June 2000Volume 42, No. 10

Newsletter of the Rochester NY Chapter, NRHSP.O. Box 23326, Rochester, NY 14692-3326; Published Monthly

• The 5emaphare•

Meeting at Depat ,Inne 15:

It's Summertimeat the Depot!

Starting June 14 and for the months ofJuly and August, our Membetship Meet.ings will be held at the R&GV RailroadMusewn's Depot on Route 251 at Indus-try.

The business section of the meeting willbe short and will lake place during a lullin the other activities planned for theevening. What are they? You'll have tocome and see for yourself, but lakingrides on various transportation pieces isone of them.

Our motive power gang and associateswill be worldng hard so that the rest of uscan savor some "railroading".

The time? Just about anytime after 6 PMand until the last person leaves.

Oh yel, be sure to bring any interestedgu•• ts (and potential members)!

Summer Library Hours7:30 to 9:30 PM

Monday, June 19Library Phone: 872-4641

A ReminderThe Chapter's address has been

changed. The old PO Box has been closed.It is now:

P.O. Box 23326Rochester, NY 14692-3326

Program CommitteeTom Forsyth (Chainnan) 442-0125

•Bill Limburg 586-9470

Dan Cosgrove 352-693 JDave Loea (Board liaison) 288-0318The Committee welcomes suggestions

and ideas for future programs. Contact anyof the Committee members.

AnotherSuccessfulPancakeBreakfastlOn May 6, the Young

Railfans and their par.ents fixed a mighty fmebreakfust for the hardworking volunteers. M.ter fulfillment, they wentto relocating some track.age as described on Page4.

Gale Smith Photos

Young Explorers - Old & NewThanks to our Young Explorer group, led by Dale

Hartnell, for all their many areas of contributions: RG&Eloco, BR&P caboose, handicapped access walk, track work atR&GVRM, track work at NYMT and more.

Our experienced crew from the past includes BrellHendershott., Doug Vereeke, KeloiDHertzog. and NatbanDunn, along \\olthsome energetic parents.

Our new crew, already undenvay, includes Jesse Marks,Mark Wieczorek. and Andrew Slominski, and some moreparents. They've already had some good exercise.

Many thanks for yoW"interest and yoW"assistance!!." Brett Hendenbott reacbed tbe Eagle Scout rank for

building benches for the Hilton village square and hisinvolvement in placing flower boxes along the village streets.This was armounced in the "Our Towns" section of the May31 issue of the Democrat and Cbronicle. Congratulations,Brett!

Solid Walkway Installed

The Young Railfans re-placed loose stone with pay.ers to improve the safety forthose visitors with a handicap.

Page 2

Depot Tour GuidesHere i. the May Wld Jtme Schedule

for those voltmteering as Tour Guides atthe Depol All day. are Stmdays; thehours are 11:30 to 5:00.

Junell:George BauerschmidtBeth Krueger

June 18:Lynn HeintzRick Israelson

June 25:Tom and Tony Way

July 2:

(Open)

July 9:(Open)

July 16:Tom & Tony Way

July 23:DeWain Feller'If you encounter a conflict. please

trode with one of the other people lutedhere.• Additional guide desirable.

New FacesIt's really great to see new faces appear-

ing at the Museum to get involved with ourffiWly activities, projects Wld progrsms.

In addition to the YOtmg RailfWlS Wld theNavy SeaBees, we have some new Tuesday.Saturday Wld Stmday people:

Nonnan Collin has been out to checkour Subway Car #60 efforts on Tuesdayafternoon.

Tom Webster is getting involved withR&GV RM and NYMT track work.

Lany Baker i. helping with trnck carsand our new side~tunp car.

Eric Drum has already gotten involvedin museum operations.

Allan Olson is helping out with tourhosting at the Museum.Jim Cleveland has been involved in

various projects and has received track cartraining.

Randy Bogucki has stopped by to helpwith drainage Wld trnck work projects.

Editor is on the NetThe e-mail address is: gale29fJ@fronlier-

"and.

June 2000

Geoffrey W. GerstungNRHS Northeast Region Vice

PresidentGeoff Gerstung died May 20, 2000

after a short illnes. at his Lockporthome. He was past President of theNiagara Frontier Chapter of NRHS Wldcurrent Northeast Regional Vice Presi-dent, NRHS, Wld above all a leader inthe railway preservation movement atthe regional and national levels.

A native of Buffalo. he was a seniordesign engineer with Delphi HarrisonThermal Systems (formerly the HarrisonRadiator Division of General Motors)and worked for the firm for more thW130 years.

He shared his knowledge of railroadand trolley history with IDWlyhistoricalsocieties in Western New York State.Geoff took great pleasure in visitingchapters in his region. He Wld his wife,Becky, attended our Annual Banquets.He also honored us with hi. program onthe Olcott Trolleys several years ago atone of our meetings.

Becky, is the current president of theNiagara Frontier Chapter, Wld she CW1be contacted by writing to her:

Rebecea Gerstung, 4 Alabama Place,Lockport, NY 14094-5702.

Memorial contributions may be madeto the Niagara Frontier Chapter or theNational Society.

The Rochester Chapter extends our.sincerest sympathy to his wife, Becky,and his family.

Sources: e-mail from Chris Hauf;Empire State &pre •.•, June 2000.

Library ReportCharlesRobmson,Ch~nnan

[Editor: Charles ;.s .Jpending a month atthe Seashore Mu.reum running trolleys. Hee-mailed his report, which I down/ooded -and misplaced. So here is its substancefrom memory. My apologies, Chorles.}

Bill Limburg, Steve Oagley Wld Charlesare priming the siding lumber edges beforeinstallation. Pun:hased as flooring, this lum-ber had bevels routed to match presentsiding on the cabooses. This work was doneby Dave Luca, Gale Smith Wld Charles WItha shaper loaned by Ralph Mosher.

The Library was open prior to Wld allerlast month's Chapter meeting which was heldin the Excursion Fleet cars positioned at

The Semaphore

Membership ReportBeth Krueger,Ch~rparson.

Welcome to •..Harold Rowe was voted in as our newestmember at the May 16 meeting. He isinterested in rolling stock restoration.Please welcome him to the Chapter Wldthe NRHS!

Dues Problems?If you are still having problems with

Nationals, please contact me inWlediately. Ifyou send dues Wld correspondence to Nation-als, they will simply mail it hack to me.This causes considerable delays in process-ing of dues. Again, please contact medirectly. Thank you for your cooperation.

June, July and August MembershipMeelingsPlease bring prospective members to our

summer meetings at the Depot in Industry.Show them around and describe the projectsin ",hich they are interested. This is anEXCELLENT way to recruit new people forthe Chapter.

Contact Infonnalion:Beth A. Krueger, Membership Chair

Rochester Chapter - NRHS

P.O. Box 23326 •Rochester, NY 14692-3326E-mail: bkrueger@frontiernet.netTelephones: 716-292-2732 (work); 716-

288-2304 (horne).

Dick Barrett in HospitalRichard Barrett was admitted to Genesee

Hospital following a heart attack. MaryHarnilton-Dann called this editor on Stmday,May 28; she visited him Wld he appears tobe doing well.

Webster. The turn-out was good; ",hich mayaccount the poor tum-out on our monthly'open night' of May 22, when only two staffmembers and Boh Miner were there!

Jerry Gillette dutifully continues to inputthe Erie drawings into a database.

The Jtme 'open nighf is Jtme 19 from7:30 to 9:30. Hope you CW1make it!

Notice to Exchange NewslettersSending your Chapter/Club ne",~let-

ters to: The Semophore. Gale Smith. 29Seneca Park Ave., Rochester, NY 14617-2433 wiIl facilitate the exchange of ne",or ideas.

Margin ManagementMargin management is the process of providing more than adequate margins on teclmical

and operational specifIcations for projects.

Examples in our case ofR&GV RM could apply to the following:

I. Track Standards' Although Federal Class 1 track standards, for 10 mph freight, would belegally adequate for our Musewn track, we are deliberately trying to approach Class n, goodfor 25 mph freight, in order to better acconrrnodste our track cars, which are less tolerant oftrack variations than locomotive hauled equipment.

2. SliIlIiIl&;Although we could "get by" with minimwn manning for tour guides and trackcar operators, we are deliberately trying to provide extra and relief people, to augment ourbasic crews, or to provide substitutes in event of personal emergencies.

3. Parking of Railroad Equipment In addition to setting hand or parking brakes, wedeliberately add an extra margin of safety by using "neel chocks, wood blocking, rail skates,andlor locked chains .t the wheels.

This same line of reasoning can and is being applied to many other facets of our projectsand operations.

The Semaphore

Rand Warner, Director, 425-8587

Navy Reserve SeaBeesOn Saturday, May 20, we had eight

Nava! Reserve men on hand, representingcarpentry, heavy equipment repair, electrical,steel work and welding skills. This was adrill for them and a gift to us. Thanks toMenn. Brown, Owens, McGrath. Bier,Maslyn, Lozier, Clark and Browning.

They worked on our Army Blue Track-Mobile #2, Army dwnp trucks, Line car,Side-dwnp car, and other projects.

We look forward to their return onSaturday, June 3, to continue work on the

• above and additional projects.

SafetySteve Huse and Rand Warner are acquir-

ing new and recharged fIre extinguishers andmounting them in high priority areas.

Marge and Rand Warner attended a3-hour Red Cross course on CPR and use ofdefIllibrator.

Steve Huse has scheduled a practice fireextinguisher session for June 10 and hascoordinated it with loeal fife officials.

We are compiling additional emergencyresponse and disaster reaction infonnationfor referral by all our volunteers.

Tool Car & ShopsSupt. Charles Harshbarger

Charlie has been laying in additionalhand and power tools to cover our geographi-cally spread out activities on projects allover DiU Museum complex.

Charlie also keeps up our conswnablessupplies such as gasoline, kerosene, lube oil,grease, antifreeze, ete.

•

Art Mununery has helped us get intodrum lot buying of lubricants where appro-pnate.

John Redden is helping us with properdisposal of spent lube oils and other fluids.

June 2000

Communications, Signals,Power & Line

Supt. Nell Bel/engerSeolt Gleason and Rand Warner are

investigating options for bringing in single-phase or three-phase power to our Restora-tion Facility, on either a temporary orpermanent basis.

Jim Johnson is continuing work on ourl75-kw diesel electric utilities substationtrailer; to provide shop air and heavy powerto our Restoration Facility.

Mike Dow and others have further sortedand rearranged stored signal materials in theErie Milk car.

We will soon be sorting and storingexcess inventory items from AlstromlGRSSignal Dept.

Buildings and Groundssup!. Dave Luea

Bill Chapin, Bob Miner and Dave Lucahave gotten our Cub Cadet lawn tractor,donated by Larry Fennessey, into service forthe season and are mowing our grassed'areas.

Dave Luea, Neil Bellenger, Rand Warnerand Joe Scanlon are working on drainageand trinrrning trees.

Jim Johnson & Co. has put the basementof the Depot back in order after flooddamage.

Jan Dituoer is working on Spring plant-ings to please our visitant

A large crew cleaned up the Depot andsurrounding areas for season opening.Thanks to Don Shilling, Rick Israelson,Chris Hauf, Bob Miner, Rand Warner, DeeMowers, Bill Chapin, Dave Luca, Jan Ditt-mer and others.

Page 3

Freight Equipmentsup/. Chris Hauf

Chris Hauf has received a Kodak 5750"Dollars for Doers" award for his grantrequest for new wood decking for ourrecently acquired NYC (ex CR) flat car.

Dave Luca and all his helpers arere-roofing and residing the BR&P back-dated caboose with new clear flf sheathing.

We will put our new plasma cutting andMIG welding equipment to work on the PRRN5c caboose as soon as training is com-pleted.

We are planning to get the exterior of thePenn-Central transfer caboose painted andlettered so we can get this unit into servicesometime this season.

Chris Hauf is pulling together additionaldisplay material for the MDT steel reefer.

AI Pastorell and Chris Hauf are workingon windows and trim for the Erie caboose.

Passenger EquipmentSupt. Bob Miner

Dave Luca has arrested water leakagethrough the roof of our E.L MU car.

Gale Smith has prepped the PRR Pi"eFall. sleeper-lounge for our season opening.

Chris Hauf is creating a new RailroadSafety display in the DL&W baggage car,using several varieties of highway crossingsigns.

John Redden has changed over thestorage in the PRR RPO car to acconrrnodatesprrre parts.

Chris Hauf will be incorporating anOperation Lifesaver display and a RochesterSubway Car #60 display in the DL&Wbaggage car. He is currently refinishinganother glass display case for this car.

Track realignment. It started by moving track from a higher elevation to a newly preparedlower elevation that would extend along the side of Restoration Building. (Left: the begmmng ofthe process; photo taken from Restomtion bldg. end.) (Above Right: the fonner higher location is.on the left) (Right: shows graded groWldav.aiting for trnck pane~s.) Gale Smith phoro$

Page 4

TmckandR~h~o~wayActing Sup/. Rand Warner

A major effort 011 SaIWl!ay May 6resulted in relocating Siding #6 off thetemporary high ground and onto its new andpermanent alignment level with the Reslora-lion Facility. Thanks to Art Mununery, DanWaterstraat, Dave Lnca and John Redden"ho spearheaded this effort, assisted byMANY others - a real TEAM effort.

Dale Hartnett. with a team of both oldand new Young Railfans has started rebabreplacemenl of ties on the passenger loadingsiding al NYMf, as part of the total rehab ofthis track and its associated s\\oitch.

Plans are fl1lllingIIp for removal of trackal the Brighton siding. This will be done asa weekday, off-site effort, involving ourCbapler volunteers and the Young Explorers.The fIrsl session will be Tuesday. June 27.

Siding #6 is being extended alongsidethe wesl edge of the Restoralion Building.The fllSt additional track panel "las removedfrom the NYC flal car by Joe Scanlon, ScottGleason, Art Mununery and others; usingour Army crawler crane and Koehring dieselshoveL

Existing stored track panels and supplieson hand for new panels are sufficient toextend Track #6 10 beyond the south end ofthe Restoration Building.

Ted Strang and Larry Kaisner of NYMfare getting the week sprayer ready to go.

June 2000

Train OperationsSup/. John Redden

Stored equipment on Track #6 wasmoved to accommodate relocation of Track#6.

Equipment stored on our main, over the"inter. has been relocated to acconunodatetrack car operations for season opening.

Equipmenl in the yard area al the Depolhas been rearranged to aeconunodate seasonopening visitor operations.

Plans are afool for additional crewtraining.

We currently bave EKC #6 and EKC #9locos and one TrackMobile in operationalservice ... stay tuned.

Visitor Operationssup/. Don Shilling

Thanks to all our many lour guides whohave signed up for this season.

You are the ones that make it happen forour visiting public.

You are the olles that represent us to thevisiting public.

You are providing excitement, energy,enthusiasm, service, knowledge, history, in-terpretation. education. and rewarding expe-rience to our many visitors.

You are talking the talk AND walkingthe \\talk!

The public visitors are our fundamentaland most important purpose for existing.

The Semaphore

Maintenance of WayEquipment

Supts: Dick Bean, Bob Mader

Rick Israelson has the Fairmont TieExtractor almost all painted in orange. Wewill soon ba,'e il back in service.

We are worldng on motor mounts for theBurro Crane. 10 secure the Detroit 4-53diesel engine. We also have to mOWlt theradiator. alternator and controls. Dick Bean.-Hiram Colwin, Art Mununery and RandWarner have the main drive chain installed.masler link pul logether. and cbain guardassembled.

Victor Pamenler has donated a 30"gauge contractors side-dwnp car. RandWarner. Larry Baker. and the Navy SeaBeesare repairing it and converting it to nut onstandard gauge "heel sets.

Larry Baker is fIxing the carburetor onthe Fairmont track inspection car.

M.O,W. equipment includes the Burrocrane, WAG snow plow. KPRR tamp..:r.KPRR snow brush, hi-rail boom/dump truck,hi-rail utility body truck and tie extractor.

The Semaphore June 2000 Page 5

Motive Power• sup!. John Redden

Kodak PaIk RR N9 Alco RS-I is runningfor the season, thanks to the start-up team ofJolm Redden, Chris Hauf, Dick Holbert andothers.

The Blue Army T=kMobile N2 isalmost all back together. Norm Shaddick basbeen spesrheading this effort, assisted by ArtMwnmery, Bob Mader, Jolm Redden, RandWarner, Bob Miner, Navy SeaBees andothers.

Air brake piping work is continuing onthe RG&E NI941 center cab 45-tonner rehabeffort, than1<sto Jolm Redden and others.Now that Spring is here (m) we can resumepainting and bodywork. We have originalspecs RG&E paint and decals available forthis effort.

Kevin Klees bas made new cab doors forthe Heisler steam fireless loco, and is nowworking on wood work for the Vulcan loco.

Jolm Redden and Rand Warner arecoordinating 1agging removal for both ourstearn locos in a combined effort to reducecosts.

Norm Shaddick, Jolm Redden and others

•are investigating options for blower repairson .replacement .. on . our Fairbonks-MorseH12-44, Army NI843.

Parts and infonnation continue to surfacefor our vapor steam generator rehab projecton EKe N9. The steam can be used for theHeisler, weed sterilizing, stearn cleaningdirty surfilces, and operntion of other stearnpowered equipment

•

EngineeringSup!. Jim Johnson

Scott Gleason has made a drawing forour utility power hookup for the RestorationFacility.

Joe Scanlon is making up a drawing forour master drainage plan, based on discus-sions with Tom McTighe, LA&\.. chiefengineer.

Tom McTighe has given us an extensivereview of our overall drainage concernsstarting with runoff from NYS Route 251 a;the South end of our complex, all the way toend of our right-of-way at the North end ofour complex.

Jolm Weber is making drawinga fordetail trolley parts for future fabricationefforts: bolsters, queen posts, truss rods, andcoupler pivots.

Jim Jolmson is filing new technicalmaterials and books in nur volunteer techni-cal reference library.

Track Car EquipmentSupts: Jeremy Tuke, Dan Waterstraat

Norm Shaddick bas measured track carwheel profiles for wear.

Jeremy Tnke bas contacted Fairmontregarding acceptable track car wheel wear.

Larry Baker has started on his project oftrack car maintenance, beginning with theFairmont track inspection car.

Our TC-2 and TC-3 passenger motor carsand trailers are up and runoing for theseason.

Give Jeremy (359-8944) or Dan (253-6232) a call if yoo can help with track caroperation or maintenance.

We plan to repair the brakes on ourFairmont track crane and put it into serviceshortly.

We currently have two track car sets inrevenue passenger service? one in regularMO.W. service. and two more in back-up/rehab status.

Also in our stable are the track car craneand its' tenderlboom car, and at least one4-wheel push car.

WantedTable mounted joiner and router for ourwood shop.

Cantilever car jacks for our passenger lIeet.Steel plate, steel sheet, and steel bar stock -for our many repair, restoration andconstruction projects.

Brooms and dust. pans for all our work andproject.areas.

Hardwood blocking and cribbing - any size.Volunteers for tour guides and track caroperators for this very busy season.

Regulator, gas or diesel power, operntionalor needing repair, for use in maintainingour track.

Good safe step ladders: wood, metal orfiberglass, any length; for our manyprojects and project site areas.

A IDlI.kiIJi audio CD player for the R&GVRR Museum. Contact Chris Hauf, 381-8583; <crhaul@frontiernetnet>.

Reply to Mystery PhotoMary Hamilton-Dann sent the following

to Don Shilling as a possible identificationto the mystery photo' in last month's issue.

"A possibility that the "load" was relatedto power supply: (such as) NiagaralMohawk,or RG.&E. Is the train on wide gauge Erietracks? The Erie's wide gauge providedextra clearance for this type of load."

[OK, Don, get out your scale ruler andcompare the height of an 'average' man to thespacing between the rails.]

Thonksto-Victor Parmenter for donation of 30"

gauge contractor side-dump car.Rand Warner for donation of cord reel

cooking utensils for Pine FaiLs and NYCcahoose, and stationery items.

Art Mummery for ordering parts forFonl fork lift and Link Belt Roto Hoe.. Joe Scanlon for arranging transportation

WIth Mendon Enterprises to muve heavyeqwpment.

Lynn Heintz for donation of woodsheathiog and loan of brass baggage racks.

Dale Hartnett for donation of specialtongue and groove sheathing.

Bill Napier, lon8 time Chapter memberand former conductor on LA&L excw-siontrains, for donation of two NYC RR brake-man's lanterns and several framed picturesfromGRS.

Jeremy Tuke for rehab of various lan-terns and railroad appliances and for manag-ing our key system.. Luceille Burke for yet another glass lopdisplay case (total of 3) and a fme collectionof railroad technical materials from theestate of former NYC RR towerman BobBurke.

John Redden for several recent uses ofhis two-wheel trailer for hauling Chaptersupplies and acquisitions.

Phil McCabe for portable router.Kevin Klees for bench vise.Art Mummery for coordinating prep and

transport of heavy equipment.

2000 Calendar of SpecialEvents for CombinedMuseumsJuly 22-23 (Sat. & Sun.): "Model

Steam & Gas Engine Rally". Come outand see special displays presented by theWestern New York Model Steam & GasEngine Association. On lap is theNYMT's new calliope.

Augu.t 19-20 (Sat. & Sun.): "Die.elDays" The museums will highlight thediesel locomotive during this lwo daycelebration with six operating dieselsfrom the small 45-lon switcher to thelarge 1000 & 2000 HP road switchers.Locomotive rides are planned.

Oct 29 (Sunday) Last day of JoiotOperations. Track car rides end. R&GVRR Museum closes for the season.NYMT remains open from Novemberthorough April al reduced admissionrate.

Page 6 June 2000 The Semaphore

George Kn.b for stepping in and beingthe trucking dispatcher to schedule loug-bauldeliveries of crane booms and accessories tothe Museum from Elkhart, Indiana.

Jeff Green of Green.Bar Trucking forinterstate hauling of crane booms and acces-~es. •

G<:orge,David and Rick Knab for helpunloading the Elkhart crane boom andaccessories.

Hydraulic ShovelArrives At Museum

By Joe ScanlonLast fiUlour membe<smoved a surprising

volume of earth North of the reslol1ltionbuilding with our Manitou Concrete Trojanloader, the Rochester Asphalt Materials 0.7CAT bulldozer and our ex-mililBry 5-tondump trucks. We bad actually intended tohire a hydraulic excavator for a 'big dig,,,,,,,kend,' but our die-hard construction gangfelt that they could accomplish the taskourselves with the equipment we had, andsave the expense. They promptly set about todo just thall By the end of the season, all ofthe dirt bad been moved, thanks to thedetermined e!Torts of a whole cast ofdetermined volunteers!

Some of the membe<s thought that if wecould obtain the use of a hydraulic excavatorof our own we could self-perform ourexcavating projects even better,. since westill have a lot of earth to excavate North ofthe building.

So We began the search for ahydraulic excavator. Over the course of lastwinter, Mr. Mark Vitale o!Tered us the useof Vitale Construction's KOEHRING 505hydraulic excavator, which they have ownedsince new. (The same Vitale Constructionthat donated the Burro crane to us!) Built in1965, the Koehring represents the ftrstgeneration of hydraulic excavator. and evenhas some operational features that are acarry over from cable shovel controls. Thismakes the Koehring historically significantof itself. Weighing in at 92,000 lbs., theKoehring sports a 2 cubic yard bucket, will

reach out 40. feet and dig slr1lightdown 25feel. The shovel also bas some history itself:its last work assignment was to fInish theremoval of the huge rock salt stockpile at thefailed Akz<>.Nobelsalt mine at Retsof, NewYork Now on to bigger and better chal-lenges, the shovel bas been gone through byDan Waterstraal. Scott Gleason and ArtMummery and will be loading 5-ton dumpsbefore you know it!

Our sincere thanks to Mr. Mark Vitale ofVitale Construction for making this machineavailable to us! Thanks also to the C.P.Ward Company for moving this giant for us!

ThoDIes to ..Art Mummery for 'single-handedly' re-

moving an engine from a CAT D-7E carcassdestined for our Army D-7E bulldozer, alougI>ith loading and unloading a CAT 12 graderand a Link Belt pile driver hammer acquiredfrom the International Union of OperatingEngineers, Dansville, NY Training Site.

Dan Swauger, Training Director, inter-national Union of Operating Engineers forMaking the above acquisitions happen forour Musewn.

Ste,.e Hu.e for help in unloading theabove acquisitions.

Mendon Enterprises for delivering theabove items. (Terry at Mendon can be quitecreative in loading and packing our interest.ing array of non-running equipment andaccessories!)

Mark Vitale of Vitale Construction forhis generous offer of the loan of a 2-cubicyard Koehring hydraulic excavator.

C.P. Ward, Inc. for moving the 92,000lb. Koehring excavator the the Muse\UU.

Picture ThisFreight Operations - Special

Events for VisitorsHelper district Northbound from Depot.

Helper district Southbound from LoopSwitch.

Fruit block extra.

Way freighVpeddler.

Transfer run.

Sections northbound.

Sections Southbound.

Industrial switching.

Yard switchiug.

Road switching.

# All this and more could be done for aspecial weekend event.

# All the pieces are already in place.

# All we need is your help to make ilhappen for our visitors. •

The Semaphore

Book Revjew.

• Lightweight Street andInterurban Cars

by Donald Engel

Reviewed by Bill HeronThis is a short, (65 pages), soft cover

book, published hy the Bnmford ElectricRailway Museum, East Haven. CT, ooe ofthe three operating trolley musemns in NewEngland. Its pwpose is to delineate anddocument changes in the design of electrictransit equipment which resulted in "light-weight" cars as opposed to the heavyweightequipment which they replaced.

For the pwpose of analysis, Mr. Engeldivides trolley cars into four generic groups.Chronologically, these are the motorizedhorse car and larger versions of this group,the heavyweights which replaced the horsecar style as transit companies sought toincrease passenger capacity per car, the"lightweights" and New Ear cars. This lastgronp is comprised of experimental cars,attempts to achieve a"standard" car and thecuhnination of this effort in the FCC car.

•

Betraying my own lack of knowledge asto the history of trolley car design, I wasswprised to learn that "lightweight" carscame on the scene so soon. SomehowIthough they were a ore recent developmentand the fact that the first lightweights cameont in 1912 came as a swprise. The drivingforce behind the lightweight car movementwas the desire to reduce operating costs. Thecars which had replaced horse cars wereinherently very heavy because of their de-sign. Basically they consisted of substantialflat car onto which was built a passengercarrying body. All the necessary strengthcame from the platform, the body contrib-nted nothing from the structural standpoinL

The big innovation was to integrate theplatform and the lower part of the body,which was of girder type design. At the sametime, steel replaced wood. Although earliercars moved in the direction of lightweightdesign, the creator of the lightweight, steel,low floor, four motor car was PittsburghRailways Company, 1912-1914. These carsweighted 33,750 pounds in contrast withheavyweight cars of similar capacity "ruchweighed as much as 48,000 pounds. Thismagnitude of weight reduction produced

• significant savings in energy consumption.Mr. Engel also documents changes in

many other elements of car design whicheffectively reduced weight and/or operatingcosts. Areas covered included traction mo-tors, controls, wheels and braking systems.

June 2000

As the evolution of lighl\\<eightcars contin-ued, the replacement of steel by aluruimUDas the basic constrnction material began totake place during the early thirties. All inall, a fascinating story.This book seems to me to be quite

unnsual in that it has appear to those whoare techuically minded yet does not over-whehn those who are satisfied with a clearlypnt overview of mechanical matters. Bothtypes of reader surely will be pleased withthe large number of photographs which theauthor has included. These are black-and-white as might be expected, and some haveseen before in other books about trolleys.There are. however, some which gave me alook at something I could not recall havingseen before. In particular I was interested tosee a photo of a Peter Witt style car built byBrill in 1916 for New York State Railways,Syracuse Lines. These cars would be the SaltCity's version of the cars built by CincinnatiCar which operated here in Rochester. I alsoenjoyed seeing a photo of a Lehigh ValleyTransit Co. curved side car built by Cincin-nati in 1926. A very handsome piece ofmachinery.If yon like trolleys, the chances are very

good that you'll enjoy this book.

Shelden's Card:Shelden King sent a card hack in

February about "hat is/was happening Eastof Rochester.The Lyons yard has been reactivated

apparently in January. [Editor: the recent bustrip (see below) showed a number of cars inthis yard at Lyons.)

"Because of various problems, both CSXand otherwise, it is very doubtful that anAmtrak station will ever open in Lyons.Extension of OnTrack in Syracuse to the

Transportation Center (opened Nov. 1998) ison hold. There are problems getting the lineunder a bridge. Work started; apparentlycansed a CSX track to shift. '

Editar-in-Chief'sCarnerAs my 'underling' can not keep track of

his papers (see Library Report), I willconclude this issue with what is forthcoming:

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Railroad Station HistoricalSociety ConventionThis two-day convention was held June

34 and hased in Rochester area; the themewas Finger Lakes stations. Mr. WilliamRapp, who moved to Rochester only 1.5years ago from Nebraska, assembled quite acolleeuon of area stations to visit. Becauseof increased restrictions to trespassing onratlroad property, the emphasis was directedon stations that may be in alternative use.

Day One visited Spencerport, BrockportHolley (this one was moved, restored andnsed as a museum), Hamlin, CharlotteSodus, Lyons (internrhan), Geneva (LV):Canadaigua, Shortsville (restaurant) andPittsford. The visit to Fairport had to becancelled because of the Canal Days crowd.

The evening session enjoyed a fmebanquet and a slide presentation of WesternNew York stations by John Dahl.

Day Two: Rochester (Lehigh Valley, thesubway, Buffalo, Rochester & Pittsburgh'sTerminal/office building and Depot), Victor'sRochester & Eastern Rapid and NYC (arestaurant); Holcomb (NYC); Atlanta(DL&W); Cohoctnn (Erie); Wayland(DL&W); Mount Morris (DL&W; wherethey were regulating the ballast for the newsalt mine branch); Leicester (DL&W, agem), Avon (Erie), Livouia (Erie) and last"',.. Indnstry (Erie).We arrived at Indnstry about 45 minutes

before closing. The guides were mostcordial for the unexpected visit. Mike Byrnewas able to transport about 10 convention-eers by track car to NYMr, where the restfollowed by bus - and invaded the giftshop!

Because of time constraints. stations atOntario, Williamson Clifton SprinosPahnyra, Honeoye F';Us, Caledonia, ~dScottsville were by-passed.Next year, the convention will be in

North Carolina. Jerry Lederthiel and GaleSmith were local attendees..An enjoyable and educational event; your

editor fInally found the Spencerport station!

Bill Heron has submitted more material.. D~ ~osgrovehas written another pi~highltghllDg "hat it was like in the RailroadIndustry back just a few years ago (my howtimejlies!). '

Don Shilling was a monitor out at theDepot a while back for a fihning crew -wow, what all the equipment they came with- and their working hours certainly are notfarmer's, or a bird's, early to bed.

Rochester Chapter National Railway Historical SocietyThe SemaphoreP.O. Box 23326Rochester, NY 14692-3326

Non Profit Org.U.S. Postage

PAIDRochester, NY

Permit #826

Chapter Meeting & Program:

It9s Summertimeat the Uep()1I

YDUJune 15, 2000

R&GV RR MuseumRoute 251

Industry, NY

1,1,11,1"1,1111,,1,1,'1,11,1,,1,,,1,,1,1,1,,1,111,11,',111,,1DONOVAN SHILLING1765 FIVE MILE LINE RDPENFIELD NY 14526-9724

•The Semaphore is puhlished monthly by the Rochester, NY Chapter, National Railway Historical Society. It is mailed free to all Chapter

members. Non-membel's subscriptions are $5.00 and run from JanUlU)'I to December 31. Chapter meetings are held the third Thursday andthe Board of Directors meets the first Thursday of each month.

Contributions to The SemapllOre are welcomed and eocouraged from all readers. Theyshould be mailed to: Gale E. Smith, 299 Seneca Park Avenue, Rochester, NY 14617-2433.Phone: (716) 544-6221. Contributors using a computer are asked to send their submissious onany MS-DOS diskette in ASCll or TXT formal, as well as a printed copy. Deadline: FirstDay of Each Month.

PaurinlJ the ReEOtaratianFal:ility Flaar!The Restoration Building is up and running! Now we need to provide it with a concrete

floor. We raised the dust to finish the space. Now we've faced with dust all over the place.One hundred dollars "ill buy a hatch of concrete. The estimate for the floor is $25,000; we'llneed 250 batches (!). Help "cement" together a great project Maybe we11 even let yourwrite your name and date in a slab. [Don Shilling]

Rochester Chapter NRHS Officers:President: Chris HaufVice President: Steve OagleyTreasurer: Dave LucaRecording Secretary: Jeremy TukeCorrespondence Sec.: Tom ForsythNational Director: Bob Miner

Trustees: Dale Hartnett, Charles Harsh-barger, Joe Scanlon, John Stewartand John Weber.

The Semaphore StatT:Editor: Gale SmithPrinting: Bob MinerlGale SmithMailing: Dan Cosgrove

InterNet (World Wide Weh) address:httpJIwww.rochnrhs.orgl

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