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).

Despite, cool and windy weather, a crew of 7 worked throughout Saturday, cleaning the scrap and garbage around the inside of the shop.  Much of the material was removed from the drop table pit. Along with our Ferguson tractor, we brought in a bobcat skidsteer as well to aid with removal of the junk/garbage, and to aid with the clean-up outside the shop.

Another new arrival is a former TH&B Fairmont CR7. The car needs a fair amount of work, and will remain a static display for the time being (left). Under normal circumstances, a Trackmobile would be the one doing the pulling or pushing.  However, since our Whiting 2TMA is currently being rebuilt for service, our Ferguson tractor had to do the work. This is the first time the Trackmobile has moved any distance on rail in many years. if all goes well, we hope to have this unit back in service in the spring (right). After the majority of the stuff had been removed form inside the shop, the crew moved outside and started the cleanup of garbage, and junk that had been left around or dumped.  We also used both machines to clear out some brush, and do a general clean up from around the shop.  The south side looks a lot better, and has also allowed us to increase parking alongside the building.

In order to facilitate the removal of debris, the Flanger had to be moved to the east end of the heavy repair bay.  This is where the car will stay for the next few months as it allows safe passage to the underside of the work platforms in this position (left). The shop is looking much better now that we can once again see the floor. Once it dries out, we can sweep up the dirt, and everything will be ready for the open house (right).

There is still a fair amount of work to be done at the Museum.  The interior walls need painting to cover over the years of graffiti, and we are planning to continue the long process of covering over the shop windows, to give us a more protected environment to work in. Restoration of the equipment will continue as well, with the current main project being the Whiting 2TMA Trackmobile. As well, weed control will son begin as we work to keep the brush and weeds cut down and keep the site neat. 

The Museum is always looking for volunteers to come out and help with our many ongoing projects.  if you would like to get involved, please feel free to contact us.  Our next work session will be on Saturday, April 26th, and will be a track work day. Our goal is to continue gauging and spiking our north track towards the turnout.

With the nice weather approaching, it's time to get back at the restoration of equipment at the site. Work has already begun on the exterior cab of HEPC E-7, removing 7 layers of paint in order to return it back to it's original black paint.  There has also been progress on the Whiting 2TMA Trackmobile.  The engine was cleaned up, and tested, and turns over very well.  Next is to test it with propane, see how it fires.  Bearings are being sought for the gear case/transmission, and providing that search goes well, this very useful piece of equipment will be back up and running for service at the shop, and for demonstration to the public on how this versatile piece of equipment operates.

In other news, it's that time of year again.  That time of year where we plan our Spring cleaning weekend.  Scheduled for April 13th & 14th, the plan is to get the inside of the shop ready for our upcoming display season, clearing out the garbage and scrap which litters the shop floor after cleaning out the drop table pit in the fall of 2012.  The Museum is looking for help with this weekend, so if you'd like to come out and give us a hand, send us an email.  You will require safety glasses, steel toe boots/shoes, and gloves.  The clean up starts at 9am, and will go rain or shine.

And don't forget our first open house weekend on May 25th & 26th, 10am to 4pm.

The first week of March has proven to be the busiest of 2013 thus far. Saturday March 2 saw the arrival of our Whiting 2TMA Trackmobile to the shop. It was moved from storage in Thorold at Lucas Lift Truck to Attar Metals, in the old Fort Erie car shop.  Attar brought the machine down Saturday morning and placed it inside the shop.

The Trackmobile having arrived at Attar Metals, awaiting movement to the shop(left). With the door partially open, Milton uses Attar?s loader to move the Trackmobile into the shop for restoration (right).

And then on that same weekend, the NEW Niagara Model Railway Show was held at the CAW Hall in St. Catharines.  We had an almost record amount of tables booked for the show, with 35 vendors from across Ontario.  The show started out with a lineup before 10am. The crowds were steady throughout the day, with vendors reporting great sales.  Our ever popular chili was sold out before 1230, and by 145 we had gone through 3 boxes of hotdogs!!  The hall was great for the show, and despite a few minor glitches with the vendor placement, everything went very well. This was the first time in an all new venue, and we are already planning for the October show.  Somehow, throughout all this, we didn?t get a single picture!! My thanks to all the vendors who came out to this show, to our dedicated Museum volunteers who worked the door, food booth and NRM table, as well as coming in at 530am to set up tables.  And to the public who came out to support this show. In all, over 600 paid admissions came to the show, that doesn?t include the kids. We look forward to October.

And the work week finished off with more work at the shop, as we started restoration on the Trackmobile. Rick started to piece together the transmission parts, to assess damage, and see what was required for replacement.  We also removed the shroud from around the engine and pulled the rad off.  This will allow us easier access to the motor itself, which we were able to bar over, so that?s a good sign. The drive chains were tightened and the road wheels were lifted and chained off the ground.  For the first time in many years the machine was back on the rail. We were able to move it back and forth by hand, and a little lubrication on the chains will help.

Rick works on the bolts to remove the rad (left). The machine looks strange without all the engine covers (right).

The Niagara Railway Museum Inc. extends our deepest thanks to Lucas Lifttruck in Thorold for all their assistance over the years, and for moving our trackmobile from Orillia to Thorold, and then to Fort Erie.  And also to Attar for their continued help with moving and storing things for us at their shop.

I am pleased to report that the Niagara Railway Museum?s 1970 Whiting 2TMA Trackmobile is one step closer to arrival at the NRM Shop.  The TM has been stored in Thorold since moving from a site near Orillia, and was delivered to Attar Metals in the old CNR Car shops in Fort Erie until we can move it into the shop.

Trackmobiles are designed to move cars around facilities where a locomotive is not required, or wanted.  They operate on rail, but have rubber tires lowered to lift off the rails to move out of the way. Our unit is designed to move about 2 loaded cars, with a coupler on one end only.  Tractive effort is obtained when the TM coupler lifts up on the freight car coupler, thus transferring the weight to the rail wheels. Work on the unit will begin when possible, and we are currently seeking donations towards this project.

      With the winter snow finally upon us, I think it?s a good time to show some of the Niagara Railway Museum?s artifacts.  There are many items that just can?t be shown because of their size, or condition. Some of them are even too new to really show off.  However, for part 1 of this series, we will look at some of the items from our Great Gorge Route collection, including the International Railway Company (IRC).

      One of the many postcards we have will be first up.  This card, mailed on February 8, 1910 shows the grade going into the gorge on the American side.  Note the 2 men working on the up-bound (right hand) track.

     Railroad passes were often given out to officials of other railroads to allow them to ride for free.  The NRM collection includes 2 such passes, one for 1903, issues to a Mr. George E. Merchant, and one from 1925 to Mr. F L Wilson, the Division Passenger Agent for the New York Central Railroad. Of note on these passes is that in 1903, Bert L Jones was the General Manager, and in 1925 he was still with the company, but now as a combined Vice-President and General Manager.

     The Museum was lucky enough to acquire some rare paperwork, right form the GGR?s (IRC) Whirlpool Car Barns, which at one time were located across from the Spanish Aero Car (which was built in 1913 and opened in 1916) on River Road near Victoria Ave. These numerous pages of documents show what cars were out of service, and for what reason.  Some of them were in for the same repairs many times.

     As part of that collection came an original International Railway Company button and switch key.  The NRM also has this rare button (below), which we believe was warn through the button hole of a jacket for use when crossing the border to show where you got on the train. One of the key pieces in the collection is the Conductors hat badge.  If records could ever be located, it would be great to find out who #23 was.

     We also have numerous postcards and brochures from throughout the life of the line, some of which can be seen on our main page at:

http://nfrm.ca/galdisp.php?TitleID=4&ampresultpage=1&pagesize=4

     No cars from the GGR survived the scrapping but the line does live on in photographs and artifacts. There are 2 books out, one of which is very difficult to find by Peter Watson, which covers the entire line in a now and then style. The NRM sells the other book, from the Niagara Frontier Chapter NRHS, in our store.