Newsletter of the Rochester NY Chapter NRHSPO Box 664 Rochester NY 14603 Published Monthly

reApril 1999Volume 41 NO8

phThe 5ebull

Daylight Savings Time Returns-Allows expansion of the Tuesday Night Work Parties

Details on Page 3

(Continued 011 Page 2)

Program or April 15

NYCMainline in Wayne Coby Shelden S King

Shelden will be presenting a slideprogram on the New York Central 4-trackMainline in Wayne County - with alittle West Shore and Pennsylvania Divi-sions thrown in for Good Measwe

Program CommitteeJack Matsillt(Chairman) 4420269BiDLimburg 586-9470Dan Cosgrove 3520931Dave Luca (Board liaison) 28amp-0318The Committee welcomes suggestions

and ideas for future programs Contact anyof the Committee members

Annual BanquetMayS

Last Calto Reserve YourSpot (The next Issue will arrive aflw

theevenQMay 8 is just a month away-the date

of our ADnuai Banquet Again it will beheld at Zamiaras Party House on Buffil)oRoad A Social Hour (6 PM) introduces afine buffet catered bYRicks Prime RibHouse a restaurant located on the lowerlevel

As of press time the guest speaker onthe program portion has not been coo-firmed

The cost is IllIb1 SIS per person-andthat includes a new Collector Mug Thedeadline for reservations is My IReservations should be sent to

Janet Dittmer 983 N Winton RdRochester NY 146090824

Make cbecks payable to RochesterChapter NRHS Include a stamped selfaddressed envelope if you want yourtickets in advance utherwise they will beheld at the door

Janet will probably take phone reservations 288-0318

Chapter Kicks Off YoungRailfan Program

by Dale HaJ1neUWe all want to do restoration bullThat was the enthusiastic statement of

participants in the Rochester NRHS Chap-ters Young Railfans program following theMarch 13 tour of the Rochester and GeneseeValley Railroad Museum

Five high school students between theages of 14 and 17 are charter members ofthe group All five also have intereSts inmodelrailroadiIig often going hack manyyears

Since the first meeting at the RampGYRMthe group has visited the Rochester ModelRailroad Clubs Lehigh Valley layout indowntown Rochester Chapter member DickLucky Luchterhand led a behind-the-scenestour and answered questions about modelrailioading and the Rochester Model Rail-road Clubs activities

During the months ahead the YoungRailfans will be introduced to a number ofIllilfan activities and projects Monthly meet-ings will take place at the RampGYRM withfrequent field trips to area points of interest

Members of the group include NathanDunn of Rochester Brett Hendershott andDouglas Vereecke of Hilton Kevin Hertzo8of Henrietta and Matt Stachura of Conesus

Many Chapter members have alreadybeen involved in the groups meetings

Chris Hauf presented an excellent slideshow of hoth Chapter activities and theRampGYRM at the February InformationNight at the Henrietta Public Library JohnRedden and Jeremy Tuke were on hand atthe Information Night to meet prospectivemembers and answer questions from theyouth and their parents

Charlie Harshbarger and Jim Johnsonassisted in snow removal and setting up heatin the DLampW hagsage car for the firstmeeting at RampGYRM Dale Hartnett ledfour young railfans and their dads onRampGYRM tour

Pancake Breakfast atMuseum May 1

(A Fund Raiser CorYoung RailCns)The Chapters Young Railfans group will

hold a first-ltver pancake breakfiLst fund-raiser on Saturday May 1 from 8 to 10 AMat RampGYRMs Depot

With opening day for the museum justtwo weeks oil it will be a great chance toget an early start to an important Springcleanup workday have some fun and helpour young associates raise a few dollars forupcoming activities

The breakfust is open to volunteers fromRampGYRM and NYMT Guests are welcome(especially if they plan to pitch in onmuseum projects) Bring your appetiteYou11need it (DR)

Visitor Operations - 1999by Donovan Shilling Volunteer

CoordinalorVisitor operations in 1999 will see

several improvements Plans are underway tomake the visitor experience more interestingand easier for the Depot museum guides tocooduet Just a few years ago one lonelyguide was all that was needed to shepherdthe few Sunday visitors we had around oursparsely filled yards After linking rails withour neighbors on the hill the New YorkMuseum of Transportation we initiatedtrack car rides A recent survey indicates theride has become one of the highlights of thetrip to our museum Getting there is lots offun

Now were challenged to make thevisitors experience at the Depot worthWeSo at our end of the line weve added morethings to see Well have a caboose adiesel-ltIectric a video of Trolley Car 60and a variety of other exhibits and artifactsThe 1999 season may be such that twoguides are not enough on a busy Sunday

Chapter newcomers are invited to joinour seasoned volunteers for a few hours on

(Contmued on Page 2)

Page 2

Kick Off (from Page J)

Membership is still open to interestedYOWlgrnilfans (male or female) between theages of 14 and 20 For more informationcontact Dale Hartnett at 7161243-ll139The upcoming schedule for the Y0Wlg

Railfans includesbull Satnrday April 17 Caboose Restorationand Trip to the Other End of the Linebull Sunday April 18 Visit to Chapter Li-brary in Websterbull Satnrday May I Pancake Breakfast forvobmteers at RampGVRM (See Page J)

bull Satnrday May 8 Introduction to trackwork

Ubrary Reportby Charles Robinson Chairman

The Chapter Library will be open onSunday April 18 between 2 and 5 PM Weare now in the process of determinin8 theevening hours for the spring and swnmersseasonsThe library is moving right along with

chapter merobers taking advantage of ourfacility The staff of Steve Dagley JerryGillette Gale Smith Eric Dnun and TeresaKe11ethave been working away entering theextensive and important John Woodburynegative collection in a database for ease ofretrieval Other activities inclnde arrangingthe timetable collection listing missing peri-odicals to coinplete oar collection andcataloging of about 80 additional donatedbooks plus video tapesThe library has been indeed been forta-

nate to receive the outstanding book collec-tion of the late John Roblin from his widowWe ap~te the familys generous gift tothe libraryThe video tap collection continues to

grow with several submissions from DanCosgroves coliectiolL Hopefully we cansoon work out the details of the tape viewingand sharing sessions for the members

Chapter Ubrary OpenApril 18

The Library will be open from 2 to 5PM on Sunday April 18 Its the twincabooses located at II Mill Sl in theformer Hojak yard off NYS 250 justnorth of the Route 104 expresswayoverpass in Webster

April 1999

Visitor Operations (from Page J)

several Sundays This ill provide breaktime for the guides and offer newcomers firsthand experience to our coliectiolL Wellattempt using teams of spouses TwocoupleS teamiog together can offer a fami-ly-type feeling to the visitor experienceAll Chapter members are eligible to be

Depot guides Youlileam a great deal aboutour museum by becoming a guide just ONESUNDAY AYIERNOON Hours are from1100AM to 430 PM

The Semaphore will carry a list ofvolunteer Depot guides and their assignedSundays If an act of God should cause aguide to be unavailable on their assignedSunday they can contact someoneon the listto switch assignments That way the Depot shoUidalw8yS be covered VisitorS gnXtedand their experience at the muSeum height-ened

Listing of Wanted Periodi-calsThe Rochester Chapter NRHS Library is

looking for the following periodicals tocomplete its collection of each publicationIf you have any of these issues or mowsomeone that is willin8 to donate themplease keep our Library in mind

New fQrk Central Hegdlight

(add this to Headlight list in Marchissue) 1996 Vol XXVI IQ1997Vol XXVIII 4Q1998 to date

Rajlroqd Ilisrory (Bulletin of the Railway ampLocomotiveHistorical Society)Missing issues I-59 61-72 74-75 7780-101 103 105 lOS 110-114 116-128 130 135 137-144 146 148-149151153164169-171178 - to date

Baldwin ocomotjye ftlqgazine

All issues prior to 19351935 3Q (July)1936 1Q (Jan)1937 - 1943All issues19442Q (April)1945 lQ (Jan)1946 IQ (Jan)1947 3Q 4Q (July Oct)1948 3Q 4Q (July Oct)1950 3Q 4Q (July Oct)All issues aJIer 1950

The Semaphore

Membership ReportChris Hauf ChairmanA

(The MeroberSrnp Report was not re-ceived by press time)

Membership InformationDues for the calendaryear areRegular $30 StudonllRotiroe $25

Family$40 Other membership Ieveis areavailable Inctudes membership in the NabulltionaRailwayHlstoricaJSociety a member 01NRHS and wish to join

the RochesteltChapter deduct $15 fromthaabove categories

Make check payable to Rochast9fChapteltNRHS and send to RochesteltChaptelt NRHS PO Box 1161 WebsleltbullNY 14580

Jnin fb 1JtbiPiS cwtlsKevin and Debi Klees were married on

February 27 They honO)1Ilooned in theGalapagos Islands They are avid bird watch-ers

Jrem Kemery Our condolences to Charles Harsh-

barger and his family for the recent lossof his Grandmother

-RajlroqdMqgazineAllissues prior to 19301930 Jan-July Oct-Nov1931May June1932May-Dec1933 Jan-March May Sep Nov1934 Feb1936 Feb April-July1937 Feb April-July1938Dec1939 Jan Feb1940 Feb March Nov1944 Sep-Dec1954 Jan-Angus1960April June Angus Dec1961April1965 Jan May June1969 Jan April Oct-Nov1970 Jan March June-October Dec(Merged with Wilfan amp Wiroad Maga-

zine in May 1979) bull

Rajfan Mqgazine

1974Spring Summer Fall1975 Spring Summer Fall

The Semaphore April 1999 Page 3

bull ROCH~1E~~NtS[[ ~j~~t~~AW ~-

Rand Warner Manager 425-8587

GeneralSpring has finally arrived (we hope)

Now the good weather and longer eveningswill permit us to work on our manypriorities

Please get involved with our Tuesdayevening or Saturday work parties - or otherdayevenings special projects as your timeand schedules permit We really welcomeWdIltand need volunteers

Snow Fighting for Year 2000Well we have really gotten snow

bull

dwnped on our Museum this winter At thistime we can push snow with trusty EKC 6- but lets think aboul next winter = Y2K

By next winter we should be able tomuster the following snow fighting roster ofpossibilities

I Use Anny 1843 at aoy time becausewell have three phase 220v for its blockheater The Anny engine might have pilolplows by that time also

2 If conditions warraot push WAG snowplow with Anny engine andor EKC 6 locoThis should clear oul aoything MotherNature can throw at us Cant you just wantto see this

3 Clean out the switches with fullyoperational Kershaw snow brush-just asoriginally intended

4 Clean out the sidings where the WAGplow cant go using our Blue Anny Track-Mobile with nose plow

Now il seems lillte thaI should be suffi-cient - bul we still have our Euclid andTrojan loaders on tap as well as our 4-wheeldrive backhoe traclors

Up at NYMT end we will someday bea)le to use the former Philadelphia Snow~weeper C-lJO ronoing under live over-

head Wont thaI be something to see andlook forward to

We should be entering the Tweoty-FirstCenluIy from a position of considerablestrength in snow fightIDg

Great Tuesday Night ProjectsOur clocks have beeo reset to Spring Ahead to Daylight Saving Time so now our

Tuesday oighl work parties will be going full blast Some of our activities that lendthemselves ideally to our Tuesday evenings include

I Removal of wooden boardio8 platforms at RGVRM and replacement with crushed stone2 Rehab leveling and bal1astin8of passenger loading lIack at NYMT3 Clean up of all outdoor areas seen by our visitors4 Clean up of all interior areas and displays seen by our visitors5 Repl bad switch timbers al NYMT switches6 Build up paoellIack sections for new sidings at ham7 Build up replacement paoel switch for Switch 6 relocation8 Fix potholes in roadway for visitor enlIance al NYMT9 Re-set boundary marker ties al NYMT parking areas10 Rebuild Reids Crossing for BOCES11Add planking to NYMT road crossing riext 10 RampE waiting room12 Tighten lOoserail joints for sm~iJier track ~ ride13 Grind rough rail joints for suloother track car ride

LeadershipAfter many long years of outstanding leadership dedicatioil and conuoitment Norm

Shaddick is stepping down from Supt of Mainteoance-of-Way EquipmentRecognizing our greatly enlarged fleet of track cars and MOw equipment we are

assigning new leadership as followsFor Track Car FleetJeremy Toke and Dan WaterstraalFor Hean- Maintenance-gf_Way Fleet- Dick Bean ~ Bob MaderJohn Redden has agreed 10 spearhead the rehablrelocation of Switch 6 starting

inuoediatelyDave Goodwin has agreed to honcho the rehabrepair of our weakened emharikmeol area

near Switch 5 starting inuoewatelyScott Gleason has agreed to honcho our pole setting for ELECTRIF1CATION at the south

leg ofNYMT loop starting immediatelyGeorge Knob will be leading the excavation for track expansion north of the Restoration

Facility starting inuoediatelyRand Warner and Bernie Cubitt will be coordinating the preparation of Rochester Lockport

amp BufThloCar 206 for movingJohn Redden and Ron Amberger will be coordinating the preparations for moving the

Heisler Fireless locomotiveDave Luca and Rand Warner will be coordinating the rehab of Subway Car 60

Restoration FacilityJohn Weber is making up a larger scale-sib building drawing so we can all input our

thoughts and requirements on electrical heating drainage pits floors safety itemsequipment layout etc

Rand Warner has distributed Johns latest update for our overall site plan corrected toshow the final sib and fmal location of the building Again this will permit us all to get ourthoughts down in black tiod white on paper regarding outside power feed drainage lIackplans add-on sheds access roads and other requirements

Steve Husehas installed fue extinguishers inside the building in severallOCltionsCharles Harshbarger has installed a first aid kit aod safety equipment such as goggles and

safety glassesJeremy Toke Chris Hauf and Bill Chapin have beeo taking care of lIash clean oul from

projects debris and have lIansferred all waste to our dumpster for piclrupOut temporary lighting and power system is a great help to our many restoration and repair

projects going on in the barnGeorge Knob and Art Mununery have fixed us up with temporary air service from our

diesel compressor and welding capability form Georges gas powered welder

bullPage 4

ElectrificationScott Gleason and Dan Waterstraal have

moved our new RGampE buckel truck up toNYMf for the 1999 work season

Scott Gleason and Dan Waterstraal haveremoved and replaced the bad master cylin-der on the Auger Truck and il is now readyagain for the 1999 season

Charlie Lowe has mapped oul and stakedoul the pole locations south of the NYMfbam for the south leg of the loop track

Scott Gleason has towed poles intolocation for setting them up on the south legof the NYMf loop

Charlie Lowe has drawn up layouts forsbinging span wires south of NYMf bam

Pole setting led by Scott Gleason willcommence on Saturday April 3 We plan tosel poles alleast once a month

We will be equipping our auger truckand buckel truck with appropriate tools fromRGVRM and NYMf collections as avail-able

Rand Warner has laid out a lim cuischedule for ELECTRIF1CAnON getting usto limited operations of our lim trolley carby year end - using overhead wire

NYMf has received by way of Japan asel of Taylor type inlerurbaIi standard gaugetrucks for RampE car 157 With this shipmenlcame all the control eqUipffient

Rand Warner John Weber Charlie Rob-inson and Bernie Cubitt are working ondrawings 10 replicate missing parts forRLampB 206 Texas 11409 etc using ECampWI07 for patterns

The southwest comer room of NYMf hasbeen set up with file cabinet cases forstoring small partslfittings for our overheadelectrification program

Railway Express TruckDick Bean has arranged for the former

yellow TrackMobile tires and tubes to bere-installed on the rims foc the Ford RailwayExpress Agency truck As pari of the effortthe rims for the truck were sand blasted andprimed

Lynn Hein~ is now painting the wheelsin the fmal coast of REA red

Next we can fe-mount the wheel assem-blies back onto the truck and move the truckup to our Restoration Facility for furtherrehab

Rand Warner has assembled a 3-ring

April 1999

[Editor3 Note Rand Warner haJ compiled listings of the vehicles in our manyfleetscollections Two of these updated listsappear herein others will follow in futureissues

Track Car FleetTC-2 Track Motor CarOur back up unil for pulling passenger

trailers for our visilors Relocated 10 Resto-ration Facilityfor neeeSSaryrehab over thewinterTC-3 Track Motor Car (RoeMobile)Our primary unil for pulling passenger

trailers Stored serviCeable- ready for use asconditions permitTC-4 Track Motor Car (MaderMobile)The backbOne of our track maintenance

and signal maintenance efforts - ready foruse as conditions permitTC-5 Track Motor Car (Redden)This former Dansville amp Mt Moms 1

unil is stored serviceable - ready for use asconditions permitTC-6 Inspection Motor Car - DampMM 2Our lighl duty machine for inspection

only - nol intended to pull trailers - il issingle cylinder Stored serviceable - readyfor use as conditions permit Passenger Trailer 2 (Bellengerj

This primary unil may get a canopy roofto shade our visitors from the summer sun -a low priority option for sometime in futurePassenger Trailer 3 (BarbaraRichards)This backup unit is a kil-bashed former

Genesee amp WyomingKalmazoo model motorcar with engine removed It already has acanopy top It has been moved up to therestoration bam for servicing

reference binder of technical and backgroundinfo on the truck supplied by Lynn Heintzand others

Several people have reported sightingsof other Railway Express Agency trucksbodies or relevanl parts

Who kuows maybe well have a wholefleet of REA trucks someday-lteliveringand picking up packages from railroad andtrolley express cars at our various stationsalong the way

Maybe for the Year 2000 we could evenhave an REA truck in a local parade

The Semaphore

Maintenance of WayEquipment FleetBurro Crane - fanner Foster-Wheeler

Is getting major priority from Dick BeanBob Mader Art Mummery Roe BrothersJohn Redden Rand Warner Norm ShaddickBill Chapin Bernie Cubiti etc The replace-ment diesel prime mover is ready to beinstalled Crane is in our new bam for rehab

Chevy Hi-Rail Utility Truck - fannerAdirondack RRThis old workhorse needs some TLC to

get back in service for the coming season Itis all intact and should run - but it doesneed painl workFord Hi-Rail Boom Dump Truck

This former Ontario Midland RR unitreally earned its keep lasl year spreadingover 500 tons of rock ballast onto our entiremain line as pari of our track rehab Wealready have lots of plans for it lined up for1999Kershaw Snow Brush - fonner KP RR

This unit is suitable for cleaning snowfrom sWitches as we received it We hope tobe able to modifY il so thai we can regulateballast in addition to clearing snow It n~brake work bul it does already run quilwellJackson Yard Tamper - fanner KP RR

This unil has already seen lots and lots ofservice on our tracks Every time we addmoce ballast we have to also lamp it Wenow have several people who can operate itand also maintain it Unit is ready to goWooden Snow Plow - fanner WAGandMECThis essentially all-wood plow is a real

artifact- with lots of stories to tell we aresurel It needs some frame work and plowwork to be usable nex year for snowfighting on our lines

Construction EquipmentThe rebuill water pump has been 10-

stalled on our International tow truck by asmall army of volunteers

We now have another lO-wheel dumptruck - a Broadway gas job - just in time forthe lt99construction season

Bob Mader and Art Mummery amp Cohave removed the engine from the -backhoe replaced the clutch assemb-~re-installed the engine again

The Semaphore April 1999 Page 5

Thanks for the LanternsThanks to new member Jerry C1ancy a

retired Conrail trainman for his donation oftwo NYC RR lanterns one of whicb he wasissued upon his hiring on Mary 17 1942Now on display at the Depot

Thanks to

bullJim Moore for donation and delivery of

electric welding and soldering machinetrolley parts and bringing in a new member

Rand Warner for substation ammeterspower supply heat sinks and professionalglass cutting set

Carl Englund for offer of antique wheelgauges and duplicate video movies from hisfuthers estate

Dick Bean for the legwork on our tirestubes and wheels for Railway Express truck

Charles Hanhbarger and Art Mum-mery for legwork on rebuilt clutch assemblyfor backhoe traJtor

George Knab Joe Scanlon and ArtMummery for houchoing our recent trucklIlliJer and bulldozer deliveries from SenecaAnnybase

Dale Hartnett and Cbris Hauf for infoon structures and rolling stock

Chris Hauf John Redden Ron Am-berger and Rand Warner for info onvarious types of motive power

George Knab for honchoing rehab ofradiator for our 175kw diesel generator

bull

Joe Scanlon for keeping the pipeline full of exciting possibilities for equipment mate-rials and assistance

Rand Warner for delivering PRR coalstove for our N5c caboose

bull

WantedHigh and Low profile track jacksGood ties amp switch timbersAnti-freeze amp hydraulic fluid

For volunteer technical library at Mu-seum (Depot)Complete set ofTRAIN issuesComplete set of LRampP issuesComplete set of ARM issues

Shovels and bioomsTrack bolts for 80 and 90 railSkid steer loader - Bobcat or equivalent

High rail gear - any style or type - 2wheel or 4 wheel

bull Flat car side dumper ballast hoppercontraJtordump car

80 DU rail and switchesbull Cantilever jacks for passenger cars

Tower 20by Dan Cosgrove

What can I tell you about Tower 201Well it was a brick and stone structuretypical of dozens of similar towers all builtin the 1920s obviously replacing woodenstructures that probably were exact replicasof dozens of wooden buildings built in thelate 1800s and early 1900s The woodentowers that still existed like SS-15 in Lyensand Tower 29 at Ames Street and numerous

others were all shingle and for the most partperched dreadfully close to the tacks soclose that you could feel the building shrinkaway from the trains as they passed enoughso that you didot try to write the passingtimes down till the tower resumed itsnorma stance 20 was a good and solidedifice built to last and indeed the ones thatwerent torn down are sturdy today

Tower 20 was a little out of the ordinaryIt features the usual X design of theswitchbullbull but it had additional switches east and west to the West Shore which randirictIy ~dthe tower The westboundtracks had approach bells and lights east ofthe coaling plant and then another set westof the plant soumt yOuknew when train wasleaving Wayneporl as you had to ask theWest End Dispatcher as to the disposition ofthe freight trains Sometimes the East EndDispatcher would advise you 20 the nexton 3 is the 2789 for the West Shore whichmeant that when you got a hit on theapproach out of Wayneport you could advisethe Shore dispatcher I bave the 2789leaving Wayneport for the Shore He wouldusually respond by Oksy 20 19 copy 3When you let him know you were ready hewould give you the train order for themovement 19 number 25 copy 3 to CampEEngine 2789 Engine 2789 run extra SS-20to Oakfield and Akron to WN JED Onceyou repeated the order lie would give you acomplete on the order and the time and thenyou had to race around a bit

Vou had to get the proper signals putback to stop throw the switches to gel thetrain going for the Shore and then you had toquickly get the orders on the hoop and racedownstairs and get the bead end on If thetrain was long one you might hae time torace upstairs and put the signal on track 3back so it wouldot lock you up when thetrain cleared the circuits Then race downwith the order for the caboose note the timeand then give the time by to the variousdispatchers involved In this case it would bethe East End Dispatcher and the West Shoreand yOu had to immediately gel yourswitches in order and get all the signals

cleared so that the trains coming wouldnt betonched - touched means delayed

Vou might say to the dispatcher if heasked which would be seldom if youtouched anybody when the freight crossedover - might be yeah touched 90 for aminute but hell run that off and thedispatcher would agree with you Okay 20it was worth it - hes out of the wayyenoudidnt have much time to reflect on what youhad done as your next move was alreadybeing planned and was probably being putinto motion One move done~ next movepartly done and the move after that showingup as you wOrked

You noticed someone taking out a sandwich and you realized that it was noonalready noon - where had the morninggoo71 The rest of the day flew by asquickly It seemed that you had just eatenyour lunch and there was your relief lookingover the situation and it was time to gohome

For me being relieved brought on anadrenaline sufge- down the stairs I pounded

as quickly as I could and off I went on adead run to the east of Wayneport Even as Iraced here came No 140 the local out ofRochester I ran even faster suddenly thetrain stopped ata green signa1 halfway downthe track from SS-20 The engine crew hadtaken pity on me and stopped at the greensignal as if it were red and the door wasopen r quickly leaped up on the train Theengine man gave a couple of toots on thewhistle and we were 01I for Syracuse Anhour from then I would be in Syracuse readyfor a bus ride horne My tour done for thatday

What bappened that day Well there wasbull rush in the moining We had a couple ofeastbounds down the West Shore which wasrare Wed had a dimension car for Roches-ter dropped off by BD 28 (The Moonlightthe ever other day dimension car local out ofBufWo We had also received a couple ofcars to go west on the Shore to Ridgelandthe next day No 90 sported a diesel notwin diesels and they seemed to handle thetrain well He didnt sop at Wayneport at alleither

Home in time for dinner felt I earned my money that day and I felt really good about

it Next morning I would be out and readyto ride 163 to Wayneport in the morningand ready for another go round with 20

Remember the Annual BanquetMayS

Page 6 April 1999 The Semaphore

Sacramento NRHSConvention

The National Convention of the NRHSwill be held in Sacramento CA on JWle 21to 27 1bis convention is in conjunctionwith the 1999 Rail Fair being sponsored bythe California Railroad Museum bull

By caJing 408-278-5100 you can get thecurrent status of the various events plannedfor the NRHS ConventiolL

bullThe Bulletin BoardApriff

The Batavia Train Sow at Batavia DownsRBce Track is SWlday April II OurChapter will have a table or two there if youare attending and can assist please stop byApril 24 amp 25

The IJlh Annual Railroad Showcase atthe Kenan Arena 195 Beattie Ave lock-Port This is one of the biggest shows inWestern NY and is cosponsored by NiagaraFrontier NRHS Chapter and NOME (Nia-gara Orleans Model Engineers)May 1

NF Chapter NRHS takes off to Torontoby rail to ride that citys historic trolleysMay ff

Jim Dierks NYMT presents The Roch-ester Subway System - Construetioo ampOperation for Internatioual Society of Mea-suremeot amp Control Rochester Allport Mar-riott 745 PM

1999 Special Events with NYMTMay15amp16

~g Weekend - Track car ride-Aresume bull

Model stearo amp Gas Engines atNYMTJune f3

Bring Your Ow Train to operate onNYMTs HO layoutJuly 17 amp 18

Diesel Days - Soc hear and take a rideon one of six historic diesel locomotivesAugust f5

Return of the Casey Jones RochesterCity Subway Casey Jones track car hasbeen beautifully restored See it run in thisspecial one-day evenlOctober 31

Last day of Joint Operations Last trackcar rides for the season

for the two mile roWld trip Soon we got thehighball and it was off to the races Inmotion the Climax had a pronoWlced roil-ing lurching gail Someone with an Wleasystomach might have needed Dramamine Theengines motion seemed to confirm what Ihad been told about the Climax propulsionsystem being inherently Wlb31ancedBut wemade it there and back With much whistleblowing and great clouds of acrid woodsmoke willi cinders raining out of itgt icc th~ ciriiendCd with me in ahappy frame of mind astOnished at my gOOdfortune If youre ever in the vicinity ofNorth Woodstock NIl do stop at ClarksHow often will you have the chance to see alive Climax engine doing its thing

Railcamp1999After the successful 1998 Railcamp spon-

sored by the National Park Service andNRHS at Steamtown in Scranton PA the1999 program will be expanded to TWOsessions July 18-24 and July 25-31

The program features railroad preserva-tion railroad operations among other topics

The program is open to young peoplebetween ages 9 and 12 Each session islimited to 24 participantS If you know ofany local ladgal who is interested havethem in in contact with one of the Chapletsofficer for inore details

Jack Matsik and Mary Hamilton-Dannto speak at Geneva April 17 Chapter members Jack Matsik and MllI)

Hamilton-Dannwill be the featured speakers at the LakeshoreDivisionoftheNMRANiagara Fronti Region sjXing ~eet onSaturday April 17 in Geneva NY

Jacks clinic will be on modeling the PRRcabin car

Marys talk will be about the LehighValley in Westero New York

In addition a visit to the Finger LakesRailway is planned

The conference starts at 9 AM in theformer LV train station which is located atthe comer of Humbert Sl and Swiss AveFrom the North on Route 14 turn left atNorth Sl and right at N Genesee St toSwiss Ave

The registration fee for non-members is$4 Thestatioit is being renovated so someareas arc primitive and 8 signing of 8

release may be required to tour the areaNote No children under 16 will be

allowed at this meet

Trip Report

WHITE MOUNTAIN CENTRALRAILROADBy Bill Heron

The White MOWllainCentral Rail Roadis located at Clarks Trading Post at NorthWoodstock NH The trading post is a verysmall microcosm of Main Street at DisneyWorld It features Merlins Mystical Man-sion a smalI fire equipment musewIl anold time gas stationlgarnge a trained bearact and several places that sell things to ealIt would be Wlworthy of your attentionexeept for one thing there is a steam trainride one mile each way This too could beeasily passed by but for one amazing fact

The locomotive is a Climax It wasastounding for me to saunter over to the trainwaiting at the station wander forward to theengine and then with no forewarning see oneof the storied Erie PA built geared enginesAccording to a sowte on the Internet thereare only four operable Climax enginei left inthe US One of them is at the MOWltRainier Scenic Railroad at Elbe WA inneed of some Workwhen I saw itin May 1998 Intereslinglythe Connecticut TrolleyMuseum is listed as having an operableClimax There is also a Climax at Cass butit is on the dead line and chancesof itsbeing restored to operable condition are saidto be slim

Clarks Climax was built in 1924 anddelivered to a New Hampshire loggingcompany It passed through two or threesuccessive oers before the Clark familybought it It has been nicely restored wealSa somewhat gaudy paint job and seemed to me to run quite well My good luckcontinued when I was able to have apleasant conversation with the engineerAware that some people think that Climaxengines are cantankerous and troublesome tokeep running I asked him about il He saidthat his Climax was not at all troublesomeand ran well and reliably He added that hefelt that Climax engines were the best choiceof all for really rough road beds andtrackage Somehow I was glad to hear this

At this point I timidly broached thesubject of a cab ride My good luck stretchedeven fiuther when the engineer quicldywelcomed me aboard He did say that it wasawfully hot in the cab and it was I gladlyhandled the temperature as I watched himstoke the engines fire box with hard woodlogs about four feet long and ten inches ingirth He said that one load of logs sulIiced

The current running film October Sky features another SR steamer (4501) reletteredNampW Although the Ii1mwas shot in Tennessee apparently the rail scenes were fIlmed inWest Virginia CSX reqnired a diesel as a hackup 4501 did not break down but ended uptowing the dieseH [Gondola Gazette March 1999]

The Semaphore

flow to cnjoy a 1acationbull Trip

by Harold C CrouchOne tiine my late friend Herb Liebert

and his wife decided to take a vacation tripacross the northern part of the United Slates_ by train of COIlflCThey planned to leaveon a Labor Day week-end taking 41 theKnickerbocker to Albany NY transfer to27 the New England States to Chicagoand then the Northern Pacific to the WestCoastNo 41 departed Grand Centrn1 Terminal

on time bot wtfortnnately Herb failed to seea sign in ocr that said 41s fIrst stopwould bC Schenectady NY not AlbariyNY Part Wayup the Hudson Division 41came to a stop Herb being of an inquisitivenature learned that a train ahead wasstalled It iumed out to be 49 the Advance Knickerbocker with two Alco PAs on thehead end Going up to the cab of the PAsHerb enqnired of the engineer gttat theproblem was The engineer merely said thatthe locomotive wouldnt ronl Going back inthe engine compartments Herb check thingSover (he was a Diesel Supervisor at the

bulltime) but could fInd nothing wrong So he

eturned to the cab and asked the engineer tostart the train so he could see gttat wastaking place The engineer refused merelysaying the locomotive wouldnt run Seeing that he wasnt getting anywhere Herb went to the nearby wayside telephone and calledhis friend the Division Sup in Albany TheSup asked Herb to tell the engineer that he (the engineer) was to do gttat ever Herbasked - anything to get the train rnnniogiThe engineer still refused to do anything soHerb returned to the telephone and this timethe Supt asked to have the engineer come tothe telephone Fortnnately the engineer didso and after a bit of discussion started thetrainOrigina11y the Dispatcher had lined a

crossover so that 49 could cross over fromTrack 1 to Track 2 so that 41 could passas 49 had intermediate stops When 49came to a stop it was part way thru thecrossover and so had both tracks tied upThus men the engineer started the train49 merely continued on thru the crossoverto Track 2There was nothing wrong with the PAs

~~tly the engineer had been rnnniogWrMlJ E-7 locomotives and had forgotten how

to ron an Alco as the transition handle wasin position I (series) rather than position 4(para1lel-shunt) for automatic upward transi-

April 1999

tion So the next thing Herb knew 41 wentby them with his wife on boardMrs Liebert had been around the rail-

road enough with her husband to realize ~theywerent going to stop atAlbany (changecrews at RenSselear Yard mere AmtraksStation now is) and so wisely got 01I atSchenectady Unfortunately Herb had putsome of their luggage in the mens room buthad forgot to mention this to his wife pageNo 49 duly arrived at Albany Union

Station mere our mutual friend AustinHardy Chief Road Foreman of Engines wason hand Austin then drove Herb over toSchenectady where he found his wife buttheir luggage was enroute to St Louis MoThe Lieberts made 27 without difficulty

and duly arrived in Chicago However Herbhaving been in the engine compartments ofthe PAs had got his suit dirty and his other suits were in St Louis Mo Going up to theMechanical Dept-Lines West Office Herbhid out in the liIe room while a clerk tookhis suit out to be cleaned Meanwhile theirluggage was sent up to Chicago from St LouisIn due course the Lieberts made the

Northern Pacific train and started on theirlong awaited trip One station stop on theNorthern PacifIc was extra long (headendwork I suppose) Herb in looking out thewindow saw three EMD units on a freighttrain that had stopped Going over to the cabthe engineer explained that they were com-ing along OK when suddenly all three oilengines died It took Herb only a fewmoments to ascertain No Fuel PressurelApparently as the freight train came intotown vandals had reached up and pulled theemergency fuel trip on the three units Nowto re-set the fuel trip on an EMD unitgenerally requires the unit to be over a pit sothe trap door can be slid hack to reach upand reset the fuel trip But here they wereout on the main line Getting don Herbsqueezed himself between the toP of the railand the bottom of the fuel tanks to re-set thefuel trips on the three engines It was thenonly a few moments to get fuel pressurehack and re-start the engines for the freighttrain to be on its way again However Herbgot his suit dirty - againAfter this episode Mrs Liebert wouldnt

let Hetti oUtfher sightand they had anenjoyable vacation tripMoral Have a gOodvacation trip but tty

to avoid having to fix locomotives en-route

Page 7

CBS- TV may show SRSteamerExpected this spring is the CBS TV

production Having our Say The DelaneySisters First I00 Years based on a book bythe seam title Filming was in January atSalisbury depot and NC TransportationMuseumThe equipment used included Southern

Railroad 2-8-0 542 (dead) NCTM coach4955 with interior repainted to have amahogany look The museums GP9 providedthe power - off screen [Tumtabe Tim bullbullMarch 1999)

Astrom Projects 1200New Jobs inNYSAlstrom now employees 1200 in NYS

facilities Most of the new jobs will be inHornell lf they get the OOntactto build railcars for the Long Island Rail RoOd then theyplan to construet a $7-10 million new factoI) in Hornell By 2002 the fum hopes to employ 2400

people in New York building cars forAIDtraks high-speed Washington-to-Bostonroute Los Ang1es-SanDiego route light railcars for New Jersey Transit and New YorkCity subway carsTheir facility in Henrietta (the fonner

General Railway Signal) employees 500 andwill not be inunediately affected by theprojected growth [Democrat amp0 ChronicleFeb 2 page 12D]

RPOs ReturnAmtrak has been carrying us Postal

Service mail in cars with regular passengertrains bot it has been over 20 years sincethe last RPO car was retiredTo acknowledge the raiVmail hislol) the

USPS has contracted with Amtrak to run aspecia1 train on an 1gmonth tour of thestates The P42 engine is painted yellowwith cancellation stamps to represent amani1a envelope It will pull four carsincluding the restored former Southern Rail-way RPO 36 owned by James A Bistline Itis presently touring the southern states thenon to the Midwest and the West CoastPostal Service to Issue Five Stamps inAugustIn August the USPS will issue fIve

stamps based on Ted Roses paintings ofDaylight Congressional 20th CenturyLimited Hiawatha and Super Chief[Trains May 1999 pg 16]

The SemaphareRochester ChapterNational Railway Historical SocietyPO Box 664Rochester NY 14603

Chapter Meeting amp Program

NYC Mainline inWayne CDby Shelden KingApril 15 199940amp 8 Club

933 University Ave

Non Profit OrgUS Postage

PAIDRochester NYPermit 826

bullThe Semaphore is published monthly by the Roehester NY Chapter National Railway Historical Society It is mailed free to all Chapter

members Non-members subscriptions are S500 and run from January 1 10December 31 Chapter meetings are held the third Thursday andthe Board of Directors meets the first Thursday of eseh month

Rochester Chapter NRHS OfficenPresident Chris HaufVice President Steve OagleyTreasurer Ira CohenRecording Secretary Jeremy TukeCorrespondence Sec Don ShillingNational Director Bob Miner

Trutees Charles Harshbarger DaveLuca John Redden Joe ScanlonRand Warner and John Weber

The Semaphore Staff Editor Gale SmithPrinting Bob Miner

Contributions to The Semaphore are welcomed and encouraged from all readers Theyshould be mailed to Gale ESmitb 299 Seneca Park Avenue Roehester NY 14617-2433Phone (716)~221 Contributors using a computer are asked to send their submissions onany MS-DOS diskette in ASCII formal as wel as a printed copy Deadline First Day ofEach Month

The tatu of our Restondon Building Fund Each car represents SlOOOOin the fundSurprise - the building moves rather than the train - easier to do

interNet (World Wide Web) addresshtlpllwwwroebnrhaorgI

110K lOOK $9OK $9OK $lOK $6OK $5OK $4OK $3OK $2OK $10K

+$104000 bull

Page 2

Kick Off (from Page J)

Membership is still open to interestedYOWlgrnilfans (male or female) between theages of 14 and 20 For more informationcontact Dale Hartnett at 7161243-ll139The upcoming schedule for the Y0Wlg

Railfans includesbull Satnrday April 17 Caboose Restorationand Trip to the Other End of the Linebull Sunday April 18 Visit to Chapter Li-brary in Websterbull Satnrday May I Pancake Breakfast forvobmteers at RampGVRM (See Page J)

bull Satnrday May 8 Introduction to trackwork

Ubrary Reportby Charles Robinson Chairman

The Chapter Library will be open onSunday April 18 between 2 and 5 PM Weare now in the process of determinin8 theevening hours for the spring and swnmersseasonsThe library is moving right along with

chapter merobers taking advantage of ourfacility The staff of Steve Dagley JerryGillette Gale Smith Eric Dnun and TeresaKe11ethave been working away entering theextensive and important John Woodburynegative collection in a database for ease ofretrieval Other activities inclnde arrangingthe timetable collection listing missing peri-odicals to coinplete oar collection andcataloging of about 80 additional donatedbooks plus video tapesThe library has been indeed been forta-

nate to receive the outstanding book collec-tion of the late John Roblin from his widowWe ap~te the familys generous gift tothe libraryThe video tap collection continues to

grow with several submissions from DanCosgroves coliectiolL Hopefully we cansoon work out the details of the tape viewingand sharing sessions for the members

Chapter Ubrary OpenApril 18

The Library will be open from 2 to 5PM on Sunday April 18 Its the twincabooses located at II Mill Sl in theformer Hojak yard off NYS 250 justnorth of the Route 104 expresswayoverpass in Webster

April 1999

Visitor Operations (from Page J)

several Sundays This ill provide breaktime for the guides and offer newcomers firsthand experience to our coliectiolL Wellattempt using teams of spouses TwocoupleS teamiog together can offer a fami-ly-type feeling to the visitor experienceAll Chapter members are eligible to be

Depot guides Youlileam a great deal aboutour museum by becoming a guide just ONESUNDAY AYIERNOON Hours are from1100AM to 430 PM

The Semaphore will carry a list ofvolunteer Depot guides and their assignedSundays If an act of God should cause aguide to be unavailable on their assignedSunday they can contact someoneon the listto switch assignments That way the Depot shoUidalw8yS be covered VisitorS gnXtedand their experience at the muSeum height-ened

Listing of Wanted Periodi-calsThe Rochester Chapter NRHS Library is

looking for the following periodicals tocomplete its collection of each publicationIf you have any of these issues or mowsomeone that is willin8 to donate themplease keep our Library in mind

New fQrk Central Hegdlight

(add this to Headlight list in Marchissue) 1996 Vol XXVI IQ1997Vol XXVIII 4Q1998 to date

Rajlroqd Ilisrory (Bulletin of the Railway ampLocomotiveHistorical Society)Missing issues I-59 61-72 74-75 7780-101 103 105 lOS 110-114 116-128 130 135 137-144 146 148-149151153164169-171178 - to date

Baldwin ocomotjye ftlqgazine

All issues prior to 19351935 3Q (July)1936 1Q (Jan)1937 - 1943All issues19442Q (April)1945 lQ (Jan)1946 IQ (Jan)1947 3Q 4Q (July Oct)1948 3Q 4Q (July Oct)1950 3Q 4Q (July Oct)All issues aJIer 1950

The Semaphore

Membership ReportChris Hauf ChairmanA

(The MeroberSrnp Report was not re-ceived by press time)

Membership InformationDues for the calendaryear areRegular $30 StudonllRotiroe $25

Family$40 Other membership Ieveis areavailable Inctudes membership in the NabulltionaRailwayHlstoricaJSociety a member 01NRHS and wish to join

the RochesteltChapter deduct $15 fromthaabove categories

Make check payable to Rochast9fChapteltNRHS and send to RochesteltChaptelt NRHS PO Box 1161 WebsleltbullNY 14580

Jnin fb 1JtbiPiS cwtlsKevin and Debi Klees were married on

February 27 They honO)1Ilooned in theGalapagos Islands They are avid bird watch-ers

Jrem Kemery Our condolences to Charles Harsh-

barger and his family for the recent lossof his Grandmother

-RajlroqdMqgazineAllissues prior to 19301930 Jan-July Oct-Nov1931May June1932May-Dec1933 Jan-March May Sep Nov1934 Feb1936 Feb April-July1937 Feb April-July1938Dec1939 Jan Feb1940 Feb March Nov1944 Sep-Dec1954 Jan-Angus1960April June Angus Dec1961April1965 Jan May June1969 Jan April Oct-Nov1970 Jan March June-October Dec(Merged with Wilfan amp Wiroad Maga-

zine in May 1979) bull

Rajfan Mqgazine

1974Spring Summer Fall1975 Spring Summer Fall

The Semaphore April 1999 Page 3

bull ROCH~1E~~NtS[[ ~j~~t~~AW ~-

Rand Warner Manager 425-8587

GeneralSpring has finally arrived (we hope)

Now the good weather and longer eveningswill permit us to work on our manypriorities

Please get involved with our Tuesdayevening or Saturday work parties - or otherdayevenings special projects as your timeand schedules permit We really welcomeWdIltand need volunteers

Snow Fighting for Year 2000Well we have really gotten snow

bull

dwnped on our Museum this winter At thistime we can push snow with trusty EKC 6- but lets think aboul next winter = Y2K

By next winter we should be able tomuster the following snow fighting roster ofpossibilities

I Use Anny 1843 at aoy time becausewell have three phase 220v for its blockheater The Anny engine might have pilolplows by that time also

2 If conditions warraot push WAG snowplow with Anny engine andor EKC 6 locoThis should clear oul aoything MotherNature can throw at us Cant you just wantto see this

3 Clean out the switches with fullyoperational Kershaw snow brush-just asoriginally intended

4 Clean out the sidings where the WAGplow cant go using our Blue Anny Track-Mobile with nose plow

Now il seems lillte thaI should be suffi-cient - bul we still have our Euclid andTrojan loaders on tap as well as our 4-wheeldrive backhoe traclors

Up at NYMT end we will someday bea)le to use the former Philadelphia Snow~weeper C-lJO ronoing under live over-

head Wont thaI be something to see andlook forward to

We should be entering the Tweoty-FirstCenluIy from a position of considerablestrength in snow fightIDg

Great Tuesday Night ProjectsOur clocks have beeo reset to Spring Ahead to Daylight Saving Time so now our

Tuesday oighl work parties will be going full blast Some of our activities that lendthemselves ideally to our Tuesday evenings include

I Removal of wooden boardio8 platforms at RGVRM and replacement with crushed stone2 Rehab leveling and bal1astin8of passenger loading lIack at NYMT3 Clean up of all outdoor areas seen by our visitors4 Clean up of all interior areas and displays seen by our visitors5 Repl bad switch timbers al NYMT switches6 Build up paoellIack sections for new sidings at ham7 Build up replacement paoel switch for Switch 6 relocation8 Fix potholes in roadway for visitor enlIance al NYMT9 Re-set boundary marker ties al NYMT parking areas10 Rebuild Reids Crossing for BOCES11Add planking to NYMT road crossing riext 10 RampE waiting room12 Tighten lOoserail joints for sm~iJier track ~ ride13 Grind rough rail joints for suloother track car ride

LeadershipAfter many long years of outstanding leadership dedicatioil and conuoitment Norm

Shaddick is stepping down from Supt of Mainteoance-of-Way EquipmentRecognizing our greatly enlarged fleet of track cars and MOw equipment we are

assigning new leadership as followsFor Track Car FleetJeremy Toke and Dan WaterstraalFor Hean- Maintenance-gf_Way Fleet- Dick Bean ~ Bob MaderJohn Redden has agreed 10 spearhead the rehablrelocation of Switch 6 starting

inuoediatelyDave Goodwin has agreed to honcho the rehabrepair of our weakened emharikmeol area

near Switch 5 starting inuoewatelyScott Gleason has agreed to honcho our pole setting for ELECTRIF1CATION at the south

leg ofNYMT loop starting immediatelyGeorge Knob will be leading the excavation for track expansion north of the Restoration

Facility starting inuoediatelyRand Warner and Bernie Cubitt will be coordinating the preparation of Rochester Lockport

amp BufThloCar 206 for movingJohn Redden and Ron Amberger will be coordinating the preparations for moving the

Heisler Fireless locomotiveDave Luca and Rand Warner will be coordinating the rehab of Subway Car 60

Restoration FacilityJohn Weber is making up a larger scale-sib building drawing so we can all input our

thoughts and requirements on electrical heating drainage pits floors safety itemsequipment layout etc

Rand Warner has distributed Johns latest update for our overall site plan corrected toshow the final sib and fmal location of the building Again this will permit us all to get ourthoughts down in black tiod white on paper regarding outside power feed drainage lIackplans add-on sheds access roads and other requirements

Steve Husehas installed fue extinguishers inside the building in severallOCltionsCharles Harshbarger has installed a first aid kit aod safety equipment such as goggles and

safety glassesJeremy Toke Chris Hauf and Bill Chapin have beeo taking care of lIash clean oul from

projects debris and have lIansferred all waste to our dumpster for piclrupOut temporary lighting and power system is a great help to our many restoration and repair

projects going on in the barnGeorge Knob and Art Mununery have fixed us up with temporary air service from our

diesel compressor and welding capability form Georges gas powered welder

bullPage 4

ElectrificationScott Gleason and Dan Waterstraal have

moved our new RGampE buckel truck up toNYMf for the 1999 work season

Scott Gleason and Dan Waterstraal haveremoved and replaced the bad master cylin-der on the Auger Truck and il is now readyagain for the 1999 season

Charlie Lowe has mapped oul and stakedoul the pole locations south of the NYMfbam for the south leg of the loop track

Scott Gleason has towed poles intolocation for setting them up on the south legof the NYMf loop

Charlie Lowe has drawn up layouts forsbinging span wires south of NYMf bam

Pole setting led by Scott Gleason willcommence on Saturday April 3 We plan tosel poles alleast once a month

We will be equipping our auger truckand buckel truck with appropriate tools fromRGVRM and NYMf collections as avail-able

Rand Warner has laid out a lim cuischedule for ELECTRIF1CAnON getting usto limited operations of our lim trolley carby year end - using overhead wire

NYMf has received by way of Japan asel of Taylor type inlerurbaIi standard gaugetrucks for RampE car 157 With this shipmenlcame all the control eqUipffient

Rand Warner John Weber Charlie Rob-inson and Bernie Cubitt are working ondrawings 10 replicate missing parts forRLampB 206 Texas 11409 etc using ECampWI07 for patterns

The southwest comer room of NYMf hasbeen set up with file cabinet cases forstoring small partslfittings for our overheadelectrification program

Railway Express TruckDick Bean has arranged for the former

yellow TrackMobile tires and tubes to bere-installed on the rims foc the Ford RailwayExpress Agency truck As pari of the effortthe rims for the truck were sand blasted andprimed

Lynn Hein~ is now painting the wheelsin the fmal coast of REA red

Next we can fe-mount the wheel assem-blies back onto the truck and move the truckup to our Restoration Facility for furtherrehab

Rand Warner has assembled a 3-ring

April 1999

[Editor3 Note Rand Warner haJ compiled listings of the vehicles in our manyfleetscollections Two of these updated listsappear herein others will follow in futureissues

Track Car FleetTC-2 Track Motor CarOur back up unil for pulling passenger

trailers for our visilors Relocated 10 Resto-ration Facilityfor neeeSSaryrehab over thewinterTC-3 Track Motor Car (RoeMobile)Our primary unil for pulling passenger

trailers Stored serviCeable- ready for use asconditions permitTC-4 Track Motor Car (MaderMobile)The backbOne of our track maintenance

and signal maintenance efforts - ready foruse as conditions permitTC-5 Track Motor Car (Redden)This former Dansville amp Mt Moms 1

unil is stored serviceable - ready for use asconditions permitTC-6 Inspection Motor Car - DampMM 2Our lighl duty machine for inspection

only - nol intended to pull trailers - il issingle cylinder Stored serviceable - readyfor use as conditions permit Passenger Trailer 2 (Bellengerj

This primary unil may get a canopy roofto shade our visitors from the summer sun -a low priority option for sometime in futurePassenger Trailer 3 (BarbaraRichards)This backup unit is a kil-bashed former

Genesee amp WyomingKalmazoo model motorcar with engine removed It already has acanopy top It has been moved up to therestoration bam for servicing

reference binder of technical and backgroundinfo on the truck supplied by Lynn Heintzand others

Several people have reported sightingsof other Railway Express Agency trucksbodies or relevanl parts

Who kuows maybe well have a wholefleet of REA trucks someday-lteliveringand picking up packages from railroad andtrolley express cars at our various stationsalong the way

Maybe for the Year 2000 we could evenhave an REA truck in a local parade

The Semaphore

Maintenance of WayEquipment FleetBurro Crane - fanner Foster-Wheeler

Is getting major priority from Dick BeanBob Mader Art Mummery Roe BrothersJohn Redden Rand Warner Norm ShaddickBill Chapin Bernie Cubiti etc The replace-ment diesel prime mover is ready to beinstalled Crane is in our new bam for rehab

Chevy Hi-Rail Utility Truck - fannerAdirondack RRThis old workhorse needs some TLC to

get back in service for the coming season Itis all intact and should run - but it doesneed painl workFord Hi-Rail Boom Dump Truck

This former Ontario Midland RR unitreally earned its keep lasl year spreadingover 500 tons of rock ballast onto our entiremain line as pari of our track rehab Wealready have lots of plans for it lined up for1999Kershaw Snow Brush - fonner KP RR

This unit is suitable for cleaning snowfrom sWitches as we received it We hope tobe able to modifY il so thai we can regulateballast in addition to clearing snow It n~brake work bul it does already run quilwellJackson Yard Tamper - fanner KP RR

This unil has already seen lots and lots ofservice on our tracks Every time we addmoce ballast we have to also lamp it Wenow have several people who can operate itand also maintain it Unit is ready to goWooden Snow Plow - fanner WAGandMECThis essentially all-wood plow is a real

artifact- with lots of stories to tell we aresurel It needs some frame work and plowwork to be usable nex year for snowfighting on our lines

Construction EquipmentThe rebuill water pump has been 10-

stalled on our International tow truck by asmall army of volunteers

We now have another lO-wheel dumptruck - a Broadway gas job - just in time forthe lt99construction season

Bob Mader and Art Mummery amp Cohave removed the engine from the -backhoe replaced the clutch assemb-~re-installed the engine again

The Semaphore April 1999 Page 5

Thanks for the LanternsThanks to new member Jerry C1ancy a

retired Conrail trainman for his donation oftwo NYC RR lanterns one of whicb he wasissued upon his hiring on Mary 17 1942Now on display at the Depot

Thanks to

bullJim Moore for donation and delivery of

electric welding and soldering machinetrolley parts and bringing in a new member

Rand Warner for substation ammeterspower supply heat sinks and professionalglass cutting set

Carl Englund for offer of antique wheelgauges and duplicate video movies from hisfuthers estate

Dick Bean for the legwork on our tirestubes and wheels for Railway Express truck

Charles Hanhbarger and Art Mum-mery for legwork on rebuilt clutch assemblyfor backhoe traJtor

George Knab Joe Scanlon and ArtMummery for houchoing our recent trucklIlliJer and bulldozer deliveries from SenecaAnnybase

Dale Hartnett and Cbris Hauf for infoon structures and rolling stock

Chris Hauf John Redden Ron Am-berger and Rand Warner for info onvarious types of motive power

George Knab for honchoing rehab ofradiator for our 175kw diesel generator

bull

Joe Scanlon for keeping the pipeline full of exciting possibilities for equipment mate-rials and assistance

Rand Warner for delivering PRR coalstove for our N5c caboose

bull

WantedHigh and Low profile track jacksGood ties amp switch timbersAnti-freeze amp hydraulic fluid

For volunteer technical library at Mu-seum (Depot)Complete set ofTRAIN issuesComplete set of LRampP issuesComplete set of ARM issues

Shovels and bioomsTrack bolts for 80 and 90 railSkid steer loader - Bobcat or equivalent

High rail gear - any style or type - 2wheel or 4 wheel

bull Flat car side dumper ballast hoppercontraJtordump car

80 DU rail and switchesbull Cantilever jacks for passenger cars

Tower 20by Dan Cosgrove

What can I tell you about Tower 201Well it was a brick and stone structuretypical of dozens of similar towers all builtin the 1920s obviously replacing woodenstructures that probably were exact replicasof dozens of wooden buildings built in thelate 1800s and early 1900s The woodentowers that still existed like SS-15 in Lyensand Tower 29 at Ames Street and numerous

others were all shingle and for the most partperched dreadfully close to the tacks soclose that you could feel the building shrinkaway from the trains as they passed enoughso that you didot try to write the passingtimes down till the tower resumed itsnorma stance 20 was a good and solidedifice built to last and indeed the ones thatwerent torn down are sturdy today

Tower 20 was a little out of the ordinaryIt features the usual X design of theswitchbullbull but it had additional switches east and west to the West Shore which randirictIy ~dthe tower The westboundtracks had approach bells and lights east ofthe coaling plant and then another set westof the plant soumt yOuknew when train wasleaving Wayneporl as you had to ask theWest End Dispatcher as to the disposition ofthe freight trains Sometimes the East EndDispatcher would advise you 20 the nexton 3 is the 2789 for the West Shore whichmeant that when you got a hit on theapproach out of Wayneport you could advisethe Shore dispatcher I bave the 2789leaving Wayneport for the Shore He wouldusually respond by Oksy 20 19 copy 3When you let him know you were ready hewould give you the train order for themovement 19 number 25 copy 3 to CampEEngine 2789 Engine 2789 run extra SS-20to Oakfield and Akron to WN JED Onceyou repeated the order lie would give you acomplete on the order and the time and thenyou had to race around a bit

Vou had to get the proper signals putback to stop throw the switches to gel thetrain going for the Shore and then you had toquickly get the orders on the hoop and racedownstairs and get the bead end on If thetrain was long one you might hae time torace upstairs and put the signal on track 3back so it wouldot lock you up when thetrain cleared the circuits Then race downwith the order for the caboose note the timeand then give the time by to the variousdispatchers involved In this case it would bethe East End Dispatcher and the West Shoreand yOu had to immediately gel yourswitches in order and get all the signals

cleared so that the trains coming wouldnt betonched - touched means delayed

Vou might say to the dispatcher if heasked which would be seldom if youtouched anybody when the freight crossedover - might be yeah touched 90 for aminute but hell run that off and thedispatcher would agree with you Okay 20it was worth it - hes out of the wayyenoudidnt have much time to reflect on what youhad done as your next move was alreadybeing planned and was probably being putinto motion One move done~ next movepartly done and the move after that showingup as you wOrked

You noticed someone taking out a sandwich and you realized that it was noonalready noon - where had the morninggoo71 The rest of the day flew by asquickly It seemed that you had just eatenyour lunch and there was your relief lookingover the situation and it was time to gohome

For me being relieved brought on anadrenaline sufge- down the stairs I pounded

as quickly as I could and off I went on adead run to the east of Wayneport Even as Iraced here came No 140 the local out ofRochester I ran even faster suddenly thetrain stopped ata green signa1 halfway downthe track from SS-20 The engine crew hadtaken pity on me and stopped at the greensignal as if it were red and the door wasopen r quickly leaped up on the train Theengine man gave a couple of toots on thewhistle and we were 01I for Syracuse Anhour from then I would be in Syracuse readyfor a bus ride horne My tour done for thatday

What bappened that day Well there wasbull rush in the moining We had a couple ofeastbounds down the West Shore which wasrare Wed had a dimension car for Roches-ter dropped off by BD 28 (The Moonlightthe ever other day dimension car local out ofBufWo We had also received a couple ofcars to go west on the Shore to Ridgelandthe next day No 90 sported a diesel notwin diesels and they seemed to handle thetrain well He didnt sop at Wayneport at alleither

Home in time for dinner felt I earned my money that day and I felt really good about

it Next morning I would be out and readyto ride 163 to Wayneport in the morningand ready for another go round with 20

Remember the Annual BanquetMayS

Page 6 April 1999 The Semaphore

Sacramento NRHSConvention

The National Convention of the NRHSwill be held in Sacramento CA on JWle 21to 27 1bis convention is in conjunctionwith the 1999 Rail Fair being sponsored bythe California Railroad Museum bull

By caJing 408-278-5100 you can get thecurrent status of the various events plannedfor the NRHS ConventiolL

bullThe Bulletin BoardApriff

The Batavia Train Sow at Batavia DownsRBce Track is SWlday April II OurChapter will have a table or two there if youare attending and can assist please stop byApril 24 amp 25

The IJlh Annual Railroad Showcase atthe Kenan Arena 195 Beattie Ave lock-Port This is one of the biggest shows inWestern NY and is cosponsored by NiagaraFrontier NRHS Chapter and NOME (Nia-gara Orleans Model Engineers)May 1

NF Chapter NRHS takes off to Torontoby rail to ride that citys historic trolleysMay ff

Jim Dierks NYMT presents The Roch-ester Subway System - Construetioo ampOperation for Internatioual Society of Mea-suremeot amp Control Rochester Allport Mar-riott 745 PM

1999 Special Events with NYMTMay15amp16

~g Weekend - Track car ride-Aresume bull

Model stearo amp Gas Engines atNYMTJune f3

Bring Your Ow Train to operate onNYMTs HO layoutJuly 17 amp 18

Diesel Days - Soc hear and take a rideon one of six historic diesel locomotivesAugust f5

Return of the Casey Jones RochesterCity Subway Casey Jones track car hasbeen beautifully restored See it run in thisspecial one-day evenlOctober 31

Last day of Joint Operations Last trackcar rides for the season

for the two mile roWld trip Soon we got thehighball and it was off to the races Inmotion the Climax had a pronoWlced roil-ing lurching gail Someone with an Wleasystomach might have needed Dramamine Theengines motion seemed to confirm what Ihad been told about the Climax propulsionsystem being inherently Wlb31ancedBut wemade it there and back With much whistleblowing and great clouds of acrid woodsmoke willi cinders raining out of itgt icc th~ ciriiendCd with me in ahappy frame of mind astOnished at my gOOdfortune If youre ever in the vicinity ofNorth Woodstock NIl do stop at ClarksHow often will you have the chance to see alive Climax engine doing its thing

Railcamp1999After the successful 1998 Railcamp spon-

sored by the National Park Service andNRHS at Steamtown in Scranton PA the1999 program will be expanded to TWOsessions July 18-24 and July 25-31

The program features railroad preserva-tion railroad operations among other topics

The program is open to young peoplebetween ages 9 and 12 Each session islimited to 24 participantS If you know ofany local ladgal who is interested havethem in in contact with one of the Chapletsofficer for inore details

Jack Matsik and Mary Hamilton-Dannto speak at Geneva April 17 Chapter members Jack Matsik and MllI)

Hamilton-Dannwill be the featured speakers at the LakeshoreDivisionoftheNMRANiagara Fronti Region sjXing ~eet onSaturday April 17 in Geneva NY

Jacks clinic will be on modeling the PRRcabin car

Marys talk will be about the LehighValley in Westero New York

In addition a visit to the Finger LakesRailway is planned

The conference starts at 9 AM in theformer LV train station which is located atthe comer of Humbert Sl and Swiss AveFrom the North on Route 14 turn left atNorth Sl and right at N Genesee St toSwiss Ave

The registration fee for non-members is$4 Thestatioit is being renovated so someareas arc primitive and 8 signing of 8

release may be required to tour the areaNote No children under 16 will be

allowed at this meet

Trip Report

WHITE MOUNTAIN CENTRALRAILROADBy Bill Heron

The White MOWllainCentral Rail Roadis located at Clarks Trading Post at NorthWoodstock NH The trading post is a verysmall microcosm of Main Street at DisneyWorld It features Merlins Mystical Man-sion a smalI fire equipment musewIl anold time gas stationlgarnge a trained bearact and several places that sell things to ealIt would be Wlworthy of your attentionexeept for one thing there is a steam trainride one mile each way This too could beeasily passed by but for one amazing fact

The locomotive is a Climax It wasastounding for me to saunter over to the trainwaiting at the station wander forward to theengine and then with no forewarning see oneof the storied Erie PA built geared enginesAccording to a sowte on the Internet thereare only four operable Climax enginei left inthe US One of them is at the MOWltRainier Scenic Railroad at Elbe WA inneed of some Workwhen I saw itin May 1998 Intereslinglythe Connecticut TrolleyMuseum is listed as having an operableClimax There is also a Climax at Cass butit is on the dead line and chancesof itsbeing restored to operable condition are saidto be slim

Clarks Climax was built in 1924 anddelivered to a New Hampshire loggingcompany It passed through two or threesuccessive oers before the Clark familybought it It has been nicely restored wealSa somewhat gaudy paint job and seemed to me to run quite well My good luckcontinued when I was able to have apleasant conversation with the engineerAware that some people think that Climaxengines are cantankerous and troublesome tokeep running I asked him about il He saidthat his Climax was not at all troublesomeand ran well and reliably He added that hefelt that Climax engines were the best choiceof all for really rough road beds andtrackage Somehow I was glad to hear this

At this point I timidly broached thesubject of a cab ride My good luck stretchedeven fiuther when the engineer quicldywelcomed me aboard He did say that it wasawfully hot in the cab and it was I gladlyhandled the temperature as I watched himstoke the engines fire box with hard woodlogs about four feet long and ten inches ingirth He said that one load of logs sulIiced

The current running film October Sky features another SR steamer (4501) reletteredNampW Although the Ii1mwas shot in Tennessee apparently the rail scenes were fIlmed inWest Virginia CSX reqnired a diesel as a hackup 4501 did not break down but ended uptowing the dieseH [Gondola Gazette March 1999]

The Semaphore

flow to cnjoy a 1acationbull Trip

by Harold C CrouchOne tiine my late friend Herb Liebert

and his wife decided to take a vacation tripacross the northern part of the United Slates_ by train of COIlflCThey planned to leaveon a Labor Day week-end taking 41 theKnickerbocker to Albany NY transfer to27 the New England States to Chicagoand then the Northern Pacific to the WestCoastNo 41 departed Grand Centrn1 Terminal

on time bot wtfortnnately Herb failed to seea sign in ocr that said 41s fIrst stopwould bC Schenectady NY not AlbariyNY Part Wayup the Hudson Division 41came to a stop Herb being of an inquisitivenature learned that a train ahead wasstalled It iumed out to be 49 the Advance Knickerbocker with two Alco PAs on thehead end Going up to the cab of the PAsHerb enqnired of the engineer gttat theproblem was The engineer merely said thatthe locomotive wouldnt ronl Going back inthe engine compartments Herb check thingSover (he was a Diesel Supervisor at the

bulltime) but could fInd nothing wrong So he

eturned to the cab and asked the engineer tostart the train so he could see gttat wastaking place The engineer refused merelysaying the locomotive wouldnt run Seeing that he wasnt getting anywhere Herb went to the nearby wayside telephone and calledhis friend the Division Sup in Albany TheSup asked Herb to tell the engineer that he (the engineer) was to do gttat ever Herbasked - anything to get the train rnnniogiThe engineer still refused to do anything soHerb returned to the telephone and this timethe Supt asked to have the engineer come tothe telephone Fortnnately the engineer didso and after a bit of discussion started thetrainOrigina11y the Dispatcher had lined a

crossover so that 49 could cross over fromTrack 1 to Track 2 so that 41 could passas 49 had intermediate stops When 49came to a stop it was part way thru thecrossover and so had both tracks tied upThus men the engineer started the train49 merely continued on thru the crossoverto Track 2There was nothing wrong with the PAs

~~tly the engineer had been rnnniogWrMlJ E-7 locomotives and had forgotten how

to ron an Alco as the transition handle wasin position I (series) rather than position 4(para1lel-shunt) for automatic upward transi-

April 1999

tion So the next thing Herb knew 41 wentby them with his wife on boardMrs Liebert had been around the rail-

road enough with her husband to realize ~theywerent going to stop atAlbany (changecrews at RenSselear Yard mere AmtraksStation now is) and so wisely got 01I atSchenectady Unfortunately Herb had putsome of their luggage in the mens room buthad forgot to mention this to his wife pageNo 49 duly arrived at Albany Union

Station mere our mutual friend AustinHardy Chief Road Foreman of Engines wason hand Austin then drove Herb over toSchenectady where he found his wife buttheir luggage was enroute to St Louis MoThe Lieberts made 27 without difficulty

and duly arrived in Chicago However Herbhaving been in the engine compartments ofthe PAs had got his suit dirty and his other suits were in St Louis Mo Going up to theMechanical Dept-Lines West Office Herbhid out in the liIe room while a clerk tookhis suit out to be cleaned Meanwhile theirluggage was sent up to Chicago from St LouisIn due course the Lieberts made the

Northern Pacific train and started on theirlong awaited trip One station stop on theNorthern PacifIc was extra long (headendwork I suppose) Herb in looking out thewindow saw three EMD units on a freighttrain that had stopped Going over to the cabthe engineer explained that they were com-ing along OK when suddenly all three oilengines died It took Herb only a fewmoments to ascertain No Fuel PressurelApparently as the freight train came intotown vandals had reached up and pulled theemergency fuel trip on the three units Nowto re-set the fuel trip on an EMD unitgenerally requires the unit to be over a pit sothe trap door can be slid hack to reach upand reset the fuel trip But here they wereout on the main line Getting don Herbsqueezed himself between the toP of the railand the bottom of the fuel tanks to re-set thefuel trips on the three engines It was thenonly a few moments to get fuel pressurehack and re-start the engines for the freighttrain to be on its way again However Herbgot his suit dirty - againAfter this episode Mrs Liebert wouldnt

let Hetti oUtfher sightand they had anenjoyable vacation tripMoral Have a gOodvacation trip but tty

to avoid having to fix locomotives en-route

Page 7

CBS- TV may show SRSteamerExpected this spring is the CBS TV

production Having our Say The DelaneySisters First I00 Years based on a book bythe seam title Filming was in January atSalisbury depot and NC TransportationMuseumThe equipment used included Southern

Railroad 2-8-0 542 (dead) NCTM coach4955 with interior repainted to have amahogany look The museums GP9 providedthe power - off screen [Tumtabe Tim bullbullMarch 1999)

Astrom Projects 1200New Jobs inNYSAlstrom now employees 1200 in NYS

facilities Most of the new jobs will be inHornell lf they get the OOntactto build railcars for the Long Island Rail RoOd then theyplan to construet a $7-10 million new factoI) in Hornell By 2002 the fum hopes to employ 2400

people in New York building cars forAIDtraks high-speed Washington-to-Bostonroute Los Ang1es-SanDiego route light railcars for New Jersey Transit and New YorkCity subway carsTheir facility in Henrietta (the fonner

General Railway Signal) employees 500 andwill not be inunediately affected by theprojected growth [Democrat amp0 ChronicleFeb 2 page 12D]

RPOs ReturnAmtrak has been carrying us Postal

Service mail in cars with regular passengertrains bot it has been over 20 years sincethe last RPO car was retiredTo acknowledge the raiVmail hislol) the

USPS has contracted with Amtrak to run aspecia1 train on an 1gmonth tour of thestates The P42 engine is painted yellowwith cancellation stamps to represent amani1a envelope It will pull four carsincluding the restored former Southern Rail-way RPO 36 owned by James A Bistline Itis presently touring the southern states thenon to the Midwest and the West CoastPostal Service to Issue Five Stamps inAugustIn August the USPS will issue fIve

stamps based on Ted Roses paintings ofDaylight Congressional 20th CenturyLimited Hiawatha and Super Chief[Trains May 1999 pg 16]

The SemaphareRochester ChapterNational Railway Historical SocietyPO Box 664Rochester NY 14603

Chapter Meeting amp Program

NYC Mainline inWayne CDby Shelden KingApril 15 199940amp 8 Club

933 University Ave

Non Profit OrgUS Postage

PAIDRochester NYPermit 826

bullThe Semaphore is published monthly by the Roehester NY Chapter National Railway Historical Society It is mailed free to all Chapter

members Non-members subscriptions are S500 and run from January 1 10December 31 Chapter meetings are held the third Thursday andthe Board of Directors meets the first Thursday of eseh month

Rochester Chapter NRHS OfficenPresident Chris HaufVice President Steve OagleyTreasurer Ira CohenRecording Secretary Jeremy TukeCorrespondence Sec Don ShillingNational Director Bob Miner

Trutees Charles Harshbarger DaveLuca John Redden Joe ScanlonRand Warner and John Weber

The Semaphore Staff Editor Gale SmithPrinting Bob Miner

Contributions to The Semaphore are welcomed and encouraged from all readers Theyshould be mailed to Gale ESmitb 299 Seneca Park Avenue Roehester NY 14617-2433Phone (716)~221 Contributors using a computer are asked to send their submissions onany MS-DOS diskette in ASCII formal as wel as a printed copy Deadline First Day ofEach Month

The tatu of our Restondon Building Fund Each car represents SlOOOOin the fundSurprise - the building moves rather than the train - easier to do

interNet (World Wide Web) addresshtlpllwwwroebnrhaorgI

110K lOOK $9OK $9OK $lOK $6OK $5OK $4OK $3OK $2OK $10K

+$104000 bull

The Semaphore April 1999 Page 3

bull ROCH~1E~~NtS[[ ~j~~t~~AW ~-

Rand Warner Manager 425-8587

GeneralSpring has finally arrived (we hope)

Now the good weather and longer eveningswill permit us to work on our manypriorities

Please get involved with our Tuesdayevening or Saturday work parties - or otherdayevenings special projects as your timeand schedules permit We really welcomeWdIltand need volunteers

Snow Fighting for Year 2000Well we have really gotten snow

bull

dwnped on our Museum this winter At thistime we can push snow with trusty EKC 6- but lets think aboul next winter = Y2K

By next winter we should be able tomuster the following snow fighting roster ofpossibilities

I Use Anny 1843 at aoy time becausewell have three phase 220v for its blockheater The Anny engine might have pilolplows by that time also

2 If conditions warraot push WAG snowplow with Anny engine andor EKC 6 locoThis should clear oul aoything MotherNature can throw at us Cant you just wantto see this

3 Clean out the switches with fullyoperational Kershaw snow brush-just asoriginally intended

4 Clean out the sidings where the WAGplow cant go using our Blue Anny Track-Mobile with nose plow

Now il seems lillte thaI should be suffi-cient - bul we still have our Euclid andTrojan loaders on tap as well as our 4-wheeldrive backhoe traclors

Up at NYMT end we will someday bea)le to use the former Philadelphia Snow~weeper C-lJO ronoing under live over-

head Wont thaI be something to see andlook forward to

We should be entering the Tweoty-FirstCenluIy from a position of considerablestrength in snow fightIDg

Great Tuesday Night ProjectsOur clocks have beeo reset to Spring Ahead to Daylight Saving Time so now our

Tuesday oighl work parties will be going full blast Some of our activities that lendthemselves ideally to our Tuesday evenings include

I Removal of wooden boardio8 platforms at RGVRM and replacement with crushed stone2 Rehab leveling and bal1astin8of passenger loading lIack at NYMT3 Clean up of all outdoor areas seen by our visitors4 Clean up of all interior areas and displays seen by our visitors5 Repl bad switch timbers al NYMT switches6 Build up paoellIack sections for new sidings at ham7 Build up replacement paoel switch for Switch 6 relocation8 Fix potholes in roadway for visitor enlIance al NYMT9 Re-set boundary marker ties al NYMT parking areas10 Rebuild Reids Crossing for BOCES11Add planking to NYMT road crossing riext 10 RampE waiting room12 Tighten lOoserail joints for sm~iJier track ~ ride13 Grind rough rail joints for suloother track car ride

LeadershipAfter many long years of outstanding leadership dedicatioil and conuoitment Norm

Shaddick is stepping down from Supt of Mainteoance-of-Way EquipmentRecognizing our greatly enlarged fleet of track cars and MOw equipment we are

assigning new leadership as followsFor Track Car FleetJeremy Toke and Dan WaterstraalFor Hean- Maintenance-gf_Way Fleet- Dick Bean ~ Bob MaderJohn Redden has agreed 10 spearhead the rehablrelocation of Switch 6 starting

inuoediatelyDave Goodwin has agreed to honcho the rehabrepair of our weakened emharikmeol area

near Switch 5 starting inuoewatelyScott Gleason has agreed to honcho our pole setting for ELECTRIF1CATION at the south

leg ofNYMT loop starting immediatelyGeorge Knob will be leading the excavation for track expansion north of the Restoration

Facility starting inuoediatelyRand Warner and Bernie Cubitt will be coordinating the preparation of Rochester Lockport

amp BufThloCar 206 for movingJohn Redden and Ron Amberger will be coordinating the preparations for moving the

Heisler Fireless locomotiveDave Luca and Rand Warner will be coordinating the rehab of Subway Car 60

Restoration FacilityJohn Weber is making up a larger scale-sib building drawing so we can all input our

thoughts and requirements on electrical heating drainage pits floors safety itemsequipment layout etc

Rand Warner has distributed Johns latest update for our overall site plan corrected toshow the final sib and fmal location of the building Again this will permit us all to get ourthoughts down in black tiod white on paper regarding outside power feed drainage lIackplans add-on sheds access roads and other requirements

Steve Husehas installed fue extinguishers inside the building in severallOCltionsCharles Harshbarger has installed a first aid kit aod safety equipment such as goggles and

safety glassesJeremy Toke Chris Hauf and Bill Chapin have beeo taking care of lIash clean oul from

projects debris and have lIansferred all waste to our dumpster for piclrupOut temporary lighting and power system is a great help to our many restoration and repair

projects going on in the barnGeorge Knob and Art Mununery have fixed us up with temporary air service from our

diesel compressor and welding capability form Georges gas powered welder

bullPage 4

ElectrificationScott Gleason and Dan Waterstraal have

moved our new RGampE buckel truck up toNYMf for the 1999 work season

Scott Gleason and Dan Waterstraal haveremoved and replaced the bad master cylin-der on the Auger Truck and il is now readyagain for the 1999 season

Charlie Lowe has mapped oul and stakedoul the pole locations south of the NYMfbam for the south leg of the loop track

Scott Gleason has towed poles intolocation for setting them up on the south legof the NYMf loop

Charlie Lowe has drawn up layouts forsbinging span wires south of NYMf bam

Pole setting led by Scott Gleason willcommence on Saturday April 3 We plan tosel poles alleast once a month

We will be equipping our auger truckand buckel truck with appropriate tools fromRGVRM and NYMf collections as avail-able

Rand Warner has laid out a lim cuischedule for ELECTRIF1CAnON getting usto limited operations of our lim trolley carby year end - using overhead wire

NYMf has received by way of Japan asel of Taylor type inlerurbaIi standard gaugetrucks for RampE car 157 With this shipmenlcame all the control eqUipffient

Rand Warner John Weber Charlie Rob-inson and Bernie Cubitt are working ondrawings 10 replicate missing parts forRLampB 206 Texas 11409 etc using ECampWI07 for patterns

The southwest comer room of NYMf hasbeen set up with file cabinet cases forstoring small partslfittings for our overheadelectrification program

Railway Express TruckDick Bean has arranged for the former

yellow TrackMobile tires and tubes to bere-installed on the rims foc the Ford RailwayExpress Agency truck As pari of the effortthe rims for the truck were sand blasted andprimed

Lynn Hein~ is now painting the wheelsin the fmal coast of REA red

Next we can fe-mount the wheel assem-blies back onto the truck and move the truckup to our Restoration Facility for furtherrehab

Rand Warner has assembled a 3-ring

April 1999

[Editor3 Note Rand Warner haJ compiled listings of the vehicles in our manyfleetscollections Two of these updated listsappear herein others will follow in futureissues

Track Car FleetTC-2 Track Motor CarOur back up unil for pulling passenger

trailers for our visilors Relocated 10 Resto-ration Facilityfor neeeSSaryrehab over thewinterTC-3 Track Motor Car (RoeMobile)Our primary unil for pulling passenger

trailers Stored serviCeable- ready for use asconditions permitTC-4 Track Motor Car (MaderMobile)The backbOne of our track maintenance

and signal maintenance efforts - ready foruse as conditions permitTC-5 Track Motor Car (Redden)This former Dansville amp Mt Moms 1

unil is stored serviceable - ready for use asconditions permitTC-6 Inspection Motor Car - DampMM 2Our lighl duty machine for inspection

only - nol intended to pull trailers - il issingle cylinder Stored serviceable - readyfor use as conditions permit Passenger Trailer 2 (Bellengerj

This primary unil may get a canopy roofto shade our visitors from the summer sun -a low priority option for sometime in futurePassenger Trailer 3 (BarbaraRichards)This backup unit is a kil-bashed former

Genesee amp WyomingKalmazoo model motorcar with engine removed It already has acanopy top It has been moved up to therestoration bam for servicing

reference binder of technical and backgroundinfo on the truck supplied by Lynn Heintzand others

Several people have reported sightingsof other Railway Express Agency trucksbodies or relevanl parts

Who kuows maybe well have a wholefleet of REA trucks someday-lteliveringand picking up packages from railroad andtrolley express cars at our various stationsalong the way

Maybe for the Year 2000 we could evenhave an REA truck in a local parade

The Semaphore

Maintenance of WayEquipment FleetBurro Crane - fanner Foster-Wheeler

Is getting major priority from Dick BeanBob Mader Art Mummery Roe BrothersJohn Redden Rand Warner Norm ShaddickBill Chapin Bernie Cubiti etc The replace-ment diesel prime mover is ready to beinstalled Crane is in our new bam for rehab

Chevy Hi-Rail Utility Truck - fannerAdirondack RRThis old workhorse needs some TLC to

get back in service for the coming season Itis all intact and should run - but it doesneed painl workFord Hi-Rail Boom Dump Truck

This former Ontario Midland RR unitreally earned its keep lasl year spreadingover 500 tons of rock ballast onto our entiremain line as pari of our track rehab Wealready have lots of plans for it lined up for1999Kershaw Snow Brush - fonner KP RR

This unit is suitable for cleaning snowfrom sWitches as we received it We hope tobe able to modifY il so thai we can regulateballast in addition to clearing snow It n~brake work bul it does already run quilwellJackson Yard Tamper - fanner KP RR

This unil has already seen lots and lots ofservice on our tracks Every time we addmoce ballast we have to also lamp it Wenow have several people who can operate itand also maintain it Unit is ready to goWooden Snow Plow - fanner WAGandMECThis essentially all-wood plow is a real

artifact- with lots of stories to tell we aresurel It needs some frame work and plowwork to be usable nex year for snowfighting on our lines

Construction EquipmentThe rebuill water pump has been 10-

stalled on our International tow truck by asmall army of volunteers

We now have another lO-wheel dumptruck - a Broadway gas job - just in time forthe lt99construction season

Bob Mader and Art Mummery amp Cohave removed the engine from the -backhoe replaced the clutch assemb-~re-installed the engine again

The Semaphore April 1999 Page 5

Thanks for the LanternsThanks to new member Jerry C1ancy a

retired Conrail trainman for his donation oftwo NYC RR lanterns one of whicb he wasissued upon his hiring on Mary 17 1942Now on display at the Depot

Thanks to

bullJim Moore for donation and delivery of

electric welding and soldering machinetrolley parts and bringing in a new member

Rand Warner for substation ammeterspower supply heat sinks and professionalglass cutting set

Carl Englund for offer of antique wheelgauges and duplicate video movies from hisfuthers estate

Dick Bean for the legwork on our tirestubes and wheels for Railway Express truck

Charles Hanhbarger and Art Mum-mery for legwork on rebuilt clutch assemblyfor backhoe traJtor

George Knab Joe Scanlon and ArtMummery for houchoing our recent trucklIlliJer and bulldozer deliveries from SenecaAnnybase

Dale Hartnett and Cbris Hauf for infoon structures and rolling stock

Chris Hauf John Redden Ron Am-berger and Rand Warner for info onvarious types of motive power

George Knab for honchoing rehab ofradiator for our 175kw diesel generator

bull

Joe Scanlon for keeping the pipeline full of exciting possibilities for equipment mate-rials and assistance

Rand Warner for delivering PRR coalstove for our N5c caboose

bull

WantedHigh and Low profile track jacksGood ties amp switch timbersAnti-freeze amp hydraulic fluid

For volunteer technical library at Mu-seum (Depot)Complete set ofTRAIN issuesComplete set of LRampP issuesComplete set of ARM issues

Shovels and bioomsTrack bolts for 80 and 90 railSkid steer loader - Bobcat or equivalent

High rail gear - any style or type - 2wheel or 4 wheel

bull Flat car side dumper ballast hoppercontraJtordump car

80 DU rail and switchesbull Cantilever jacks for passenger cars

Tower 20by Dan Cosgrove

What can I tell you about Tower 201Well it was a brick and stone structuretypical of dozens of similar towers all builtin the 1920s obviously replacing woodenstructures that probably were exact replicasof dozens of wooden buildings built in thelate 1800s and early 1900s The woodentowers that still existed like SS-15 in Lyensand Tower 29 at Ames Street and numerous

others were all shingle and for the most partperched dreadfully close to the tacks soclose that you could feel the building shrinkaway from the trains as they passed enoughso that you didot try to write the passingtimes down till the tower resumed itsnorma stance 20 was a good and solidedifice built to last and indeed the ones thatwerent torn down are sturdy today

Tower 20 was a little out of the ordinaryIt features the usual X design of theswitchbullbull but it had additional switches east and west to the West Shore which randirictIy ~dthe tower The westboundtracks had approach bells and lights east ofthe coaling plant and then another set westof the plant soumt yOuknew when train wasleaving Wayneporl as you had to ask theWest End Dispatcher as to the disposition ofthe freight trains Sometimes the East EndDispatcher would advise you 20 the nexton 3 is the 2789 for the West Shore whichmeant that when you got a hit on theapproach out of Wayneport you could advisethe Shore dispatcher I bave the 2789leaving Wayneport for the Shore He wouldusually respond by Oksy 20 19 copy 3When you let him know you were ready hewould give you the train order for themovement 19 number 25 copy 3 to CampEEngine 2789 Engine 2789 run extra SS-20to Oakfield and Akron to WN JED Onceyou repeated the order lie would give you acomplete on the order and the time and thenyou had to race around a bit

Vou had to get the proper signals putback to stop throw the switches to gel thetrain going for the Shore and then you had toquickly get the orders on the hoop and racedownstairs and get the bead end on If thetrain was long one you might hae time torace upstairs and put the signal on track 3back so it wouldot lock you up when thetrain cleared the circuits Then race downwith the order for the caboose note the timeand then give the time by to the variousdispatchers involved In this case it would bethe East End Dispatcher and the West Shoreand yOu had to immediately gel yourswitches in order and get all the signals

cleared so that the trains coming wouldnt betonched - touched means delayed

Vou might say to the dispatcher if heasked which would be seldom if youtouched anybody when the freight crossedover - might be yeah touched 90 for aminute but hell run that off and thedispatcher would agree with you Okay 20it was worth it - hes out of the wayyenoudidnt have much time to reflect on what youhad done as your next move was alreadybeing planned and was probably being putinto motion One move done~ next movepartly done and the move after that showingup as you wOrked

You noticed someone taking out a sandwich and you realized that it was noonalready noon - where had the morninggoo71 The rest of the day flew by asquickly It seemed that you had just eatenyour lunch and there was your relief lookingover the situation and it was time to gohome

For me being relieved brought on anadrenaline sufge- down the stairs I pounded

as quickly as I could and off I went on adead run to the east of Wayneport Even as Iraced here came No 140 the local out ofRochester I ran even faster suddenly thetrain stopped ata green signa1 halfway downthe track from SS-20 The engine crew hadtaken pity on me and stopped at the greensignal as if it were red and the door wasopen r quickly leaped up on the train Theengine man gave a couple of toots on thewhistle and we were 01I for Syracuse Anhour from then I would be in Syracuse readyfor a bus ride horne My tour done for thatday

What bappened that day Well there wasbull rush in the moining We had a couple ofeastbounds down the West Shore which wasrare Wed had a dimension car for Roches-ter dropped off by BD 28 (The Moonlightthe ever other day dimension car local out ofBufWo We had also received a couple ofcars to go west on the Shore to Ridgelandthe next day No 90 sported a diesel notwin diesels and they seemed to handle thetrain well He didnt sop at Wayneport at alleither

Home in time for dinner felt I earned my money that day and I felt really good about

it Next morning I would be out and readyto ride 163 to Wayneport in the morningand ready for another go round with 20

Remember the Annual BanquetMayS

Page 6 April 1999 The Semaphore

Sacramento NRHSConvention

The National Convention of the NRHSwill be held in Sacramento CA on JWle 21to 27 1bis convention is in conjunctionwith the 1999 Rail Fair being sponsored bythe California Railroad Museum bull

By caJing 408-278-5100 you can get thecurrent status of the various events plannedfor the NRHS ConventiolL

bullThe Bulletin BoardApriff

The Batavia Train Sow at Batavia DownsRBce Track is SWlday April II OurChapter will have a table or two there if youare attending and can assist please stop byApril 24 amp 25

The IJlh Annual Railroad Showcase atthe Kenan Arena 195 Beattie Ave lock-Port This is one of the biggest shows inWestern NY and is cosponsored by NiagaraFrontier NRHS Chapter and NOME (Nia-gara Orleans Model Engineers)May 1

NF Chapter NRHS takes off to Torontoby rail to ride that citys historic trolleysMay ff

Jim Dierks NYMT presents The Roch-ester Subway System - Construetioo ampOperation for Internatioual Society of Mea-suremeot amp Control Rochester Allport Mar-riott 745 PM

1999 Special Events with NYMTMay15amp16

~g Weekend - Track car ride-Aresume bull

Model stearo amp Gas Engines atNYMTJune f3

Bring Your Ow Train to operate onNYMTs HO layoutJuly 17 amp 18

Diesel Days - Soc hear and take a rideon one of six historic diesel locomotivesAugust f5

Return of the Casey Jones RochesterCity Subway Casey Jones track car hasbeen beautifully restored See it run in thisspecial one-day evenlOctober 31

Last day of Joint Operations Last trackcar rides for the season

for the two mile roWld trip Soon we got thehighball and it was off to the races Inmotion the Climax had a pronoWlced roil-ing lurching gail Someone with an Wleasystomach might have needed Dramamine Theengines motion seemed to confirm what Ihad been told about the Climax propulsionsystem being inherently Wlb31ancedBut wemade it there and back With much whistleblowing and great clouds of acrid woodsmoke willi cinders raining out of itgt icc th~ ciriiendCd with me in ahappy frame of mind astOnished at my gOOdfortune If youre ever in the vicinity ofNorth Woodstock NIl do stop at ClarksHow often will you have the chance to see alive Climax engine doing its thing

Railcamp1999After the successful 1998 Railcamp spon-

sored by the National Park Service andNRHS at Steamtown in Scranton PA the1999 program will be expanded to TWOsessions July 18-24 and July 25-31

The program features railroad preserva-tion railroad operations among other topics

The program is open to young peoplebetween ages 9 and 12 Each session islimited to 24 participantS If you know ofany local ladgal who is interested havethem in in contact with one of the Chapletsofficer for inore details

Jack Matsik and Mary Hamilton-Dannto speak at Geneva April 17 Chapter members Jack Matsik and MllI)

Hamilton-Dannwill be the featured speakers at the LakeshoreDivisionoftheNMRANiagara Fronti Region sjXing ~eet onSaturday April 17 in Geneva NY

Jacks clinic will be on modeling the PRRcabin car

Marys talk will be about the LehighValley in Westero New York

In addition a visit to the Finger LakesRailway is planned

The conference starts at 9 AM in theformer LV train station which is located atthe comer of Humbert Sl and Swiss AveFrom the North on Route 14 turn left atNorth Sl and right at N Genesee St toSwiss Ave

The registration fee for non-members is$4 Thestatioit is being renovated so someareas arc primitive and 8 signing of 8

release may be required to tour the areaNote No children under 16 will be

allowed at this meet

Trip Report

WHITE MOUNTAIN CENTRALRAILROADBy Bill Heron

The White MOWllainCentral Rail Roadis located at Clarks Trading Post at NorthWoodstock NH The trading post is a verysmall microcosm of Main Street at DisneyWorld It features Merlins Mystical Man-sion a smalI fire equipment musewIl anold time gas stationlgarnge a trained bearact and several places that sell things to ealIt would be Wlworthy of your attentionexeept for one thing there is a steam trainride one mile each way This too could beeasily passed by but for one amazing fact

The locomotive is a Climax It wasastounding for me to saunter over to the trainwaiting at the station wander forward to theengine and then with no forewarning see oneof the storied Erie PA built geared enginesAccording to a sowte on the Internet thereare only four operable Climax enginei left inthe US One of them is at the MOWltRainier Scenic Railroad at Elbe WA inneed of some Workwhen I saw itin May 1998 Intereslinglythe Connecticut TrolleyMuseum is listed as having an operableClimax There is also a Climax at Cass butit is on the dead line and chancesof itsbeing restored to operable condition are saidto be slim

Clarks Climax was built in 1924 anddelivered to a New Hampshire loggingcompany It passed through two or threesuccessive oers before the Clark familybought it It has been nicely restored wealSa somewhat gaudy paint job and seemed to me to run quite well My good luckcontinued when I was able to have apleasant conversation with the engineerAware that some people think that Climaxengines are cantankerous and troublesome tokeep running I asked him about il He saidthat his Climax was not at all troublesomeand ran well and reliably He added that hefelt that Climax engines were the best choiceof all for really rough road beds andtrackage Somehow I was glad to hear this

At this point I timidly broached thesubject of a cab ride My good luck stretchedeven fiuther when the engineer quicldywelcomed me aboard He did say that it wasawfully hot in the cab and it was I gladlyhandled the temperature as I watched himstoke the engines fire box with hard woodlogs about four feet long and ten inches ingirth He said that one load of logs sulIiced

The current running film October Sky features another SR steamer (4501) reletteredNampW Although the Ii1mwas shot in Tennessee apparently the rail scenes were fIlmed inWest Virginia CSX reqnired a diesel as a hackup 4501 did not break down but ended uptowing the dieseH [Gondola Gazette March 1999]

The Semaphore

flow to cnjoy a 1acationbull Trip

by Harold C CrouchOne tiine my late friend Herb Liebert

and his wife decided to take a vacation tripacross the northern part of the United Slates_ by train of COIlflCThey planned to leaveon a Labor Day week-end taking 41 theKnickerbocker to Albany NY transfer to27 the New England States to Chicagoand then the Northern Pacific to the WestCoastNo 41 departed Grand Centrn1 Terminal

on time bot wtfortnnately Herb failed to seea sign in ocr that said 41s fIrst stopwould bC Schenectady NY not AlbariyNY Part Wayup the Hudson Division 41came to a stop Herb being of an inquisitivenature learned that a train ahead wasstalled It iumed out to be 49 the Advance Knickerbocker with two Alco PAs on thehead end Going up to the cab of the PAsHerb enqnired of the engineer gttat theproblem was The engineer merely said thatthe locomotive wouldnt ronl Going back inthe engine compartments Herb check thingSover (he was a Diesel Supervisor at the

bulltime) but could fInd nothing wrong So he

eturned to the cab and asked the engineer tostart the train so he could see gttat wastaking place The engineer refused merelysaying the locomotive wouldnt run Seeing that he wasnt getting anywhere Herb went to the nearby wayside telephone and calledhis friend the Division Sup in Albany TheSup asked Herb to tell the engineer that he (the engineer) was to do gttat ever Herbasked - anything to get the train rnnniogiThe engineer still refused to do anything soHerb returned to the telephone and this timethe Supt asked to have the engineer come tothe telephone Fortnnately the engineer didso and after a bit of discussion started thetrainOrigina11y the Dispatcher had lined a

crossover so that 49 could cross over fromTrack 1 to Track 2 so that 41 could passas 49 had intermediate stops When 49came to a stop it was part way thru thecrossover and so had both tracks tied upThus men the engineer started the train49 merely continued on thru the crossoverto Track 2There was nothing wrong with the PAs

~~tly the engineer had been rnnniogWrMlJ E-7 locomotives and had forgotten how

to ron an Alco as the transition handle wasin position I (series) rather than position 4(para1lel-shunt) for automatic upward transi-

April 1999

tion So the next thing Herb knew 41 wentby them with his wife on boardMrs Liebert had been around the rail-

road enough with her husband to realize ~theywerent going to stop atAlbany (changecrews at RenSselear Yard mere AmtraksStation now is) and so wisely got 01I atSchenectady Unfortunately Herb had putsome of their luggage in the mens room buthad forgot to mention this to his wife pageNo 49 duly arrived at Albany Union

Station mere our mutual friend AustinHardy Chief Road Foreman of Engines wason hand Austin then drove Herb over toSchenectady where he found his wife buttheir luggage was enroute to St Louis MoThe Lieberts made 27 without difficulty

and duly arrived in Chicago However Herbhaving been in the engine compartments ofthe PAs had got his suit dirty and his other suits were in St Louis Mo Going up to theMechanical Dept-Lines West Office Herbhid out in the liIe room while a clerk tookhis suit out to be cleaned Meanwhile theirluggage was sent up to Chicago from St LouisIn due course the Lieberts made the

Northern Pacific train and started on theirlong awaited trip One station stop on theNorthern PacifIc was extra long (headendwork I suppose) Herb in looking out thewindow saw three EMD units on a freighttrain that had stopped Going over to the cabthe engineer explained that they were com-ing along OK when suddenly all three oilengines died It took Herb only a fewmoments to ascertain No Fuel PressurelApparently as the freight train came intotown vandals had reached up and pulled theemergency fuel trip on the three units Nowto re-set the fuel trip on an EMD unitgenerally requires the unit to be over a pit sothe trap door can be slid hack to reach upand reset the fuel trip But here they wereout on the main line Getting don Herbsqueezed himself between the toP of the railand the bottom of the fuel tanks to re-set thefuel trips on the three engines It was thenonly a few moments to get fuel pressurehack and re-start the engines for the freighttrain to be on its way again However Herbgot his suit dirty - againAfter this episode Mrs Liebert wouldnt

let Hetti oUtfher sightand they had anenjoyable vacation tripMoral Have a gOodvacation trip but tty

to avoid having to fix locomotives en-route

Page 7

CBS- TV may show SRSteamerExpected this spring is the CBS TV

production Having our Say The DelaneySisters First I00 Years based on a book bythe seam title Filming was in January atSalisbury depot and NC TransportationMuseumThe equipment used included Southern

Railroad 2-8-0 542 (dead) NCTM coach4955 with interior repainted to have amahogany look The museums GP9 providedthe power - off screen [Tumtabe Tim bullbullMarch 1999)

Astrom Projects 1200New Jobs inNYSAlstrom now employees 1200 in NYS

facilities Most of the new jobs will be inHornell lf they get the OOntactto build railcars for the Long Island Rail RoOd then theyplan to construet a $7-10 million new factoI) in Hornell By 2002 the fum hopes to employ 2400

people in New York building cars forAIDtraks high-speed Washington-to-Bostonroute Los Ang1es-SanDiego route light railcars for New Jersey Transit and New YorkCity subway carsTheir facility in Henrietta (the fonner

General Railway Signal) employees 500 andwill not be inunediately affected by theprojected growth [Democrat amp0 ChronicleFeb 2 page 12D]

RPOs ReturnAmtrak has been carrying us Postal

Service mail in cars with regular passengertrains bot it has been over 20 years sincethe last RPO car was retiredTo acknowledge the raiVmail hislol) the

USPS has contracted with Amtrak to run aspecia1 train on an 1gmonth tour of thestates The P42 engine is painted yellowwith cancellation stamps to represent amani1a envelope It will pull four carsincluding the restored former Southern Rail-way RPO 36 owned by James A Bistline Itis presently touring the southern states thenon to the Midwest and the West CoastPostal Service to Issue Five Stamps inAugustIn August the USPS will issue fIve

stamps based on Ted Roses paintings ofDaylight Congressional 20th CenturyLimited Hiawatha and Super Chief[Trains May 1999 pg 16]

The SemaphareRochester ChapterNational Railway Historical SocietyPO Box 664Rochester NY 14603

Chapter Meeting amp Program

NYC Mainline inWayne CDby Shelden KingApril 15 199940amp 8 Club

933 University Ave

Non Profit OrgUS Postage

PAIDRochester NYPermit 826

bullThe Semaphore is published monthly by the Roehester NY Chapter National Railway Historical Society It is mailed free to all Chapter

members Non-members subscriptions are S500 and run from January 1 10December 31 Chapter meetings are held the third Thursday andthe Board of Directors meets the first Thursday of eseh month

Rochester Chapter NRHS OfficenPresident Chris HaufVice President Steve OagleyTreasurer Ira CohenRecording Secretary Jeremy TukeCorrespondence Sec Don ShillingNational Director Bob Miner

Trutees Charles Harshbarger DaveLuca John Redden Joe ScanlonRand Warner and John Weber

The Semaphore Staff Editor Gale SmithPrinting Bob Miner

Contributions to The Semaphore are welcomed and encouraged from all readers Theyshould be mailed to Gale ESmitb 299 Seneca Park Avenue Roehester NY 14617-2433Phone (716)~221 Contributors using a computer are asked to send their submissions onany MS-DOS diskette in ASCII formal as wel as a printed copy Deadline First Day ofEach Month

The tatu of our Restondon Building Fund Each car represents SlOOOOin the fundSurprise - the building moves rather than the train - easier to do

interNet (World Wide Web) addresshtlpllwwwroebnrhaorgI

110K lOOK $9OK $9OK $lOK $6OK $5OK $4OK $3OK $2OK $10K

+$104000 bull

bullPage 4

ElectrificationScott Gleason and Dan Waterstraal have

moved our new RGampE buckel truck up toNYMf for the 1999 work season

Scott Gleason and Dan Waterstraal haveremoved and replaced the bad master cylin-der on the Auger Truck and il is now readyagain for the 1999 season

Charlie Lowe has mapped oul and stakedoul the pole locations south of the NYMfbam for the south leg of the loop track

Scott Gleason has towed poles intolocation for setting them up on the south legof the NYMf loop

Charlie Lowe has drawn up layouts forsbinging span wires south of NYMf bam

Pole setting led by Scott Gleason willcommence on Saturday April 3 We plan tosel poles alleast once a month

We will be equipping our auger truckand buckel truck with appropriate tools fromRGVRM and NYMf collections as avail-able

Rand Warner has laid out a lim cuischedule for ELECTRIF1CAnON getting usto limited operations of our lim trolley carby year end - using overhead wire

NYMf has received by way of Japan asel of Taylor type inlerurbaIi standard gaugetrucks for RampE car 157 With this shipmenlcame all the control eqUipffient

Rand Warner John Weber Charlie Rob-inson and Bernie Cubitt are working ondrawings 10 replicate missing parts forRLampB 206 Texas 11409 etc using ECampWI07 for patterns

The southwest comer room of NYMf hasbeen set up with file cabinet cases forstoring small partslfittings for our overheadelectrification program

Railway Express TruckDick Bean has arranged for the former

yellow TrackMobile tires and tubes to bere-installed on the rims foc the Ford RailwayExpress Agency truck As pari of the effortthe rims for the truck were sand blasted andprimed

Lynn Hein~ is now painting the wheelsin the fmal coast of REA red

Next we can fe-mount the wheel assem-blies back onto the truck and move the truckup to our Restoration Facility for furtherrehab

Rand Warner has assembled a 3-ring

April 1999

[Editor3 Note Rand Warner haJ compiled listings of the vehicles in our manyfleetscollections Two of these updated listsappear herein others will follow in futureissues

Track Car FleetTC-2 Track Motor CarOur back up unil for pulling passenger

trailers for our visilors Relocated 10 Resto-ration Facilityfor neeeSSaryrehab over thewinterTC-3 Track Motor Car (RoeMobile)Our primary unil for pulling passenger

trailers Stored serviCeable- ready for use asconditions permitTC-4 Track Motor Car (MaderMobile)The backbOne of our track maintenance

and signal maintenance efforts - ready foruse as conditions permitTC-5 Track Motor Car (Redden)This former Dansville amp Mt Moms 1

unil is stored serviceable - ready for use asconditions permitTC-6 Inspection Motor Car - DampMM 2Our lighl duty machine for inspection

only - nol intended to pull trailers - il issingle cylinder Stored serviceable - readyfor use as conditions permit Passenger Trailer 2 (Bellengerj

This primary unil may get a canopy roofto shade our visitors from the summer sun -a low priority option for sometime in futurePassenger Trailer 3 (BarbaraRichards)This backup unit is a kil-bashed former

Genesee amp WyomingKalmazoo model motorcar with engine removed It already has acanopy top It has been moved up to therestoration bam for servicing

reference binder of technical and backgroundinfo on the truck supplied by Lynn Heintzand others

Several people have reported sightingsof other Railway Express Agency trucksbodies or relevanl parts

Who kuows maybe well have a wholefleet of REA trucks someday-lteliveringand picking up packages from railroad andtrolley express cars at our various stationsalong the way

Maybe for the Year 2000 we could evenhave an REA truck in a local parade

The Semaphore

Maintenance of WayEquipment FleetBurro Crane - fanner Foster-Wheeler

Is getting major priority from Dick BeanBob Mader Art Mummery Roe BrothersJohn Redden Rand Warner Norm ShaddickBill Chapin Bernie Cubiti etc The replace-ment diesel prime mover is ready to beinstalled Crane is in our new bam for rehab

Chevy Hi-Rail Utility Truck - fannerAdirondack RRThis old workhorse needs some TLC to

get back in service for the coming season Itis all intact and should run - but it doesneed painl workFord Hi-Rail Boom Dump Truck

This former Ontario Midland RR unitreally earned its keep lasl year spreadingover 500 tons of rock ballast onto our entiremain line as pari of our track rehab Wealready have lots of plans for it lined up for1999Kershaw Snow Brush - fonner KP RR

This unit is suitable for cleaning snowfrom sWitches as we received it We hope tobe able to modifY il so thai we can regulateballast in addition to clearing snow It n~brake work bul it does already run quilwellJackson Yard Tamper - fanner KP RR

This unil has already seen lots and lots ofservice on our tracks Every time we addmoce ballast we have to also lamp it Wenow have several people who can operate itand also maintain it Unit is ready to goWooden Snow Plow - fanner WAGandMECThis essentially all-wood plow is a real

artifact- with lots of stories to tell we aresurel It needs some frame work and plowwork to be usable nex year for snowfighting on our lines

Construction EquipmentThe rebuill water pump has been 10-

stalled on our International tow truck by asmall army of volunteers

We now have another lO-wheel dumptruck - a Broadway gas job - just in time forthe lt99construction season

Bob Mader and Art Mummery amp Cohave removed the engine from the -backhoe replaced the clutch assemb-~re-installed the engine again

The Semaphore April 1999 Page 5

Thanks for the LanternsThanks to new member Jerry C1ancy a

retired Conrail trainman for his donation oftwo NYC RR lanterns one of whicb he wasissued upon his hiring on Mary 17 1942Now on display at the Depot

Thanks to

bullJim Moore for donation and delivery of

electric welding and soldering machinetrolley parts and bringing in a new member

Rand Warner for substation ammeterspower supply heat sinks and professionalglass cutting set

Carl Englund for offer of antique wheelgauges and duplicate video movies from hisfuthers estate

Dick Bean for the legwork on our tirestubes and wheels for Railway Express truck

Charles Hanhbarger and Art Mum-mery for legwork on rebuilt clutch assemblyfor backhoe traJtor

George Knab Joe Scanlon and ArtMummery for houchoing our recent trucklIlliJer and bulldozer deliveries from SenecaAnnybase

Dale Hartnett and Cbris Hauf for infoon structures and rolling stock

Chris Hauf John Redden Ron Am-berger and Rand Warner for info onvarious types of motive power

George Knab for honchoing rehab ofradiator for our 175kw diesel generator

bull

Joe Scanlon for keeping the pipeline full of exciting possibilities for equipment mate-rials and assistance

Rand Warner for delivering PRR coalstove for our N5c caboose

bull

WantedHigh and Low profile track jacksGood ties amp switch timbersAnti-freeze amp hydraulic fluid

For volunteer technical library at Mu-seum (Depot)Complete set ofTRAIN issuesComplete set of LRampP issuesComplete set of ARM issues

Shovels and bioomsTrack bolts for 80 and 90 railSkid steer loader - Bobcat or equivalent

High rail gear - any style or type - 2wheel or 4 wheel

bull Flat car side dumper ballast hoppercontraJtordump car

80 DU rail and switchesbull Cantilever jacks for passenger cars

Tower 20by Dan Cosgrove

What can I tell you about Tower 201Well it was a brick and stone structuretypical of dozens of similar towers all builtin the 1920s obviously replacing woodenstructures that probably were exact replicasof dozens of wooden buildings built in thelate 1800s and early 1900s The woodentowers that still existed like SS-15 in Lyensand Tower 29 at Ames Street and numerous

others were all shingle and for the most partperched dreadfully close to the tacks soclose that you could feel the building shrinkaway from the trains as they passed enoughso that you didot try to write the passingtimes down till the tower resumed itsnorma stance 20 was a good and solidedifice built to last and indeed the ones thatwerent torn down are sturdy today

Tower 20 was a little out of the ordinaryIt features the usual X design of theswitchbullbull but it had additional switches east and west to the West Shore which randirictIy ~dthe tower The westboundtracks had approach bells and lights east ofthe coaling plant and then another set westof the plant soumt yOuknew when train wasleaving Wayneporl as you had to ask theWest End Dispatcher as to the disposition ofthe freight trains Sometimes the East EndDispatcher would advise you 20 the nexton 3 is the 2789 for the West Shore whichmeant that when you got a hit on theapproach out of Wayneport you could advisethe Shore dispatcher I bave the 2789leaving Wayneport for the Shore He wouldusually respond by Oksy 20 19 copy 3When you let him know you were ready hewould give you the train order for themovement 19 number 25 copy 3 to CampEEngine 2789 Engine 2789 run extra SS-20to Oakfield and Akron to WN JED Onceyou repeated the order lie would give you acomplete on the order and the time and thenyou had to race around a bit

Vou had to get the proper signals putback to stop throw the switches to gel thetrain going for the Shore and then you had toquickly get the orders on the hoop and racedownstairs and get the bead end on If thetrain was long one you might hae time torace upstairs and put the signal on track 3back so it wouldot lock you up when thetrain cleared the circuits Then race downwith the order for the caboose note the timeand then give the time by to the variousdispatchers involved In this case it would bethe East End Dispatcher and the West Shoreand yOu had to immediately gel yourswitches in order and get all the signals

cleared so that the trains coming wouldnt betonched - touched means delayed

Vou might say to the dispatcher if heasked which would be seldom if youtouched anybody when the freight crossedover - might be yeah touched 90 for aminute but hell run that off and thedispatcher would agree with you Okay 20it was worth it - hes out of the wayyenoudidnt have much time to reflect on what youhad done as your next move was alreadybeing planned and was probably being putinto motion One move done~ next movepartly done and the move after that showingup as you wOrked

You noticed someone taking out a sandwich and you realized that it was noonalready noon - where had the morninggoo71 The rest of the day flew by asquickly It seemed that you had just eatenyour lunch and there was your relief lookingover the situation and it was time to gohome

For me being relieved brought on anadrenaline sufge- down the stairs I pounded

as quickly as I could and off I went on adead run to the east of Wayneport Even as Iraced here came No 140 the local out ofRochester I ran even faster suddenly thetrain stopped ata green signa1 halfway downthe track from SS-20 The engine crew hadtaken pity on me and stopped at the greensignal as if it were red and the door wasopen r quickly leaped up on the train Theengine man gave a couple of toots on thewhistle and we were 01I for Syracuse Anhour from then I would be in Syracuse readyfor a bus ride horne My tour done for thatday

What bappened that day Well there wasbull rush in the moining We had a couple ofeastbounds down the West Shore which wasrare Wed had a dimension car for Roches-ter dropped off by BD 28 (The Moonlightthe ever other day dimension car local out ofBufWo We had also received a couple ofcars to go west on the Shore to Ridgelandthe next day No 90 sported a diesel notwin diesels and they seemed to handle thetrain well He didnt sop at Wayneport at alleither

Home in time for dinner felt I earned my money that day and I felt really good about

it Next morning I would be out and readyto ride 163 to Wayneport in the morningand ready for another go round with 20

Remember the Annual BanquetMayS

Page 6 April 1999 The Semaphore

Sacramento NRHSConvention

The National Convention of the NRHSwill be held in Sacramento CA on JWle 21to 27 1bis convention is in conjunctionwith the 1999 Rail Fair being sponsored bythe California Railroad Museum bull

By caJing 408-278-5100 you can get thecurrent status of the various events plannedfor the NRHS ConventiolL

bullThe Bulletin BoardApriff

The Batavia Train Sow at Batavia DownsRBce Track is SWlday April II OurChapter will have a table or two there if youare attending and can assist please stop byApril 24 amp 25

The IJlh Annual Railroad Showcase atthe Kenan Arena 195 Beattie Ave lock-Port This is one of the biggest shows inWestern NY and is cosponsored by NiagaraFrontier NRHS Chapter and NOME (Nia-gara Orleans Model Engineers)May 1

NF Chapter NRHS takes off to Torontoby rail to ride that citys historic trolleysMay ff

Jim Dierks NYMT presents The Roch-ester Subway System - Construetioo ampOperation for Internatioual Society of Mea-suremeot amp Control Rochester Allport Mar-riott 745 PM

1999 Special Events with NYMTMay15amp16

~g Weekend - Track car ride-Aresume bull

Model stearo amp Gas Engines atNYMTJune f3

Bring Your Ow Train to operate onNYMTs HO layoutJuly 17 amp 18

Diesel Days - Soc hear and take a rideon one of six historic diesel locomotivesAugust f5

Return of the Casey Jones RochesterCity Subway Casey Jones track car hasbeen beautifully restored See it run in thisspecial one-day evenlOctober 31

Last day of Joint Operations Last trackcar rides for the season

for the two mile roWld trip Soon we got thehighball and it was off to the races Inmotion the Climax had a pronoWlced roil-ing lurching gail Someone with an Wleasystomach might have needed Dramamine Theengines motion seemed to confirm what Ihad been told about the Climax propulsionsystem being inherently Wlb31ancedBut wemade it there and back With much whistleblowing and great clouds of acrid woodsmoke willi cinders raining out of itgt icc th~ ciriiendCd with me in ahappy frame of mind astOnished at my gOOdfortune If youre ever in the vicinity ofNorth Woodstock NIl do stop at ClarksHow often will you have the chance to see alive Climax engine doing its thing

Railcamp1999After the successful 1998 Railcamp spon-

sored by the National Park Service andNRHS at Steamtown in Scranton PA the1999 program will be expanded to TWOsessions July 18-24 and July 25-31

The program features railroad preserva-tion railroad operations among other topics

The program is open to young peoplebetween ages 9 and 12 Each session islimited to 24 participantS If you know ofany local ladgal who is interested havethem in in contact with one of the Chapletsofficer for inore details

Jack Matsik and Mary Hamilton-Dannto speak at Geneva April 17 Chapter members Jack Matsik and MllI)

Hamilton-Dannwill be the featured speakers at the LakeshoreDivisionoftheNMRANiagara Fronti Region sjXing ~eet onSaturday April 17 in Geneva NY

Jacks clinic will be on modeling the PRRcabin car

Marys talk will be about the LehighValley in Westero New York

In addition a visit to the Finger LakesRailway is planned

The conference starts at 9 AM in theformer LV train station which is located atthe comer of Humbert Sl and Swiss AveFrom the North on Route 14 turn left atNorth Sl and right at N Genesee St toSwiss Ave

The registration fee for non-members is$4 Thestatioit is being renovated so someareas arc primitive and 8 signing of 8

release may be required to tour the areaNote No children under 16 will be

allowed at this meet

Trip Report

WHITE MOUNTAIN CENTRALRAILROADBy Bill Heron

The White MOWllainCentral Rail Roadis located at Clarks Trading Post at NorthWoodstock NH The trading post is a verysmall microcosm of Main Street at DisneyWorld It features Merlins Mystical Man-sion a smalI fire equipment musewIl anold time gas stationlgarnge a trained bearact and several places that sell things to ealIt would be Wlworthy of your attentionexeept for one thing there is a steam trainride one mile each way This too could beeasily passed by but for one amazing fact

The locomotive is a Climax It wasastounding for me to saunter over to the trainwaiting at the station wander forward to theengine and then with no forewarning see oneof the storied Erie PA built geared enginesAccording to a sowte on the Internet thereare only four operable Climax enginei left inthe US One of them is at the MOWltRainier Scenic Railroad at Elbe WA inneed of some Workwhen I saw itin May 1998 Intereslinglythe Connecticut TrolleyMuseum is listed as having an operableClimax There is also a Climax at Cass butit is on the dead line and chancesof itsbeing restored to operable condition are saidto be slim

Clarks Climax was built in 1924 anddelivered to a New Hampshire loggingcompany It passed through two or threesuccessive oers before the Clark familybought it It has been nicely restored wealSa somewhat gaudy paint job and seemed to me to run quite well My good luckcontinued when I was able to have apleasant conversation with the engineerAware that some people think that Climaxengines are cantankerous and troublesome tokeep running I asked him about il He saidthat his Climax was not at all troublesomeand ran well and reliably He added that hefelt that Climax engines were the best choiceof all for really rough road beds andtrackage Somehow I was glad to hear this

At this point I timidly broached thesubject of a cab ride My good luck stretchedeven fiuther when the engineer quicldywelcomed me aboard He did say that it wasawfully hot in the cab and it was I gladlyhandled the temperature as I watched himstoke the engines fire box with hard woodlogs about four feet long and ten inches ingirth He said that one load of logs sulIiced

The current running film October Sky features another SR steamer (4501) reletteredNampW Although the Ii1mwas shot in Tennessee apparently the rail scenes were fIlmed inWest Virginia CSX reqnired a diesel as a hackup 4501 did not break down but ended uptowing the dieseH [Gondola Gazette March 1999]

The Semaphore

flow to cnjoy a 1acationbull Trip

by Harold C CrouchOne tiine my late friend Herb Liebert

and his wife decided to take a vacation tripacross the northern part of the United Slates_ by train of COIlflCThey planned to leaveon a Labor Day week-end taking 41 theKnickerbocker to Albany NY transfer to27 the New England States to Chicagoand then the Northern Pacific to the WestCoastNo 41 departed Grand Centrn1 Terminal

on time bot wtfortnnately Herb failed to seea sign in ocr that said 41s fIrst stopwould bC Schenectady NY not AlbariyNY Part Wayup the Hudson Division 41came to a stop Herb being of an inquisitivenature learned that a train ahead wasstalled It iumed out to be 49 the Advance Knickerbocker with two Alco PAs on thehead end Going up to the cab of the PAsHerb enqnired of the engineer gttat theproblem was The engineer merely said thatthe locomotive wouldnt ronl Going back inthe engine compartments Herb check thingSover (he was a Diesel Supervisor at the

bulltime) but could fInd nothing wrong So he

eturned to the cab and asked the engineer tostart the train so he could see gttat wastaking place The engineer refused merelysaying the locomotive wouldnt run Seeing that he wasnt getting anywhere Herb went to the nearby wayside telephone and calledhis friend the Division Sup in Albany TheSup asked Herb to tell the engineer that he (the engineer) was to do gttat ever Herbasked - anything to get the train rnnniogiThe engineer still refused to do anything soHerb returned to the telephone and this timethe Supt asked to have the engineer come tothe telephone Fortnnately the engineer didso and after a bit of discussion started thetrainOrigina11y the Dispatcher had lined a

crossover so that 49 could cross over fromTrack 1 to Track 2 so that 41 could passas 49 had intermediate stops When 49came to a stop it was part way thru thecrossover and so had both tracks tied upThus men the engineer started the train49 merely continued on thru the crossoverto Track 2There was nothing wrong with the PAs

~~tly the engineer had been rnnniogWrMlJ E-7 locomotives and had forgotten how

to ron an Alco as the transition handle wasin position I (series) rather than position 4(para1lel-shunt) for automatic upward transi-

April 1999

tion So the next thing Herb knew 41 wentby them with his wife on boardMrs Liebert had been around the rail-

road enough with her husband to realize ~theywerent going to stop atAlbany (changecrews at RenSselear Yard mere AmtraksStation now is) and so wisely got 01I atSchenectady Unfortunately Herb had putsome of their luggage in the mens room buthad forgot to mention this to his wife pageNo 49 duly arrived at Albany Union

Station mere our mutual friend AustinHardy Chief Road Foreman of Engines wason hand Austin then drove Herb over toSchenectady where he found his wife buttheir luggage was enroute to St Louis MoThe Lieberts made 27 without difficulty

and duly arrived in Chicago However Herbhaving been in the engine compartments ofthe PAs had got his suit dirty and his other suits were in St Louis Mo Going up to theMechanical Dept-Lines West Office Herbhid out in the liIe room while a clerk tookhis suit out to be cleaned Meanwhile theirluggage was sent up to Chicago from St LouisIn due course the Lieberts made the

Northern Pacific train and started on theirlong awaited trip One station stop on theNorthern PacifIc was extra long (headendwork I suppose) Herb in looking out thewindow saw three EMD units on a freighttrain that had stopped Going over to the cabthe engineer explained that they were com-ing along OK when suddenly all three oilengines died It took Herb only a fewmoments to ascertain No Fuel PressurelApparently as the freight train came intotown vandals had reached up and pulled theemergency fuel trip on the three units Nowto re-set the fuel trip on an EMD unitgenerally requires the unit to be over a pit sothe trap door can be slid hack to reach upand reset the fuel trip But here they wereout on the main line Getting don Herbsqueezed himself between the toP of the railand the bottom of the fuel tanks to re-set thefuel trips on the three engines It was thenonly a few moments to get fuel pressurehack and re-start the engines for the freighttrain to be on its way again However Herbgot his suit dirty - againAfter this episode Mrs Liebert wouldnt

let Hetti oUtfher sightand they had anenjoyable vacation tripMoral Have a gOodvacation trip but tty

to avoid having to fix locomotives en-route

Page 7

CBS- TV may show SRSteamerExpected this spring is the CBS TV

production Having our Say The DelaneySisters First I00 Years based on a book bythe seam title Filming was in January atSalisbury depot and NC TransportationMuseumThe equipment used included Southern

Railroad 2-8-0 542 (dead) NCTM coach4955 with interior repainted to have amahogany look The museums GP9 providedthe power - off screen [Tumtabe Tim bullbullMarch 1999)

Astrom Projects 1200New Jobs inNYSAlstrom now employees 1200 in NYS

facilities Most of the new jobs will be inHornell lf they get the OOntactto build railcars for the Long Island Rail RoOd then theyplan to construet a $7-10 million new factoI) in Hornell By 2002 the fum hopes to employ 2400

people in New York building cars forAIDtraks high-speed Washington-to-Bostonroute Los Ang1es-SanDiego route light railcars for New Jersey Transit and New YorkCity subway carsTheir facility in Henrietta (the fonner

General Railway Signal) employees 500 andwill not be inunediately affected by theprojected growth [Democrat amp0 ChronicleFeb 2 page 12D]

RPOs ReturnAmtrak has been carrying us Postal

Service mail in cars with regular passengertrains bot it has been over 20 years sincethe last RPO car was retiredTo acknowledge the raiVmail hislol) the

USPS has contracted with Amtrak to run aspecia1 train on an 1gmonth tour of thestates The P42 engine is painted yellowwith cancellation stamps to represent amani1a envelope It will pull four carsincluding the restored former Southern Rail-way RPO 36 owned by James A Bistline Itis presently touring the southern states thenon to the Midwest and the West CoastPostal Service to Issue Five Stamps inAugustIn August the USPS will issue fIve

stamps based on Ted Roses paintings ofDaylight Congressional 20th CenturyLimited Hiawatha and Super Chief[Trains May 1999 pg 16]

The SemaphareRochester ChapterNational Railway Historical SocietyPO Box 664Rochester NY 14603

Chapter Meeting amp Program

NYC Mainline inWayne CDby Shelden KingApril 15 199940amp 8 Club

933 University Ave

Non Profit OrgUS Postage

PAIDRochester NYPermit 826

bullThe Semaphore is published monthly by the Roehester NY Chapter National Railway Historical Society It is mailed free to all Chapter

members Non-members subscriptions are S500 and run from January 1 10December 31 Chapter meetings are held the third Thursday andthe Board of Directors meets the first Thursday of eseh month

Rochester Chapter NRHS OfficenPresident Chris HaufVice President Steve OagleyTreasurer Ira CohenRecording Secretary Jeremy TukeCorrespondence Sec Don ShillingNational Director Bob Miner

Trutees Charles Harshbarger DaveLuca John Redden Joe ScanlonRand Warner and John Weber

The Semaphore Staff Editor Gale SmithPrinting Bob Miner

Contributions to The Semaphore are welcomed and encouraged from all readers Theyshould be mailed to Gale ESmitb 299 Seneca Park Avenue Roehester NY 14617-2433Phone (716)~221 Contributors using a computer are asked to send their submissions onany MS-DOS diskette in ASCII formal as wel as a printed copy Deadline First Day ofEach Month

The tatu of our Restondon Building Fund Each car represents SlOOOOin the fundSurprise - the building moves rather than the train - easier to do

interNet (World Wide Web) addresshtlpllwwwroebnrhaorgI

110K lOOK $9OK $9OK $lOK $6OK $5OK $4OK $3OK $2OK $10K

+$104000 bull

The Semaphore April 1999 Page 5

Thanks for the LanternsThanks to new member Jerry C1ancy a

retired Conrail trainman for his donation oftwo NYC RR lanterns one of whicb he wasissued upon his hiring on Mary 17 1942Now on display at the Depot

Thanks to

bullJim Moore for donation and delivery of

electric welding and soldering machinetrolley parts and bringing in a new member

Rand Warner for substation ammeterspower supply heat sinks and professionalglass cutting set

Carl Englund for offer of antique wheelgauges and duplicate video movies from hisfuthers estate

Dick Bean for the legwork on our tirestubes and wheels for Railway Express truck

Charles Hanhbarger and Art Mum-mery for legwork on rebuilt clutch assemblyfor backhoe traJtor

George Knab Joe Scanlon and ArtMummery for houchoing our recent trucklIlliJer and bulldozer deliveries from SenecaAnnybase

Dale Hartnett and Cbris Hauf for infoon structures and rolling stock

Chris Hauf John Redden Ron Am-berger and Rand Warner for info onvarious types of motive power

George Knab for honchoing rehab ofradiator for our 175kw diesel generator

bull

Joe Scanlon for keeping the pipeline full of exciting possibilities for equipment mate-rials and assistance

Rand Warner for delivering PRR coalstove for our N5c caboose

bull

WantedHigh and Low profile track jacksGood ties amp switch timbersAnti-freeze amp hydraulic fluid

For volunteer technical library at Mu-seum (Depot)Complete set ofTRAIN issuesComplete set of LRampP issuesComplete set of ARM issues

Shovels and bioomsTrack bolts for 80 and 90 railSkid steer loader - Bobcat or equivalent

High rail gear - any style or type - 2wheel or 4 wheel

bull Flat car side dumper ballast hoppercontraJtordump car

80 DU rail and switchesbull Cantilever jacks for passenger cars

Tower 20by Dan Cosgrove

What can I tell you about Tower 201Well it was a brick and stone structuretypical of dozens of similar towers all builtin the 1920s obviously replacing woodenstructures that probably were exact replicasof dozens of wooden buildings built in thelate 1800s and early 1900s The woodentowers that still existed like SS-15 in Lyensand Tower 29 at Ames Street and numerous

others were all shingle and for the most partperched dreadfully close to the tacks soclose that you could feel the building shrinkaway from the trains as they passed enoughso that you didot try to write the passingtimes down till the tower resumed itsnorma stance 20 was a good and solidedifice built to last and indeed the ones thatwerent torn down are sturdy today

Tower 20 was a little out of the ordinaryIt features the usual X design of theswitchbullbull but it had additional switches east and west to the West Shore which randirictIy ~dthe tower The westboundtracks had approach bells and lights east ofthe coaling plant and then another set westof the plant soumt yOuknew when train wasleaving Wayneporl as you had to ask theWest End Dispatcher as to the disposition ofthe freight trains Sometimes the East EndDispatcher would advise you 20 the nexton 3 is the 2789 for the West Shore whichmeant that when you got a hit on theapproach out of Wayneport you could advisethe Shore dispatcher I bave the 2789leaving Wayneport for the Shore He wouldusually respond by Oksy 20 19 copy 3When you let him know you were ready hewould give you the train order for themovement 19 number 25 copy 3 to CampEEngine 2789 Engine 2789 run extra SS-20to Oakfield and Akron to WN JED Onceyou repeated the order lie would give you acomplete on the order and the time and thenyou had to race around a bit

Vou had to get the proper signals putback to stop throw the switches to gel thetrain going for the Shore and then you had toquickly get the orders on the hoop and racedownstairs and get the bead end on If thetrain was long one you might hae time torace upstairs and put the signal on track 3back so it wouldot lock you up when thetrain cleared the circuits Then race downwith the order for the caboose note the timeand then give the time by to the variousdispatchers involved In this case it would bethe East End Dispatcher and the West Shoreand yOu had to immediately gel yourswitches in order and get all the signals

cleared so that the trains coming wouldnt betonched - touched means delayed

Vou might say to the dispatcher if heasked which would be seldom if youtouched anybody when the freight crossedover - might be yeah touched 90 for aminute but hell run that off and thedispatcher would agree with you Okay 20it was worth it - hes out of the wayyenoudidnt have much time to reflect on what youhad done as your next move was alreadybeing planned and was probably being putinto motion One move done~ next movepartly done and the move after that showingup as you wOrked

You noticed someone taking out a sandwich and you realized that it was noonalready noon - where had the morninggoo71 The rest of the day flew by asquickly It seemed that you had just eatenyour lunch and there was your relief lookingover the situation and it was time to gohome

For me being relieved brought on anadrenaline sufge- down the stairs I pounded

as quickly as I could and off I went on adead run to the east of Wayneport Even as Iraced here came No 140 the local out ofRochester I ran even faster suddenly thetrain stopped ata green signa1 halfway downthe track from SS-20 The engine crew hadtaken pity on me and stopped at the greensignal as if it were red and the door wasopen r quickly leaped up on the train Theengine man gave a couple of toots on thewhistle and we were 01I for Syracuse Anhour from then I would be in Syracuse readyfor a bus ride horne My tour done for thatday

What bappened that day Well there wasbull rush in the moining We had a couple ofeastbounds down the West Shore which wasrare Wed had a dimension car for Roches-ter dropped off by BD 28 (The Moonlightthe ever other day dimension car local out ofBufWo We had also received a couple ofcars to go west on the Shore to Ridgelandthe next day No 90 sported a diesel notwin diesels and they seemed to handle thetrain well He didnt sop at Wayneport at alleither

Home in time for dinner felt I earned my money that day and I felt really good about

it Next morning I would be out and readyto ride 163 to Wayneport in the morningand ready for another go round with 20

Remember the Annual BanquetMayS

Page 6 April 1999 The Semaphore

Sacramento NRHSConvention

The National Convention of the NRHSwill be held in Sacramento CA on JWle 21to 27 1bis convention is in conjunctionwith the 1999 Rail Fair being sponsored bythe California Railroad Museum bull

By caJing 408-278-5100 you can get thecurrent status of the various events plannedfor the NRHS ConventiolL

bullThe Bulletin BoardApriff

The Batavia Train Sow at Batavia DownsRBce Track is SWlday April II OurChapter will have a table or two there if youare attending and can assist please stop byApril 24 amp 25

The IJlh Annual Railroad Showcase atthe Kenan Arena 195 Beattie Ave lock-Port This is one of the biggest shows inWestern NY and is cosponsored by NiagaraFrontier NRHS Chapter and NOME (Nia-gara Orleans Model Engineers)May 1

NF Chapter NRHS takes off to Torontoby rail to ride that citys historic trolleysMay ff

Jim Dierks NYMT presents The Roch-ester Subway System - Construetioo ampOperation for Internatioual Society of Mea-suremeot amp Control Rochester Allport Mar-riott 745 PM

1999 Special Events with NYMTMay15amp16

~g Weekend - Track car ride-Aresume bull

Model stearo amp Gas Engines atNYMTJune f3

Bring Your Ow Train to operate onNYMTs HO layoutJuly 17 amp 18

Diesel Days - Soc hear and take a rideon one of six historic diesel locomotivesAugust f5

Return of the Casey Jones RochesterCity Subway Casey Jones track car hasbeen beautifully restored See it run in thisspecial one-day evenlOctober 31

Last day of Joint Operations Last trackcar rides for the season

for the two mile roWld trip Soon we got thehighball and it was off to the races Inmotion the Climax had a pronoWlced roil-ing lurching gail Someone with an Wleasystomach might have needed Dramamine Theengines motion seemed to confirm what Ihad been told about the Climax propulsionsystem being inherently Wlb31ancedBut wemade it there and back With much whistleblowing and great clouds of acrid woodsmoke willi cinders raining out of itgt icc th~ ciriiendCd with me in ahappy frame of mind astOnished at my gOOdfortune If youre ever in the vicinity ofNorth Woodstock NIl do stop at ClarksHow often will you have the chance to see alive Climax engine doing its thing

Railcamp1999After the successful 1998 Railcamp spon-

sored by the National Park Service andNRHS at Steamtown in Scranton PA the1999 program will be expanded to TWOsessions July 18-24 and July 25-31

The program features railroad preserva-tion railroad operations among other topics

The program is open to young peoplebetween ages 9 and 12 Each session islimited to 24 participantS If you know ofany local ladgal who is interested havethem in in contact with one of the Chapletsofficer for inore details

Jack Matsik and Mary Hamilton-Dannto speak at Geneva April 17 Chapter members Jack Matsik and MllI)

Hamilton-Dannwill be the featured speakers at the LakeshoreDivisionoftheNMRANiagara Fronti Region sjXing ~eet onSaturday April 17 in Geneva NY

Jacks clinic will be on modeling the PRRcabin car

Marys talk will be about the LehighValley in Westero New York

In addition a visit to the Finger LakesRailway is planned

The conference starts at 9 AM in theformer LV train station which is located atthe comer of Humbert Sl and Swiss AveFrom the North on Route 14 turn left atNorth Sl and right at N Genesee St toSwiss Ave

The registration fee for non-members is$4 Thestatioit is being renovated so someareas arc primitive and 8 signing of 8

release may be required to tour the areaNote No children under 16 will be

allowed at this meet

Trip Report

WHITE MOUNTAIN CENTRALRAILROADBy Bill Heron

The White MOWllainCentral Rail Roadis located at Clarks Trading Post at NorthWoodstock NH The trading post is a verysmall microcosm of Main Street at DisneyWorld It features Merlins Mystical Man-sion a smalI fire equipment musewIl anold time gas stationlgarnge a trained bearact and several places that sell things to ealIt would be Wlworthy of your attentionexeept for one thing there is a steam trainride one mile each way This too could beeasily passed by but for one amazing fact

The locomotive is a Climax It wasastounding for me to saunter over to the trainwaiting at the station wander forward to theengine and then with no forewarning see oneof the storied Erie PA built geared enginesAccording to a sowte on the Internet thereare only four operable Climax enginei left inthe US One of them is at the MOWltRainier Scenic Railroad at Elbe WA inneed of some Workwhen I saw itin May 1998 Intereslinglythe Connecticut TrolleyMuseum is listed as having an operableClimax There is also a Climax at Cass butit is on the dead line and chancesof itsbeing restored to operable condition are saidto be slim

Clarks Climax was built in 1924 anddelivered to a New Hampshire loggingcompany It passed through two or threesuccessive oers before the Clark familybought it It has been nicely restored wealSa somewhat gaudy paint job and seemed to me to run quite well My good luckcontinued when I was able to have apleasant conversation with the engineerAware that some people think that Climaxengines are cantankerous and troublesome tokeep running I asked him about il He saidthat his Climax was not at all troublesomeand ran well and reliably He added that hefelt that Climax engines were the best choiceof all for really rough road beds andtrackage Somehow I was glad to hear this

At this point I timidly broached thesubject of a cab ride My good luck stretchedeven fiuther when the engineer quicldywelcomed me aboard He did say that it wasawfully hot in the cab and it was I gladlyhandled the temperature as I watched himstoke the engines fire box with hard woodlogs about four feet long and ten inches ingirth He said that one load of logs sulIiced

The current running film October Sky features another SR steamer (4501) reletteredNampW Although the Ii1mwas shot in Tennessee apparently the rail scenes were fIlmed inWest Virginia CSX reqnired a diesel as a hackup 4501 did not break down but ended uptowing the dieseH [Gondola Gazette March 1999]

The Semaphore

flow to cnjoy a 1acationbull Trip

by Harold C CrouchOne tiine my late friend Herb Liebert

and his wife decided to take a vacation tripacross the northern part of the United Slates_ by train of COIlflCThey planned to leaveon a Labor Day week-end taking 41 theKnickerbocker to Albany NY transfer to27 the New England States to Chicagoand then the Northern Pacific to the WestCoastNo 41 departed Grand Centrn1 Terminal

on time bot wtfortnnately Herb failed to seea sign in ocr that said 41s fIrst stopwould bC Schenectady NY not AlbariyNY Part Wayup the Hudson Division 41came to a stop Herb being of an inquisitivenature learned that a train ahead wasstalled It iumed out to be 49 the Advance Knickerbocker with two Alco PAs on thehead end Going up to the cab of the PAsHerb enqnired of the engineer gttat theproblem was The engineer merely said thatthe locomotive wouldnt ronl Going back inthe engine compartments Herb check thingSover (he was a Diesel Supervisor at the

bulltime) but could fInd nothing wrong So he

eturned to the cab and asked the engineer tostart the train so he could see gttat wastaking place The engineer refused merelysaying the locomotive wouldnt run Seeing that he wasnt getting anywhere Herb went to the nearby wayside telephone and calledhis friend the Division Sup in Albany TheSup asked Herb to tell the engineer that he (the engineer) was to do gttat ever Herbasked - anything to get the train rnnniogiThe engineer still refused to do anything soHerb returned to the telephone and this timethe Supt asked to have the engineer come tothe telephone Fortnnately the engineer didso and after a bit of discussion started thetrainOrigina11y the Dispatcher had lined a

crossover so that 49 could cross over fromTrack 1 to Track 2 so that 41 could passas 49 had intermediate stops When 49came to a stop it was part way thru thecrossover and so had both tracks tied upThus men the engineer started the train49 merely continued on thru the crossoverto Track 2There was nothing wrong with the PAs

~~tly the engineer had been rnnniogWrMlJ E-7 locomotives and had forgotten how

to ron an Alco as the transition handle wasin position I (series) rather than position 4(para1lel-shunt) for automatic upward transi-

April 1999

tion So the next thing Herb knew 41 wentby them with his wife on boardMrs Liebert had been around the rail-

road enough with her husband to realize ~theywerent going to stop atAlbany (changecrews at RenSselear Yard mere AmtraksStation now is) and so wisely got 01I atSchenectady Unfortunately Herb had putsome of their luggage in the mens room buthad forgot to mention this to his wife pageNo 49 duly arrived at Albany Union

Station mere our mutual friend AustinHardy Chief Road Foreman of Engines wason hand Austin then drove Herb over toSchenectady where he found his wife buttheir luggage was enroute to St Louis MoThe Lieberts made 27 without difficulty

and duly arrived in Chicago However Herbhaving been in the engine compartments ofthe PAs had got his suit dirty and his other suits were in St Louis Mo Going up to theMechanical Dept-Lines West Office Herbhid out in the liIe room while a clerk tookhis suit out to be cleaned Meanwhile theirluggage was sent up to Chicago from St LouisIn due course the Lieberts made the

Northern Pacific train and started on theirlong awaited trip One station stop on theNorthern PacifIc was extra long (headendwork I suppose) Herb in looking out thewindow saw three EMD units on a freighttrain that had stopped Going over to the cabthe engineer explained that they were com-ing along OK when suddenly all three oilengines died It took Herb only a fewmoments to ascertain No Fuel PressurelApparently as the freight train came intotown vandals had reached up and pulled theemergency fuel trip on the three units Nowto re-set the fuel trip on an EMD unitgenerally requires the unit to be over a pit sothe trap door can be slid hack to reach upand reset the fuel trip But here they wereout on the main line Getting don Herbsqueezed himself between the toP of the railand the bottom of the fuel tanks to re-set thefuel trips on the three engines It was thenonly a few moments to get fuel pressurehack and re-start the engines for the freighttrain to be on its way again However Herbgot his suit dirty - againAfter this episode Mrs Liebert wouldnt

let Hetti oUtfher sightand they had anenjoyable vacation tripMoral Have a gOodvacation trip but tty

to avoid having to fix locomotives en-route

Page 7

CBS- TV may show SRSteamerExpected this spring is the CBS TV

production Having our Say The DelaneySisters First I00 Years based on a book bythe seam title Filming was in January atSalisbury depot and NC TransportationMuseumThe equipment used included Southern

Railroad 2-8-0 542 (dead) NCTM coach4955 with interior repainted to have amahogany look The museums GP9 providedthe power - off screen [Tumtabe Tim bullbullMarch 1999)

Astrom Projects 1200New Jobs inNYSAlstrom now employees 1200 in NYS

facilities Most of the new jobs will be inHornell lf they get the OOntactto build railcars for the Long Island Rail RoOd then theyplan to construet a $7-10 million new factoI) in Hornell By 2002 the fum hopes to employ 2400

people in New York building cars forAIDtraks high-speed Washington-to-Bostonroute Los Ang1es-SanDiego route light railcars for New Jersey Transit and New YorkCity subway carsTheir facility in Henrietta (the fonner

General Railway Signal) employees 500 andwill not be inunediately affected by theprojected growth [Democrat amp0 ChronicleFeb 2 page 12D]

RPOs ReturnAmtrak has been carrying us Postal

Service mail in cars with regular passengertrains bot it has been over 20 years sincethe last RPO car was retiredTo acknowledge the raiVmail hislol) the

USPS has contracted with Amtrak to run aspecia1 train on an 1gmonth tour of thestates The P42 engine is painted yellowwith cancellation stamps to represent amani1a envelope It will pull four carsincluding the restored former Southern Rail-way RPO 36 owned by James A Bistline Itis presently touring the southern states thenon to the Midwest and the West CoastPostal Service to Issue Five Stamps inAugustIn August the USPS will issue fIve

stamps based on Ted Roses paintings ofDaylight Congressional 20th CenturyLimited Hiawatha and Super Chief[Trains May 1999 pg 16]

The SemaphareRochester ChapterNational Railway Historical SocietyPO Box 664Rochester NY 14603

Chapter Meeting amp Program

NYC Mainline inWayne CDby Shelden KingApril 15 199940amp 8 Club

933 University Ave

Non Profit OrgUS Postage

PAIDRochester NYPermit 826

bullThe Semaphore is published monthly by the Roehester NY Chapter National Railway Historical Society It is mailed free to all Chapter

members Non-members subscriptions are S500 and run from January 1 10December 31 Chapter meetings are held the third Thursday andthe Board of Directors meets the first Thursday of eseh month

Rochester Chapter NRHS OfficenPresident Chris HaufVice President Steve OagleyTreasurer Ira CohenRecording Secretary Jeremy TukeCorrespondence Sec Don ShillingNational Director Bob Miner

Trutees Charles Harshbarger DaveLuca John Redden Joe ScanlonRand Warner and John Weber

The Semaphore Staff Editor Gale SmithPrinting Bob Miner

Contributions to The Semaphore are welcomed and encouraged from all readers Theyshould be mailed to Gale ESmitb 299 Seneca Park Avenue Roehester NY 14617-2433Phone (716)~221 Contributors using a computer are asked to send their submissions onany MS-DOS diskette in ASCII formal as wel as a printed copy Deadline First Day ofEach Month

The tatu of our Restondon Building Fund Each car represents SlOOOOin the fundSurprise - the building moves rather than the train - easier to do

interNet (World Wide Web) addresshtlpllwwwroebnrhaorgI

110K lOOK $9OK $9OK $lOK $6OK $5OK $4OK $3OK $2OK $10K

+$104000 bull

Page 6 April 1999 The Semaphore

Sacramento NRHSConvention

The National Convention of the NRHSwill be held in Sacramento CA on JWle 21to 27 1bis convention is in conjunctionwith the 1999 Rail Fair being sponsored bythe California Railroad Museum bull

By caJing 408-278-5100 you can get thecurrent status of the various events plannedfor the NRHS ConventiolL

bullThe Bulletin BoardApriff

The Batavia Train Sow at Batavia DownsRBce Track is SWlday April II OurChapter will have a table or two there if youare attending and can assist please stop byApril 24 amp 25

The IJlh Annual Railroad Showcase atthe Kenan Arena 195 Beattie Ave lock-Port This is one of the biggest shows inWestern NY and is cosponsored by NiagaraFrontier NRHS Chapter and NOME (Nia-gara Orleans Model Engineers)May 1

NF Chapter NRHS takes off to Torontoby rail to ride that citys historic trolleysMay ff

Jim Dierks NYMT presents The Roch-ester Subway System - Construetioo ampOperation for Internatioual Society of Mea-suremeot amp Control Rochester Allport Mar-riott 745 PM

1999 Special Events with NYMTMay15amp16

~g Weekend - Track car ride-Aresume bull

Model stearo amp Gas Engines atNYMTJune f3

Bring Your Ow Train to operate onNYMTs HO layoutJuly 17 amp 18

Diesel Days - Soc hear and take a rideon one of six historic diesel locomotivesAugust f5

Return of the Casey Jones RochesterCity Subway Casey Jones track car hasbeen beautifully restored See it run in thisspecial one-day evenlOctober 31

Last day of Joint Operations Last trackcar rides for the season

for the two mile roWld trip Soon we got thehighball and it was off to the races Inmotion the Climax had a pronoWlced roil-ing lurching gail Someone with an Wleasystomach might have needed Dramamine Theengines motion seemed to confirm what Ihad been told about the Climax propulsionsystem being inherently Wlb31ancedBut wemade it there and back With much whistleblowing and great clouds of acrid woodsmoke willi cinders raining out of itgt icc th~ ciriiendCd with me in ahappy frame of mind astOnished at my gOOdfortune If youre ever in the vicinity ofNorth Woodstock NIl do stop at ClarksHow often will you have the chance to see alive Climax engine doing its thing

Railcamp1999After the successful 1998 Railcamp spon-

sored by the National Park Service andNRHS at Steamtown in Scranton PA the1999 program will be expanded to TWOsessions July 18-24 and July 25-31

The program features railroad preserva-tion railroad operations among other topics

The program is open to young peoplebetween ages 9 and 12 Each session islimited to 24 participantS If you know ofany local ladgal who is interested havethem in in contact with one of the Chapletsofficer for inore details

Jack Matsik and Mary Hamilton-Dannto speak at Geneva April 17 Chapter members Jack Matsik and MllI)

Hamilton-Dannwill be the featured speakers at the LakeshoreDivisionoftheNMRANiagara Fronti Region sjXing ~eet onSaturday April 17 in Geneva NY

Jacks clinic will be on modeling the PRRcabin car

Marys talk will be about the LehighValley in Westero New York

In addition a visit to the Finger LakesRailway is planned

The conference starts at 9 AM in theformer LV train station which is located atthe comer of Humbert Sl and Swiss AveFrom the North on Route 14 turn left atNorth Sl and right at N Genesee St toSwiss Ave

The registration fee for non-members is$4 Thestatioit is being renovated so someareas arc primitive and 8 signing of 8

release may be required to tour the areaNote No children under 16 will be

allowed at this meet

Trip Report

WHITE MOUNTAIN CENTRALRAILROADBy Bill Heron

The White MOWllainCentral Rail Roadis located at Clarks Trading Post at NorthWoodstock NH The trading post is a verysmall microcosm of Main Street at DisneyWorld It features Merlins Mystical Man-sion a smalI fire equipment musewIl anold time gas stationlgarnge a trained bearact and several places that sell things to ealIt would be Wlworthy of your attentionexeept for one thing there is a steam trainride one mile each way This too could beeasily passed by but for one amazing fact

The locomotive is a Climax It wasastounding for me to saunter over to the trainwaiting at the station wander forward to theengine and then with no forewarning see oneof the storied Erie PA built geared enginesAccording to a sowte on the Internet thereare only four operable Climax enginei left inthe US One of them is at the MOWltRainier Scenic Railroad at Elbe WA inneed of some Workwhen I saw itin May 1998 Intereslinglythe Connecticut TrolleyMuseum is listed as having an operableClimax There is also a Climax at Cass butit is on the dead line and chancesof itsbeing restored to operable condition are saidto be slim

Clarks Climax was built in 1924 anddelivered to a New Hampshire loggingcompany It passed through two or threesuccessive oers before the Clark familybought it It has been nicely restored wealSa somewhat gaudy paint job and seemed to me to run quite well My good luckcontinued when I was able to have apleasant conversation with the engineerAware that some people think that Climaxengines are cantankerous and troublesome tokeep running I asked him about il He saidthat his Climax was not at all troublesomeand ran well and reliably He added that hefelt that Climax engines were the best choiceof all for really rough road beds andtrackage Somehow I was glad to hear this

At this point I timidly broached thesubject of a cab ride My good luck stretchedeven fiuther when the engineer quicldywelcomed me aboard He did say that it wasawfully hot in the cab and it was I gladlyhandled the temperature as I watched himstoke the engines fire box with hard woodlogs about four feet long and ten inches ingirth He said that one load of logs sulIiced

The current running film October Sky features another SR steamer (4501) reletteredNampW Although the Ii1mwas shot in Tennessee apparently the rail scenes were fIlmed inWest Virginia CSX reqnired a diesel as a hackup 4501 did not break down but ended uptowing the dieseH [Gondola Gazette March 1999]

The Semaphore

flow to cnjoy a 1acationbull Trip

by Harold C CrouchOne tiine my late friend Herb Liebert

and his wife decided to take a vacation tripacross the northern part of the United Slates_ by train of COIlflCThey planned to leaveon a Labor Day week-end taking 41 theKnickerbocker to Albany NY transfer to27 the New England States to Chicagoand then the Northern Pacific to the WestCoastNo 41 departed Grand Centrn1 Terminal

on time bot wtfortnnately Herb failed to seea sign in ocr that said 41s fIrst stopwould bC Schenectady NY not AlbariyNY Part Wayup the Hudson Division 41came to a stop Herb being of an inquisitivenature learned that a train ahead wasstalled It iumed out to be 49 the Advance Knickerbocker with two Alco PAs on thehead end Going up to the cab of the PAsHerb enqnired of the engineer gttat theproblem was The engineer merely said thatthe locomotive wouldnt ronl Going back inthe engine compartments Herb check thingSover (he was a Diesel Supervisor at the

bulltime) but could fInd nothing wrong So he

eturned to the cab and asked the engineer tostart the train so he could see gttat wastaking place The engineer refused merelysaying the locomotive wouldnt run Seeing that he wasnt getting anywhere Herb went to the nearby wayside telephone and calledhis friend the Division Sup in Albany TheSup asked Herb to tell the engineer that he (the engineer) was to do gttat ever Herbasked - anything to get the train rnnniogiThe engineer still refused to do anything soHerb returned to the telephone and this timethe Supt asked to have the engineer come tothe telephone Fortnnately the engineer didso and after a bit of discussion started thetrainOrigina11y the Dispatcher had lined a

crossover so that 49 could cross over fromTrack 1 to Track 2 so that 41 could passas 49 had intermediate stops When 49came to a stop it was part way thru thecrossover and so had both tracks tied upThus men the engineer started the train49 merely continued on thru the crossoverto Track 2There was nothing wrong with the PAs

~~tly the engineer had been rnnniogWrMlJ E-7 locomotives and had forgotten how

to ron an Alco as the transition handle wasin position I (series) rather than position 4(para1lel-shunt) for automatic upward transi-

April 1999

tion So the next thing Herb knew 41 wentby them with his wife on boardMrs Liebert had been around the rail-

road enough with her husband to realize ~theywerent going to stop atAlbany (changecrews at RenSselear Yard mere AmtraksStation now is) and so wisely got 01I atSchenectady Unfortunately Herb had putsome of their luggage in the mens room buthad forgot to mention this to his wife pageNo 49 duly arrived at Albany Union

Station mere our mutual friend AustinHardy Chief Road Foreman of Engines wason hand Austin then drove Herb over toSchenectady where he found his wife buttheir luggage was enroute to St Louis MoThe Lieberts made 27 without difficulty

and duly arrived in Chicago However Herbhaving been in the engine compartments ofthe PAs had got his suit dirty and his other suits were in St Louis Mo Going up to theMechanical Dept-Lines West Office Herbhid out in the liIe room while a clerk tookhis suit out to be cleaned Meanwhile theirluggage was sent up to Chicago from St LouisIn due course the Lieberts made the

Northern Pacific train and started on theirlong awaited trip One station stop on theNorthern PacifIc was extra long (headendwork I suppose) Herb in looking out thewindow saw three EMD units on a freighttrain that had stopped Going over to the cabthe engineer explained that they were com-ing along OK when suddenly all three oilengines died It took Herb only a fewmoments to ascertain No Fuel PressurelApparently as the freight train came intotown vandals had reached up and pulled theemergency fuel trip on the three units Nowto re-set the fuel trip on an EMD unitgenerally requires the unit to be over a pit sothe trap door can be slid hack to reach upand reset the fuel trip But here they wereout on the main line Getting don Herbsqueezed himself between the toP of the railand the bottom of the fuel tanks to re-set thefuel trips on the three engines It was thenonly a few moments to get fuel pressurehack and re-start the engines for the freighttrain to be on its way again However Herbgot his suit dirty - againAfter this episode Mrs Liebert wouldnt

let Hetti oUtfher sightand they had anenjoyable vacation tripMoral Have a gOodvacation trip but tty

to avoid having to fix locomotives en-route

Page 7

CBS- TV may show SRSteamerExpected this spring is the CBS TV

production Having our Say The DelaneySisters First I00 Years based on a book bythe seam title Filming was in January atSalisbury depot and NC TransportationMuseumThe equipment used included Southern

Railroad 2-8-0 542 (dead) NCTM coach4955 with interior repainted to have amahogany look The museums GP9 providedthe power - off screen [Tumtabe Tim bullbullMarch 1999)

Astrom Projects 1200New Jobs inNYSAlstrom now employees 1200 in NYS

facilities Most of the new jobs will be inHornell lf they get the OOntactto build railcars for the Long Island Rail RoOd then theyplan to construet a $7-10 million new factoI) in Hornell By 2002 the fum hopes to employ 2400

people in New York building cars forAIDtraks high-speed Washington-to-Bostonroute Los Ang1es-SanDiego route light railcars for New Jersey Transit and New YorkCity subway carsTheir facility in Henrietta (the fonner

General Railway Signal) employees 500 andwill not be inunediately affected by theprojected growth [Democrat amp0 ChronicleFeb 2 page 12D]

RPOs ReturnAmtrak has been carrying us Postal

Service mail in cars with regular passengertrains bot it has been over 20 years sincethe last RPO car was retiredTo acknowledge the raiVmail hislol) the

USPS has contracted with Amtrak to run aspecia1 train on an 1gmonth tour of thestates The P42 engine is painted yellowwith cancellation stamps to represent amani1a envelope It will pull four carsincluding the restored former Southern Rail-way RPO 36 owned by James A Bistline Itis presently touring the southern states thenon to the Midwest and the West CoastPostal Service to Issue Five Stamps inAugustIn August the USPS will issue fIve

stamps based on Ted Roses paintings ofDaylight Congressional 20th CenturyLimited Hiawatha and Super Chief[Trains May 1999 pg 16]

The SemaphareRochester ChapterNational Railway Historical SocietyPO Box 664Rochester NY 14603

Chapter Meeting amp Program

NYC Mainline inWayne CDby Shelden KingApril 15 199940amp 8 Club

933 University Ave

Non Profit OrgUS Postage

PAIDRochester NYPermit 826

bullThe Semaphore is published monthly by the Roehester NY Chapter National Railway Historical Society It is mailed free to all Chapter

members Non-members subscriptions are S500 and run from January 1 10December 31 Chapter meetings are held the third Thursday andthe Board of Directors meets the first Thursday of eseh month

Rochester Chapter NRHS OfficenPresident Chris HaufVice President Steve OagleyTreasurer Ira CohenRecording Secretary Jeremy TukeCorrespondence Sec Don ShillingNational Director Bob Miner

Trutees Charles Harshbarger DaveLuca John Redden Joe ScanlonRand Warner and John Weber

The Semaphore Staff Editor Gale SmithPrinting Bob Miner

Contributions to The Semaphore are welcomed and encouraged from all readers Theyshould be mailed to Gale ESmitb 299 Seneca Park Avenue Roehester NY 14617-2433Phone (716)~221 Contributors using a computer are asked to send their submissions onany MS-DOS diskette in ASCII formal as wel as a printed copy Deadline First Day ofEach Month

The tatu of our Restondon Building Fund Each car represents SlOOOOin the fundSurprise - the building moves rather than the train - easier to do

interNet (World Wide Web) addresshtlpllwwwroebnrhaorgI

110K lOOK $9OK $9OK $lOK $6OK $5OK $4OK $3OK $2OK $10K

+$104000 bull

The current running film October Sky features another SR steamer (4501) reletteredNampW Although the Ii1mwas shot in Tennessee apparently the rail scenes were fIlmed inWest Virginia CSX reqnired a diesel as a hackup 4501 did not break down but ended uptowing the dieseH [Gondola Gazette March 1999]

The Semaphore

flow to cnjoy a 1acationbull Trip

by Harold C CrouchOne tiine my late friend Herb Liebert

and his wife decided to take a vacation tripacross the northern part of the United Slates_ by train of COIlflCThey planned to leaveon a Labor Day week-end taking 41 theKnickerbocker to Albany NY transfer to27 the New England States to Chicagoand then the Northern Pacific to the WestCoastNo 41 departed Grand Centrn1 Terminal

on time bot wtfortnnately Herb failed to seea sign in ocr that said 41s fIrst stopwould bC Schenectady NY not AlbariyNY Part Wayup the Hudson Division 41came to a stop Herb being of an inquisitivenature learned that a train ahead wasstalled It iumed out to be 49 the Advance Knickerbocker with two Alco PAs on thehead end Going up to the cab of the PAsHerb enqnired of the engineer gttat theproblem was The engineer merely said thatthe locomotive wouldnt ronl Going back inthe engine compartments Herb check thingSover (he was a Diesel Supervisor at the

bulltime) but could fInd nothing wrong So he

eturned to the cab and asked the engineer tostart the train so he could see gttat wastaking place The engineer refused merelysaying the locomotive wouldnt run Seeing that he wasnt getting anywhere Herb went to the nearby wayside telephone and calledhis friend the Division Sup in Albany TheSup asked Herb to tell the engineer that he (the engineer) was to do gttat ever Herbasked - anything to get the train rnnniogiThe engineer still refused to do anything soHerb returned to the telephone and this timethe Supt asked to have the engineer come tothe telephone Fortnnately the engineer didso and after a bit of discussion started thetrainOrigina11y the Dispatcher had lined a

crossover so that 49 could cross over fromTrack 1 to Track 2 so that 41 could passas 49 had intermediate stops When 49came to a stop it was part way thru thecrossover and so had both tracks tied upThus men the engineer started the train49 merely continued on thru the crossoverto Track 2There was nothing wrong with the PAs

~~tly the engineer had been rnnniogWrMlJ E-7 locomotives and had forgotten how

to ron an Alco as the transition handle wasin position I (series) rather than position 4(para1lel-shunt) for automatic upward transi-

April 1999

tion So the next thing Herb knew 41 wentby them with his wife on boardMrs Liebert had been around the rail-

road enough with her husband to realize ~theywerent going to stop atAlbany (changecrews at RenSselear Yard mere AmtraksStation now is) and so wisely got 01I atSchenectady Unfortunately Herb had putsome of their luggage in the mens room buthad forgot to mention this to his wife pageNo 49 duly arrived at Albany Union

Station mere our mutual friend AustinHardy Chief Road Foreman of Engines wason hand Austin then drove Herb over toSchenectady where he found his wife buttheir luggage was enroute to St Louis MoThe Lieberts made 27 without difficulty

and duly arrived in Chicago However Herbhaving been in the engine compartments ofthe PAs had got his suit dirty and his other suits were in St Louis Mo Going up to theMechanical Dept-Lines West Office Herbhid out in the liIe room while a clerk tookhis suit out to be cleaned Meanwhile theirluggage was sent up to Chicago from St LouisIn due course the Lieberts made the

Northern Pacific train and started on theirlong awaited trip One station stop on theNorthern PacifIc was extra long (headendwork I suppose) Herb in looking out thewindow saw three EMD units on a freighttrain that had stopped Going over to the cabthe engineer explained that they were com-ing along OK when suddenly all three oilengines died It took Herb only a fewmoments to ascertain No Fuel PressurelApparently as the freight train came intotown vandals had reached up and pulled theemergency fuel trip on the three units Nowto re-set the fuel trip on an EMD unitgenerally requires the unit to be over a pit sothe trap door can be slid hack to reach upand reset the fuel trip But here they wereout on the main line Getting don Herbsqueezed himself between the toP of the railand the bottom of the fuel tanks to re-set thefuel trips on the three engines It was thenonly a few moments to get fuel pressurehack and re-start the engines for the freighttrain to be on its way again However Herbgot his suit dirty - againAfter this episode Mrs Liebert wouldnt

let Hetti oUtfher sightand they had anenjoyable vacation tripMoral Have a gOodvacation trip but tty

to avoid having to fix locomotives en-route

Page 7

CBS- TV may show SRSteamerExpected this spring is the CBS TV

production Having our Say The DelaneySisters First I00 Years based on a book bythe seam title Filming was in January atSalisbury depot and NC TransportationMuseumThe equipment used included Southern

Railroad 2-8-0 542 (dead) NCTM coach4955 with interior repainted to have amahogany look The museums GP9 providedthe power - off screen [Tumtabe Tim bullbullMarch 1999)

Astrom Projects 1200New Jobs inNYSAlstrom now employees 1200 in NYS

facilities Most of the new jobs will be inHornell lf they get the OOntactto build railcars for the Long Island Rail RoOd then theyplan to construet a $7-10 million new factoI) in Hornell By 2002 the fum hopes to employ 2400

people in New York building cars forAIDtraks high-speed Washington-to-Bostonroute Los Ang1es-SanDiego route light railcars for New Jersey Transit and New YorkCity subway carsTheir facility in Henrietta (the fonner

General Railway Signal) employees 500 andwill not be inunediately affected by theprojected growth [Democrat amp0 ChronicleFeb 2 page 12D]

RPOs ReturnAmtrak has been carrying us Postal

Service mail in cars with regular passengertrains bot it has been over 20 years sincethe last RPO car was retiredTo acknowledge the raiVmail hislol) the

USPS has contracted with Amtrak to run aspecia1 train on an 1gmonth tour of thestates The P42 engine is painted yellowwith cancellation stamps to represent amani1a envelope It will pull four carsincluding the restored former Southern Rail-way RPO 36 owned by James A Bistline Itis presently touring the southern states thenon to the Midwest and the West CoastPostal Service to Issue Five Stamps inAugustIn August the USPS will issue fIve

stamps based on Ted Roses paintings ofDaylight Congressional 20th CenturyLimited Hiawatha and Super Chief[Trains May 1999 pg 16]

The SemaphareRochester ChapterNational Railway Historical SocietyPO Box 664Rochester NY 14603

Chapter Meeting amp Program

NYC Mainline inWayne CDby Shelden KingApril 15 199940amp 8 Club

933 University Ave

Non Profit OrgUS Postage

PAIDRochester NYPermit 826

bullThe Semaphore is published monthly by the Roehester NY Chapter National Railway Historical Society It is mailed free to all Chapter

members Non-members subscriptions are S500 and run from January 1 10December 31 Chapter meetings are held the third Thursday andthe Board of Directors meets the first Thursday of eseh month

Rochester Chapter NRHS OfficenPresident Chris HaufVice President Steve OagleyTreasurer Ira CohenRecording Secretary Jeremy TukeCorrespondence Sec Don ShillingNational Director Bob Miner

Trutees Charles Harshbarger DaveLuca John Redden Joe ScanlonRand Warner and John Weber

The Semaphore Staff Editor Gale SmithPrinting Bob Miner

Contributions to The Semaphore are welcomed and encouraged from all readers Theyshould be mailed to Gale ESmitb 299 Seneca Park Avenue Roehester NY 14617-2433Phone (716)~221 Contributors using a computer are asked to send their submissions onany MS-DOS diskette in ASCII formal as wel as a printed copy Deadline First Day ofEach Month

The tatu of our Restondon Building Fund Each car represents SlOOOOin the fundSurprise - the building moves rather than the train - easier to do

interNet (World Wide Web) addresshtlpllwwwroebnrhaorgI

110K lOOK $9OK $9OK $lOK $6OK $5OK $4OK $3OK $2OK $10K

+$104000 bull

The SemaphareRochester ChapterNational Railway Historical SocietyPO Box 664Rochester NY 14603

Chapter Meeting amp Program

NYC Mainline inWayne CDby Shelden KingApril 15 199940amp 8 Club

933 University Ave

Non Profit OrgUS Postage

PAIDRochester NYPermit 826

bullThe Semaphore is published monthly by the Roehester NY Chapter National Railway Historical Society It is mailed free to all Chapter

members Non-members subscriptions are S500 and run from January 1 10December 31 Chapter meetings are held the third Thursday andthe Board of Directors meets the first Thursday of eseh month

Rochester Chapter NRHS OfficenPresident Chris HaufVice President Steve OagleyTreasurer Ira CohenRecording Secretary Jeremy TukeCorrespondence Sec Don ShillingNational Director Bob Miner

Trutees Charles Harshbarger DaveLuca John Redden Joe ScanlonRand Warner and John Weber

The Semaphore Staff Editor Gale SmithPrinting Bob Miner

Contributions to The Semaphore are welcomed and encouraged from all readers Theyshould be mailed to Gale ESmitb 299 Seneca Park Avenue Roehester NY 14617-2433Phone (716)~221 Contributors using a computer are asked to send their submissions onany MS-DOS diskette in ASCII formal as wel as a printed copy Deadline First Day ofEach Month

The tatu of our Restondon Building Fund Each car represents SlOOOOin the fundSurprise - the building moves rather than the train - easier to do

interNet (World Wide Web) addresshtlpllwwwroebnrhaorgI

110K lOOK $9OK $9OK $lOK $6OK $5OK $4OK $3OK $2OK $10K

+$104000 bull