it along the
tracks. The drop trailer is dropped at the end of rails an, the truck driver has
rail to connect with our track an able to pull the tamper off the trailer. Sounds
easy?
 
Fred Boyer was inside the toasty warm shop needlegunning the IC caboose
steps. Joe Kingsbury had finished up the primer coat on the caboose. It is
now ready to paint orange and most likely a second coat will be required.
Bob Albert was painting inside the caboose also.
 
John LaOrange and Sparky were working on the Alco S-1. Injectors parts, other
engine parts have been installed at a cost of 530 some dollars I think. This
should make the engine run better an less fuel wasted out the stack with
unburnt fuel. It is almost all back together and hopefully will start.
 
Lunch was served by Margret Cook and made my day with a warm kitchen
car.
 
During this period of time, John and Les Beckman were busy searching for 
clapper to the bell of C&O 2789. Fred wants to get all the piece of the
front end of the engine back on, so they can be lighted. The clapper is missing.
If anyone has any idea where it is at, please tell us. Important to mount the
bell on the engine. Les did find the correct number font for the headlight
in the office. Good find.
 
Steve Hendrics cleaned up the equipment plate on C&O 2789 located on
the tender. Steve Newland mounted the whistle on the engine 2789 also.
Joe Baker did electrical work, we also noted that the outlets on the south
side of the east shop do not work. Most likely the electrical connection has
been severed at one time. Joe will check into it later. The electrical box to
replace the panel in the shop is not big enough, some other searching will
be needed to put the correct box in.
 
After the meeting, a crew was assembled to put some asphalt patch down
on the SR 10 RR crossing. A couple of signal guys on both sides of the
road stopping traffic made for fast work putting asphalt in the pot holes.
As of this afternoon, it was still there and no longer a loud clunk when
 the car hit it. Good job guys.
 
The membership meeting had a good sized crowd, making it necessary
to bring in another sitting bench.  Many items were discussed but the
annual dinner was at the end, Diane Bennett has arranged at the Industrial
Revolution Restaurant on US 30 in Valpo. for 16 dollars, roast beef dinner with
drink an desert. Will be in the bar area, a separated area from the rest of the
tables. 1 PM April 6th. Pay Bob Barcus at the museum on Saturdays your
money. Diane has arranged for 40 seats for those who have told her.
 
Richard Warner at the end of the day, was working on the G scale track, getting
the Erie freight train to fit on a piece of track by removing a couple of boxcars.
Now he can run 3 trains around the loop with no problem.
 
Suppose to warm up some next week, I can like that, be careful driving.
 
Tom 
 
 
 
 
 

Correction to Report

HRVM's annual dinner will be held at the Revolution Restuarant in Valpo
on US 30 April 6th, 1pm. It is just west of the Broadway Cafe, family style.
Diane Bennett will be at the membership meeting next Saturday to sign an
collect for the dinner. A mass e-mail will be sent out to all members
in the next week. The newsletter for last month had it on the last page,
which John LaOrange did not read!!!

HVRM still in FROZEN LOCKDOWN 3-8-2014

Greetings,
 
Board meeting at 8am in the depot. First item, a check for over 2000 dollars
was received from a lady who comes every year, who is an investment
broker. Gave an update on our investment an then some. Again she stressed
that if any donations are to be given upon demise, make sure they are written
into a will.
 
Normal reports were given. Building director John LaOrange noted that the
wood structures are in dire need of work, doors, roofs, repainting depot,
all need fixing. Most structures are wood and serious discussion was made
to put up a pole barn to house the growing fleet of tractors, lawn mowing
equipment, backhoes, trucks, and various other items. Cost and where to
put it is to be researched. Again time to put a building up, money to buy
and how big. The Union Pacific donation tie tamper is going to be on its
way quickly, as UP wants it gone by a certain date. By phone, directors voted
4500 dollars to have a contractor move it on a special trailer. 900 dollars for
a crane to load it in Arkansas. Talk of getting rail and ties down in the west
shop for storing the tie tamper to keep it out of the weather was discussed.
Again time to do it and materials needed. NS is going to tear out the railroad
line from Monon to Monticello IN asking for 1 mile of rail. Depending on man
power an time and NS donating it will be researched. 3000 ties are due
in the spring for the North Judson to English lake C&I railway are to be loaded
and thrown off along side of the rail ROW sometime again with manpower
train crews needed, if available. Illinois Central caboose is now in the painting
primer stage. Primer has been applied to to outside surfaces that are to be painting
IC orange and the roof will be painted with a truck bed liner paint to keep the
roof rust free. It will also be painted in IC orange. Used oil  pickup/disposal was supposed to happen, but not sure if it was done. Work continues on the
EL 310 for the upcoming season of train tourist trains. The GE diesel is
ready to run for the upcoming season also.
 
Seating inside the depot was discussed with more benches to be built and
possible year round benches outside installed. A flat screen TV/DVD player
system was voted on to buy 1 TV and mount it on the wall of the waiting room.
Upcoming events were to be shown, plus getting local eating places to
place ads for eating at while in town. Fred Boyer brought up the Starke County
Tourist committee putting an ice cream truck at our NJ festival weekend
and open house to sell ice cream at these events. It was decided to let
them come, but HVRM was not going to provide any manpower to assist.
Fred also wants to electrically wire the C&O 2789 headlight and marker lights
to be plugged in for display when the engine is pulled outside display.
 
Also painting of the open air car seating is needed again for upcoming season,
anyone willing to paint is encouraged to come on out an help. Some wood repairs
are needed to be done prior to painting.
 
Guest engineer program is doing very good with lots of people signed up in the
up coming months. Conductor programs will be starting again soon.
 
The house tax sale was conducted and HVRM are now the owners. This does
not mean we are allowed on the properity yet, nor allowed to do anything yet.
It may take up to a year to get all paperwork done and legal. The owner may
pay the taxes and reclaim ownership. If that happens HVRM money will be
returned along with 10% added on.  So for now just stay off the properity.
 
The electric manlift was used by Les Beckman to prime the cupola of the IC
caboose. Nice to be able to roll it around on the new concrete with out much
of a struggle. Maybe the next car in will be the burnt out tool car to be rebuilt
as the new lunch eating facility. Will be big enough to put in a lounge area
at one end for taking a break during the day. Who knows maybe an air
conditioning unit could be installed to keep it cool in the summer. The window
are sealed and will not be able to open for fresh air. Heating system has
not been decided yet either. Lots of work needs to be done on this car also,
could take a couple of years to rebuild.
 
John Degan was pressed into a toilet repair job in the depot Saturday. The plunger
unit broke and John fix the problem quickly, as to not hold up using the toilet.
Thanks John. John's aluminum car recycling program has netted over 200 dollars
an I forgot what will be bought with it, but will aid in lighting I think. Keep bringing
those beer/pop cans for the program, Thanks again John. He just likes to see
his name in the report once in a while. Pat knows he actually came to the museum
too.
 
Many other matters were discussed, but have forgotten by now. Oh, membership
meeting next Saturday March 15th, 1pm. Also annual dinner April 6th, 1pm west of
the Broadway Cafe on US 30, family style dining. Easter train rides in April also
for the egg hunt again on the web site. 
 
Hope all remembered to put your clocks ahead 1 hour for Daylight Savings
time. Many articles written on the advantages of having one more hour of daylight
in the evenings. But for me, its just up an hour earlier every morning and
taking those kids to school in the dark again for a month or so. But by June 21st
you can start your day at 4:30am in the daylight and get that much more
accomplished, YEAH RIGHT!!!!
 
 

Warming Up at HVRM Shop 2-15-2014

Greetings
 
Finally after weeks of subzero temps everywhere, things are starting to warm
up, including HVRM. Many things to report on todays activities inside the west
shop area.
 
After a grueling week of driving school bus in nothing short of harsh winter
conditions, I was ready for some relaxing activities. I got up early to meet
some friends at Fingerhut Bakery for breakfast. WOW was I surprised at
7am to find almost all tables full, but managed to sit down with a couple of ham
radio friends who were not at the master table. I guess everyone in North Judson
was having the same idea, get out of the house and enjoy the day. So after
an excellent breakfast, I proceded down to HVRM. Most of the activity seemed
to be at the shop building. A large crew had already assembled inside and
were starting on projects. Walking into the west shop, it was actually very
warm. The new heater was inspected last Monday an bought on Tuesday
an transported to North Judson. Its a monster, and does it put out the heat.
I'm not sure what the btu's are, but in the range of 600,000 I think. Runs on
#1 diesel fuel. The second surprise was the concrete for the long anticipated
floor along the rail will be poured Monday morning. About 27 yards have been
ordered. The day was spent in prepartion of leveling the sand and putting down
the wire. The side boards were beefed up to prevent bowing when the concrete
is being poured. John, Cory, Dave and Steve Hendrics were the workers.
 
The back-hoe tractor was started and managed to get in close to lift the bent
coupler to be put in John LaOrange's truck for another attempt to get it straight
again. It was found out it is hollow and if heated up, it most likely will be able to
get it back to normal.
 
After the tractor moved out, the payloader pulled in to have it serviced. Change the
oil, change fuel filters and have it greased. Cory, John and Sparky worked on
this project. 
 
Steve Hendrics moved a small cabinet from Grasselli tower inside and primed
it for future painting. Steve also did some more work on a pipe he has ground
down, primed and final painted today.
 
Joe Baker was there today also doing whatever. Joe Kingsbury was busy
around the shop building also. Margret was there today to provide lunch
for the crew. Loretta was in the depot drumming up throttle time participants.
Doug was over at Osinkis auction today and came back with a list of bought
items. Bob Barcus was holding down the gift shop. Mark Kniebel doing all
types of odd jobs today also. Elmer Mannen showed up in the afternoon an
stayed for about an hour or so. Steve Newland, Richard Warner were also in
attendence.
 
I took on the task of starting to grind on the ND&W west end and getting a start
on the task that is going to take a long time to complete, removing the old paint.
Haven't work this hard in months. Was fun to get all dirty again and I was the first
to make the new heater look like it has been inside the building for months, dirty.
 
About 3pm, it was time to pull the loco and IC caboose into the other shop in
prepartion for the cement pour. This only took a few minutes with the payloader
providing the power.
 
Shop was locked up and everyone moved over to the depot for a meeting.
The annual dinner will be held at the Revolution Restuarant in Valpo in April.
More in the newsletter coming out soon. A couple of other items were discussed
and adjourned about 3:45pm.
 
Headed towards home for a hot shower and clean clothes. Hope everyone has
a better week and warms up some. Drive safe, roads are still ice coated and
slick. Things are looking up at HVRM, come on out and visit with us some Saturday.

LIttle of this and that....and that....and that....and that...at HVRM 2/8/14

Greetings Winter Season enthusiasts!

Well....maybe not.  This has been a tough winter for us here in Northwestern Indiana.  Much snow and frigid temps have frayed the edge of many folks.  Snow piled everywhere!  Tom Travis told of a particular bad corner in LaPorte where high snow piles at the corner caused a couple of serious accidents.  Of course, not only us in the Hoosier state are feeling the winter, as it had been bad in many of parts of the good old U.S.A.

The last two Saturdays at the museum saw heavy snow and horrid road conditions, keep attendance down.  Just 4 people showed up last week.  We had an overnight snow again last night and road conditions were again poor at best.  Temps stayed in the upper teens and we had light snow again just about the whole day.  Despite this, we had a number of folks show up today, although there was no formal Board meeting.

Cory Bennett pulled the flat tire off of our manlift and went out and had it repaired.  A bad connection at the rim was the verdict.  Some cleaning up of the rim and the tire was pronounced as fixed.  Cory said, "let's hope so or we'll be back!"

Loretta Kosloske reported a number of Guest Engineers have signed up from states beyond Indiana and Illinois, including a phone call today from a gentleman in Tennessee who had visited HVRM when Nickel Plate 2-8-4 #765 was last here. 

Fred Boyer worked on sanding down previously applied Bondo and then grinding some rough spots under the roof overhangs on the IC yellow caboose.  Fred keeps finding red paint from the original Illinois Central paint job.  Meanwhile, Bob Albert, using some of the old gymnasium floor pieces that we have on hand, worked on fixing the bad floor section in front of one of the caboose doors.  The floor in now finally finished!

Cory and company used the Backhoe to pull the Porter diesel from the old section of the Shop into the West Annex, which is insulated.  Temps in the old section peaked at 27 degrees whereas one torpedo heater got the West Annex up to 47 degrees by the afternbboon.  Quite a difference.  A regular furnace of some type would actually make it toasty in the West Annex.   Discussions on that are ongoing. 

After moving the Porter, Cory changed the oil and filter on the Backhoe.

The warmer temps in the West Annex enabled Steve Henrichs to move the long pipe for the Grasselli Tower electrical connections over and he managed to get the pipe completely primed.

Sparky Byers wanted to put a 4' florescent fixture into the cab of the Porter for light when working on the electrical cabinet.  Believe it or not, we found a brand new fixture on top of a cabinet in the Old Shop along with a whole boxful of 4' florescent tubes!   Sparky put some screws into the wood in the cab roof and hung the fixture.  First tube lit up like a charm.  Second one....no.  Tried two tubes.  Neither of them worked.  Then exchanged tubes and the good tube one did not work and one of the bad ones did.  Joe Kingsbury took the fixture done and worked on it and eventually pronounced it as "junk".  Knew there was a reason we found that stuff so easily!  Went out a purchased a couple of portable lights to use instead.

We all chipped in and purchased some pizzas for lunch.  Got the great news that a Tamper has reportedly been donated to us.  This will greatly aid in trackwork, which is an ongoing necessity at Hoosier Valley.

Tom and I have talked about painting the train order stand and finding some place to put it up at the museum.  I looked for the stand and found it but also discovered that the lower "circular" connection was missing.  I wandered around the shop looking for it and finally found it on one of the shelves that were rescued from the old Erie Milk Station building.  We now have a winter project.

Cory, John DeGan, Steve Newland, Rich Warner and Randall Downs stood around and  talked about the coupler and its bent shank that had been removed from the one end of the Porter.  Apparently the company that John LaOrange approached stated that they didn't think they could heat and then bend the 6" solid square shank.  Steve checked over the coupler and said that he thought that the shank might not be solid, but hollow.  Found a long piece of wood and was able to insert it nearly back to the hole for the pin that holds the coupler/shank in place.  An interesting discovery.  Might be able to heat and bend the shank after all.

I spent a bit of time removing some yellow tape residue from the other coupler on the Porter.  By then, it was 3:00 and still snowing, covering all of our cars.  Enough for one winter day.  We turned off  the lights and locked up.  Next Saturday's another day.

 

Richard Warner and Joe Kingsbury have completed the repairs to the John Deere tractor. The

tractor needed to be split apart to repair the PTO problem. Richard also replaced some items

that were in marginal condition. Transmission oil was replaced also. Works great now for the

brush whacker for next summer.

 

Someone spent a lot of time with the back hoe tractor cleaning out the drives around the

museum this past week of deep snow. Thanks very much.

 

Talk of acquiring an old house north of Bings home at a Sheriffs sale coming up later in the month.

The house would be torn down, as it is now unoccupied and deserted. It is a large lot and zoned

for dwellings at this time. Would clean up the corner also. A couple of large trees occupy the

properity, one which is dead, which would burn nicely in the wood stove in the shop building.

Les