On July 8th, the cab of Canadian National F7Au #9173 was loaded on a trailer for the move to its new home at the Niagara Railway Museum Inc. The cab has been sitting outback of the Canada Science and Technology Museum in Ottawa for many years, originally acquired to be converted to a simulator for the Museum.? These plans did not come to fruition, and the Museum planned to scrap the piece. Doug Wilson from Ottawa sent a message to NRM President Ken Jones that the piece may be available and to get in touch with the CSTM to see if it could be saved.? The scrapping was stopped, and the push was on to get the move in place.

Everything came together very quickly as the CSTM wanted it gone if it was going to be saved. A crane had to be found for the loading in Ottawa, a truck had to be lined up for the move to Fort Erie, unloading at Fort Erie, and of course, some very quick fundraising had to be done. Regional Crane got the call for the crane, while Becker Brothers Trucking out of Kitchener was lined up for the trucking as they were in Ottawa this week for something else, and it made sense to not come back empty. Attar Metals did the unload at the Fort Erie end.

So with everything in place, the date was set, and it all started at 8am July 8th.? There was an issue with the loading, but Regional Crane did their best to fix the situation, and after a delay, the truck got underway, highballing for Fort Erie at 1330.

The Niagara Railway Museum Inc. would like to thank everyone involved with this move for their cooperation and expertise.

• Bytown Railway Society ? For their assistance with the move, loading, and overseeing everything on the Ottawa end.
• Canada Science & Technology Museum ? For allowing the Niagara Railway Museum to acquire this piece of railway equipment.
• Becker Brothers Trucking ? Provided the trucking and ensured the cab arrived in Fort Erie safely.
• Regional Crane ? For providing the crane and excellent operator for this lift.
• Attar Metals ? Our neighbours to the west, Milton Braun and the Fort Erie operation of Attar Metals for unloading and moving the cab to our shop, and for always helping us out when we need it most.
• Doug Wilson ? Who started the whole ball rolling and helped pave the way for the move to the Niagara Railway Museum (and for all of the above pictures).
• Our donors ? The Jones Family, Gary Murray, Alan Seburne, Jim Cherry, Doug Wilson

Without the above people and companies this move and acquisition would not have been possible. The Niagara Railway Museum Inc. would especially like to acknowledge the Bytown Railway Society for their part in this acquisition, and for providing members to help with the loading on the Ottawa end. We are very pleased to have been able to work with them and see this piece saved.

As of 9pm July 8th, the cab has been unloaded and is safely on the ground in Fort Erie.

More on this story to follow?

July is going to be one of the busiest months ever for the Museum. July 5th & 6th will see the second open house weekend this year, and in addition to the displays of our steam, diesel and electric locomotives, ex-CN Flanger, track cars, artifacts and model train layouts, this display will also feature periodic demonstrations of our newly restored Whiting 2TMA Trackmobile.

But that?s just the start. In a week the Museum will take delivery of the cab from long scrapped CN F7Au #9173 from Ottawa.? The cab will become a great interpretive display for visitors to the site.

On July 19th, if all goes well, the Museum will move the ex-Atlas Steel 30? gauge Porter Fireless, currently at the Fort Erie Railroad Museum to our site for long term display and restoration. The locomotive is now owned by the Welland Historical Museum and the NRM is very pleased to be partnered with the WHM to help preserve the Fireless. The fireless also has an ingot car, which will be staying with the engine.

Members have also been very busy with other projects.? Most notable was the restoration to operation of the long out of service Whiting 2TMA Trackmobile? It was a lengthy 1 1/2 year restoration with Rick replacing all of the bearings in the transmission and having to assemble everything to make it work.? Wayne has taken on the project of working on the sand towers and servicing areas outside, and is making great progress.

There are always lots of things happening at the Museum.? The NRM is always looking for members to come out and get involved with the many projects we have. No experience is necessary, but any skills are helpful. Contact us for more information, or join us at one of our open house displays, or call for a private tour of the facility.

Sunday June 1st ended up being the perfect end to a great weekend at the Museum. The grass has been cut, and a new video of the now operational Whiting 2TMA Trackmobile was made showing some operation, and movement under it?s own power. The video can be found here:?????? http://youtu.be/nrom7uzkgL0

The Porter locomotive and ingot car from Atlas Steel in Welland, ON

In other news, the Niagara Railway Museum Inc. is very pleased to partner with the Welland Historical Museum (http://wellandmuseum.ca/) in preserving our area?s railway and industrial heritage.? As of June 1st, the WHM officially took ownership of the ex Atlas Steel 30? gauge Porter Fireless locomotive from the Fort Erie Railroad Museum.? The FERM decided it no longer fit their collection and planned to dispose of it.? Working with the NRM, the Welland Museum was able to secure ownership, and the NRM will move, store, and display the locomotive at our shop in Fort Erie on a temporary loan basis. Along with the locomotive is the only remaining ingot car from the Atlas operation.? The NRM hopes to move the locomotive and ingot car in mid July. We look forward to working with the Welland Museum on this great project.

John, Marcel and Aaron are seen barring rail into position.

And the progress just keeps on coming!! May 31st was yet another incredible day at the NRM. A 7 man crew worked on 3 different projects, with 2 major milestones reached. The Museum?s 5 man track crew worked to get all the rail laid out on the centre track with a goal of reaching the #8 turnout. While the rail is not yet barred or spiked, the rail is in place to the frog, and the frog was installed and bolted into the track as well.? This is a big step towards connecting the south and middle track of the shop to allow equipment to be moved around when necessary.

Wayne spent the day cutting the trees from around the sand towers and cutting up other wood laying around. In addition to that he also scrapped down some of the railings and stairs of the sand towers to get them ready for painting back to the way they looked when the shop was open. He also built wood covers for the open culverts out in the yard area and repaired the missing bricks in the shop walls.? All this will really add to the historic interpretation of the shop.

Setting up the tow chain to move the out of position rail with the tractor.

But the biggest news of the day by far was the project Rick has been working on for almost 2yrs.? A few years ago the NRM acquired a Whiting 2TMA Trackmobile, basically in kit form. Rick was handed a box of transmission parts and to to make it work.? After replacing all the bearings, welding, machining, etc, our 1970 Trackmobile came to life!! Not only was the engine running at a normal idle, but the machine also moved under it?s own power for the first time in we believe 15-20 years. This was the second milestone reached in the day, and one that will allow us to move equipment outside for display easier.

There?s still so much more happening at the Museum.? Some big news will be coming soon, and we are still working on getting our CP Boxcars moved. We are also seeking donations to help offset the cost of moving the cars over the road, and if you can help, please click on the Canada Helps button on the main page of our website.

At the end of the day, the frog is in place, bolted into the track, although ties still need to be installed under it.

Looking towards the west wall, the cleared out sand towers are ready for painting.

With only 2 weeks to go to our first open house of 2014, NRM members were out to do some work in the office area.? Of course all this work had to be done around the crew from Dead Plumber Pictures who were out for the first of 2 weekends shooting footage for their next short film.? Despite rain, sun, rain, wind, sun, etc. on Saturday, they managed to push through for almost 12hrs outside around the property. Sunday they finished up outside before moving inside for the start of the interior footage. They will finish up their filming on May 3/4, and we will then move in and finish cleaning and getting things ready at the shop. They have been great to have at the shop, and we look forward to seeing the final results of all this work.

? Had to make up a few new signs to label some of the larger items on display. The 2 parlour car chairs (the sign will be changed), are 1930?s vintage, and a bit tattered, but still in decent enough shape, and very comfortable. Doug Wilson contributed the interior shot (CN Photo, Collection of D.N. Wilson)? of one of the CNR parlour cars with the same style chairs. The seats were at risk of being thrown out, so we took them on a whim, and we?re glad they are now part of our collection.? My thanks to Doug for his ongoing contributions to the Museum.? Work inside the shop was ongoing, and included a lot of smaller projects that needed to get done.? The display stand for the HO Niagara Falls Station model, which is a key component to the CN Steam Excursion display, was finished.? The model now needs to be finished off, and it will be ready to go. Ken Jones (below left) did some painting in the office to clean it up a bit, and more will be done as time permits.? We also added a few new lights to fill in the dark spots.? These will be replaced with new, permanent lighting after the open house, which will be more energy efficient, and safer for the artefacts. Some of the old communication wire hanging in the ceiling was taken down, and Aaron White (below right) removed the old breaker panels from the wall.? We have a new breaker panel which will be installed in the office area as we move forward with the new lighting.

The switch stand (below left) that we received from the Komoka Railway Museum last year was mounted on blocks and painted, and had a new sign added. We still have to straighten the mast, and once that?s repaired a switch lamp will be added. Since we won?t be using our Racine rail drill until we get back into the track work, it is also on display. With the arrival of better weather, it was time for our Canadian Flag to fly over the shop once again. Other work included finishing the second track on our small HO display layout.? Scenery still needs to be repaired, but it will at least allow us to operate trains for the open house. Clayton from Attar Metals also brought down their skid steer and laid out some rail onto the ties for our track construction. The NRM thanks Attar for their continued support and assistance to the Museum.

The Niagara Railway Museum open house is on Saturday May 10th & Sunday May 11th, 2014, 10am to 4pm both days.? The event runs rain or shine, and admission is by cash donation.? Come on out and see the changes we?ve made, the new displays we have created, and learn about the railway history of Niagara.

As we are down to just a month before our first open house of 2014, we are already making some BIG plans for the year.

Some of the exciting things happening so far include:

-??A private film shoot over 4 days at the shop. It’s great to have the exposure of outside media to further the Museum efforts.

– A display on the Canadian National steam excursions from 1960-1980 featuring photographs and artifacts of the trips done with 6167, 6218 and 6060. That display will be in the shop for all of 2014, not just for the open houses, and may end up?being a permanent display.

– Our 3 ex-CP Rail boxcars will be moved to the site soon, as final preparations are being made for their transport.

There are a few other items in the works, and they will be announced as the details are finalised.? Stay tuned to the NRM Blog, or find us on Facebook for the latest details on what is already shaping up to be a fantastic year for the Niagara Railway Museum Inc.

Saturday turned out to be a pretty positive day at the shop. We had 2 groups through looking at the facility for future projects, and made progress on one of our out of service generators and the HO layout. Clean up inside the shop has been started as well, since our first open house will be here before we know it, the second weekend of May.

Our small HO layout, damaged by vandals 2yrs ago, has been receiving some much needed attention.

There?s a lot going on at the shop this year already. We are gearing up for a small film shoot at the end of April, as well as the movement/arrival of our 3 ex-CP Rail boxcars.? There is also another piece of equipment coming, but that announcement will be made in the coming month or 2.

We are also working on new displays for 2014, including a feature on the CN Steam excursion program from the 1960?s to 1980.

The first train to operate on the layout was this Athearn Genesis CP MP15 with sound, which was part of the recently acquired collection from our late member Garry Rigby. It was fitting to have one of his engines operating first, he would have been happy to see it out there.

This display will have some original artifacts from the trips, pictures, models, and reports of where the trains ran in what months.? We plan to have this display ready to go by May, and is just one of the new things happening this year.

So come on out to the Niagara Railway Museum Inc. this year and see what we are doing, what we have planned for the future, and what you can do to help.

The 14th Annual March NMRS is over for another year, and despite a snowstorm overnight, it was still a decent show. The weather did hamper things a bit, and 3 vendors didn’t make it in, but the hall was still full and the vendors reported a good show.

Thanks to all who came out to support the Niagara Railway Museum Inc., there were a lot of very positive comments from visitors.

Ticket sales for the CN Grimsby station print really took off during the day, and turned out to be a great fundraiser for the Museum. Thanks to everyone who bought tickets, but of course there can only be one winner. The Niagara Railway Museum Inc. congratulates John Weylie of Ancaster as the winner of the draw for the print. We will be having a draw for another of the same print at our October show.

We can now turn our attention to the Museum Open House weekends starting in May. Come and see new displays, visiting attractions, and a part of Niagara’s Railway Heritage.