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.