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