October 2004 Newsletter

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

OCTOBER 2004 NEWSLETTER VOLUME XIV NUMBER 10

Entertainment this month features:
To Be Announced

Those of you who enjoy savoring the monthly newsletter will be interested to know that we will be trying out a new look come the new year. Member Pete Blaess has been working hard on giving the old man some new clothes and a new format, one that will be colorful and pleasant to browse through. The contents will continue to keep you informed on the continuing march of progress that we have enjoyed thanks to the dedication and patience of many of our members who truly believe that big boys can have some fun too. With this opportunity to enhance the newsletter, the membership is encouraged to submit photographs and articles relative to railroading in this region, and pertinent material can be sent to Pete at PeterInPa@RCN.COM. You can contact Pete at 610-261-2024 or send your material to Pete Blaess, 1630 Clearview Rd. Coplay Pa. 18037. Planned for our" new" newsletter is a current events picture of the month, or a newsworthy item to share with our readers. Stories will be taken, along with a related photo, but should not be too long so as to fit the size of our new product. Stories not immediately used will be retained for future consideration. Items of historical value will be well received. If you feel less inclined to send photos through the mail, call Pete and he will arrange to accept them in a different fashion.

PRRH AUGUST WORKHOURS REPORT BY JOHN WARD
August was a pretty busy month despite the heat and the rain, with a lot of track work being done. The grass and weeds required quite a bit of management, along with the Museum and Gift Shop, and several hours of Charlie's scraping and painting. Total on-site workhours for august were 164. Combined with 41 hours of off-site administrative and paperwork, that gives us a volunteer workhours sum of 205 for the month.

The PRRH monthly membership meeting will be held on Wednesday night October 27 at 7:30pm at the Alpha United Presbyterian Church. Refreshments will be served courtesy of John and Anne Boner and Patrick Graham. There will be quality entertainment following the business portion of the meeting.

Five volunteer projects remain in progress as of early October:

Painting of the sea boxes in dark gray to erase years of rust and graffiti. Charlie Bowlby has completed the first of three to be done. Work will finish up this month and then resume in the spring.

Rocky Rockafellow and assistant Andrew King are working to restore a working semaphore signal. Scraping of paint is nearly complete. The parts necessary are being given by Rocky from his collection.

Backfilling of the coal pocket wall is in progress as of this writing so as to stabilize the fencing and wall and create a better looking landscape.

Temporary roof stabilization to the flanger is nearly complete under Patrick Graham's care.

Switch and track work being done with new rails laid and joints being bolted.

As you can see, we have maintained a vigilant pace with projects. There are many factors that can affect the completion of these projects including timing, weather, and the availability of goods and manpower.

The Directors have received an offer from a local contractor offering to complete the museum rehabilitation, most likely scheduled now to take place in the spring.

PRRH Director Rocky Rockafellow, New Jersey Transit Signal Engineer E.J. Joscelyn, and the Town of Phillipsburg have commenced the long awaited project to stabilize the former Central Railroad of New Jersey PU Tower. The building has been out of service since 1972 and has suffered a steady structural decline over the ensuing years. A recent meeting at the site with the above mentioned individuals and UEZ Attorney Mark Portnoy was held to ascertain the immediate needs of the building to stabilize it. Although the Town holds the lease to PU, it must now find the funding and amend the lease to allow legal access.

CENTERVILLE & SOUTHWESTERN

PRRH has recently purchased an 18' x 20' heavy duty canopy to be used at our Centerville & Southwestern boarding platform during the hot summer months.

Mrs. Pauline Becker has sent our organization an additional scrapbook album of priceless photographs taken during the reconstruction and relocation of the Becker railroad at Roseland. We now have complete and incredible coverage of the legendary Centerville & Southwestern in pictures, artifacts, paper items, hardware, rail equipment and lineside appurtenances. We owe a debt of gratitude to Mrs. Becker for her generosity in sharing these treasures and giving our many visitors an insight into their past.

We hope to have a C&S video available in the spring. Members saw a matinee of this production at the July meeting.

Negotiations continue on an extension of the C&S right of way westward.

NEWS SHORTS

Vice President Jim Mack and Treasurer Meg Carpenito wish to thank the 18 members that have already paid their dues for 2005 and for sending in their updated forms.

I wish to personally thank Anne and John Boner for their volunteer time at our table during the Dieruff show on September 26. We sold a fair amount of merchandise.

I inadvertently gave a wrong date for the Phillipsburg Pumpkin Fest in the last issue. It should read Saturday October 30. We will operate the C&S from 1 to 4pm and the museum I gift shop will be open.

Member Earle Brotzman would like all members to know about the annual Toys for Tots display which will run from Saturday November 20 until the Saturday before Christmas. The proceeds of this program go to a worthy cause. You can donate a new boxed toy or give a cash donation to those unfortunate children who will go otherwise gift less. It is located in the Bethlehem Industrial Park at 1530 Valley Center Parkway off Rt 512 near the Rt 22 exit. Toys for Tots will be open Thursdays through Sundays.

The election process will begin with nominations taken at the October meeting. Members must attend the meeting in order to indicate a nominee for office for 2005. Please attend and make your opinions heard.

PHILLIPSBURG RAILROAD HISTORIANS CALENDAR OF EVENTS.
Wednesday October 27 .................. Membership meeting at 7:30pm.
Saturday October 30......................... Pumpkin Fest 1 to 4pm. At the museum.

I hope to see you all soon....

~ Paul Carpenito ~

PC/sdw