August 2000 Newsletter

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Phillipsburg Railroad Historians, Inc.
292 Chambers Street, Phillipsburg, NJ 08865

AUGUST 2000 NEWSLETTER VOL. X #8

Entertainment this month to be announced.

GREETINGS to all PRRH members spread from county to county and state to state. It is impressive to ponder the range of our membership, and to realize that we are all bound, as an organization, by our love for railroading and history.We come together each month as a show of our solidarity, discuss events and items pertinent to our interests, and enjoy some coffee over a member's photos. This is the comradery of a true club. Our August meeting will be held on Wednesday August 23, 2000 at 7:30 PM at the ALPHA UNITED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. There will be entertainment provided.

The X29 boxcar, owned by the Anthracite society was moved to our museum site on Saturday July 29, courtesy of Glenn Terminelli and his flatbed truck. Assistance was also provided by Joe Maddock of Atlantic States Pipe and Andy's Crane Service of Easton. Members of PRRH, ARHS, and NJER assisted in getting the CNJ car to its destination..

We received an interesting donation of Becker milk bottles and an insulated milk box from Grace L. Torbet in memory of her late husband, Robert D. Torbet, Sr.. Bob's family operated the Torbet Dairy in Preekness, NJ. Bob spent most of his life in the milk business, with the exception of a stint in the Army, and was an avid collector of milk bottles. Grace is sister to member Dave Griffith. We sincerely thank her for this most significant addition to our growing collection

We welcome, belatedly, new members, Jeffrey and Linda Whipple of Pittstown, NJ as new members.

I would like to acknowledge Rick Glosser and Bill Pensyl for their continuing work at defoliating our site of weeds.

If anyone would like to assist Jim Stetler in getting the firehouse door scraped and painted, please see me or Jim. This project has languished due to non-availability of willing volunteers.

Work sessions continue on Tuesday afternoons starting at 4:30PM. The Centerville & Southwestern is taking shape as trackwork continues. Full scale trackwork continues on the first and third Saturdays of the month starting about 9:30AM. We are in need of volunteers on Saturdays.

Hey! It's getting close to our first PRRH picnic to be held on Sunday September 10 at Hugh Moore Canal Park in South Easton. We have reserved the small pavilion, located just below the one way bridge exit spanning the former Lehigh Valley mainline, now NS. I have inspected the site and there is sun and shade, trains and boats, people and food. You need to come to make this a success. Your officers and members are hard at work to help make it happen. As I mentioned previously, you must bring any available ice chests to this coming meeting, and your six pack contribution of soda should also come with you to the meeting so we can chill them in advance. Also, Meg has the sign-up sheets for food items. We still have a few items that nobody has signed on for, sooooo please help. Hot dogs and hamburgers are being either provided or donated. Ed Meyers is the project head, and Bill Pensyl is handling the activities. If you need directions, we will have small maps at the meeting to help you out.

Other events coming up soon include a series at the Two Rivers Landing auditorium, Easton, sponsored by Hugh Moore Historical Park and Museums and the Pennsylvania Canal Society. The free lectures begin at 7:30 pm. The events are as follows:
September 21 - Landmarks of the Lincoln Highway Across Pennsylvania by Professor Joseph Elliot of Muhlenberg College.
October 19 - Steam Railroading in Poland by Donald S. Young, formerly of Bethlehem Steel.
November 16 - Catenaries, Interlockings, and Centrifugal Relays, by Robert Stewart, board member of the Society for Industrial Archaeology. This show is on the New Haven Railroad.
Visitors to these presentations should use the Pine Street (rear) entrance.

We now have memorial plaque applications available if you would like to remember a loved one. These plaques will be enshrined forever in the museum. We also have a few ornaments left if you still want one. Commemorative boxcars are also being offered by the Black Diamond Model Society and are 13.00 at the meeting.

We hope to see you at the meeting and drive carefully. There are a lot of nuts out there.
Paul Carpenito

PC/ab/sdw