It was another busy weekend for the NRM.  We took part in the Ontario Narrow Gauge show in Schomberg, Ont. on Saturday April 21st. This is a small show, focusing solely on Narrow Gauge railways, and features some amazing layouts and models.

     Along with a small display, we had a small 5/8" scale layout
(O scale track is 2ft gauge), operated by Ken Jones on display.  It was well recieved, but I know what needs to be done for next year.  Sunday was busy as well with the Woodstock Model Train show in Woodstock Ont.  The show was very busy, and we talked to many people, promoting the Museum and our upcoming open house at the end of May.

      On another note, our friends at the Toronto Railway Historical Association have been hit with a major snag in the development of the Roundhouse Museum.  The site is located right in downtown Toronto, with the CN Tower, Rogers Centre, Air Canada Centre, and Gardener Expressway surrounding it.  We wish them the best of luck through this unfortunate issue.  Please read the article at the link for the full story.

http://www.trha.ca/news.html

It's rather busy around the NRM shop this weekend.  Saturday saw the Jones's out and about, working on various projects.  First was our new permanent display board, which will live in the lower part of the shop floor.  The 4ft square display will feature photos and information about the shop, and the various railways around the Region.  The board is expected to be finished by the May open House.

In other news, with the first Open House of 2012 at the end of May, we have set the weekend of May 12 & 13 as spring cleaning weekend.  A skidsteer will be brought in, and any scrap, and non NRM items inside the shop, will be moved outside and taken off site.  The old machine shop equipment in the office area will soon be removed, which will allow us to focus on the rebuilding of the office portion of the shop.  Of course, there is still a lot of work to go before everything is done, but it's a good start.  There is a long list of things to do out at the shop, including scraping and painting, some building of displays, sorting of material, grass & site clean up, and just general maintenance.  Anyone who is interested in helping out, either through the week, or on a weekend, can contact the NRM and set up a time.

With the great weather this Easter weekend, I figured it would be a good day to go the shop and try to get something done.  There are a lot of little projects that need completion.  The thing is to find the one project that can be done in a relatively short period of time.  Today, that was the ex-CNR caboose stove which has been sitting in my shed for over 10 yrs.  There is some damage to the stove itself, but it is complete, and it really only needed a good cleaning and a coat of paint.  Each piece was wire brushed to get the surface rust, cobwebs, dirt, etc off, then was given a coat of flat black.  The base was painted silver, which is the colour it was when I received it. Plus, it stands out better when people are walking around the shop. 

The NRM has quite a few railroad signs as well.  While most of them are in storage, we do have some out at the shop.  I took 10 minutes today and mounted some of them to a 4×4 for display beside our crossing signal.  The round railway crossing warning sign is yet to be hung up, but will be by the May open house.