The Nelson (B. C.) Electric TramwaySociety has returned car #23, which wasone-third of the town’s historic streetcarfleet, to service. It runs on a twokilometer line along the Kootenay Lakewaterfront. For more see page 22.Aaron Isaacs photo.

Number 10 Published cooperatively by the Tourist Railway Association and the Association of Railway Museums

Fall 2012

PRSRT. STD.U.S.POSTAGE

PAIDTWIN CITIES, MNPERMIT NO. 1096

ARM1016 Rosser StreetConfers, GA 30012

Address ServiceRequested

railwaymu seumquarterly

TRAINLINE

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ASSOCIATION OF RAILWAY MUSEUMS

The purpose of the Association of Railway Museums is tolead in the advancement of railway heritage througheducation and advocacy, guided by the principles set forthin "Recommended Practices for Railway Museums" andincorporated in other best practices generally accepted inthe wider museum community.

ARM MembershipMembership in the Association of Railway Museums is opento nonprofit organizations preserving and displaying at leastone piece of railway or street railway rolling stock to the publicon a regularly scheduled basis. Other organizations, businessesand individuals interested in the work of the Association areinvited to become affiliates. For more details, or to reportaddress changes, please contact the Association of RailwayMuseums, P. O. Box 1189, Covington, GA 30015, or email toscg@lagniappeassociates.com.Call us at (770) 278-0088 or visit our Web site:www.railwaymuseums.org.

DirectorsRichard Anderson, Northwest Railway Museum, richard.anderson@railwaymuseums.orgScott Becker, Pennsylvania Trolley Museumscott.becker@railwaymuseums.orgBob LaPrelle, Museum of the American Railroad, bob.laprelle@railwaymuseums.orgPeter Murphy, Exporail, peter.murphy@railwaymuseums.orgG. Mark Ray, Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum, mark.ray@railwaymuseums.orgKen Rucker, National Capital Trolley Museum, ken.rucker@railwaymuseums.orgJim Schantz, Seashore Trolley Museum, jim.schantz@railwaymuseums.orgJim Vaitkunas, Minnesota Streetcar Museumjim.vaitkunas@railwaymuseums.orgKyle Wyatt, California State Railroad Museum, kyle.wyatt@railwaymuseums.org

OfficersPresident: Bob LaPrelleVice President: Scott BeckerSecretary: Ellen Fishburn,

secretary@railwaymuseums.orgTreasurer: Ken Rucker, 1313 Bonifant Road, Colesville, MD20905-5955, ken.rucker@railwaymuseums.org

CommitteesRenewal Parts: Rod Fishburn, Chair,

parts@railwaymuseums.org

StaffSuzanne Grace, Executive Director, P. O. Box 1189,Covington, GA 30015, scg@lagniappeassociates.com

Aaron Isaacs, Editor, 3816 Vincent Ave.. S., Minneapolis, MN 55410, aaronmona@aol.com

The Association of Railway Museums is a Professional Affiliate Member of the American Association of Museums.

TOURIST RAILWAY ASSOCIATION

The Tourist Railway Association, Inc. is a non-profitcorporation chartered to foster the development andoperation of tourist railways and museums.

TRAIN MembershipMembership is open to all railway museums, tourist

railroads, excursion operators, private car owners, railroadrelated publishers, industry suppliers and other interestedpersons and organizations. TRAIN, Inc. is the only tradeassociation created to represent the broad spectrum ofwhat is called “creative railroading”.

OFFICERS President: Rick Burchett, Chehalis-Centralia RR

(360) 570-9191 (home/office) Vice President: Linn Moedinger, Strasburg Rail Road

(717) 687-8421 Secretary: Syl Keller, Monticello Railway Museum,

Monticello, IL (309) 376-3361 (home) Treasurer: Alan Barnett: Indiana Railway Museum

(812) 936-2405

DIRECTORSJohn E. Bush: Roaring Camp Railroads

(831) 335-4484 Ext. 138 Steven M. Butler: San Luis & Rio Grande Railroad

(262) 853-9662 (cel) Jeffery D. Jackson: American Heritage Railroads

(970) 259-6505 Chris Bertel: Thunder Mountain Line

(817) 737-5885 Richard N. Noonan: California State RR Museum

(916) 445-3145 G. Mark Ray: Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum

(423) 240-1480 Fenner Stevenson: Boone & Scenic Valley Railroad

(515) 432-4249 Meg Warder: Black Hills Central Railroad (605) 574-2222Erv White: Grand Canyon Railway. 928-607-1493Frankie Wiseman: Middletown & Hummelstown RR (717)

944-4435 X-18

STAFFExecutive Director: Suzanne Grace, P. O. Box 1189,

Covington, GA 30015, (770) 278-0088scg@lagniappeassociates.org

Editor: Aaron Isaacs (612) 929-7066, aaronmona@aol.com

Web site: http://www.traininc.org

To advertise in Railway Museum Quarterly/Trainline, contact Aaron Isaacs at aaronmona@aol.com. To download an advertising rate sheet, go to www.railwaymuseums.org/Static/documents/RateCard.pdf

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REPLICATING ASTREETCARHEADLINER

By Dave Wilson,Baltimore Streetcar Museum

Car 417 is the oldest operating carin the collection of the BaltimoreStreetcar Museum (not the oldest, justthe oldest operating). We believe that itwas built as a horsecar around 1888. Itwas definitely rebuilt several times inits service life. It was converted to acable car trailer in the early 1890's, andthen to an electric car around 1894. It isbeing restored to its likely appearanceof around 1896.

This has been an ongoingrestoration project at BSM for manyyears. I have personally been involvedsince around 1978, so you can see thatthis has not been a quick process. Thecar had a lot of problems due to it notbeing designed to carry a trolley baseand pole. At one time the roof sag andbody distortion was pronounced. Wehave had good luck with correctingthese problems

The restoration work has beenfocusing on the car’s interior lately, andI am happy to report that the reassemblyis going reasonably well. Two majorpieces of the project are complete; the

headliner, and the seat frames.I have never seen 417 with its

original headliner in place. Most of ourcurrent active membership has neverseen it either. Headliner, for those ofyou who may be saying “what liner”??,is the ceiling. When 417 arrived at

BSM, like most of the cars in thecollection which were in outsidestorage for a time, it had a waterdamaged headliner. When 417 was inthe process of being refurbished around1971, the damaged headliner wasremoved and most of it discarded. Two

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The fragment of original headliner at left became the template for the replication.

corner pieces were saved in order toprovide a record of the car’s ceilingdecoration.

Most of our wooden cars have a 3-ply birch veneer headliner. I assumed,that like the other cars, 417’s headlinerwas birch as well. Purchasing a 3-plyveneer that goes beyond the standard 4-foot width is the primary issue inreplacing damaged ceilings in our cars.The material size needed, while non-standard, was of a size that I was certainthat we could obtain, and a source forsingle ply birch of the appropriate sizesoon was identified. Laminating thesingle ply onto the plywood was how Iplanned to go.

With that path set in my mind, Ibegan to research the decorating issue.A word about the headliner decorationis in order here. 417’s decorationconsists of a floral motif, rendered inleaf, ink and tinted varnish, in each ofthe 4 corners of the ceiling. Frankly, Ihad no idea of how the flowerdecoration would be accomplished. AllI knew for sure is that it was beyond mytalents.

The internet is a wonderful thing.Just type what you are looking for andin just a moment you have ananswer…sometimes. In this casehowever, my search would soon placethe entire headliner project in the handsof someone else. My search led me toSteve Alexander at Second EmpireFurniture. Second Empire manufacturescustom furniture and restores antiquefurniture, and their service line includesgilding. Their location only 4 blocksfrom the museum was another nail inthe coffin of me trying to manufacturethe veneer myself. A couple of phonecalls to set up a meeting was all it tookfor me to know that we had stumbledupon the right combination of furniturecraftsman and artist. Steve examined

the existing remnant headliner, andinformed me that it was bird’s eyemaple, not the birch as I had thought.This makes perfect sense in retrospectsince the lower ad rack area in 417 ismaple. Steve and his associates wereable to do the entire job ofmanufacturing, decoration andinstallation of the new ceiling.

MARKETPLACE

By James Porterfield

It's not Lucius Beebe, but . . .. . . the first few paragraphs of a

new book - Marketing Cultural &Heritage Tourism - illustrate why itoccupies a prominent place on my desk,bypassing the nearby bookcasealtogether.

Starting with the "Introduction andWelcome," the book argues for heritagetourism as an avenue for growth, citingstudies that show that heritage touristsare better educated, well-roundedtravelers who seek varied experiencesbuilt around cultural heritage, and whospend more money than the averagetourist. In such an environment, venueoperators are encouraged to buildpartnerships among heritage sites andculinary and lodging experiences thatshowcase history. Its author, RosemaryRice McCormick, President of the ShopAmerica Alliance and co-founder of theU. S. Cultural & Heritage TourismMarketing Council, captures my fancywhen she states on page 1, "instead of'If you build it they will come,' mymantra is 'If you market it effectively,they will come - and spend.'"

McCormick's definition of traveland tourism is inclusive, not exclusive,emphasizing both business and leisuretravel, whether domestic or

international, that is 100 or more milesin length, and lasts anywhere from oneday to a short-stay "hop." It embraces anumber of industries, including severalthat we recognize: railways, amusementparks, museums, retailers, restaurantsand entire communities. Her definitionof "cultural and heritage tourism," as asubset of travel and tourism, presentseven more common ground: "(It) is abranch of tourism that includesexperiencing the performing arts,museums of all kinds, science andnature centers, zoos, aquariums,historic homes and sites, religioussites, artists and artisans,state/national parks and monuments,heritage trails and byways, and thespecial character of a place" (boldfaceemphasis added). Finally, she offersthat it should combine education,entertainment and preservation in a waythat "is experiential, meaning it seeks toinvolve and engage the visitor."

She then goes on, in 157 pages, topresent how you can elevate theimportance of heritage tourism as anengine for revenue and economicdevelopment. Not surprisingly, thelongest chapter is devoted to"Partnership Strategies to BuildTourism Business." In it she describes athree-step process for creating apartnership plan for your organization.Each chapter ends with a block ofrecommended Action Steps you canemploy to generate a sharper marketingfocus with your facility.

Meanwhile, the book, clearly thework of a practitioner, is full ofchecklists, useful observations andhow-to tips. You may, for example,want to compare your training programfor employees and volunteers whointeract with the public withMcCormick’s 18 steps. Notsurprisingly, many of her suggestionsaddress your community at large, notjust your facility.

You may not be surprised to learnthat among drive-market and grouptravelers born since 1984, 7 in 10 havebeen using Facebook for at least thepast two years when planning a trip.But did you know that more than 1 in 3of such travelers over age 64 do so aswell? Or that 97% of all travelers,participants in one major survey, use acomputer to plan their travel itinerary"with little variance among agegroups." Pause to consider how yourweb presence takes "all age groups"into account.

You will find yourself pausingrepeatedly to ponder - excitedly, if youare like me - the relevance of the pointsMcCormick makes to your operation,or to jot down an idea provoked bywhat you are reading. While neither asexhaustive nor instructional as theKotlers' Museum Marketing &

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you with others who are trying to buildtheir attendance, revenue, or volunteerparticipation. If you have a successfulpractice, need a question answered, orwant to suggest a topic for a futurecolumn, contact me atporterfieldj@dewv.edu or by telephoneat (304) 637-1307.

SEASHORE HIRESEXECUTIVEDIRECTOR

By Jim Schantz,Seashore Trolley Museum

At Seashore Trolley Museum wehave taken a critical step toward amajor objective in our Strategic Plan:On April 30, 2012 we engaged theservices of a full-time, professionalExecutive Director. We have felt theneed to fill this position for years butour work on the strategic plan withfacilitator Don Evans has served tounderline the need. Over the past yearor two we found that we have beenfalling behind in executing a number ofkey strategic plan tasks simply becauseof the lack of management time.

As with so many largely volunteerorganizations a tremendous amount ofmanagement work at Seashore falls ona few very dedicated individuals, andthe reality is that in today’s busy worldfew other members are in a position tostep forward and contribute significanttime to taking on de-mandingmanagement tasks.

From ab r o a d e rperspective, we arealso concerned bythe fact that manyin management areageing – themajority are now intheir 60s or 70s –and in many casesno obvioussuccessors or back-ups exist. Someareas such asm a r k e t i n g ,publicity, andgeneral officea d m i n i s t r a t i o nsimply are notreceiving as muchtime as needed, asthe few volunteersstruggling in theseareas regularlyremind us!

This all pointsto the need to beginthe transition top r o f e s s i o n a lm a n a g e m e n t .Finding the right

person who can work with our widerange of volunteers has been achallenge, but we are confident we have done so and we areheartened by the success a number ofour peer museums have had in findingthe right executive director for theirneeds. To name just a few notablesuccesses, the following museums haveengaged a professional executivedirector in recent years and haveenjoyed some very positive growthafter doing so: Pennsylvania TrolleyMuseum (near Pittsburgh), WesternRailway Museum (near San Francisco),Colorado Railroad Museum (near Den-ver), Northwest Railway Museum (nearSeattle), and West Coast RailwayAssociation (near Vancouver).

Here is a list of bullet points agreedin our strategic planning sessions as towhy Seashore needs an executivedirector:• To get our lives back• To help us get to a new board

structure; Board=policy,E.D.=Operations

• To coordinate the museum• To be a new “face” to the community• To increase public relations and

marketing• To fundraise• To be there for us day by day• To streamline board work• To increase communications to

membership• To be a museum spokesperson

The criticality of boostingattendance, support, and revenue meanthat we are initially orienting the

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Strategy, 2/e, a college textbook, thisbook has the ring of "practitioner" onevery page. For a subject short onmaterials, it is a welcome addition.

Marketing Cultural & HeritageTourism is available from the MuseumStore Association for $39.95 athttp://www.msa.omnistorefront.com/,or by calling 303/504-9223.

Other useful resources: To further your knowledge of

marketing cultural and heritage tourismboth domestically and internationally,begin here:

The U. S. Department ofCommerce/Office of Travel & Tourism(tinet.ita.doc.gov/) provides links tonumerous market research statistics.

McCormick's recommendationsoften originate with findings presentedin a study titled The Cultural &Heritage Traveler Study, available for$55.00 from Mandala Research(http://mandalaresearch.com/index.php/purchase-reports), by contacting LauraMandala atLaura@MandalaResearch.com or703/820-1041.

The Museum Store Association(www.museumstoreassociation.org) iscommitted to advancing culturalcommerce through networking,educating and retailing. Check out theMSA Blog tab.

The U. S. Travel Association(www.ustravel.org/) is a "nationalorganization that leverages thecollective strength of those who benefitfrom travel to grow their businessbeyond what they can do individually."

The U.S. Cultural & HeritageTourism Marketing Council(www.uscht.com/) is a membershiporganization "dedicated to marketingcultural and heritage experiences tovisitors to and within the UnitedStates."

On a related matter: The Rails-to-Trails Conservancy's

web magazine RTCOnline recentlyoffered examples of how localbusinesses take advantage of nearby railtrails to generate traffic to their outlets.The number of people who use thenation's rail trails is now estimated to bein the tens of millions. Find suggestionsfor proper - and legal - ways to usesignage, how to become bike-friendlyso trail users make a point of visitingyou, and other creative ways to increasethe likelihood trail users will extendtheir trip to include your venue, atwww.railstotrails.org/news/features/trailtraffic.html. As a railway heritage site,you have a natural tie-in that willinterest virtually all users of rail trails.

By The Way: This column isintended to be a marketing bazaar, aplace for you to share what works for

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responsibilities of the director to anoutward focus – building links in ourcommunities and helping bring newbusiness and opportunities to Seashore.That means traditional areas of theMuseum’s operations such asrestoration activities, operations andtraining, the library, and buildings andgrounds will not report to the director inthe initial phases.

The most significant obstacle tobringing a professional director onboard is, of course, financial. But thesuccess of our peer museums showsthat within a year or two of bringing adirector new programs increase revenuesufficiently to cover the cost of theposition, but the interim period can befinancially challenging.

ALL ABOUT ELECTRIC MOTORS

AND INSULATION

By Jeff Hakner,Shore Line Trolley Museum

With the exception of three trolleycars which were stored on the highesttracks (the ramped inspection pit, and infront of the station in East Haven)Hurricane Irene flooded every car in theShore Line collection with salt waterthat was between 6" to almost 30 inchesabove the top of the rail. This damaged

the electrical insulation in the tractionmotors which propel the cars. Themotors are most vulnerable to floodingsince they are mounted to the axles andare only a few inches above the rail.

In this article, we look at thescience and engineering of the electrictraction motor and electrical insulation,and how the museum can repair thedamaged motors and return the cars tooperational condition. For those of youwho don’t run trolleys, this applies todiesels as well.

B, I, FThe function of the traction motor

is to convert the electrical energy intouseful mechanical energy that turns thewheels and propels the car. Thefundamental principle of physics whichmakes this possible was discovered bythe scientist Michael Faraday in 1821.Stated in a simple way, when anelectric current (represented by thesymbol I) is moving perpendicular to amagnetic field (represented by B), aforce is exerted on it (represented by F).This force is in a direction which isperpendicular to both the current andthe magnetic field, and has a strengthwhich is proportional to the product ofthe electric current, the magnetic field,and the length of the wire. Inmathematical terms: F=L\[mu]I\[mu]B

Faraday also discovered that bypassing an electric current through a

coil of wire, a magnetic field is createdalong the axis of the coil, in otherwords, an electromagnet. This is oftenvisualized by curling one's right handso that the finger tips point in thedirection of circular current flow. Theoutstretched thumb then points in thedirection of the magnetic field.

The type of motor used on trolleycars and all but the newest diesels,known as a D.C. (direct current) motor,has two primary electromagneticcomponents: the field, and thearmature. The field is by field coils(usually 4) which are wound in theform of a donut. Each field coil ismounted with a pole piece through itsdonut hole. The pole piece, made of ahighly magnetic steel, receives themagnetic field created by coiledcurrent. The ends of the pole pieces arecurved to match the outer diameter ofthe armature.

The armature rotates within themagnetic field created by the field coilsand their pole pieces. It consists of anumber of slots running lengthwise, inwhich are placed wires. The interactionof the magnetic field, which is radial(going from the surface of the armatureto the center), with the lengthwiseelectric current in the armature wires,creates a force, as described above,which is mutually perpendicular to bothfield and current, i.e. a tangential force,equivalent to putting ones hand on the

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surface of the armature and pushing,thus causing it to rotate.

The armature, being a revolvingbody, needs a means to pick up itselectrical current. Obviously, a simplepair of wires would quickly becometwisted. This function is served by thecommutator, a copper cylinder which isdivided into a number of segments.Each commutator segment is connectedto two of the armature conductors insuch a way that the current is forced toflow through all of the armature wires.The commutator is mounted on thearmature shaft and rotates in unisonwith it.

Two brushes, made of a block ofcarbon graphite, are mounted to thestationary part of the motor on insulatedholders, and are pressed against therotating commutator by springs. Thusthe electrical current is led into thearmature and led back out of it. Thecommutator also serves to reverse, or"commute," the direction of currentflow in the individual armatureconductors, so the motor turnscontinuously in the desired direction.

The trolley car circuitAll electric current flows in a

complete circuit. Electricity originatingat the museum's power substation flowsthrough the trolley wire and enters the

car through the trolley pole. It flowsthrough the controller, resistor grids,and each motor in series, then returnsvia the axles, wheels and running railsto the substation to complete the circuit.

In order for the electricity to do itsuseful work, it must flow through all therequired components. Let us say thatone attached a heavy wire directlybetween the trolley pole and the axle.Then this would create a short-circuit,and would rob the motors of theirpower. The car would be unable tomove.

Why insulate?The motor itself contains a portion

of the complete circuit. We say that themotors used on trolley cars are series-wound because they are wired in such away that the current must pass throughall of the field coils and the entirearmature winding before exiting themotor.

The armature is made of steel,which like all metals conductselectricity. The copper conductors in thearmature slots must be insulated. If theywere bare, then they would contact thesteel of the armature structure, and theelectrical current, which is supposed topass through all of the armatureconductors, would be short-circuited,and would pass through the steel,

through the armature shaft, through thebronze armature bearings, through thesteel motor case, through the bronzemotor support axle bearings, and theninto the axle, wheels and rail. Likewise,the field coils must also be insulated orthey will ``short out'' to the pole piecesand/or motor case.

Any short-circuit within the motorwill rob one or more of itselectromagnetic components ofelectrical power, and the motor willthen be ``dead,'' ``grounded-out'' or``burned out'' -- unable to producemechanical power. Furthermore, thegrounded-out motor will also rob therest of the motors on the car of power,rendering the entire car immobile(although most cars have an emergencyswitch inside the controller to ``cut-out''the offending motor and allow the car tolimp back to the shop).

Insulating materials and breakdownThe materials available for

electrical insulation when the trolley carmotors were manufactured, in somecases over 100 years ago, wereprimarily organic, such as paper, fiberboard, rubber, or cotton. By themselves,these materials are entirely unsuitablefor the rough service to which a trolleycar motor is subjected. However, afterthe armature was assembled, it was

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soaked, while hot, in a vat of insulatingvarnish. This varnish, once it cured,cemented the various insulatingmaterials into a fairly impervious solidmass. Thus absolutely no current jumpsfrom the copper wire in the center to thegrounded steel.

Over time, however, the repeatedheating and cooling of the armaturewinding, as well as naturally occurringchemical processes, deteriorate theinsulation. Small ``pinhole'' cracks startto develop. This, in and of itself, is not a

problem with 600 volt motors becausethe voltage is not high enough to jumpthrough the air.

However, there is always somemoisture in the air, and some of it willcondense within the cracks, leaving afilm of water. This, combined with thetrace impurities, creates a conductivepath. Since there is up to 600 volts ofpotential between the copper and thesteel, a tiny current will flow.

There is not just one crack,however, but thousands. A test that we

can perform on the motor is to apply atest voltage (usually 500 volts) with aspecial instrument known as amegohmmeter, or ``megger.' ' Themegger is capable of reading the totalleakage current, which is the sum of allthe leaks from all the tiny cracks. Thissum is still, however, very small (on theorder of microamperes), and the meggeris therefore a sensitive device. The testvoltage divided by the total leakagecurrent is, by Ohm's Law, the insulationresistance, which is usually expressed inmegohms.

The megger reading is of morevalue in trending insulation conditionthan making an absolute determination.Still, the industry standard for 600 voltmotors is that they should not beoperated with readings of less than 1.0megohms. These low readings indicatethat the motor is laced with many,substantial cracks and/or conductivecontamination, and is likely to failunder power. The total leakage currentis a minute fraction of the actual usefulcurrent that flows through the motorwindings, and operation of a car withlow megger readings may not produceany immediate problem.

However, whenever the motor istaking power, a destructive internalprocess is then taking place. Theleakage current through each crack,small as it is, causes the carbon atoms

13

HOW ABOUT DIESEL LOCOMOTIVE MOTORS?

By Preston Cook

Jeff Hakner’s motor article is generally applicable to DC locomotive tractionmotors, but there is one additional point that might be worth presenting. As motordesign got increasingly sophisticated there was more use of laminations in theconstruction of armatures and poles to direct and limit the effect of eddy currents inthe steel structure and improve the efficiency of the motor. These laminations arecoated with an insulating material to keep them separated electrically from eachother. Once a motor has been immersed, particularly in salt water, if there are anygaps in the glyptol where the water got access to the exposed surfaces or edges of thelaminations there will eventually be rusting even if you wash the motor out reallywell. Over the long term this is likely to cause operating problems because it willallow eddy currents to migrate between the laminations and cause hot spots in thestructure. The higher the power of the motor/locomotive the more likely this is tocontribute to an eventual failure that will require rebuilding the motor and probablyinstalling a new armature and/or field poles. In a trolley with light load carryingrelatively few passengers this would be much less of a problem than in a locomotivethat gets worked comparatively hard.

in the insulating materials to be pulledout and carried along. This process isknown as carbonization of the fault.The carbon makes the fault even moreconductive, which causes a heavierleakage current to flow, which causes afaster rate of carbonization, etc.

Eventually the leakage currentbecomes so great that a sudden failureof the insulating material occurs. Thisoften takes place at points of highmechanical stress, such as the cornersof the armature winding. The resultingelectrical fault causes a very largecurrent to flow, if only for an instant,which generally fuses the copper to thesteel structure of the motor. The fault isnow permanent, and the motor isruined.

Running the motors with badinsulation readings is therefore a gameof roulette. Once the motor isgrounded-out, the only repair is to``rewind'' the motor. Remember howwe all used to rewind films, audiocassettes, and VHS tapes? If only itwere that simple!

RewindAt one time, motor rewinding was

merely a nuisance, and one for whichmost trolley companies were prepared.Because their fleet generally containedonly a few distinct motor models, theycould stock several rewind ``kits' '

containing all the required coils andinsulation pieces, which were readilyavailable from the motor manufacturers(General Electric and Westinghousewere the market leaders). Likewise, thecraft of D.C. motor repair work was acommon one and taught in many tradeschools.

Today, D.C. motors are much lessprevalent. In recent years, advances inelectronic control have made A.C.induction motors much more suitable ina variety of applications formerly astronghold of the D.C. motor, such aselevators, steel mills and electricrailways. The replacement parts forhistoric trolley car motors have notbeen available for decades. Thus whatwould have been a routine job becomesa very specialized and expensive task,running from $10,000 for a small motorto over $50,000 for a larger one.

To rewind an armature, first the oldwinding must be stripped off. It isgenerally difficult to separate the coilsfrom the insulation in a way that doesnot ruin the coils, so all new coils needto be made up. The coils have acomplex shape to allow them to fitproperly in the armature. To replicatethem requires a custom set-up, as thefixtures for making the old coils nolonger exist. Once a set of coils hasbeen wound and given the firstapplication of insulation, the armature

core is prepared with insulating piecesin each slot, and at other places wherethe winding is supported. These too, arecustom pieces which once would havebeen available in a kit from themanufacturer.

The coils are placed in the slots andthe leads are soldered to thecommutator. Sounds simple, right? Asan example, one common trolley carmotor has 37 slots and 37 coils, eachwith 3 leads on each end. The coils areplaced in the slots in two layers, andeach of the 111 commutator barsreceives two leads. All of this must beput together in exactly the correctsequence, or the motor will run badly,burn out quickly, or just run backwards.

The winding is given a preliminarytest to check for crossed wires or shortcircuits, then baked and impregnatedwith insulating varnish. Banding isapplied to keep the winding fromloosening. The armature is placed on abalancing machine, similar in principleto that used for a tire, and balancingweights are applied. Finally, thearmature is given a high-voltagebreakdown test, installed into the motorframe, and given a run-in test. As onecan see, this is a very labor-intensiveand costly process. It thereforebehooves us to maintain these antiquemotors and avoid risking a ground-out.

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Drying outOur museum has been successful at

returning to service some cars whichwere flooded. This repair, and thereasons why it is considered atemporary measure, are explainedbelow.

When a motor is flooded, waterpermeates the cracks in the insulation,as illustrated previously. By heating thewinding, the moisture will evaporate.This takes time, as the water vapor mustescape back out the tiny cracks. Whilehigher heat speeds up the process, theolder insulating materials will bedamaged by continuous exposure tohigh heat. Airflow across the surface ofthe winding helps to carry the moistureaway and also accelerates drying.

The tidal flooding experienced inAugust is the salty water of the LongIsland Sound. Salt is an especiallydifficult problem because it greatlyincreases the conductivity of watercontamination. The motor can becompletely dried out, yet over timewhen the moisture returns throughcondensation, and wicks into thecracked insulation, megger readings canplummet quickly.

Therefore, the museum's processhas been to flush the motors while stillon the cars with clean fresh water,either with a garden hose, a sprayer, ora steam cleaner. This removes most ofthe salt contamination, although withoutdisassembly it is difficult to flush all ofthe recesses of the motor. If the car islight enough to put on our inspectionpit, and has the older style split-framemotors, then the motor can be swung

open without removing it from the car,giving better access for steam cleaning.

The motor must now be dried. Ourearly attempts using kerosene-fired``torpedo'' heaters gave poor results,because it was difficult to sustain andsupervise a continuous heat for the timerequired, and because of the risk ofoverheating. After receiving advicefrom Donald Curry of Seashore TrolleyMuseum, from David Garcia of OrangeEmpire Railway Museum, and from theNew Orleans historic trolley system(via Bill Wall), this author constructed anumber of electric heaters which arepowered from a standard clothesdryer/welder outlet. They deliver about200 CFM of forced air, heated with3800 Watts, into a length of 6" flexiblemetal duct. This is connected into oneof the motor inspection handholes usinga suitable sheet-metal adapter, and othermotor openings are either sealed oropened as needed to force airflowthrough the entire motor. The heated airenters the motor at about 50-70 degreesabove ambient, and thus there is nodanger of overheating the insulation.

The process takes days, orsometimes weeks. At first, the meggerreadings go down, because the motor issoaked, and because megger readingsgo down with increasing temperatures.The readings are checked daily andtrended. When they start to go updramatically, most of the moisture hasbeen expelled, and when theimprovement starts to level off, thewinding is as dry as it can be using thisprocess, and so the heaters are removed.Once the winding cools down to roomtemperature, another megger reading is

taken. If it is acceptable, the motor isallowed to return to service.

The permanent repairUnfortunately this process can only

be described as a temporary fix.Because cracks in the insulation are stillpresent, and trace amounts of salt andother contaminants remain, the motormust be checked frequently. Over time,as the winding re-absorbs moisture, themegger readings may go down, and themotor may need to be dried again, orrisk destructive in-service failure.

To make a permanent repair to theflooding damage requires aconsiderable expenditure, but less thanthat of rewinding the motor if it fails.The motor must first be removed fromthe car: Jack up car body (weight 5-20tons), disconnect brake rigging pull rodfrom truck, tag and disconnect motorlead wiring, roll out truck, unbolt andremove motor gear case (heavy andvery dirty), unbolt and remove motoraxle bearing caps (heavy), unbolt andremove motor suspension bolts andsprings, lift motor from truck (weight1,500 to 5,000 pounds), repeat for othermotor in truck if applicable, roll truckback under car and lower jacks.

Now the motor is sent to a motorrepair shop, as the museum does nothave the necessary supplies andequipment. Once there, the armature isremoved from the frame. It is steamcleaned or immersed in a cleaning bath,then placed in an oven where thetemperature is regulated to be just at thesafe point of about 175 degrees. Avacuum is applied for 60-90 minutes,which expels all remaining moisture orair pockets. The vacuum is cut off andthe armature is flooded with insulatingvarnish under pressure, which helps toforce the varnish into all of the cracks.pressure is maintained for about 90minutes, then the excess varnish isdrained. The armature is returned to theoven to cure the varnish. This process isknown as VPI (Vacuum PressureImpregnation).

Because VPI removes thecontamination and seals the cracks, themotor, thus treated, will have very goodmegger readings, which will tend tohold up over time.

The same process is performedwith the field coils. In some cases, theycan be cleaned and VPI treated whilemounted in the motor, but otherwiseeach coil must be disconnected andremoved. Of course, at the conclusionof this treatment, everything must bereassembled and tested.

Just the VPI treatment can costfrom $5,000 to $8,000 per motor. Whenthe value of the skilled labor required toremove and reinstall the motors on thecar is factored in, the tab runs to nearly$100,000 for a typical 4-motor trolleycar.

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To prevent a recurrence of disastrous flooding, Shore Line Trolley Museum israising money to build new carbarns on the highest piece of their property. Thiswill raise the tracks above the previous high water, the 1938 hurricane. Shore Line drawing.

RESTORING D&RGWDROP BOTTOMGONDOLA # 871

By Dennis D’Alessandro, DurangoRailroad Historical Society

Four and a half years ago D&RGW#871, a 1904 drop bottom gondola, andD&RGW #1400, a 1902 high sidegondola, were leased and eventuallypurchased from the Durango &Silverton by the DRHS. Both cars wereremoved from the D&S tracks atRockwood and transported to privateproperty east of Durango. The 871 waslocated under the tent that once housedlocomotive D&RGW 315 in Santa RitaPark on the south side of Durango, andthe 1400 was parked behind it, out inthe open. It wouldn’t be until thefollowing April before the disassemblyand evaluation of the 871 would

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commence. Our plan was to restore thecars to their late 1920s appearance(after they were rebuilt by D&RGW in1925) and to operating condition.

When originally built the 800series cars were designed to carry coke.They had slatted coke racks that raisedtheir sides to the height of boxcars anda roof walk but no roof. The windingshafts for the doors were hidden in thehollow A frame along the centerline. In1918 the coke racks were removed andthe winding shafts were moved to theoutside sill. In the 1925 rebuild 5-inchside boards were added and underframes were stiffened with two 8-inchsteel channels.

All restored drop bottom gondolasthat I have analyzed appear to havebeen restored to more or less the “as-found condition.” Instead of restoring871 to the as-found condition in 2008we would rebuild it as close to possibleto the appearance and structural

This page: Before and After

Before photos by George Niederauer. After photos by Stefan Niederauer.

integrity of its final rebuild in 1925; inother words eliminate the repairs thatused non-standard parts. Easilyrecognizable were the many shoprepairs made during decades of service.As the car was dismantled all parts wereanalyzed for originality. If a part wasdetermined a non-original typereplacement, it was discarded and anoriginal part substituted or replaced bythe fabrication of an original copy. Noattempt was made to duplicate repairs.

Without conclusive evidence, mybelief is this particular rail car wasdamaged in a derailment or otheraccident and was repaired, but notcompletely, just good enough to get itback into service. Noticeable damagewas to the winding shaft at the leftcorner of the B (brake wheel) end. Ithad been severely bent; the windingshaft lever at the same location hadbeen broken in two, then brazed backtogether. The truck frame in the samecorner had also been bent; no attempt torepair it was apparent. At the oppositeend of the car, the A end, a large hole atthe bottom of the end wall was hastilypatched with a board placed inside thecar only partially covering the hole; itstill would have leaked part of any load.

The brake cylinder reservoir had11/13/63 painted on its side as the lastbrake service date.

One thing to keep in mind aboutdrop bottom gondolas is the amount ofparts that make up these cars. There areliterally hundreds of nuts, bolts,

washers, lock nuts, and wood, steel,wrought iron, and cast iron parts. Theyare quite complex in design and verylabor intensive to build – and especiallyto restore.

Work progressed slowly as the 871was dismantled. The water supply froma well eventually dried up. Water wasextremely important at the time ofdismantlement because of the necessityto use torches and grinders in a semiarid environment. Fire danger wasalways present and two fires had to beput out. Even though the car was undera shelter, weather was always a factorespecially during the winter and spring.Cold or hot temperatures, mud, rain,snow, wind, and lack of facilities allbecame factors that hampered progress.In addition, the uneven and looseground became treacherous whenmoving heavy objects. Accessunderneath the car was difficult withvery confined space and a rockysurface. After the 871 was moved to anairplane hanger in December of 2011work progressed rapidly. Our usuallyworst two seasons of the year instantlybecame our most productive period.The first four months in 2011 producedtwelve work sessions; in 2012 thatnumber increased to forty-nine sessions.In addition, the lengths of the worksessions inside the hanger were muchlonger, sometimes double, with muchless fatigue on the work force.

It is nearly impossible to recordevery little detail and still maintain a

short article instead of a book, so onlythe important and major details arerecorded in this report. Some of themore obvious repairs that were notduplicated in the restoration were: (1)an 11 x 24 x 1/4-inch T steel plate thatcovered a burn hole on an upper sideplank, (2) three non standard (for thiscar) axle journal boxes, (3) a 2 1/2-foottimber that had been installed in placeof a rotted out or damaged section ofthe wood center sill, which supportsdoor hinges, (4) the arch and top bar ofthe truck that had been damaged, (5) ahastily fabricated brake hanger bracket.

During disassembly our initial planwas to reuse all wood that could stillperform its intended function. As itturned out only the three 10-inch wideside planks on the left side was thoughtto be reusable. They were usable forstatic display but questionable if a loadwere going to be considered. The rest ofthe wood, especially the doors, centerflooring, center sills, center floortimbers, wood center sills, and hingeblocks, were rotted beyond reasonableconsideration. In the end 100% of thewood was replaced. Less than fivepercent of the steel parts were replacedif one discounts the original parts thatwere replaced with like parts fromderelict freight cars. And lastly, all ofthe fasteners were replaced, using onlynew square head bolts and nuts inconjunction with proper sized washers,making this car as strong, durable,functional and historically accurate as itwas when rebuilt in 1925.

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June 8. Done. Ron Nott monitors gondola tracking as it is pulled onto the roll back trailer. Duane Danielson photo.

The first step in the final drive tocomplete the car was finishing theunderframe. Two truss rod assembliesneeded to be replaced. We werepermitted to remove two assembliesfrom a burnt car at Tacoma on theD&S. Only problem was one rod wasfractured. An attempt was made to savethe rod but the high carbon content ofthe original wrought iron didn’t makewelding an option even though it wastried. It then became necessary tofabricate a new rod out of 1018 steel.The rods are 1 1/4 inches in diameter,but the threaded ends are larger. Bothends were built up with weld andmachined down to 1 1/2-inch diameter,then the threads were cut.

All the original brake rigging wasused except for three replacement brakeshoes and all fifteen pivot pins in thelinkage. New oversized pins replacedthe conglomeration of worn out boltsand rivets previously installed asrepairs. One-inch and 1 1/8-inch rivetswere used as copies of the original pins.Rectangular slots were cut into the endof the rivet/pins to accept original typesplit keys. When brake componentswere replaced in service and partsdidn’t line up properly, it appears it wasa common practice just to use a smallerpin if it helped to correct anymisalignment, rather than correct the fitby heating and bending thecomponents. Elongated holes in levers,connecting links and pivot bars wereeither drilled over sized or weldedclosed, then redrilled to make the holeround again. Connecting links wereheated and altered to obtain a properrelationship with its connection point.The intent was to reduce the enormousamount of slack in the brake operatingsystem.

After the replacement truss rod wasbuilt and the basic bends were installedin it, all the rods were slightly reshapedfor a better fit. The rods were heated atspecific locations and bent to seatfirmly in their saddles, queen posts, orto clear obstacles that had interferedwith them previously. The side sillswere installed next. Having the doorsremoved made the job of working onthe end and side planks a lot easier andsafer.

The side sills were a task just fromtheir sheer size and weight. These two 4x 10-inch beams are 31 feet 5 incheslong. Having a small crane availablemade the work much easier. Notcheswere made for each sill bracket on across beam. A sill is held in place bythree bolts at each end and two bolts ateach sill bracket. Each sill was primedand painted with a top coat on theoutside and stained clear on the inside.The stain protects the wood but stillmaintains an original non-painted look.

The twelve drop doors are operated

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by chains wrapped around four 2-inchdiameter, 15-foot long solid steel(heavy!) winding shafts. The shafts areheld in place by twelve brackets, eachbolted to a side sill with three bolts.The one winding shaft that was bentwas heated with a torch andstraightened.

The steel post brackets riveted atthe ends of the cross beams (steel Ibeams) that support the ten body postswere cut off, shortened, and weldedback together to narrow the brackets toproduce a tight fit on the posts. Two5/8-inch bolts secure each post to itsbracket on a cross beam.

Three 2 1/2 x 10 planks on eachside are 31 ft 5 in. long. The top plankis only 5 inches high. Each plank boltsto all five posts per side plus the twocorner posts with two 1/2-inch diameterbolts per post. Side planks aresandwiched between posts and a 30 x 2 1/2 x 1/4-inch steel side plank tiestraps on the outside, all boltedtogether. All fourteen side plank tiestraps were replaced because they werein such poor condition that they werestructurally unsound.

End planks, 93 x 2 1/4 inches, fitbetween the ends of the side planks.The bottom plank is 6 inches high, themiddle three planks 10 inches high, andthe top plank 5 inches high. All exceptthe top plank are bolted to two cornerposts and two equally spacedintermediate posts. The top end plankconnects to the top side board by twosteel corner brackets, one on the insideand one on the outside, and bolts to twoextension posts bolted to the twointermediate posts.

Some cars in the 800 series usedtwo tall (i.e., full height) intermediateposts and others, like 871, used twoshort posts with spliced extensions forthe top plank. On some cars the sideposts are short and extension posts areadded to them. On 871 the side postsare tall one-piece units.

Next it was time to install the newcenter flooring. These planks are 36inches long on 871 (I’ve seen otherswith only 30-inch planks) and 1 3/4inches thick. They are shiplapped, sothe edges overlap. The planking andfloor timbers were drilled, then theplanking was nailed into place downthe center of the car.

All of the hardware was installedas the side and end planks weremounted: grab irons, corner braces,uncoupling rods, winding shaft leverbrackets, side plank tie straps. Some ofthe last hardware parts installed werethe brake shaft stirrup, upper shaftbearing, brake shaft and wheel, and thebrakeman’s platform. To be historicallycorrect the carriage bolts securing allparts were cut off with a torch if theywere too long, and most were.

Although not impossible it isimpractical to carry every length of boltneeded. It is cheaper and less confusingto carry a few selected lengths and cutoff excess length after installation.Burning the bolts off also deformsthreads, locking the nuts in place.

With the drop doors still removedthe final coat of paint was applied tothe entire outside of the car. The correctcolor is oxide red with white lettering.The herald displayed between the late1920s and up until the late 1930s wasused to be consistent with therestoration time period. Trying to figureout the correct lettering and spacingbecame a research project because ofvariances between cars in placementand information. No actual photos ofthe 871 in that time period were found,so we had to rely on our judgmentbased on old pictures of sister cars. Thedimensions we found painted on thesides of 871 were the benchmark, butwe painted what was thought to havebeen the correct historical lettering onthis car. One controversy was whetherthe bottom of the doors were painted ornot. It was finally verified that theywere painted the same as the sides.

The previously built doors wereinstalled to finish the wood partsinstallation. Several door hinge pivotpins had been replaced in service withold bolts as quick fixes. Those partswere replaced with original type doorhinge pins. Two winding chainsconnect the outer edge of each door to awinding shaft for securing the door andas the means to pull each door closed.Half of the chains needed new endloops fabricated. If an end loop hadfailed in service, it appears it waseliminated if the chain was still longenough to fit the span for an open door,or perhaps a longer chain wassubstituted. An end loop connects achain to a door U bolt located at theouter edge of a door strap hinge. Alldoor U bolts were replaced. All chainswere reconnected to the doors andwinding shaft.

New brake hoses were installed onthe freshly lapped air cocks at bothends of the car. The brake system wasthen charged with air to test itsoperation. After a couple of air leakswere corrected the car was ready for abearing run in.

At this point the 871 was complete,and it was time to move the car fromthe hanger to its new home in Silvertonvia a roll back trailer. It will bedisplayed on the Silverton Northerntrack and join locomotive 315 and themotor car Casey Jones in what is thebeginning of the Silverton rail parkmuseum – as a joint project with theSan Juan County Historical Society,which now owns the name “SilvertonNorthern Railroad.”

A family trip west provided youreditor an opportunity to see theCanadian prairies and Rockies, visitingrailway museums and tourist railroadsen route. There’s a great deal ofpreservation in the western provincesDue to time constraints I had to bypassmany worthy attractions, so myapologies to whoever was missed.

Prairie Dog CentralThe first stop was a reunion with

the oldest regularly operating steamlocomotive in North America.Winnipeg Hydro #3 was built by theScottish builder Dubs for CanadianPacific in 1882. Reboilered in 1909, in1918 it was sold to the City ofWinnipeg and found a second career asthe heavy power on the Hydro’s rollercoaster line from Lac du Bonnet toPoint du Bois east of Winnipeg. I rodebehind her in about 1961 on an NMRAexcursion. It pulled a single well-maintained open platform woodcombine originally built for theKeweenaw Central (Pullman 1908).

The combine continues to trail #3,which recently received a new boiler. Itis followed by a string of ancient woodcoaches that survived as part of thehighly eclectic roster of the GreaterWinnipeg Water District Railway. Allhave their original walkover seats andwere never demoted to work trainservice. They are:

#104 Canadian Northern (Crossen CarCo. 1906), then Canadian National3402, to GWWD 1954.

#105 Canadian Northern (Barney &Smith 1901), then CN 3422, toGWWD 1954.

#106 Canadian Pacific (Angus Shops1912), to GWWD 1956

#107 Canadian Pacific (Angus Shops1911), to GWWD 1956

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WEST FROMWINNIPEG

By Aaron Isaacs

Winnipeg Hydro #3 about 1961 (above), and (top) reboilered and somewhatbackdated on the Prairie Dog Central. The same combine trails it in both photos.Below: Wying the engine at Grosse Isle.

When it comes to running vintagewood coaches, I believe the PrairieDog’s consist is the fifth largest inNorth America, after Strasburg,Durango & Silverton, White Pass &Yukon and Deadwood Central. Trailingthe coaches is a Canadian Pacificcaboose (Angus Shops 1912).

The former Canadian Northern OakPoint sub heads northwest fromWinnipeg, arrow straight and tabletopflat. The Society owns the outer 16.5miles of it. A paved highway follows itdirectly for most of the way.

The train I paced was an ice creamsocial special. At Grosse Isle therailroad has constructed a dining halland the passengers assembled there forice cream. Meanwhile, the consistpulled north a few hundred yards where#3 turned on a wye (the former junctionwith the abandoned line to Hodgson)and coupled onto the rear of the trainfor the ride back. The line continuesanother five miles beyond Grosse Isle toa point two miles past Warren.

I followed the line back to theoperating base at Inkster Junction.Steam doesn’t run every day, so theSociety uses a pair of GP9s. GrandTrunk Western #4138 (GMD 1958)wears CN/GT colors. A rarer bird is#1685 (GMD 1957), the onlylocomotive of Great Northern, laterBNSF, subsidiary Midland Railway ofManitoba, the connection fromWinnipeg to the American border. Itwas donated by BNSF in 2010.

Saskatchewan Railway MuseumThis modest static display museum

has collected artifacts and createddisplays that do a well-rounded job oftelling the railroad story. It is located atthe site of the former CanadianNorthern Hawker station, in opencountry eight miles west of Saskatoon.It’s one of those stations that wereestablished when the line was built butnever developed a town. The secondaryCN line is still active and maintains alive connection to the museum.

A six-car freight train behindCanadian Pacific S3 switcher #6568(Montreal 1957) greets visitors next tothe CN highway crossing. The rollingstock collection of three locomotives,one heavyweight sleeper, four cabooses,and 15 freight cars typify Canadian

rolling stock. There is one unusualpiece—a portable power plant ownedby Canadian Utilities Limited (CCF1928). Also, when the Prairie DogCentral reboilered #3 in 2004, the old1909 boiler wound up here, where itmakes an effective display.

Where this museum excels is itscollection of buildings. The GrandTrunk Pacific interlocking tower fromOban, Saskatchewan has its armstrongplant intact. The GTP and the other CNpredecessor Canadian Northern haddifferent approaches to the standardplans for country depots. GTP wouldimmediately build a substantial Type Ewith agent’s apartment, representedhere by the 1913 station from Argo,Sask. Until the business justifiedsomething bigger, Canadian Northernwould ship in a small portable stationon a flatcar and the museum hasrestored one of these, along with aCanadian Pacific portable station. Thereis also a GTP express-baggage shedfrom Unity, SK. There is a Canadian

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Midland Railway of Manitoba #1685 at thePrairie Dog’s Inkster Junction terminal.

Overviews of the Saskatchewan Railway Museum, which occupies the formerHawker Station site. The Canadian National at right is still active.

National enginemen’s bunkhouse fromSaskatoon, a small Canadian Northernbunkhouse, and a CN tool shed/motorcar house.

There are other interesting displayitems—the CN CTC board fromSaskatoon, and a big air hammer fromthe CP Saskatoon roundhouse.

Traction is represented by therestored bodies of Saskatoon doubletruck streetcar #51 (National Steel Car1927), which sits on a pair of non-original trucks, and detrucked Calgary,later Saskatoon single trucker #40(Preston 1911).

The museum site has one otherstory to tell. It was originally namedEaton until 1919, and from 1914 to1920 served as one of 26 internmentcamps for civilians of enemy alienorigin—former nationals of countriesthen at war with Canada. It was anaction similar to the internment ofJapanese-Americans during World WarII. In Saskatchewan, they wereUkranians, the Ukraine being part of theAustro-Hungarian empire at the time. In2004 a monument to the detainees waserected near the museum entrance.

Nelson TramwayNelson, British Columbia, current

population 10,000, was the smallestCanadian city to retain streetcars afterWorld War II. They lasted until 1949.The line rostered three cars.

The Nelson Electric TramwaySociety formed in 1988 to restore thebody of car #23 (Stephenson 1906) toservice. The double truck semi-convertible was purchased second handin 1924 from Cleveland. A carhousewas constructed in Lakeside Park and#23 was fully restored.

Victoria, BC Birney car #400(Preston 1921) came to Nelson after itsbody had been completely restored in1972 by the Provincial Museum. AtNelson its power truck was replicatedand the car was made operational.Today it serves as the backup to #23.

The two-kilometer line follows theKootenay Lake waterfront. Afterlooping under the Nelson bridge on theeast end of town, it lays over and boardspassengers in a public alley. After ablock of alley running that passes thecarhouse, it follows the south edge ofLakeside Park. At Poplar Street it runsthrough a shopping center parking lot,following a city easement. This is themost challenging section for themotormen, with autos on the track andentering from all directions. Afterclearing the lot, the track runs side-of-the-road between Lakeside Drive andthe water, looping at Hall Street, a fewblocks below downtown.

HERITAGE RAILNEWS

B & O Railroad Museum Baltimore, MD

The museum has acquired MARCauxiliary power control unit #7100,which was originally B & O F7A #293A(EMD 1951). Retired in 1975, it wasrebuilt by Morrison-Knudsen. The primemover was removed and replaced with adiesel generator to provide head endpower to MARC coaches. However, itstill looks very much like an F-unit.

Berkshire Scenic Railway MuseumLenox, MA

New Haven wood baggage car#3884 (1894) has been donated byRailroad Museum of New England. Thecar received a steel underframe in 1926and later ran in work train service as #W-298.

Branson Scenic, Branson, MOThe railroad has scrapped Kansas

City Southern sleeper Arthur Stillwell(Pullman 1948).

Cass Scenic Railroad Cass, WV

Non-operational S. A. AgnewLumber Company Shay #3 is beingcosmetically restored.

Center for Railroad Photography and Art

The Center continues to expand itsactivities. Last June, a new exhibit of1930s John Barriger photos debuted atKnox College in Galesburg, Illinois. Ittraveled to the annual Lexington Groupmeeting in Peoria and then to theBarriger Library in St. Louis. TheCenter’s other traveling exhibits featurethe work of O. Winston Link, DavidPlowden and Joel Jensen. The exhibit“Faces of Chicago’s RailroadCommunity”, Photographs of JackDelano” will open October 19, 2013 atthe Chicago History Museum.Meanwhile, cataloguing of donatedcollections from Wallace Abbey, FredSpringer, John Bjorklund and otherscontinues.

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Nelson Tramway’s carbarn. Below:The middle of the line cuts through ashopping center parking lot.

Conway Scenic Railroad North Conway, NH

A pair of GP9 locomotives has beenacquired from the Finger Lakes Railroad.#1751 has passed through the Montreal,Maine & Atlantic Derby Shops forrepairs. #1757 has yet to be shopped.

C. P. Huntington Railroad HistoricalSociety , Huntington, WV

In 2007, the Society acquired fourcoaches from Virginia Railway Express.All were originally Budd RDC cars, builtfor the Boston & Maine in 1956. Overthe years they were extensively rebuiltand lack the mid-car roof hump. One ofthem, now named "George C. Davis",has been renovated with new seats andwindows, made Amtrak compatible andentered service this year.

Cumbres & Toltec Scenic RailwayOver the last 16 years, the C&TS

has lurched from one management,financial and operational crisis toanother. From its 1970 creation until1996, management was stable underKyle Railways. That changed whenWillis Kyle retired. His company chosenot to continue as the operator, becauseof lack of capital investment by the bi-state commission that oversees it.

George Bartholomew succeededKyle. During his tenure the railroaddeteriorated noticeably and there wereallegations that he bled the treasury. Hiscontract was terminated in 1999. AfterBartholomew’s departure, no viable for-profit companies bid on the contract. Allobjected to the commission’srequirement that all physical plant andequipment maintenance be paid fromoperating revenues. Decades of deferredmaintenance made this financiallyimpossible. Absent an operator, the 2000season was almost canceled.

Into the breach stepped the Friendsof the Cumbres & Toltec. Known fortheir huge week-long work sessions, theFriends’ role had been restricted torestoring and maintaining the non-revenue rolling stock and physical plant.They created a new entity, the RioGrande Railway PreservationCorporation (RGRPC) to run therailroad. The Friends’ role was expandedto include fund raising and repair to thepassenger coaches.

The RGRPC began to dig out of thehole left by the previous operator. Theywere making progress when 2001brought a double whammy that cameclose to killing the railroad. The FRAembargoed portions of the line for bad

track. Then a terrible drought caused theForest Service to shut down the railroadas a fire hazard.

Lacking enough cash flow tocontinue, the RGRPC resigned as theoperator and requested a new agreementthat would place greater responsibility onthe commission to fund the maintenancebacklog. The commission responded byrebidding the contract without RGRPC.Not surprisingly, no qualified operatorsbid. In the meantime, Bill Richardsonbecame New Mexico governor and hisappointees to the commission changedthe game in favor of the railroad and theFriends. RGRPC was again selected tobe the operator, but the businessarrangement changed. Now its rolewould be as a fee-for-servicemanagement company, with the burdenof properly funding the overall railroadshifted to the commission.

Thus began several years ofmanagement peace and relative financialprosperity. In 2006, RGRPC wasreorganized as the Cumbres & ToltecManagement Corporation, still a creationof the Friends. Meanwhile Colorado andNew Mexico provided unprecedentedfunds to rebuild the railroad. By 2009 thetrack was in its best shape in decades—maybe ever—and the number of

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operational locomotives was risingagain. The oldest, #463, began acomplete rebuild.

In 2011, American HeritageRailways, owner of the Durango &Silverton, became the new managementcompany with a five-year contract. Itseemed like a logical fit, placing bothpieces of the Rio Grande narrow gaugeunder common management. AmericanHeritage’s marketing and special eventssavvy would be a welcome addition tothe C&TS norm of simply train rides.

Unfortunately, the Lobato Trestleburned that year, putting a major crimpin operations and diverting everyone’sattention to funding and rebuilding thebridge. That was accomplished, but thisyear American Heritage owner AlanHarper suddenly, and publicly,announced that his company wouldwithdraw after the 2012 season. Heaccused the commission ofmicromanaging and excessivebureaucracy. Sources familiar with theC&TS told Trainline/RMQ that Harper,accustomed to unfettered control of hisrailroads, hadn’t anticipated the built-inconstraints associated with agovernment-owned historic property.

At this time it appears theCommission will now operate therailroad directly for the first time.

On October 10, 2012, a request forproposals was issued for architecture-engineering services for a proposedChama Roundhouse and Visitor Center.The goal is to reconstruct the historicChama roundhouse as a multi-purposefacility which will include a visitorcenter, a greatly enhanced repair shop forthe railroad, and space for the Friends’restoration work.

Downeast Scenic Ellsworth, METie replacement has allowed the

railroad to open the wye at WashingtonJunction, Maine, permitting the turningof equipment for the first time. The wyewas last used by Maine Central in 1970.

Fayette Central Tourist trains won’t run in 2013 due

to a sharp increase in freight traffic overthe former B&O line.

Golden Gate Railroad Museum Sunol,CA

A few years ago the museumacquired former Southern Pacific F units#6378 and 6380 (EMD 1952), which hadbeen retired from short line Louisiana &North West. #6380’s engine was badlydamaged and it was determined thatreplacement was the only viable way toreturn the unit to service. An anonymousdonor has recently given a rebuilt EMD16 cylinder 567C engine, maingenerator, auxiliary generator, air brake

system and other components. After acouple of other projects leave the shop,the restoration of #6380 will begin.

Historical Museum at Fort MissoulaMissoula, MT

Missoula streetcar #50 (American1912), after years of restoration, hasbeen moved to its new storage/displaybuilding at the museum.

Kentucky Railway Museum New Haven, KY

As part of an effort to retire heavydebt, the museum has sold eleven piecesof equipment for scrap. Included were:U. S. Army Fairbanks-Morse switcher

#1846An Army Alco S1 switcherTwo Department of Defense GE 45-

tonnersTwo ex-Chesapeake & Ohio MOW

coachesTwo kitchen/commissary carsThree DoD heavy duty flatcarsAlso sold was Canadian National 1954

sleeper/lounge Cape Tormentine,which was located in Florida.

Midland Railway, Baldwin City, KSIt looks like the Fremont Dinner

Train is moving from Nebraska’sFremont & Elkhorn Valley to theMidland. Douglas County has awarded a$54,000 grant to install a switch and750-foot siding at Baldwin City to house

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the dinner train. Privately owned Rock Island

commuter coach #2507, long part of theregular consist for years, has now beendonated.

A major scrapping program ofderelict equipment has thinned thecollection and raised considerablerevenue. Included were: Rock Island MOW car #3106, originally

coach #3025 (Standard Steel Car1913), later rebuilt as a diner.

Mobil Oil tank car #11173Darby steam wrecking crane #D-22A former Alton Railroad turntableA Union Pacific transfer tableRock Island 1943 outside braced wood

caboose #17762, built from a 1912boxcar

A Reading gondolaAmtrak coach #2368, originally Santa Fe

sleeping car Regal RubySanta Fe caboose #999425

Midwest Railway Preservation SocietyCleveland, OH

The Society has acquired three ex-Pennsy, ex-Amtrak stainless steel cars.According to Railpace, they were storedon the Delaware Coast Line Railroad.

Niles Canyon Railway, Sunol, CAMcCloud River fire tank car #1711

(McCloud shops 1941) has beenacquired. It is a steel tank mounted on a

flat car, and can double as an auxiliarywater tender.

Clover Valley 2-6-6-2T #14 had itsfirst successful running test on August25th.

Pacific Southwest Railway MuseumCampo, CA

Recent land acquisitions areexpanding the museum’s site from 12acres to almost 40 acres. They havemade a lease/purchase agreement on6.25 acres containing a three bedroomhouse and barn, and the owner of anadjacent 12.9 acre parcel has agreed tosell. Fund raising for the down paymentshas begun.

North Carolina Museum ofTransportation, Spencer, NCBack in January we reported that the

State of North Carolina had cut itsregular support of NCTM from $1million in 2011 to $500,000 in 2012, andthat all funding would disappear in 2013.After much lobbying by the museum andits supporters, the state budget hasrestored $300,000 for 2013. Themuseum’s newsletter describes this as a“$300,000 recurring appropriation.”

Oregon Electric Railway MuseumBrooks, OR

The new visitor center building,which replicates a Southern Pacific two-

story wood depot, is nearing completion.

Platte Valley Trolley, Denver, COThe trolley runs north-south along

the west bank of the Platte River, acrossfrom downtown Denver. During footballseason it transports large numbers offans between Mile High Stadium andremote parking to the north. Until threeyears ago, it would periodically run westfor a couple of miles on the inactiveAssociated Railroads, the former Denver& Intermountain interurban to Golden.That track has now been removed and anew light rail line to Golden is beingbuilt on the right of way. The PlatteTrolley’s track currently ends at ColfaxAvenue, just south of the stadium. Theplan is to extend the trolley track west ashort distance to Decatur Street.

Fully restored Denver &Intermountain interurban #25 (Woeber1911) has been sold by longtime ownerRocky Mountain Railroad Club to theCity of Lakewood. The car is currentlystored in a building at the Federal Centerin Lakewood. The City has plans to builda new display carbarn for it, possiblyconnected to the new Golden LRT,which is being built where the car onceran.

Prairie Dog Central, Winnipeg, MB With the closure of Manitoba

Hydro’s railroad between Pointe du Bois

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and Slave Falls, several pieces of non-revenue equipment have been acquired.They include a 35-ton 4-wheel diesellocomotive, a hi-rail inspection SUV, aballast regulator, a tamper and a heavyduty hi-rail truck with a crane.

Railroaders Memorial MuseumAltoona, PA

The museum has completed andopened its new seven-stall roundhouse.

Seashore Trolley MuseumKennebunkport, ME

Seashore has acquired ex-Philadelphia, ex-Kansas City PCC cars#2278 and 2289 from Electric CityTrolley Museum. The latter is in poorshape and will be used as a parts source.

South Dakota State RailroadMuseum, Hill City, SD

The large collection of BernardCarey, a second-generation employee ofthe Chicago, Rock Island and PacificRailroad, has been donated. Carey wasthe last depot agent in the Sioux Fallsoffice when the Rock’s agency wasclosed in 1971. The donation includeshistoric documents; photos; oil cans,locks, keys and lanterns; standard depotclocks; telegraphy equipment; an 1880sdepot “barrel” stove; and period officefurniture — some of which date toeastern Dakota Territory in the 1880s.Railroads represented in this collectioninclude Rock Island, Burlington, CedarRapids & Northern, Great Northern,South Dakota Central, Milwaukee Road,Chicago, Minneapolis, St. Paul &

Omaha/Chicago & North Western,Illinois Central and Burlington Northern.A large collection of historic barbed wirealso was donated to the museum’sagriculture section.

Southern Prairie Railway,Ogema, SK

The railway is a fairly youngorganization. It acquired the 1912 CPRSimpson, Saskatchewan depot in 2002and moved it to Ogema in 2005.

Scheduled excursions began in June2012. The train consists of a Central 44-tonner (GE 1945) recently acquired in2010 from the Conway Scenic, CanadianPacific lightweight baggage car #4747(CC&F 1952), a Lackawanna MU trailerfrom the Gettysburg Railroad and aPacific Great Eastern home-builtcaboose from 1956.

Timber Heritage Museum Eureka, CA

The Samoa roundhouse and shopscomplex is rented by the associationfrom the Humboldt Bay Harbor District.The initial lease was year to year andinitially the Harbor District made nopromises of renewal. In June the leasewas renewed through the end of 2013.Furthermore, the association will gainaccess to all the historic buildings on thesite for storage of its collection. The$39,600 annual rent will continue to bepaid through sweat equity, as associationvolunteers restore the six buildings.

Toronto Railway HeritageAssociation, Toronto, ON

The last RMQ reported on thedispersal of the railcars that were part ofthe Ossawippi Express Restaurant inOrillia, ON. We missed TRHA’sacquisition of the Canadian Pacific woodpassenger car Nova Scotia. It wasoriginally the Sans Pareil, built in 1896for the Dominion Atlantic.

United Railway Historical Society Pennsylvania Railroad GG1 #4877

has been cosmetically restored andrepainted in the original BrunswickGreen “cat’s whisker” color scheme.

U. S. Army Transportation CorpsMuseum, Fort Eustis, VA

The museum has opened its newRail Pavilion building and unveiledcosmetically restored RSD1 diesellocomotive #8011 (Alco 1942).Originally built for the Atlanta & St.Andrews Bay, it was drafted for the wareffort, equipped with six-wheel trucksand a reduced clearance cab anddeployed in Iran.

Virginia Railroad MuseumPortsmouth, VA

This is a new museum, featuringcosmetically restored Norfolk & Western4-8-0 #1134, one of the “lost engines ofRoanoke”.

West Coast Railway AssociationSquamish, BC

Kids love miniature trains. Duringthis year’s Day Out With Thomas, theMiniRail that circles the Heritage Park

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continued to charge its normal $3.50fare. Over four days it carried 6300 ofthe 10,700 people who also boughtThomas tickets. MiniRail revenue wasjust short of $20,000.

In 2006, the train set of defuncttourist railway Waterloo & St. Jacobswas donated. It included FP9A units#6508 and 6520, along with three formerCanadian National, later VIAlightweight coaches. The museum had toraise the funds to transport the consistfrom Ontario to British Columbia. Twoof the cars were moved, but thelocomotives and three cars stayed put,racking up storage charges with eachpassing month. The problem has finallybeen solved. FP9A #6508 has been soldto Ontario Southland Railway. Theproceeds will pay to move the remainingpieces, all painted in the classic CNgreen, gold and black scheme.

Western Pacific Railroad MuseumPortola, CA

The fire that destroyed themuseum’s former Western PacificHospital in 2011 was ruled an arson. Asuspect confessed to setting the fire, plusanother at a local school. He wasconvicted of a felony and sentenced tojail plus probation. Cleaning up the sitecost the museum $46,000.

Several years ago the museumchanged its name and mission to

concentrate solely on the history of theWestern Pacific and its subsidiaries.Since then it has been rationalizing itscollection to reflect that focus.Milwaukee Road U25B #5057 is beingsold to the Cascade Rail Foundation inCle Elem, WA. The sale is due to becompleted in March 2013. They are alsoin the process of deaccessioning twoSouthern Pacific SD9s, #4404 and#4450, as well as a former SP BaldwinAS-616, and Alco Navy MRS-1 #544.

They have acquired WP Pullmanbusiness observation car #106, known onthe WP as the "Charles O. Sweetwood"and originally part of the Pullman leasefleet under the names "Pioneer" and"Davy Crockett". It was used by theWP's Eastern Division Superintendentuntil it was loaned to the Red Crossduring the Korean War and used forblood drives, the first railcar ever used inthe capacity. It was named after a WPcarman who went to Korea as a medicalcorpsman and was killed in action.

A second new arrival is SW1500#1503, the last switching locomotiveacquired by the WP. It is currently UnionPacific #1042. It was donated by the UPand is now back to full operation at themuseum. In WP days, it was usedextensively in the Bay Area, includingthe isolated trackage in San Franciscothat was reached by WP's car ferry "LasPlumas". A trade with the Dakota

Southern is bringing in TidewaterSouthern GE 70-tonner #743 and atamper.

Wiscasset, Waterville & FarmingtonRailway Museum, Alna, ME

A new restroom building is underconstruction, with completion expectedin 2013.

New National Historic LandmarksThe U. S. Department of the Interior

has announced that the Cumbres &Toltec and the Nevada State RailroadMuseum’s Virginia & Truckee McKeencar #22 have been designated as NationalHistoric Landmarks. The designation’sprimary impact is the prestige of beinglisted as one of the 2500 most significanthistoric resources in the country.

New event ideaThe Railway Museum of San

Angelo held its 2nd annual Fry an Eggon the Track Day. Children touring themuseum receive a certificate for an egg.At 2 p.m. they gather trackside to seewho can fry an egg on the rail head.Prizes are given in the 2- to 8-year-oldgroup and the 9- to 16-year-old groupfor those who fry an egg first.

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First Class Railroad Pins and PatchesThis former Portugese streetcar hasjust been rebuilt by Gomaco for theIssaquah Valley Trolley in Washington.Using a generator on a trailer, It runson a mile of former Northern Pacifictrack. IVT photo.

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Irwin Car and EquipmentAtlas Car Products

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The Grand Canyon Railway fields this candidate for Most Impressive Tourist Train Consist, 13 color-matched cars thatrivals the appearance of a Denver Zephyr, North Coast Limited or Canadian. Marty Bernard photos.

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