Back at it today, working on a few things around the shop. Rob was back out to continue working on the cab of CN 9173. He’s been prepping for some of the body work as we work towards the cosmetic restoration of the piece. When we acquired an old industrial siding a few yrs back, all the OTM (Other Track Materials) were put in the TH&B gondola. With some recent thefts of items from the car, it was decided to remove the useful material for storage, and the rest (items that were damaged over years of service) will be scrapped. The GE doesn’t operate on track 2 very often as it does need some work. The other issue is the coupler on our other CN Flanger, 56452, doesn’t seem to close and lock properly, so we aren’t able to move the car around. To get the planned work done, the gondola was pushed into the shop to allow us to palletize the material. Once that was done, the cars were pulled back down the track, just before the rain started coming down. Other work was getting our items ready for the Woodstock show on Sunday, and working on the riding mower deck. Won’t need them anymore this year, but want to have them back together and ready for the spring.

During lunch, some of our members joined in on a Zoom call with Rocky Mountain Rail Society as they provided members with an update on the restoration of CN 4-8-2 #6060 out in Warden Alberta. Some major boiler work has recently been completed, and they are now moving on to replacing the staybolts. 6060 is a very well known locomotive in our area as she frequently ran excursions between Toronto and Niagara Falls, with side trips to Welland. We wish Rocky Mountain Railway Society the best as they work to bring this magnificent locomotive back to operation. If you’re interested in learning more, or would like to help, visit https://6060.org/

We are now 2 weeks from the Niagara Model Railway Show on October 30th. We may be able to squeeze a few more tables in, but for the most part, the tables are booked up. We are looking forward to the show, and out final event of our 25th anniversary year. The show features model railway vendors selling trains of all scales, railway artifacts, and railway history displays. Something for everyone.

Small group out today, but we still got things done. John was cutting some brush, until the cutter blew a belt. Neil and John worked on the machine, but didn’t quite get it back in service, but not a big problem, just a few bolts to go back on right now. Patrick was working on the Woodings CBI motorcar, having removed the Tecumseh engine 3 weeks ago for repairs. The motor was reinstalled today and hooked back up, and for the first time since we believe 2019, the car made its first runs in the yard. Still have some adjustments to make, but it was great to have this car back in operation.

HEPC 46 was moved to the end of the track, with the Woodings following it and backing into the North track. This is only the 2nd time that 46 has been to the end of the track.
At the start of the day the crew was looking over the brake system (or lack thereof) on CN Flanger 56323. The air system was removed many years ago, and with that, the ability to have even a hand brake on the car. We have a plan worked out and will work on this over the off season. Just something out to be added to the ever growing list of things that need to be done before next May.

While we were doing this work today, some video clips were shot, and put together into a 7min video, which can be found here:
https://youtu.be/TueDdkuRfAY
As a reminder, next Saturday, October 1st, is our final open day for this season. We will be open 10-2.

Had a good turnout at the shop today and a fair amount got done.

Ken, Ken, John and Duane continued with the never ending task of cutting the grass/weeks. John was using the sicklebar mower to cut the weeds on the roundhouse foundation. Ken Jr was using the new cutter to clean up the track, getting rid of the weeds from there. Inside the shop there was a lot happening as well. Ken Sr., when he wasn’t cutting outside, was looking after our visitors.

Rob was busy inside the cab of 9173, continuing to work on pounding out the dents in the nose. It’s really looking good, and he’s definitely making great progress. Patrick was working on the brakes on the Plymouth, as we continue toe restoration to operation of that locomotive. Still having some issues, but he’s slowly working through them. These issues are somewhat expected, as this locomotive hasn’t had any operating air systems for likely close to 30yrs.

Also in the shop, Allan spent the day installing the rebuilt cupola window on the north side of the Flanger. It’s great to see the car will all the windows again (even though there are still 4 in the cupola that will likely need some work). At the end of the day we pulled the car outside for a pic. The Flanger has been our biggest restoration project in our history. It is good to see it coming together and every little bit moves it one step closer to completion.

Thanks to our crew that came out to work today, Ken, Mike, John, Duane, Allan, Rob, Patrick and Ken. Also thanks to all of our visitors, some local (Niagara), but some from Brampton, Mississauga and Midland.

2 years ago today, on August 20th 2022, we successfully relocated Toronto Hamilton & Buffalo Railway Carpenters Boarding car X759 from its long time home at the Robbins farm in Fenwick, to the Museum. The car has been on display, open to our visitors, and should start to be restored in mid to late 2023.

The Robbins Family (donated TH&B X759) came out today with more items from the collection. We received about 25-30 lanterns from various manufacturers and railways, including New York Central, GTW, and TH&B. Some of the items will be put on display, including the air reservoir test card from TH&B Jordan Spreader X775 from 1972. This card will be added to the Jordan Spreader builders plates already on display. There were also 20 or so locks from TH&B, CNR, CPR, NYCS and PC, along with a ring of TH&B keys. All the items were put away, and will need to be sorted next weekend. The Niagara Railway Museum sends its thanks and appreciation for everything the Robbins family has done for us, and we hope we will be able to continue the work that Ken Robbins started all those decades ago. We have a few other projects on the go, and more info will be available when we firm.things up a bit more, but we’re definitely looking forward to adding some new things to the displays.

Wasn’t much happening at the shop today, but was still fairly busy. John was using the sickle bar mower to cut some of the weeds on the roundhouse foundation. We’ll use the bush hog next week to finish it off. The Museum made a new acquisition this week to aid in the neverending brush control. We picked up a new Stihl cutter to help out the weed eater. The Stihl Kombi system allows the user to change attachments for different jobs. Our unit has the trimmer head on it and it worked great around the towers and along the track. Ken Jr. was using the new machine, while Ken Sr. used the weed eater with blades to work around the building. Still work to do next time out, but it was a great start today. Neil was working on the Trackmobile with Mike while Rick worked in the office. Allan was out earlier in the week and worked on the flanger stairs, adding wheels to allow us to move them outside with the car, without using the forklift. He also added signs to the chains he installed to block areas of the shop off. A lot of progress continues to be made, and out next event will be here soon, RailDays on September 10/11.

Thanks to Ken, Mike, Neil, John, Rick, and Ken for the work today.

There wasn’t much planned for today, but the work that was planned, got done, and actually a bit more than was expected. As we prepare to move onto our next project, the rebuild of our CNR handcar, which was acquired as essentially the steel/cast parts 2yrs ago, all the pieces were moved to the shop and started to be disassembled. All the remaining wood was taken off (not without a fight either). Surprising how well the bolts actually came apart. All the bearings are good and moving as they should. There are some small parts that need to be replaced, but it is complete. We have plans for the car, and will be using those, along with photos to rebuild the car. Next step is to order the hardwood for the project. We also worked on moving our new work table to the shop, which includes a very big, very heavy vice.

Earlier in the week Neil and Allan were out working on a few things. Allan replaced the missing mudrail boards on the north track, and Neil was working on one of the drive chains for INCo 8.

Stuart Greig, a retired CNR Carman brought us out an air hose he’s had hanging on his fence for years. This hose was used to bypass brakes that were not functioning on a car, and is new to our collection.

Thanks to Ken, Neil, Jim, Nolan, and Mike for all to work today.

Despite there being a lot happening in Niagara this weekend (Stevensville rodeo, Canal Days), we had a great Saturday at the shop, one of our best this year. Patrick continued worming on the Plymouth air system. Using our external compressor, he’s been fixing any leaks and working on the lines to/from the brake stand. We found out today that the train brake does work, although the pipes were cut/capped years ago. That will be corrected at a later date, and the train air will be piped in again. By the end of the day the air gauges were showing signs of life, but the air cylinders still need some work. Neil recieved some of the fuel system parts that Ted Lucas of Lucas Liftruck Services Ltd. has been searching for. Still trying to find that elusive distributor, but the fuel system parts get us one step closer to getting INCo 8 up and running again.

Thanks to our crew for all their work today, Neil, Jim, Nolan, Mike, Ken, Patrick and Ken.

On behalf of the Niagara Railway Museum, I want to give a huge thanks to everyone who came out to visit this weekend. Saturday was crazy, Sunday was about half, but still busy. We heard nothing but positive comments on so many different projects. It was good to see new guests, and many returning ones. I’m not 100% sure, but I believe the furthest away was Northern BC (in Niagara visiting), or Haiti (moved to Fort Erie 5yrs ago). I like being able to talk to so many of you on the engine. Our volunteers put in a lot of time over the weekend to look after things, and get things ready in the weeks leading up to the event. While I wish a few more things had worked out, I believe we still put on a great show. We really did bust our butts to get things done.

David with the Flanger lettering, Allan with building new tables and getting one of the rebuilt cupola windows installed on the Flanger, new paint on HEPC E7 and INCo 8. The cleaning, grounds, etc. Thanks to everyone who helped spread the word to get people out to our event. Your sharing and reposting our event has a positive impact on our attendance.

Have to give a really big shout out to our volunteers Bill, Jim, Nolan, Felicia, Audrey, Mike, Ken, Neil, Rick, Bill, Patrick, Allan, Susan, Aaron and Ken. They put so much into this weekend, and it is so very much appreciated.If you have pictures from the event that you’d like to share, please either post them in a reply (I believe it’s set up to allow that) or you can send them in a message to us here.

We are still open Saturdays from 10am-2pm, and our next big event is RailDays on September 10/11. We hope to have our friends from the Fort Erie LaFrance Assoc. join us at that weekend. And who knows what else might make its way to the event. For me, personally, it has been 25yrs where I’ve been able to see both, ups and downs of the Museum I started. Only 2 other members are from the start, Aaron, and my Father, Ken. The members we have now are a great group that do everything I ask, and then some. This weekend was long and tiring, but so worth it in the end. We have made some great progress lately, and we hope to continue to share that with everyone who follows, and visits us.

Thankyou to everyone.

Ken Jones – President

Niagara Railway Museum Inc.

Wow!! What a day. Definitely one of the busiest days we’ve ever had. Despite a couple of minor glitches, we got through the day fairly well. We had really great crowds, and while the event wasn’t what I had originally planned, I think it went very well. Because I spent the majority of the day on the locomotive, I have very few pictures to share, but here’s a few I managed to get. My surprise to our visitors was a special 25th Anniversary cake, which I think was enjoyed. Really want to thank everyone who came out to support us on this weekend. We heard nothing but positive comments from first time visitors, and even our repeat guests. We thank you so much for visiting, as our volunteers have worked very hard to get some projects either finished, or further along, to show the progress we’re making. This is a brief report for now as it’s been a long, tiring day, and it’s almost time to crash. Sunday is another day, and in addition to what was at the show today, we will have our friend James Petroczi doing a forging demonstration, turning railroad spikes into knives.

Thank you again to everyone who showed up today. We look forward to seeing more visitors on Sunday.

As we work to get things ready for the weekend, we made some pretty big moves today, and a number of firsts. So, lets start with all the firsts:

– first time the GE has been inside track ED17 (North track)

– first time CN flanger 56323 has been outside since arriving in 2016

– first time 56323 has moved to a different track

– first time HEPC 46 has been to the end of track

– first time the GE, 46 & 56323 have been together

– first time 46 & 56323 will be displayed together

The Flanger will end up back over on the north track after this weekend, but for now, it’ll be outside with 46 for display. While we were switching the equipment around the NS was working in the yard and CP came through heading to Buffalo as well. Here is the video of todays switching moves. https://youtu.be/QLKL9YztINY

The event starts Saturday at 10am. The first 30 people to visit will get a special treat for our Anniversary. Don’t forget, this is your chance to get one of our limited edition HEPC 46 coins for $25. Once they’re gone, they won’t be produced again. See them in our gift shop. Thanks to Mike, Neil and Ken who spent the time tonight to get all this work done.

The Niagara Railway Museum Inc. is pleased to be holding our 25th Anniversary event on Saturday and Sunday, July 16 & 17 from 10am to 4pm both days. Niagara Antique Power Association, Ontario Northland Railway Historical Society, Lego trains, G scale trains, and the artifacts and equipment of the Museum.

Friday July 15th will see an informal night photo shoot from 8-11pm. Equipment will be our steam locomotive, HEPC46, CN flanger 56323 and our GE diesel. There will be no special lighting, so photographers will need to bring their own gear, or use the existing night light. Admission for both events is by donation.