Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
The Crusader “Preserving the Past for the Future”
August 2011
The Crusader RCT&HS 1
RRHM Acquires Computer;
Software is Needed
The RCT&HS would like to thank
Carpenter Technology Corporation which awarded
us a grant of $1,000 to purchase computer
equipment. This generous donation has been used to
purchase a Toshiba computer that has enough power
and memory to run the museum software program
“Past Perfect”.
In order to complete our computer system,
we need to purchase “Past Perfect” software. This is
the program used by other museums to keep and
share records of the collection. For security
purposes, this also keeps a photo record with each
entry. We need your help to raise $1500. This
program can be used for EVERYTHING in our
collection. It can be for artifacts, archives, motive
power, and rolling stock. Any help to obtain this, no
matter how small, will be greatly appreciated. Any
check made out to “RCT&HS” and marked “PAST
PERFECT” can be mailed to RCT&HS, P.O.Box
15143, Reading, PA 19612. Contact Paul Troutman
at 610-926-4919 with any questions. Thank you.
Editor’s Notes
If you have a camera and attend an RCT&HS event
or are able to document news items related to the
Reading Railroad, I am looking for you. Please feel
free to send photos along with a small description of
the event or interesting news item. Photos not used in
the Crusader may be used on our web site. Thank
you.
Jeff Smith
649 Hamaker Road, Manheim, PA 17545
[email protected] 717-665-9311
Save your Redner’s Tapes Reading Railroad Section
House Opportunity
The Reading Railroad section house at
Lenhartsville, PA is being offered for sale. The
seller stated that he will give the RCT&HS a chance
to match any offer he gets and will donate the
building to the RCT&HS if he has no buyer.
This building appears to be one of the
best-preserved Reading Railroad section houses
around. And it is close to Hamburg. This building
will complement our other small structures at the
museum. If the society does become owner of this
structure, we will need someone to organize moving
it to the RRHM. If you are interested in this project
please contact any board member. (Internet Photo)
RCT&HS Archives
Featured in NRHS
Newsletter
Recently, the RCT&HS was recipient of an
NRHS grant to be used for purchasing archive
materials. The August issue of the NRHS News
features an article on our archives thoroughly
describing our collection and what the grant money
allowed us to do. Thank you NRHS and Rick Bates.
The Crusader RCT&HS 2
AUGUST 23RD GENERAL MEETING President Duane Engle called the meeting to order at
7:31 p.m. there were 5 officers, and 37 members in attendance.
Duane welcomed new member Paul Payne to the meeting.
There are two errors worth mentioning in the July Crusader.
First, in the curators report the word eliminate should read
illuminate. Second, Rich Tobin is in charge of the electrical
project not Rich Frey. A motion to accept the July 2011
minutes with corrections was made by Pete Urbaitis and
seconded by Dave Heffner. The motion passed.
EXECUTIVE BOARD Duane Engle 610-929-5661 [email protected] The August meeting of the BOD was held at 7PM on
August 2nd at the RRHM in Hamburg, PA. Topics of
discussion and motions carried are as follows:
Financial – A new “Solicitation and Grant Application
Guidelines” policy was approved. Details of this policy
may be obtained from any board member.
Museum – An expenditure of $5000 was approved for
additional work to address water runoff issues with the
site development at the museum. This amount is within
the money set aside in our contingency plan. A proposal
was accepted to allow volunteers to scrap more un-
wanted materials for the purpose of raising money to
install electric to the buildings on the south end of our
property. Approval was granted to Rich Tobin to spent
$600 for materials related to the electrical project
ongoing at the museum.
Car 1189 and Car 2060 – Car 1189 will shortly be
moved from the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania to
the Strasburg Railroad for storage while we can raise the
funds to move the car to Berks County. We are hoping
to move the 2060 after the site development is complete
at the north end of the museum property.
Old Business - An attorney reviewed letter has been
sent to scrapper Bill Williams requesting that he pay the
balance of what he owes us from the scrapping contract.
We have decided to sell the Schuylkill Haven property.
A motion was passed to send an email to the Reading &
Northern Railroad asking if they are interested in pur-
chasing our property in Schuylkill Haven.
The next general meeting of the Executive Board will
be held at the RRHM in Hamburg, PA on September 6th at
7PM. BUDGET & FINANCE
John Brown 717-426-2238 [email protected]
No report.
FUND RAISING COMMITTEE Jonathan Barket 570-366-1533 [email protected] No report.
TREASURER’S REPORT Jim Adams 610-777-3764 [email protected]
A motion to refer the Treasurer’s Report to the
Finance Committee for audit and vote was made by Bill
Hodson and seconded by Greg Goodridge. The motion Passed.
The Crusader RCT&HS 3
SALES Duane Engle 610-929-5661 [email protected] (for mail order questions contact Dave Heffner at 717-290-1493 [email protected]) The new HO C630 models from Bowser are finally
here. If you pre-ordered one you should be getting it shortly.
I want to thank everyone who has helped with sales
in the gift shop at the Museum and those that showed up for
the training on the new cash register system. The new system
is now in place and we show the charge for tax and do a full
10% discount to society members on all items. Most of the
sales items have also been set up with bar codes so they can
be scanned.
We are planning to have a small sales table at
Hamburg’s Hamburger Festival on Sept. 3rd. The next show
will be at Fairlane Village Mall Sept 15 to 18.
MEMBERSHIP
Melanie Zimmerman 717-445-6301 [email protected] No report.
LONG RANGE PLANNING TASK FORCE Carol Adams 610-777-3764 [email protected] No report. MUSEUM OPERATIONS
Dale Woodland 215-723-5848 [email protected] We welcomed 78 visitors from Kinder Care on
Thursday August 18th, thanks to John Funk, Jeff & Steph
Smith, Bill Hodson Don Davis for helping me. We had a
commercial photographer use the museum for a shoot on
Friday evening August 19th, thanks to Paul Troutman for
helping. The Harrisburg Photo Club will be visiting the
museum on Saturday September 10th. We have a group tour
scheduled for Sunday September 11th at 2PM (they are
sending a deposit – yea). Our Night Photo fund raiser is
Saturday evening September 17th. We are checking with the
Sales Committee on the sale of 13” x27” prints of a painting
by Peter Lerro of a Reading scene at Richland, Pa. The scene
has an eastbound G class steam locomotive meeting FT’s
westbound with snow on the ground and a vintage automobile
at the crossing. Three new docents have been trained at the
museum, we welcome Paul Payne, Guy Godschall and his
wife Cheryl. Dale will be doing a class on October 4th at
Albright College which will familiarize students with Reading
Company facilities in Reading. Need one more volunteer for
Hamburger Fest parking at the museum September 3rd. Mike
Stehman and Sam Bolton will man a table for us at the Fest in
downtown Hamburg.
CURATORS REPORT
Paul Troutman 610-926-4919 [email protected] The volunteers have been busy getting the museum
ready for winter. Foam insulation and caulking have been
used to seal possible air leaks. The foam blocks have been
removed from the wall at the area just outside the rear hall
door. Openings have now been sealed with brick and mortar.
To help raise additional funds for the electrification
of the other buildings, the volunteers have been stripping wire
for salvage. This has generated over $6000 cash. It was hard
work. Thanks to everyone who helped with this dirty but
productive effort.
The South wall of the exhibit hall has been
completed and painted. Two of our youth volunteers did a
super job of painting the formerly yellow wall. You can now
view O-scale trains on the shelf.
TIP OF THE MONTH –
If you have a lantern used by your Uncle Henry or a lantern
used by your Dad, be sure to write the history on a tag or
paper that will be kept with the item. Who used it? Was it
used when they worked in a specific station or office? When
did they work for the railroad? If the item is passed down
through the family or donated to a museum, the item will have
far greater significance if you just take a few minutes to write
it down. Museums call it “provenance”. Whatever you call
it, future generations will thank you. MUSEUM BUILDING COMMITTEE
John Corbit 610-781-1939
We started scrapping copper, brass, and steel items to
raise money for the electric project. If you are available to
help Tuesdays and Saturdays we sure would appreciate it. TRACK & GROUNDS Duane Engle 610-929-5661 [email protected]
We continue with the regular mowing and grounds
work. We installed a 10” drainpipe across one of the graded
areas to help with storm water runoff. I want to thank Rebecca
Engle, John Stoudt, Don Crabtree and Rick Bates for helping
this month. Anyone that can help with any of this work or
even regular mowing please contact me.
MOTIVE POWER AND ROLLING EQUIPMENT
John Stoudt R.E. 610-775-1197 /Tim Weidner M.P. 610-780-0497 No report.
PASSENGER OPERATIONS Dale Woodland 215-723-5848 [email protected] Steamtown’s Mark Birtel reported as of August 12,
2011the inspection of the locomotive is not complete and they
have not totaled their labor however their staff has tracked
some items and are awaiting estimates. Items listed include:
replace ammeter & calibrate, replace rubber grommets in
dash, perform event recorder test, diagnose transition test,
diagnose cooling fan engine performance. We will be sent a
report on costs.
The RCT&HS has been invited to give our thoughts
about the creation of a tourist railroad on the former Reading
Colebrookedale Branch between Boyertown and Stowe at a
roundtable meeting on October 12, 2011, at the Carousel at
Pottstown Building, 30 West King Street, Pottstown, PA, 6:30
PM.
There is nothing new on possible Souderton
Bethlehem Branch 2012 trips. The Pennsylvania Northeastern
Railroad took over as the new operator (August 13th) of the
line and has done some track work and brush cutting.
ACQUISITIONS Steve Schwartz 610-434-1289 [email protected] Nothing new to report. SAFETY Duane Briscoe 610-777-4196 No report. ARCHIVES / PUBLICATIONS / CALENDAR Rick Bates 610-647-9359 [email protected]
Archives
Thanks to the following for recent donations to the
Archives: collections of railroad magazines from Stan
Noecker, John Monaghan, and Bonnie Goodwin; some photos
from James Ferrante; some vintage RDG and PRR slides and
a metal slide box from Bruce Irvin; and a large assortment of
photos, negatives and paperwork from Bob Gottschall, Jr.
Archives sorting continued in the past month on the
mechanical drawings and the bulletin and general orders
collections, theses projects being worked on by Bill Stafford
and Rick Bates. An article about our drawings collection and
the NRHS grant we received for archival folders was
published in the August 2011 issue of the NRHS newsletter.
Publications
Work is underway on the remaining Bee Line issues
for calendar year 2009.
Calendar
The Year 2012 calendar is completed. The theme is
“Steam and Diesel on the Reading Railroad.” Please contact
the Sales Committee to purchase a calendar.
PUBLIC RELATIONS
Andew Dietz 914-886-3459 [email protected]
No report. MAILING
Ken Riegel 610-777-4555 [email protected]
The Crusader was mailed on August 11th this month. MODULAR Jonathan Barket 570-366-1533 [email protected]
No report. MODELING -John Greene 215-721-3006 [email protected]
GHB International and Con-Cor has teamed together
and has announced an HO scale Crusader. All 5 cars will be
produced as well as locomotives 117 and 118. The price is
expected to be around $700. This model is anticipated to be
out in 2012.
TRAIN MEET Dale Miller 610-372-3759 The next RCT&HS train meet will be on Sunday,
October 2nd. See you there.
CONVENTION COMMITTEE
John Greene 215-721-3006 [email protected]
No report.
The Crusader RCT&HS 4
WEBSITE AND CORRESPONDENCE
Norman O. Mueller 610-446-6651 [email protected] Mike Sakal 610-777-3268 [email protected] No report.
ENTERTAINMENT
Dale Woodland (215) 723-5848 [email protected] Tonight Centuries in the 21st Century – Dale
Woodland, September is The PG&N –Tom Poserina,
October is The New Hope Branch – Kurt Bell (digital),
November-is Minority Builder Ads – Dale Woodland
(digital), December is Railroads in the Balkans by Rich Frey.
Always looking for program suggestions.
OLD BUSINESS
None.
NEW BUSINESS
Dale Woodland reported that the Pennsylvania
Northeaster Railroad in now operating out of Lansdale
on portions of the former Reading Bethlehem Branch.
Steve Schwartz reported that a Farwell to the
Silverliners Excursion will run on September 25th.
This trip is being sponsored by the Philly Chapter
Tonight’s coal bucket included $128 and 9 pay down
the loan envelopes.
CLOSING
Dale Woodland made a motion to adjourn the meet-
ing and Pete Urbaitis seconded the motion. The motion
passed and President Duane Engle adjourned the meeting at
8:12 PM.
The Crusader RCT&HS 5
Hamburg Museum Track Fund
Receipts Current Month: August, 2011 = $300.00
Total: May 2007 thru August, 2011 = $28,934.00
Payments Current Month: August, 2011 = $282.00
Total: May 2007 thru August, 2011 = $21,906.15
Current Fund Balance = $7,027.85
Pay Down the Loan Program
Receipts Current Month: August, 2011 = $1,114.00
Total: Nov, 2010 thru August, 2011 = $10,652.72
Payments Current Month: August, 2011 = $1,103.15
Total: Nov, 2010 thru August, 2011 = $10,600.00
Outstanding Balance = $86,400.00
RCT&HS Corporate Members
Russell & Julia Angstadt; Bethlehem Car
Works, John Greene, CEO, Telford, PA (215)
721-3006; Centralia Coal Sales Co. ,Wilkes-
Barre, PA (570) 822-4135; Municipal &
Financial Services Group, Annapolis, MD (410)
226-910; G&K Hobbies, Bill Krug CEO, Reading,
PA (610) 374-8598; Health Insurance Solutions,
Inc., Tom and Nanette Poserina, Health
Brokers (215) 721-2220; “It’s All the Rage”
Hair Designs, In memory of Charles W. Moyer,
Jr., 1213 Penn Ave., Wyomissing, PA (610)
375-0816; Jonathan L. Shalter III,
Conservationist-Naturalist-Historian, Temple, PA;
Lancaster Chapter, NRHS, Christiana, PA (610)
593-4968; Outer Station Project, Benjamin
Bernhart, historian, author, publisher; PENNVIA
Private Railcars, Inc., Passenger Dome car
charters in the US and Canada, West Lawn, PA
(610) 678-3604; R. Harris Russo, MD,
Neurological Surgery, Kalamazoo, MI (269)
343-3939; Rabenold, Koestel, and Scheidt,
Attorneys at Law, Wyomissing, PA (610)
374-2103; Reading and Northern Railroad, Co., Andy Muller Jr., CEO, Port Clinton, PA (610)
562-2100; Security First Inc., Security, access
control, surveillance systems, 107 W. Lancaster
Ave., Shillington PA (610) 777-8890; Stackhouse
Bensinger Inc.: Civil Engineering, Landscape
Architecture, Land Planning Services, Traffic and
Planning Engineering, Storm Water Infiltration,
Municipal Engineering, Surveying/GPS, and Recreation
Planning & Design. Sinking Spring, PA (610) 777-8000
Town & Country Newspaper, Pennsburg PA,
(215) 679-5060
www.readingrailroad.org
Mark Your Calendars
September 15-18: Modular and Sales at the Fairlane Village Mall, in Pottsville, PA
September 24: RCT&HS 35th Anniversary Celebration Banquet at Weavers in
Adamstown, PA
September 27: General Meeting of the RCT&HS at Trinity Bible Fellowship
Church, Rt. 73, Blandon, PA
October 2: RCT&HS Train Meet, Leesport, PA
