THE TRANSFER TABLE
The Wilmington Chapter NRHS Official Newsletter
Internet Edition
| VOLUME 21 NO. 7 | OCTOBER 1999 |
Back To Wilmington Chapter Web Site
NOTICE: IN CASE OF BAD WEATHER
If our normal "THIRD THURSDAY" NRHS meeting is canceled due to
inclement weather, it will be postponed and held on the FOURTH THURSDAY.
If it must again be canceled, it will NOT be rescheduled. We will simply
wait for the next month's normal "third Thursday" meeting. If
the weather looks bad or is predicted to be bad, you may telephone the Claymont
Community Center to see if it will be open that evening for our meeting.
AUGUST MEETING NOTES
The August 19, 1999 meeting included a report from President
Phil Snyder on the Aug. 7 open house at the Bear Shops which included a Chapter
table and National Director Ed Thornton's Speeder. Phil also thanked Ed
for the words about our Chapter in the National Bulletin. Phil mentioned
that the Amtrak Wilmington Shops will have an open house on Sept. 11 and that
Transportation Day would be Sept. 25.
President Snyder reported that we just received very short notice that our room rental at the Claymont Community Center was going up from $5/month to $30/month and that we had to sign a contract by Sept. 1. Unless a DEFINITE alternative can be quickly located, he plans to sign the contract at the new rate. He pointed out that more realistic contributions to the "coffee can" by a few of the members at the meetings will be needed to cover the refreshments and higher room costs.
One of the night's guests, Brad Bosler, said he was there because of what he read about the Chapter on our web site. Ryan Robinson, who was sponsored by our Chapter to attend Rail Camp '99, and his Dad, were also on hand. Roy Soukup reported on the Lancaster Chapter's Alaskan trip with a steam trip out of Vancouver and a dinner in Squammish. Paul Fortin corrected a report in the August Newsletter: he was NOT a hostler for the Reading and that #1025 was the first engine he saw in February 1953.
After refreshments, Ryan Robinson, who works on the Wilmington & Western, reported on his Rail Camp '99 experience. There were 20 males and 3 females in this year's camp. He said they arrived Sunday around 1 PM, met his dorm partner Matt Winter, and checked into their Scranton University room before getting to watch a baseball game. Monday was not an especially exciting day, dressed in overalls for two hours of slides in a classroom session covering all of the safety instructions. This was followed by a tour of Steamtown and instruction on how to translate for non-railfans. Tuesday was the best, despite being the dirtiest day. After the 8 block walk, they were split into two groups. They were instructed on steam loco inspection - over, under, and around the machine. They saw the inside of a steam loco in the normal shop where they make needle valves, rivets, bolts, and nuts. Wednesday was Transportation Day. Unfortunately, their bus broke down and they had to wait an hour for a replacement. They got a tour of the CP yard, then a bus to Binghampton, saw the yard buggie and got a safety talk. They finished up with the old equipment in Scranton. The insanity on Thursday included carving apples at lunch and how to refurbish cars (painting and researching photos for what to paint and how). They were asked what would need to be done to refurbish a gondola. Friday was Shop Skills Day; using a plasma cutter, grinder, hot rivets, welding, and painting to make a 2 dimensional cut-out 4-6-4 silhouette. They rode the steam train to Moscow and stayed up all night. That made Saturday's presentations a little tougher. Tuesday & Thursday night they worked on how they would refurbish a small 1910 depot and make it into an exhibit. They also got a coal mine tour and heard about the life of a mine mule and a mule boy.
Since this was to have been a do-it-yourself night, we saw some slides from Roy Soukup including the first AEM-7, a meter gauge trolley in Innsbruck, Zilbot 760mm with an 1889 saddle tank engine. We saw the Tweetsie Railroad which was wiped out by Hurricane Hazel, and Ken Laird's one mile Shenendoah Valley. Phil Snyder then shared his slides of Ogden, PA, Stonybrook Yard, Essington, under the Walt Whitman Bridge, New Hope, MARC in Hyattsville, Laurel MD, Relay, Bayview, Wilsmere, Salem NJ, Bridgeton, Winchester & Western, Atlas Point DE, and #489 FL-9 at Bear DE. Time ran out before anyone else could share the slides that they had brought with them to the meeting.
SEPTEMBER MEETING NOTES
The September 23, 1999 meeting opened with Secretary Walt Robbins
reading the minutes from the last meeting as taken by Ron Cleaves. The
Treasurer's report was accepted as read after a lengthy discussion of the
Wilmington & Western's storm damage as a result of hurricane Floyd.
President Phil Snyder reported on our Chapter's table at the Bear Shops open
house and the selection of the Claymont Diner (formerly the Coach House
Restaurant = same place, different name) for our Annual Holiday Dinner.
Walt delivered National Director Ed Thornton's report of "nothing to
report".
Further discussion of the W&W lead to a revision in the program schedule: November will be a do-it-yourself, bring-your-own photos & slides of the W&W (before &) after Floyd's storm damage. Frank Furguson reported that his "Last of Big Blue" would be postponed until April 2000 so that he could share his all-time favorites in October 1999. Greg Ajamian's January 2000 will be entitled "Hamlet Heat & the Horseshoe Hundred".
Phil Snyder reported on the Amtrak open house with Ed Thornton's "all NRHS" speeder runs, the four members that showed up for the annual Chapter Picnic in Strasburg, and the need for a Nominating Committee. Bruce Barry "volunteered" to chair the committee with help from Dan Frederick and Ernie Barry. If you have a nomination or would like to run for office, contact one of the committee members. Also, note our standard Bad Weather Policy as shown in this issue; which usually applies to ice, snow, and sleet but which went into effect very early this year for Floyd's visit.
Dan Frederick presented his slides of current and former railroad stations in 29 of these United States and 2 Canadian Provinces. He started with a detailed look down the Delmarva Peninsula covering every branch of the Reading, B&O, and Pennsy in Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia's Eastern Shore. We also saw in alphabetical order: Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ontario, Pennsylvania, Quebec, Rhode Island, Utah, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, West Virginia, and Wyoming...all aboard!
IMPORTANT "ROUNDUP" NOTICE
Please consider a donation to the Wilmington & Western to
help them rebuild (see their flyer in this issue). If you would like to
donate $100 on your own, feel free to do so on your own. BUT, if you
would like to donate $10 or more, you can make your check out to the
"Historic Red Clay Valley" and give or send it to any of our Chapter
Offices and our Chapter will collect all of those checks and donate enough to
"round up to the next hundred" as a donation from the Chapter.
(Perhaps we can even convince other Chapters to provide the same service!)
Photos can be seen at http://www.users.fast.net/~boz65/floyd
A LOOK BACK: October 1993 by
Historian Ron Cleaves
At the Chapter meeting in October '93, which was attended by
21 members (no guests), highlight of the evening was a brief discussion that
everything was a "go" for the Chapter's hosting its first Director's
Meeting that November 12-13-14.
The program that evening was an informative presentation by member Ernie Barry on railroad lanterns, of which at the time he had 125 of them.
In railnews, the I.C.E. - Inter - City - Express is in operation on a regular schedule on the Northeast Corridor line, and at Strasburg, former Norfolk and Western steam locomotive #475 is in regular operation along with classic driving car "Marion".
A LOOK BACK: September 1989 by Historian Ron Cleaves
The highlight of September '89 was a Wilmington Chapter sponsored fan trip over the West Jersey Railroad on Saturday, September 10, 1989. Fifteen members and guests that HOT!!! day rode the excursion train from Salem to Swedesboro, NJ. Numerous, well-planned and executed photo stops were made under the direction of Steve Barry, who handled most of the details of this trip. This trip was also the final Wilmington Chapter fan trip for former National Director Tom Smith prior to his moving to Camas, WA.
In local railnews, locomotives still painted and lettered for Norfolk & Western and Southern were occasionally seen in trainsets operating over the CSX Philly line. [ photo appeared in printed version by Ron Cleaves ]
NEWS BITS
As the world goes electronic, our website is having an impact
on the Chapter. We had a guest join us at out last meeting as a result of
finding us on the web. This month, we got an application from new member
Theodoor Kusters who used the form on the web to apply for membership.
Thanks again to Russ Fox for maintaining a site for us! And, thanks
to all you web surfers
Someone else noticed the Wilmington chapter newsletter
online and asked if we could include notice of the meetings of the
Delmarva Rail Passenger Association (usually the first Thursday of the month)
and of Delaware Valley Association of Railroad Passengers (3d Sat. each month)
since all of our groups could use active, knowledgeable people to help ensure
that passenger rail service in our region will continue to grow. For you
web surfers, more information about DVARP can be found at http://www.dvarp.org.
/_ \ Matthew Mitchell,
Newsletter Editor
/ [ ] \ Delaware Valley Association of
Railroad Passengers
/ | \ PO Box 7505,
Philadelphia PA 19101-7505
/ _|_ \
--------- http://www.dvarp.org
- or - mitchell@dvarp.org
Hurricane Floyd was only a tropical storm when it got to
Delaware, but it dumped approximately 9 inches of rain of the area. Most
of the area suffered only temporarily from the drenching. Not so for the
Wilmington & Western Railroad. The Red Clay Creek became a raging
torrent that completely washed away two trestles and damaged two others.
There were many trees down along the line as well as numerous washouts.
The approach to "the iron bridge" near Ashland has two feet of
daylight UNDER the ties! The W&W has been operating steam passenger
trains in the Red Clay Valley since 1966. (This original railroad began
operations in 1872.) The damage has been estimated at $2.5 million.
In the 17 years that the volunteer organization has run the W&W, their
largest project had been the $300,000 new passenger station at Greenbank.
Chapter Member Richard Hall was quoted in a News Journal article about the
devastation. [A note from your Editor on the quality of trackwork
along the W&W: when I inspected the area of the missing trestles, it was
interesting to note that the rails remains connected (despite at least a ten
foot displacement and the fact that they now dip into the water) and most of the
railroad ties are still attached despite the absence of ballast, trestle bents,
beams, and just about everything else that got washed away!] For you web
surfers, you might try the following:
Wilmington & Western's Official
site http://www.wwrr.com
Railroading in DE site (Tom Gears) http://www.geocities.com/heartland/plains/6484
Pics of the damage http://www.users.fast.net/~boz65/floyd
As a result of a decision released earlier this week by the Superior Court (PA), the Montgomery County Commissioners closed the Perkiomen Trail to all users. History: The County had been attempting to gain title to the right of way for over 10 years and had recently gone to court to seek clear title by decree. The trial court ruled against the County, stating that regardless of the County's purchase of the right of way from the railroad the original reversion clause in the condemnation law under which the right of way was established prevailed and the land returned to the adjacent property owners when the railroad ceased operations. The County had appealed to Superior Court. The three judge panel there stated that the County's claims were meritless. County Commission Chairman Mele was quoted as stating that the county was still committed to the trail but would have to use a different strategy to obtain a right of way. There will be no appeal.
This ruling applies across the Commonwealth and endangers all rails to trails or other right of way conversion efforts in Pennsylvania. If the right of way was obtained by eminent domain for a railroad or other public roadway, then using it for a trail is not the use for which it was condemned, and the land must be returned to the original owner.
Many rights of way were obtained by condemnation under a law passed in (approximately) 1863 that provided for condemnation for roads and railroads but included a reversion clause. It is believed that all former Reading Railroad and Pennsylvania Railroad rights of way may be subject to such reversion clauses. (reported from the Philadelphia Inquirer, 9/17/99, North B5 = This item was received by the Editor via E-mail, and although I was unable to confirm all of the details of this report, it was consistent with other information I could find, and I therefore chose to reproduce it with this warning and disclaimer.)
The following items are found in the printed version:
SCHEDULE NOTES
Notices, announcements, schedules, etc. are provided here as a
service to the members. The Chapter has no affiliation with any commercial
operation, museum, or tourist line.
Sunday, October 3, 1999 20th Annual Train Meet 9 AM - 3 PM, Leesport (PA) Farmers Market, Reading Co. Tech & Hist Soc. info evenings 610-777-2053
Saturday & Sunday, October 2-3, 1999 Railfest '99 (Altoona) Altoona Railroader's Memorial Museum, Altoona, PA info = 814-946-0834
Saturday & Sunday, October 2-3, 1999 Great Scale Model Train Show 9-4 Saturday, 10-4 Sunday, Maryland State Fairgrounds, Timonium, MD.
Saturday, October 9, 1999 "Colorfest Special" 8 AM - 7 PM, MARC Hagerstown to Thurmont, MD via WM main, $35, info = 301-739-4665
Sunday, October 10, 1999 Excursion 8 AM - 6 PM, MARC Hagerstown to Cumberland, MD via WM & B&O main, $39, info = 301-739-4665
Thursday - Sunday, October 14-17, 1999 Postal Service Stamp Train Amtrak P42 Celebrate the Century Express with baggage car and other displays in Cumberland, MD
Friday - Monday, October 15-18, 1999 Railfest 1999 (Cumberland) 9 AM rail excursions on CSX to festival in Oakland, Western Maryland Station, return 3 PM
Saturday & Sunday, October 16-17, 1999 Tom Marshall's Auburn Valley Railroad :00-4:30 PM, this will be the third and final operating weekend for this year
November is Model Railroad Open House Month Delaware, Eastern PA, Eastern MD, & Southern NJ stop by your local hobby store to pick up an open house schedule
Sunday, November 21, 1999 Prime-Mover Train Show 9 AM - 2 PM, Aetna Fire Hall Rts. 273 & Rt. 2, Newark, DE for info call Tom @ 610-255-4785
Sunday, December 5, 1999 York-Hanover Train Meet 9 AM - 1 PM, Porters PA Fire Hall, Rt. 116, 4 miles east of Hanover/4 miles west of Spring Grove
Saturday, December 11, 1999 Home for Holidays at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania 1 - 4 PM, 100 years of holiday rail travel 1850's to 1950's, info 717-687-8628
July 12-16, 2000 NRHS National Convention to be hosted by Western Connecticut Chapter
June 18-23, 2001 NRHS National Convention to be hosted by St. Louis Chapter
CHAPTER EVENTS
Thursday Oct. 21, 1999 7 PM Chapter Meeting program by Frank Ferguson, Jr. entitled "Frank's Fifteen Years of Favorites From All Roads"
Thursday Nov. 18, 1999 7 PM Chapter Meeting program "provided" (caused?) by Floyd "bring-your-own" program: "Wilmington & Western: Before & After The Hurricane"
Sunday Dec. 12, 1999 5 PM Holiday Dinner in lieu of normal monthly meeting Program by Steve Barry
Thursday Jan. , 2000 7 PM Chapter Meeting program by Greg Ajamian entitled "Hamlet Heat & the Horseshoe Hundred"
Thursday Feb. , 2000 7 PM Chapter Meeting program not known at this time
Thursday March , 2000 7 PM Chapter Meeting program by Bruce Barry
Thursday April, 2000 7 PM
Chapter Meeting program by Frank Ferguson, Jr.
entitled "The Last of Big Blue: Memories of Conrail"
The Wilmington Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society (NRHS) meets at 7:00 PM on the third Thursday of each month [except December] in the Darley Room at the Claymont Community Center, on Green Street in Claymont, Delaware. Visitors are always welcome, admission to regular meetings is free.
Check out our Website, thanks to Russ Fox at:http://www.foxcity.com/nrhs/wilm/wilm.htm
The Transfer Table is published six to ten times per year as the newsletter of the Wilmington Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society. Items in this publication do not represent the official position of either Officers or Members of the Wilmington Chapter or the Editor of this publication.
Permission to reprint articles and news items appearing herein is granted to NRHS Chapters and other newsletters provided appropriate credit is given.
Contributions are always welcome and should be sent to the editor at P.O. Box 1136, Hockessin, DE 19707-5136. or send to: SD40GMA@aol.com
Deadline for entries is the 25th of the month.
Chapter Officers
President: Phil Snider
Vice President & Historian: Ron Cleaves
Treasurer: Ralph Stevens, Jr.
Secretary: Walt Robbins
National Director: Ed Thornton
Editor: Greg Ajamian
Public Relations: Dave Watterson
Event Photographer: Bruce Barry