Final work weekend before next weekends 25th Anniversary open weekend. Not a very big crew this weekend, had a few missing, but still got quite a bit done. LOTS of cleaning done, with a bit still left to do, but that can wait until later in the week.

Saturday had David come back out and do the first coat on the lettering on the north side of the Flanger. He also came back out on Sunday to give the lettering the second coat. Might still need some tweaking when we get the car outside into the light. We also switched around some cars with the GE and the Trackmobile to get things ready for next weekend. TH&B 2676 & CN 56452 are now together on ED18. A video of some of that move can be viewed at https://youtu.be/R5o11-f_qSM

The plan is to move CN 56323 from ED17 (north track) to ED19 (south track) for outside display next weekend. This will be the first time the car has been outside since it arrived back in 2016. INCo 8 also received a first coat of yellow paint on the north side, but that’s about as far as that will go before next weekend. Patrick was working on the air system for the Plymouth as we work to put that locomotive back in operation. Ken and Mike also lifted the low spot in the north track. Not perfect, but good for regular use. Since we aren’t using the office area for visitors right now, it was decided to move the Fort Erie scale out into the shop for display.

On Sunday, David, Ken and Neil were out to finish off a few things. As mentioned, David finished off the flanger lettering. Neil was cleaning up one corner of the shop by the door, which looks a lot better. Ken was cutting some grass and a bit of weed eating around the track/cars. This will make it a bit easier to finish up the cutting at the end of the week to prepare for the event. It’s looking good out there, and we look forward to welcoming everyone next weekend.

As mentioned, the night photo shoot on Friday night will be quit informal. The original plan sadly fell through, so if you are coming out for that, equipment available will be HEPC 46, the GE, and the flanger (with marker lights). You will have to bring your own gear, or use the natural existing light.

Getting closer to our next big event on July 16/17 10am-4pm, with a lot of work happening to get things ready for it. Being a long weekend, work was happening all 3 days, with quite a bit done.

David was back out on Saturday to finish off the south side and ends of CN 56323, and hopes to finish the lettering on north side next weekend. The hand painted lettering/number really helps finish the car.

Elsewhere, work was being done on HEPC E7 and INCo Vulcan 8. INCo 8 recieved primer on Friday, and got a coat of yellow Saturday and Sunday. This is only temporary to spruce the engine up for display. New lettering/ number was added on Sunday to really make it stand out. Other work was continued on HEPC E7, with the hood being scraped down to allow for its first coat of black paint. Again, this will be painted later when time and funds permit, but it’s a great start to get it looking better.

A few things were moved around for display as well. The switch stand that once stood out back of Niagara Central Hobbies (The Hobby Shop) at 395 St. Paul St in St. Catharines, was moved from the front office to beside the fireless, where it will be displayed with a switch lamp. Our operating crossing signal was also moved to a more visible location. Thanks to Mike, Jim, Nolan, Ken, John and Neil for helping with these projects, and of course to David for the continued work on the Flanger.

We would also like to welcome, and thank our first sponsor for our 25th Anniversary event, FRONTIER DISTRIBUTING in Fort Erie for their support. https://www.frontdist.com/

Happy Canada Day!!

Meant to post this first part the other day. If you’re in Niagara, make sure to stop by and see our friends at the Niagara Antique Power Association and Show on Wilhelm Rd in Sherkston https://niagaraantiquepower.org/ The show runs July 1st to 3rd. Only 2 of us out today.

David came by and painted the weight/inspection info on both sides of the flanger, as well as the ID/number on the ends of the car. He will do touch up work after the final lettering is done. Really starting to all come together. Ken spent the time freshening up the paint on HEPC electric E7. The black was painted a few yrs back and then the cab was needle scaled off. Now it all matches. Hope to do a bit more on the hood on Saturday, depending on how much help we have.

2 weeks ago Mike was able to pick up the spare rods for the Porter Fireless locomotive. These were buried in a locked, overgrown compound at the Fort Erie Railroad Museum. We knew they were there, but just never got around to making arrangements to get them. Thanks to Nicole from the FE Railroad Museum for having them dug out, and members of the Fort Erie Fire Dept for carrying them over to a more accessible spot for pick up.

We are 2 weeks from our next open weekend. which is our 25th anniversary event. Lots of work happening right now as we prepare the shop for that weekend. We are open again Saturday from 10-2

11 volunteers were at the shop today working on multiple projects. David was out doing some touch up painting on the Flanger lettering, and will return in 2 weeks to finish off the south side, and start on the ends and north side. Jim and Ken were working around the shop, cleaning, and helping put our Ariens riding mower back together.

Outside, Rick and Nolan were working the shovels, digging 3 trenches for ties, and spreading some ballast to prepare the new track for a bit of a lift and tamp. A panel track is being constructed to the north side, and will eventually become track ED16, and be connected to ED17. This panel will allow us to move our ex-CN Flanger 56452 off of the main yard tracks and out of the way. This track, once built, will give us a much needed outdoor storage track. While they were working on digging spots for the ties to go, Ken and Mike were dumping stone in the low spot on ED17, and placing rail for the panel. We are hoping to have the low spot lifted, panel track built, and flanger moved by the July event. Some equipment will be moved around to different tracks for display for the 25th Anniversary event as well.

Inside the shop, 3 of our mechanics, Neil, Patrick and Evan were working on the Plymouth and manifold for INCo 8. A new compressor is being installed on the Plymouth. It will not be the same as the original, but will be enough to allow the locomotive to operate. This project is moving along quite well, and we look forward to finally being able to demonstrate this locomotive. There’s still quite a ways to go, but everything is a step in the right direction. Allan was working on the safety barriers for CN Flanger 56323, and then installed the shingles on the new covers to replace the rotten ones on the roof exhaust vents.

While it doesn’t have anything to do with the 25th Anniversary, we have managed to secure about 700ft of track, all 100lb rail. It will require some work to remove, but this will allow us to add the storage track and replace the 85lb rail with all 100lb in our yard.There is a lot happening, and a lot coming up that will be announced in the next week or so. As we are now just over a month away from our 25th Anniversary event, we will be starting to share what you can expect to see and do.

Was a bit breezy and cool at the shop today, but we had a few visitors, and reached yet another milestone (sort of). John and Ken were cutting the grass (a never ending endeavor), cleaning up the grounds. Mike was running the loader while Rick and Nolan were cleaning up/sorting some of the old ties that were removed from the track during the various trackwork being done. Still a bit to go, but looks better.

Meanwhile, Ken and Jim were working on mounting some new direction signs, as well as dealing with our visitors. David was back today to work on the Flanger lettering. A second coat was applied to the lettering, and the number has now been added. While starting the work, an unexpected issue came up, but thankfully David was able to work around it and get the number on. It’s really looking great, and more complete every time. With the Flanger getting this attention, Patrick was over working on our Plymouth MDT40t diesel.

Patrick is our newest member, and is a heavy equipment Mechanic by trade. He joined up just a couple of months ago, and decided to take on the Plymouth and its Detroit Diesel engine as a project. He has done some great work, and the time he has spent on it paid off today when the diesel engine was started for the first time in 11yrs. It started and idled very smooth (like it did 11yrs ago), and we look forward to actually having this unit back in periodic operation in the future. A short video of todays startup can be seen here: https://youtu.be/PkKvbRiAdX4

Another great day at the shop. Each week we continue to progress with various projects, and we are still always looking for more volunteers to join our team.

Well, 12yrs ago today we welcomed our first piece of equipment to the new Niagara Railway Museum shop in Fort Erie. Hydro Electric Power Commission ALCo (Cooke Works) 0-4-0ST #46 was moved from Uptergrove, near Orillia, on June 1st, 2010. And now, at 102yrs old, we’re finally moving forward with the plans for her cosmetic restoration. The main part of this will be the complete rebuild of the deteriorated cab.

The month of June is the Great Canadian Giving Challenge, and it is a big way to help with this restoration as we work to reach a goal of $5000 towards these repairs. And every dollar donated at https://www.canadahelps.org/…/niagara-railway-museum-inc/ gives us a chance to win $20000. We want 46 to continue to look great in her retirement, and you can help.

We had a decent day at the shop today, started off pretty chilly, but the sun came out after lunch and it definitely improved.

With the recent posting about our coins, We want to send out a thanks to the company that made them, Strike Your Coin , located in Kanata, Ontario. There is an interesting history on these Challenge Coins, and you can read the history at the link below:

https://strikeyourcoin.com/blogs/articles/the-history-behind-challenge-coin-tradition
As our members present today were able to take a good look at the new coin, they were quite happy with the quality and detail that came out on the final product. We are also very pleased that our coin has been added to theie website at www.strikeyourcoin.com

As for today, we had quite a few visitors through and some puttering done around the shop. It was too wet to cut the grass, (which really does need it), so that’ll have to wait until next week. Outside we used the Trackmobile to move CN Flanger 56452 further east on track ED18. Here is a short video of the move: https://youtu.be/UZ0WcsZmHnY Plans are currently being made to set up a panel track to put this car on, so it’s off our yard tracks and out of the way. The panel will be on the former track ED16, which is the first track north of our existing track, and will be under the north sand towers. Some training was also done on the Trackmobile, so our members have a better understanding of the use and functions of the machine. Overall, a pretty good day. Still a lot of work happening, and working to finalize some details for our 25th Anniversary event in July.

I have some exciting news for this update. Something that has been being worked on for a while now has finally arrived. The Niagara Railway Museum Inc. would like to present a special fundraising coin, with the proceeds going towards the cosmetic restoration of Hydro Electric Power Commission steam locomotive #46. The coins measure 1 3/4″ and will come with a special photo card with information about 46 on the back. The pics don’t do the coin justice. Each coin will sell for $25.00 (plus shipping if applicable). The supply is limited to 100. If you would like to order a coin, please send us an email at info@nfrm.ca.

We are open on Saturday, 10am-2pm, rain or shine. A few things planned for this weekend, including finishing painting of Flanger 56323, and also laying out a few sticks of 80lb rail to build a panel track to move our other Flanger, 56452 onto, and out of the way of the regular yard tracks.

Lots going on, come on out and see us.

Another great day at the shop, quite hot, but thankfully there was a (strong) breeze keeping things sort of comfortable. John spent part of the day cutting the grass (which he only did a week ago, but it grows pretty quick). Last weekend was a big time for track with James & Nick, and this weekend was all about CN Flanger 56323.

We started off by moving TH&B gondola 2676 back over to track ED17, and figured while we were doing that, we’d do some training as well so some of our members could learn the safe way to work around the train in the yard. There is more training to be done, but it’s a good start, and we got to use the new track, which is just amazing to finally get to do.

However, while all that was going on, our sign painter, David Vance was working on CN 56323. This is something that we’ve been excited about since the painting of the body started last year. As a sign painter, David put a lot of time and effort into sizing and adjusting the lettering for the car, not to mention handmaking all the lettering patterns. We don’t have any proper drawings, so he had to work it all out just from pictures of various cars, and, every picture is pretty much different. To see the process of how it’s all set up and done is quite interesting. David has had to do many adjustments on the lettering, and after setting up some of it on the side, it was decided to resize some of the lettering as it looked a bit big. He was able to start with the Canadian National lettering, and it is looking great. We will get the north side and ends of the car painted next weekend so he will be able to continue there when he’s ready.

Patrick came out and went back to work on the Plymouth, working on freeing up some of the stuck injectors, to prepare it for a test start in the coming weeks. The Plymouth hasn’t been started since we had it running some 10yrs ago, but the time is getting close to fire it up again.

Thanks to everyone who came to help out today, Jim, Nolan, Mike, Neil, Patrick, Ken, John, Rick, David and Ken.

Opening Weekend 2022 has come and gone, and what a weekend it was. A great start for our 25th year. We’ll get into all the history that was made later. For now, thanks to everyone who came out both days to visit. We had quite a few people from previous visits, and many who were first timers. Had a chance to talk to many of you on the locomotive. We hope you’ll come visit us again (it sounds like many of kiddos will be bringing you back at some point).

The Museum has to send out the biggest thanks to James Petroczi and Nick Kempert for the incredible amount of work they did over 3 days to get the track done. They were very long 12hr days, but this has been a very long time coming, and a major accomplishment for the Museum. James has a particular eye for detail and the turnout and track around it is dead on, and was a nice ride through on the locomotive. We still have some work to do on the track. It needs to be lined, has to have some ballast added, and some extra ties need to be installed (James already marked where they go on the rail). It was so great to be able to use all 3 tracks to move stuff around. This will give us many new options for displaying and working on our equipment. A video of some of the work can be seen here: https://youtu.be/4FmwdlafvOg

So now lets look at all the history/firsts that happened this weekend:

– First time since the shop closed all 3 tracks are connected.

– First time CN 56452 & TH&B 2676 moved to a different track.

– First time CN 56452 & TH&B 2676 have been coupled to the GE.

– First time since being retired, TH&B 2676 has had air to the brakes.

– First time both the Trackmobile & GE have been on all 3 tracks.

– First time we were properly able to use both turnouts.

Previously, switching equipment took a long time, hours actually, because of how the one turnout was set up. Now, instead of having to do all sorts of extra work, we throw the switch (as it should be) and it’s done. Once we have a better line on the north track, both cars will be moved back over.

The weekend wouldn’t have been possible without our dedicated volunteers that spent so many hours at the shop. John spent 5hrs on Friday cutting grass, until being relieved by Ken in the evening to be out there while James & Nick worked on the track. Over the weekend many of our other members were there to help, so thanks also to Audrey, Felicia, Jim, Nolan, Mike, Neil, John, Allan, Ken, Aaron and Ken.We are now open for the season, every Saturday, 10am-2pm, and work will be happening during the week and weekends. Lots more to come this year, and we again, thank everyone who came and visited over the weekend.