Phillipsburg Railroad Historians, Inc.
PO Box 5104, Phillipsburg, NJ 08865

OCTOBER 2003 NEWSLETTER VOLUME XIII NUMBER 10

      The regular monthly membership meeting of PRRH will be held on Wednesday night October 22, 2003 at 7:30pm at the Alpha United Presbyterian Church. Refreshments will be available due to the kindness of Mr. And Mrs. Robert Hammond and Ed Beers. Following the business portion of the meeting, slide entertainment will be given by member Andrew King.

      As we quickly enter into fall, the Town of Phillipsburg has announced the Pumpkin Festival to be held on Saturday October 25 from 1 to 4pm. PRRH volunteers will be operating the Centerville & Southwestern Railroad along with the museum and gift shop open to the public.

AUGUST 2003 WORK HOURS REPORT by JOHN WARD
      In the hot and frequently wet month of August, our members recorded 114 1/4 hours of on site work, including museum renovations, track work, grounds maintenance, painting and recycling. Off-site administrative and bookwork and attendance at related activities added up to 32 more hours, giving an August monthly volunteer total of 146 1/4 hours. Our yearly work balance as of 8/31/03 is 1451 hours.

      Members and guests enjoyed the September 21 Open House put on by the Phillipsburg Railroad Historians with the cooperation of the North Jersey Electric Railroaders, the Lehigh Valley Chapter National Railway Historical Society, and the Mack Museum. Great weather and many train movements by neighbor Norfolk Southern provided the background for a highly successful day of public exposure. The day was further improved by the arrival of Mack Museum's 1933 flat bed truck brought to the museum by members Bob and Cheryl Daumer with their equally interesting Mack cab tractor with trailer. The 1933 youngster was posed with LV Chapter's 1922 Mack Railbus creating quite a stir with many participants running for a photo with the two together. Also popular this day was Glenn Terminelli's restored farm tractor along with the Public Service trolley 2651. Many of our repeat visitors were stunned to see the interior of the museum at about three times its original size available for displays which included a much expanded Becker/ Centerville & Southwestern section from material donated by Pauline Becker and arranged by Meg Carpenito. I spoke with visitors from Connecticut, New York, and Michigan. Foremost in their journey to Phillipsburg was a ride on the C&SRR as was the plans of many others. Our operations inside and outside were flawless, conducted professionally by a familiar group of dedicated volunteers. Many thanks go out to Tom Scharpf, Bob Marinelli, Lou Badolato, Pat Graham, Pete Terp, Meg and Paul Carpenito, Steve, Sharon, and Becky Winter, Bob and Evelyn Bennington, John Boner, Jim Mack, Keith Muldowney, Frank Sattler, Bob Hooper, Tony Hall, Bob Toikka, Derek Long, Rich Frantz, Glenn Terminelli, and Bob and Cheryl Daumer. Weed and grass trimming was done by Pat Graham, Dave Beck, and Ed Beers. If I have missed any of you in the above list, my sincerest apologies go to you, but my deepest thanks go to all of you absolutely dedicated members and friends of PRRH for making these events so well run. And to top that, we received no less than two front page pictures in the following Tuesday's Express Times in the A and B sections.

      PRRH had their first showing at the LV Chapter's Allentown Train Show held on September 28 at Dieruff High School. Our thanks go out to Meg Carpenito and Earle Brotzman for spending the day at the table handing out brochures and selling gift shop items. We made some new friends and traded some information with the railroad community, and the chicken pot pie soup was outrageous.

      The Warren County Conservancy Grant Application has reached another step as some supporting paperwork has been forwarded to their office and two inspections of our museum building have been made since last month. A decision will likely be made by December as to whether we qualify.

      Once again, it is election time at PRRH. You, the member, will have an opportunity to select and nominate an individual that you believe represents the best interests in the organization, or if you yourself would like a chance at it, you need to come forward. Nominations will be heard at the October and November membership meetings. PRRH officers hold monthly meetings to discuss and plan club business. Dedication and participation are a must in order to assure success.

      Tuesday work parties will continue a few more weeks until the time change puts us in the dark. A special C&S wide load train was operated on Tuesday September 30, drawing out a pair of old discarded light poles out to the erosion area of the coal pockets and carefully rolling them into place, closing a wide gap that trespassers have used for a shortcut. The operation was a success, enlisting the use of the C&SRR heavy-duty ballast hopper in the movement of the poles with boxcars on each end as spacers.

      A donation has been given along with a historical photo by Robert and Jacqueline Hammond. We thank you for your generosity and welcome you back. Joining our group is Earl Woolf, who has given us a priceless operators manual for EMD F7 locomotive. Thank you, Earl, for your gift. We have picked up numerous gifts from visitors over the years, and the addition of three upright glass cases have allowed us to exhibit this material. While taking inventory at the firehouse, I came across some real railroad signs that I promptly brought over to exhibit. Another donation to PRRH from the Ed Meyers memorial has been received from the Andrew A. O'Dor Jr. Memorial VFW Post 9308 of Phillipsburg. Respectfully, we thank its members.

      New members to PRRH include Earl Woolf of Phillipsburg, David Olsen of Stewartsville NJ, and William Montgomery of Bayside NY. We are delighted that you have chosen to join our growing organization.

      We look forward to seeing you soon. Enjoy the crisp days and colorful leaves. Save me sum punkin pie.

~ Paul M. Carpenito ~

PHILLIPSBURG RAILROAD HISTORIANS CALENDAR OF EVENTS
OCTOBER 22-- Wednesday- PRRH Membership Meeting 7:30pm
OCTOBER 25-- Saturday----- Pumpkin Festival at Museum 1 to 4pm

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