April 19, 2012

Hello Everyone

Well it has been a long time since I put up a post.  Between my new job and everything going on at the museum, there hasn't been much free time this past winter/spring.

Anyway, for those who don't know, we are holding a wine and beer tasting fundraising event at the museum on May 11.  Check out the website or call Carol for details.  It should be a lot of fun.

A lot has been happening at the museum.

0309 has received a much needed coat of paint, and looks like a different trolley. 

A viewing platform has been constructed in the main hall to allow viewing of the inside of the Ponemah, Caboose, and 10.  Thanks Tim.

We found the Ponemah bell and installed it on the locomotive along with painting up the inside.

 There has also been a lot accomplished in the shop over the winter, thanks to the warm winter we had.  16 recieved a lot of work on the end of the car including wood work on the roof and a new canvas on one end. 

16 is also getting golden glow headlights.

John Pelletier has been very busy in the shop doing all this nice work on 16. 

One motor is back together and installed in the type 5, and the armature for the second motor is out at the motor shop being worked on.  We should have it back in a few weeks, which will allow us to reinstall that motor.  We have one more motor to do on the other truck to get the car back on 4 motors.

Above are some pieces for the motors for the Type 5 that Pat machined up at the shop.

In the shop, we are also busy getting the shop rearranged and the wood shop set up.  The picture above shows the dust collector being installed. 

If anyone is interested in helping out in the shop, John, and or myself are active at the museum every Saturday in the shop. 
The museum is in full swing, with a lot going on this Spring.  Please consider coming down and helping out.  We have everything going on from simple painting projects, track work, operations, and of course the rollicking times in the shop.

Galen

January 29, 2012

Hello Everyone

It has been a while since I posted anything.  It certainly isn't because there aren't things happening.

I have taken a new job, and am getting back into the routine of commutting, and getting up to speed at the new job has taken a lot of time from my schedule.

We have a lot happening at the museum despite the winter period.  The visitor center is almost into shape from Winterfest.  Most of the decorations are put away, and the cars are generally moved into position.  We still have a few decorations to take down, and some minor shifting of cars to do this coming weekend.  We also need to start setting up the displays for this coming season.

A lot of members were up at the Amherst Rail show this year helping to represent the museum.  The booth was well set up and manned, and a special thanks to George, Ted and Tim for doing such a great job with the booth.  We had a lot of visitors with interest in both the disappearing train and the velocipede. 

For those interested in helping out, we will be at the museum for the next few Saturday's working in the visitor center getting things cleaned up, organized, and exhibits set up.  Please consider coming downt to help out.

Galen

January 1, 2011

Hello Everyone

Well Winterfest if now over, and we had a great year.  Business was up over $11,000 from last year, due in part to the wonderful weather we had throughout the event.  We only had to cancel one evening during the week after Christmas due to rain.

As always, the volunteers did a wonderful job of running the cars, keeping the cars running, hosting the visitors inside the visitor center, parking cars and all the other miscellaneous jobs it takes to operate Winterfest. 

The relatively mild weather has allowed work to continue in the shop.  The floor on the east end of 16 is now replaced, and will be painted when the tempreatures allow.

The second motor from the truck for the Type 5, was removed, and dis-assembled on Saturday.  We have baked the first set of field coils and will be installing new leads on them soon.  Once we complete thate, we will be setting up to dip and bake the field coils for re-installation in the motor.

We are hoping the mild weather holds for a few more weeks to allow us to switch the visitor center and get it set up for the coming year.  The plan is to change the display around with the Ponemah and Caboose paired togeather, and move 840 into the visitor center in place of 2056.  Of course, first we need to take down the visitor center decorations.

Anyone interested in helping with the visitor center taking down the Winterfest decorations, we will be having a work day this coming Saturday (01/07/12).  Anyone who is interested in helping to switch the visitor center, please contact Tim Lesniak. 

Anyone intersted in helping in the shop, please contact either myself or John Pelletier. 

I hope everyone had a very nice holiday, and am looking forward to a wonderful new year.

Galen

December 17, 2011

Hello Everyone

Let me start off by wishing everyone a wonderful holiday season.  For those who haven't made it up for Winterfest, the event is a great success thanks to so many different people's efforts.

Last Saturday (12/17/11), over 1,000 rides were given through the evening.  You can see by the first picture, the large number of people entering and leaving the gift shop and main gallery.

While Winterfest takes the efforts of a lot of people to keep it running, work around the museum property has not come to a standstill.

Work in the shop continues on a number of different projects.

John is working to replace the platform flooring in 16 along with taking care of some other repairs on 16.

Work is continuing on the Type 5

The car has been jacked up and the west end truck removed.  One motor has been removed from the truck, and disassembled.  We are in the process of baking the fields and renewing them for reinstallation.  We previously sent out an armature for servicing, and have that armature back to reinstall. 

(photo of motor with armature removed, prior to removal of field coils for Type 5)

We plan on continuing work on the motors for the Type 5 throughout the winter.

Other work on the Type 5 includes work on the flooring inside the car.  These pictures were taken previously, and John has begun reinstalling the floor.  Also at this time, the wiring to the car heaters is being replaced. 

I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season, and as the last pictures show Carol hard at work during winterfest with a long line waiting for tickets (On Saturday there was a constant line, with these pictures being taken around 7:30 P.M.);

Seasons Greetings.

Galen Semprebon
President~CT Trolley Museum

November 30, 2011

Hello Everyone

Well things have certainly been hectic at the museum for the last few weeks.  The snow storm in October added a lot of extra work to the set up for the event, but despite all the extra work, we somehow pulled it off and were ready for operation last Friday.  The first night was a shorter ride, but by Saturday night, we were running to Newberry siding.  There is still some overhead work to do between Newberry siding and Wells road on the catenary.  Thanks to everyone who pitched in to make this happen.  Please consider stopping down during the holiday and visit.  I'm sure George would appreciate the company inside the visitor center, and he always likes to show people his latest aquisition.

Work is progressing in the shop on the type 5, albeit at a reduced pace since so much labor was tied up in getting the line into shape and readying the visitor center for winterfest.  Work is progressing on the floor, and preparations are beginning on getting the dust collector and wood shop machinery set up. 

Work has begun on the visitor center entrance reconstruction.  The front vestibule was damaged during last winters record snow fall, and needed to be reconstructed and reinforced to prevent similar damage in the future.

Thanks to the fire museum members for their work on the line truck.  The truck is now up and running, which helped a lot in allowing repairs to the parking lot lighting.

We have also moved the trailers for the winterfest decorations closer to the visitor center to allow for easier loading and unloading.  The hope is to be able to remove the running gear in the future to drop them down, and then hide them with plantings so that the area is more visually appealing.  Also, now that the trailers are moved, shelving is being installed in one of them to help organize the contents better, and also allow us not to have to completely unload them each year to find what we need for decorating. 
 
For anyone interested in helping out, there still are a number of projects occuring at the museum this winter.  Work will progress in the shop until the cold weather sets in, then projects will occur within the visitor center. 

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving day and weekend, and look forward to seeing you at the museum this winter.

Galen  

November 8, 2011

Hello Everyone

I hope everyone has power back, and life is getting back to normal. 

The storm has created some issues at the museum.  The last Saturday night of Rails and last Sunday of Pumpkin patch were canceled.  This will cut into the museum finances, though the events were still both successful overall. 

We had some damage from the snowfall event.  Trees down on the line resulted in some damage to the overhead and A.C. electrical system for the signals.  Work has already been done to clear the trees from the line and repairs have begun.  We expect to be fully operational for the start of Winterfest.

The storm also delayed our start of preparations for Winterfest.  We had intended to switch the visitor center to change the layout of the cars within the building.  With the need to do work on the line, and the delay due to the snow on the ground, we have modified our plans to simplify the change up within the visitor center.  At the time of this writing, the cars are in position for Winterfest within the visitor center, much of the Winterfest decorations have been brought into the visitor center, and decorating has begun. 

We definitely need help the next two Saturday's setting up for Winterfest.  We only have two weekends left  before the start of Winterfest, and have a lot to do.  If you have time this coming Saturday, please consider coming down to help. 

Thanks to everyone who came out this past weekend to clear the line of trees and start repairing the problems on the line.  With the nature of the storm, we can be thankful that the damage wasn't much worse.

Galen

October 24, 2011

Hello Everyone

Well we had a very successful weekend for both Rails to the Darkside and Pumpkin Patch.  I don't have the numbers for Pumpkin patch for ridership, though the parking lot was very full for the event.  For Rails, we carried 462 people on Friday night and 737 people on Saturday night.  We had a great cast both nights. Saturday, we really challenged the inside cast since we sped up the tours to cut down on the wait time to enter the visitor center.  This coupled with bringing in larger groups of people has really helped keep the wait much shorter.  Scaring groups of up to 20 people in a group inside the visitor center is more of a challenge, but our cast is adapting and everyone seems to be having a great time.  

Thanks to everyone who have made the events successful.  Only one more weekend to go, and then we can start setting up for Winterfest. 

Work is progressing in the shop.  The type 5 was switched up this past weekend, and work has started on the car.  Seats are being removed to repair some heaving in the floor boards.  Also, wiring  replacement work on the heaters may be done while the seats are out.  Anyone interested in helping on this car, work is generally occuring every Saturday. 

Camillo is also working on the inside of the reading caboose, and I am guessing he would like help if anyone is interested in helping him. 

On Monday, October 31, Tim plans on switching the cars inside the visitor center in preparation for winterfest and also to help change up the display for next year.  Anyone interested in helping, please come on down. 

George has been working on preparing the small section house to be moved to the opposite side of the track.  This section house needs to be moved as part of the future track layout into the visitor center, and also provides the opportunity to get this building on a better foundation and more usable. 

As always, we can use your help at the museum.  There are projects happening all over the museum, and your help would aid in moving the projects along quicker.

Hope to see you at the museum.

Galen