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July 16, 2016

Wood and windows

What was first imagined as a fairly easy job turned into something far more complex than initially anticipated.? Wayne M has spent a fair amount of time making repairs to the wood on the south track near the door.? The wood “mudrail” more or less had become deteriorated to the point where it became a major tripping hazzard.? Wayne was finally able to get the majority of the work finished and it’s looking great. A protective stain will be applied on the lumber to help protect it from the elements.

waynefloor1 waynefloor2 waynefloor3Other work happening in the shop included some grass cutting around property, patiently waiting for our big tractor/bush hog to be fixed. There are many ongoing projects at the Museum, one of which is the restoration of our Plymouth MDT40t diesel.? In our first 2 months in this facility, some neighbourhood kids broke into the shop and did significant damage to our equipment, including smashing out most of the windows on 2 of our motorcars, and the Plymouth diesel. The Plymouth is being restored to operating condition, but will likely spend the majority of it’s time as display and backup power to the GE. Progress has been a bit slow as we are awaiting the return of our air compressor. The engine does run, but without the compressor we haven’t yet had the locomotive moving under it’s own power. So, until that time, there is other work, including replacing the windows to make the unit once again weather tight.? 6 New lexan windows were cut today, and will be installed when the frames are done being prepped. So all in all, another productive day, and some much needed progress made.

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4 new lexan windows have been cut and ready for installation.

July 15, 2016

A look back at…

The Fort Erie CNR Roundhouse.

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CNR Northern 6121 on the FE turntable in August 1956.

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CNR Mikado 3486 is stored inside the FE roundhouse in February 1959.

Back in the 80’s, the area around what we now use as the Museum was a very busy site. The yard and yard office were still very active, the car shops were busy repairing cars from across the system, and the diesel shop was keeping the CN fleet in the area running.? The roundhouse and turntable was also still in use, turning locomotives and doing some repairs. However, as the facility started to work towards closing down in 1987, much of the work started shifting to the much larger shops at MacMillan Yard in Toronto. In 1989, all work in the shops of Fort Erie was finished. The track was removed, the diesel shop eventually sold off and left to the elements. The car shops became a lumber distribution facility. The roundhouse unfortunately did not meet the same fate. In October 1992, the remaining stalls of the roundhouse were set ablaze by local vandals and destroyed. Because of the wood construction of the roundhouse, it burned fast and could not be saved. The roundhouse was demolished shortly after the fire, and was eventually bulldozed into the turntable pit when the turntable bridge was removed for scrapping (which in turn became a sale to the Arcade & Attica RR outside Buffalo).? The turntable itself was built in 1915 by the Canadian Bridge Company and was 85′ in length. The A&A had plans to use the turntable at their operation in Arcade NY, but that never materialized and the the turntable was once again up for scrapping, and once again saved by yet another group.? The turntable was resold in October 2001 to the Railroad Museum of Long Island.? It is currently stored at their Riverhead NY site.

The following 4 images show some fairly major repair work to the ring rail of the turntable in October 1985.? New ties were installed in one half of the pit.? Some of the pit was excavated in 2014 and showed the ties still in place, and still in great condition.

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The Roundhouse in 1977

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Articles from the Niagara Falls Review

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The foundation of the roundhouse is still visible in the weeds, and the inspection pits have been covered over.? The Museum has been able to look into the pits, now filled with dirt, as well as excavate a small part of the turntable pit to inspect it for damage.? It would be great to be able to return the turntable to its rightful place back in Fort Erie, but that’s a whole different project right there.

 

Photos for this article were from the Niagara Railway Museum Inc. archives. the first 2 black & white images are from Ron Wright Railroad images.

July 14, 2016

July open weekend

Our second big event of 2016 has come and gone, and everyone was pretty beat at the end of it all. We didn’t have the same advertising as May ,but we still had a decent turnout for the 2 days. Our night photo shoot had one photographer show up, but he was quite pleased with what we had to offer and wants to come back. So with that, we are now planning to hold another one on Saturday, September 10th.? More information will be made available as we get closer to the event.

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The GE 25tonner and HEPC 46 outside.

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HEPC 46 “under steam” and outside.

We did manage to get a bit of work done during the weekend.? Wayne M continued painting the cinderblock walls, with most of that being about 85% complete now. We also took some time to temporarily install one of the couplers on HEPC 46 to make it easier, and safer to move her in and out of the shop. The wood buffer beams will all be part of the cosmetic restoration, which we call Project 46.? Project 46 is the fundraising initiative to help complete the restoration. 46 and the GE were posed outside for the night photo shoot.

The open house itself went very well. A big thanks to Bill and Garry for once again bringing out the Ontario Northland Historical Society display, which includes HO models of ONR equipment, photos and artifacts. Also thanks to our members who came out on both days to take care of our visitors as they toured around the shop. We received lots of great feedback from our guests and everyone understood that the Niagara Railway Museum is a major work in progress. There were? a few new items for display as well.

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Our display cases, custom built by Dave Torbett, were returned and placed back into the display car.

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Running a few new trains on the G scale layout, including this narrow gauge Whitcomb and cars.

The rain managed to hold off except for a short time during the night photo shoot. 46 got a much needed bath thanks to Mother Nature!! Despite a push from our friends at the Welland Historical Museum,? the weather did keep our night photo shoot to a very small affair.? JW Vraets from Grimsby came down and spent about 3hrs with us, taking pics of many of our pieces.? Once the rain let up we were able to get outside to the GE and 46. It was a good time with some neat pictures, and was definitely a learning experience.

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HEPC 46 and the GE 25tonner outside under the quarter moon.

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NRM President Ken Jones at the controls of HEPC 46.

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Inside the cab of CN 9173.

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The last pic of the night, looking towards the east end of the shop.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks to everyone who came out to support railway heritage in Niagara. We do this to keep one part of our Regions history alive for the current, and future generations. We will continue to expand and interpret our collection. We try to make changes throughout the year to rotate some of our collection through the display. Our next big event is September 10/11, 10am to 4pm both days, rain or shine. However, we are also open every Saturday from 10am -2pm until the end of September.

July 7, 2016

Open Weekend – July 9th and 10th

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HEPC46 has had some work done, and will soon be undergoing a cosmetic restoration.

This coming weekend is our second big event for the year. We have been working hard on new displays, and to fix some other issues in the shop itself. Some of that work is ongoing, but we’re ready for our visitors this weekend. Saturday night from 8-10pm we will be having a mini night photo shoot at the museum.? We do ask for a $5 donation, with all proceeds going towards the cosmetic restoration of HEPC 46, our steam locomotive. Photographers will be required to bring whatever they need for the shoot. Different angles will be available with both our GE diesel and steam locomotive.

As always, admission to our open weekend, which runs from 10am to 4pm rain or shine both days, is by cash donation. There’s lots to see and do for all ages. 2?operating train layouts, Thomas play table, equipment displays, with some equipment open for visitors. And don’t forget our 2 display cars and our Museum store.

For more information visit www.nfrm.ca or call 905 357 6539.