The front door with a coat of CN #15 blue stands out against the brick.

Saturday was a great day at the shop, despite only 2 people being at the shop.? A fair amount of painting was done, including the front entrance door, which got a fresh coat of CN #15 blue with white trim.? Some of the handrails received a coat of yellow paint.? The old Spadina Motive Power tractor, which has been in the shop for well over 20yrs, received some attention having the hood scraped down and a coat of grey primer applied. A coat of orange will be applied as we start a simple cosmetic restoration to improve it?s appearance as a display item.? Ken Sr. also continued with the cleaning of the drop table pit.? Most of the plastic fittings that were thrown in there over the years have been removed, and now it just comes to cleaning out the leftover debris and dirt.? This has been an ongoing project, but it?s going well, and will be a big improvement come the September Open House.

The Shop tractor with a coat of primer on the hood.

Ken sweeps up some of the debris and junk in the pit.

The scale beam from the CN Fort Erie scale has been scraped down, cleaned, and reassembled in the office of the shop. The broken parts were repaired and cleaned as well before installation. An HO scale model will be built to show what the scale looked like when in service in the yard. There are many other projects in the works, and we are very grateful to CN for donating the beam scale to us, and for Attar Metals for removing and delivering it to the shop.

Work is always ongoing at the NRM shop, and new members are always welcome to come out and see what we?re all about.? You don?t need any skills to take part, as there are lots of projects that can be done by any skill level. Just contact us for more information.

Due to a schedule conflict, the date of the September Open House is now September 7th & 8th, 10am-4pm both days. The event runs rain or shine, and admission is by donation. For more information, please contact the Museum. 

On another note, it was a fairly productive weekend at the shop. More of the junk from the drop table pit was removed, and its starting to look a lot better. The beam scale, donated to the Museum by CN, was cleaned and readied for painting on the weekend. It was also reassembled and now sits on display inside the front room. Work continues on this coming long weekend. Stop by Saturday from 9-12 and check out the progress. 

Well, despite some heavy rain Friday night into Saturday morning, we still managed to get some  things done at the Museum. It was raining on and off Saturday morning, but cleared up enough for the 2 man track crew to get some work done on the track.  Marcel and Ken extended the operable length of track another 45? or so, and we are now at the location where the #8 frog will be located. The next track session will be the big push to get as much of the turnout in as possible. The turnout is being constructed in a rather unorthodox way, using only 8ft ties. It?s not perfect, but will allow us to connect the 2 tracks for the time being.

The brackets from the beam scale that were damaged when it was moved to the shop have been repaired and will work just fine for display.  We have started cleaning the old flaking paint off of them and they will be repainted black for display. (left) The plan is to have the beam scale restored and ready for display by the September open weekend.  Rick spent the morning work on the Trackmobile, and I?m quite pleased to say that he was able to get it wired up from the key switch.  the motor and everything seems to be turning and working just fine. The propane tank and line still need to be hooked up, and we are waiting for the final bearing for the Transmission to arrive. Work it progressing very well.  it will be great to see this unit, which came to us damaged and in pieces, up and running at the Museum. Also inside the shop Ken Sr. worked on cleaning and organizing some of the material we use for track work, and such.

Still lots of projects on the go out at the shop.  Paint removal from E-7 is continuing, and will be a bit easier and faster with the larger angle grinder, which now has an 8? wire wheel.  Some other work was also planned out, mostly dealing with visitor and member safety. Those items will be brought in as we continue to improve and clean the shop.

All in all it was a very productive weekend, and i thank the 4 members that came out for it. Progress is ongoing, and I think by the time September rolls around, there will be a lot of significant changes at the shop. Come on out and join us. Not sure what day we?ll be there? email us to find out.

It appears as though the weather is going to stay decent for this weekend so the planned track work session for Saturday July 20th is still on. For requirements to take part, please see the previous post. Plan is to still start at 0900 and be done by 2. 

In order to push forward with museum development, the NRM will be working this Saturday, July 20, 9-2, on track construction. No experience is required, and tools are provided by the Museum.  You do not need to be able to swing a spike maul.  Other tasks include packing ballast, lifting ties for spiking, gathering materials, etc. The day is however weather permitting.  A final announcement will be made on Friday night and will be posted on here, or you can email to find out.

Those taking part must come equipped with the following: Steel toe safety footwear, safety glasses, reflective/high visibility clothing or vest, and a hard hat.

If you would like to take part in the work party on Saturday, please email  the Museum.

The next open house at the Niagara Railway Museum will be this coming weekend, June 29/30 & July 1, 10am-4pm all 3 days.  The event runs rain or shine, so come on our and support railway history in Niagara.

There will also be a work session on Saturday July 6, 9-? at the shop.  The first goal of the work day is to get some more windows up along the south wall to help keep the elements out where our 0-4-0ST steam engine and Plymouth diesel are kept. If we get enough people, a smaller group will break off and work on the track.  You must be a member of the NRM due to safety reasons. Memberships are available the day of the work party.  All are welcome, no experience required.  Please contact us for more information at info @ nfrm.ca or give us a call at 905 357 6539. 

There will be work going on at the Museum site on Saturday June 1st from 9am-1pm. Work scheduled includes the continued restoration on HEPC E-7, and the Whiting Trackmobile. Visitors are always welcome. 

The first open house of 2013 at the Museum is over.  The weather was pretty decent, but the wind made it a tad chilly at the shop. This was the first open house with the ex-CNR Flanger and Trackmobile on site. Attendance was not as good as hoped, but those that came out where impressed with the amount of work that was done to save this structure and the equipment.

Everything is set up and ready for visitors.

Thanks to everyone who came out to see and support the Niagara Railway Museum Inc. as we work to create a great attraction for the Town of Fort Erie, and the Region. Also a big thanks to our dedicated volunteer members who put in their time to staff the shop for the 2 days.

Under development is our new display track inside the shop. This short section of track has been constructed to allow us to show how the various track

tools are used (left). HEPC 46 has been uncovered from her winter slumber, and looked great in the sun (right).

Our next open house weekend will be June 29/30 & July 1, 10-4 all 3 days.  We are working on some new items for the display, and should have some great new items to show off.

Not too much going on for this Mothers Day weekend, but a small crew did accomplish a few things.  In order to continue with repairs to our Whiting 2TMA Trackmobile, it had to be moved over the pit.  A 2hr job with jacks and blocking to get the road wheels down. The unit is not operating, so the hydraulic cylindars are disconnected from the rest of the unit.  The road wheels have to be moved manually. Once that was done, the tractor was used to pull it off the track.  Next step was to line it up for movement back to the track. But first, the Plymouth MDT40t diesel had to be moved forward, again, the tractor comes in very handy. Once the Plymouth was moved, the 2TMA was pushed into position behind the diesel, and process reversed to lift the road wheels and set it back onto the rails. Once back on rails, it was an easy push the 20ft to the pit, where it now resides in front of our steam engine #46. The last step was to move the Plymouth back 10ft to allow us to use the roll up door on that track.  Other work was just continued cleaning of the shop to get ready for the open house in 2 weeks.

TheTrackmobile on its own wheels for the first time in many years.  The tires are in rough shape, but everything is holding air (Left). In its new position behind the Plymouth, being lowered onto the rails (centre). and on the track over the inspection pit in front of HEPC 46. Ready for the installation of the rebuilt gearbox (right).