April 2004 Newsletter

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Phillipsburg Railroad Historians, Inc.
PO Box 5104, Phillipsburg, NJ 08865
www.prrh.org

APRIL 2004 NEWSLETTER VOLUME XIV NUMBER 4

Entertainment this month features:
To be announced

We can come out of hibernation now. Can anybody hear me upstairs? Please make the sun shine more than one day in a row. I have lots of wet shoes and dreams of warm, sunlit summer days with iced tea. Right now, I can leave the iced tea out and it will get cold by itself. And who said April showers bring May flowers?? Is your favorite color anything other than grey.

The April PRRH membership meeting will be held on Wednesday night April 28 at 7:30pm at the Alpha United Presbyterian Church. Our snack selection will be provided by members Bill Pensyl and Jack Quinn. After the business portion of the meeting, quality entertainment will follow with a video presentation by Earl Woolf.

PRRH JANUARY / FEBRUARY WORK HOURS REPORT by John Ward.
Happy Sping! We've churned through the two full winter months of January and February. Now activity is increasing rapidly.
In January of 2004, just 7 on-site hours of work were recorded, accompanied by 32 off-site administrative, paperwork and related attendance hours were spent, totaling 39 January hours worked.
February on-site work on the museum building, a caboose door secured, the GE 45 tonner and road grader repaired, along with recycling, added up to I I on-site hours. The usual 32 off-site hours brought our monthly total to 43 hours and our year-to-date sum to 82 volunteer hours.

We received a nice donation from a visitor, Mr. Eric Quimby of Bethlehem, in the form of some old area railroad rulebooks. We thank you very much for your generosity in sharing these precious items with us, and they have already been placed on display in our showcases in anticipation of our May Open House. I also want to thank member Rich Frantz for your overwhelming kindness in donating items for our gift shop to sell, and for buying new tools for our work sessions' use. Also, we thank Maryann lgnatz for her recent donation to the club.

The coal pocket repairs are in progress as I write to you, and fencing estimates have been received for securing the south perimeter of our museum property. The problems with vandals have escalated this spring with the rolling stock outside all having been hit in some way over the course of the month. A decision has been made to get fencing and trespassing signage upgraded through the application of a UEZ grant. The L&HR flanger has been brought up to the front of the property to better scrutinize its safety and to allow better appreciation of its presence at the museum.

Not all outdoor news has been negative. We have been overwhelmingly pleased at the turnout of our late March work session to stone the engine house floor. With the delivery of some 80 tons of stone, an army of 17 volunteers labored to fill and level three fourths of the building in one day with the balance of trimming complete by Sunday afternoon. With the second early April weekend still planned for work, our group installed the tie work necessary to install a switch between the display and running tracks. We would like to publicly thank Mr. Louis Mitschele of Baer Aggregates for his generosity in donating the 80 tons of stone along with the skid loader tractor which made the job much easier than originally anticipated. It has been people like him that brings much success to this organization, and the steady, healthy growth we are experiencing. Our volunteers included Pete and Scotty Terp, Frank Sattler, Ed Beers, Pat Graham, Dave and Jeremy Hempeler, Louie Badolato, Bill Frasier, Rob Hooper, Rich Frantz, Glenn Terminelli, Bob Marinelli, Andrew King, Steve Winter, Paul Carpenito, Rick Glosser, Pete Delicat, Bob Hooper, Earle Brotzman, and Bud Sauselein. I cannot amply express my thanks and appreciation to all of you for the time you take out of your busy lives to lift this organization to a new level of participation. The average time served per member was 10 hours. Much has been accomplished during this early push to the work season. Our portable toilet is in place, but is now located at the east end of the engine house.

We are preparing the museum building for the May 2 Open House, with display cases in place. All of the present displays are considered temporary until the outside renovation begins, at which time we will begin planning for a new and never before seen interior that will be permanent. It is now hoped that the exterior stabilization will happen in May. We are stocking the gift shop heavier than previously, so perhaps you might want to drop in May 2 and see what we have to offer. You might be pleasantly surprised. We have a full schedule for May 2, with all attractions open to the public. The Centerville & Southwestern will be in operation. Why not bring some friends or your grandchildren for a ride.

I had asked our membership last month to consider giving a little of your time to staffing the building on Sundays this summer. With the coming of steam-powered passenger service to Phillipsburg, the organizers and planners are expecting four digit weekend crowds. It is essential that we are represented at the gift shop and museum by at least two individuals each Sunday for about four hours in the early afternoon. I have had one person volunteer so far. It would be unthinkable to expect the same three people to shoulder this burden all summer. PLEASE put your best effort into showing who we are. Call me at 610-826-2580 and tell me which Sundays you'll work.

Included with your newsletter is a flyer for our HERITAGE TOUR TO YESTERDAY: COAL, IRON, AND ICE. Sunday June 13 is the day for this fourth annual field trip. Meg already has reservations requested before we even announced this event, so I strongly suggest you call us and reserve your seats. If you come to the April meeting, Meg can sell a ticket to you. I have arranged some surprises on this trip not announced in the flyer.

We welcome new member William McDonald of Robbinsville NJ to our growing member roster. I am happy to report that members Rocky Rockafellow and Bob Shandor have been on the recovery trail and hopefully will be up and back soon.

See you all real soon. Hope it gets warm. Brrrrrrrrrrr....

~ Paul M. Carpenito ~

PHILLIPSBURG RAILROAD HISTORIANS CALENDAR OF EVENTS
April 28, Wednesday ------------------------- membership meeting 7:30pm.
May 2 Sunday ---------------------------------- OPEN HOUSE 10am to 4pm.
June 13 Sunday -------------------------------- COAL, IRON, and ICE Field Trip.
Information on meeting cancellation due to inclement weather. 610-826-2580

PC/sdw