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The New York Museum of Transportation

HEADEND


Volume 32, Number 5 September-October, 2018


ANTIQUE FIRE TRUCKS BRING VISITORS TO NYMT

The Antique Fire Truck event, held on a hot Sunday, September 16, packed NYMT with visitors. Some 18 volunteers worked to host the crowd by staffing positions in the parking lot, in the gift shop, in the model railroad room and on the trolley. In the photo above, we see five of the nine firetrucks that came to visit NYMT.


STRONG MUSEUM TRANSPORTATION TOYS

On September 9th, 2018, Christopher Bensch, Vice President for Collections at The Strong Museum of Play, debuted his latest presentation, "Planes, Trains and Automobiles: Transportation Toys at the Strong Museum" at NYMT. A slideshow sampling the transportation toy collection of the Strong with wonderful commentary by Christopher was well received by those in attendance. The transportation toy collection at the Strong Museum is available for viewing on-line at: https://artsandculture.google.com/search?q=transportation%20toys


FALL FOLIAGE TROLLEY RIDE SEASON IN FULL SWING

The always-popular Fall Foliage trolley ride season was once again embraced by the museum-going community of the Rochester area. Heavy attendance has been a welcomed turn-around from the lost months of May and June when roof leakage shut down the trolley operation.

On a recent Sunday, for example, over 160 visitors rode car 161, even though it was an overcast day. By the last runs that day, it was so dark that the crew turned on the coach section’s lights. The excitement of riders young and old alike, however, certainly brightened the day immeasurably.


MIDTOWN MONORAIL EXHIBIT CONSTRUCTION IN FULL SWING

An update on the construction of the Midtown Monorail exhibit is in this issue’s Shop Report. This new and important exhibit is being built by many volunteers at NYMT, and will become a vital part of the visitor experience in years to come.


SHOP REPORT

Philadelphia and Western 161 — The continued blow-by leak at the exhaust port for car 161’s emergency valve required that the car be removed from service on August 25.

In the upper photo, the emergency valve is shown on car 161 when work on repairing the leak began. The many pipes located in this area of the car’s underside can only be glimpsed at in this photo. Fortunately, the emergency valve is mounted on a bracket so removal for inspection, cleaning and lubricating requires the disconnection of only one union; it is seen at bottom right. Unfortunately, this union was in such poor condition that it required replacement. In the lower photo, the emergency valve is seen in its disassembled state. From left to right are the main body, the slide-and-piston section, and the cap with spring. As the pressure differential on either side of the piston grows, the slide valve is moved slightly in its recess in the main body, opening some air ports and closing others.

Several work sessions soon followed. Bob Sass and Charlie Lowe performed a series of tests and determined the emergency valve would have to come off the car so it could be re-cleaned and re-lubricated. New member and trolley crew trainee Cody Catlin assisted Charlie in making sure the valve was carefully taken off the car, serviced correctly and replaced on the car. The next step was to “exercise” this valve through a procedure developed by Bob Sass. The deadman pedal at the rear of the car was unbolted from the floor, and several emergency air applications were made via the deadman piping. This, with the cleaning and lubricating done on the valve, finally encouraged it to seat correctly, ending the blow-by leakage. Some problems were found with the deadman system so the pedal was re-bolted to the floor, taking that system back out of service as it has been for the past 25 years or more. After several test runs of the car out on the line on September 15 by Charlie and Bob, the car was returned to service. It operated flawlessly the next day in regular service.

The cab heaters on 161 were inspected in September. One cab heater out of the total of four was found to be defective. Upon disassembly, it was found that the four solid bar heater units were intact but the wiring was defective. Dick Holbert made up new high-temperature wiring, and other work progresses at this writing.

Philadelphia and Western 168 — Cab heaters were inspected in September. All four heated up but defects in the snap switches were discovered.

N. Y. S. Rys., Roch. Lines 1402 — NYMT’s open car was re-tarped this fall by Charlie Lowe, Justin Micillo and Rand Warner.

Facility — Repair of the milking parlor’s roof has been delayed until early 2019.

Track — A track work project began on August 30. The contractor’s crew, under the direction of Mike Giambatista, replaced 30 ties between the Track 21 Switch and Remelt’s Stop. In addition, a point of wide gauge near Remelt’s was brought back to standard gauge. Here, several ties had to be un-spiked, plugged and re-spiked. The other part of the project was to re-establish the drainage ditch between BOCES and Reid’s Crossings. Wet conditions here have prevented bucket truck access except in dry summer months. The contractor started this work on August 31, and returned on September 5 and 9 to complete the ditching. Several NYMT volunteers assisted in this project. Rich Fischpera led the effort to ensure standards were met by the contractor, while Taylor Reed and Rick Holahan aided the effort by operating TC-1 as needed. As a bonus, the tall hedge of ragweed along the west side of the auxiliary parking area was removed by the contractor, greatly improving the area’s appearance.

The track crew was at work again on Monday, September 17, spraying weeds along the railroad. On Wednesday, October 10, the crew placed steps needed for the upcoming Halloween event.

Monorail — The Midtown Monorail was delivered to NYMT during the first week of September. A complete “kit” including monorail cars 1 and 2, numerous sections of rail, eight support posts, several car motors, the operating controls and numerous sections of railing are now being combined to form an exhibit honoring the monorail. The monorail was electrically operated, and even features small spring-loaded under-running trolley poles which contacted power wires, much as our trolley cars do on the museum’s railroad.

Monorail parts, including railings, trolley wire, support wheels and motors were trucked to NYMT on September 7.

Also included were enough support posts to recreate the monorail inside the NYMT milking parlor.

During September and October, more space was cleared for the construction of the monorail exhibit. A new track lighting system for the monorail was installed by Dick Holbert and Jim Johnson.

Extensive work has taken place in recent weeks, and the project remains on schedule for its December opening.

In the upper photo, Vin Steinmann is at work grinding off the protruding end of a reinforcing bar on the milking parlor floor. The lower photo shows John Ross and Carter Brown working on one of the sections of the partition wall being built for the exhibit. In the background can be seen the white paint applied to the cinder block wall by Rick Holahan. Several broken glass blocks in the windows seen here were replaced. And hiding under the blue tarp in the background…, well you’ll have to see for yourself in December! Two photos by Jim Dierks.

Board — At its September meeting, the Board of Trustees decided that, for regular Sunday operations, the 4:00 p.m. trolley run would be advertised as the last run of the day but that, in accordance with the timetable, a 4:30 p.m. could be made if found necessary. At its October meeting, the Board of Trustees approved being open on winter Sundays in early 2019. In consideration of lost attendance from earlier in the year and that NYMT might have to make up any shortfall for the milking parlor roof repair, the Board adopted an austerity budget for 2019 with the hope that strong attendance would permit an increase in funding levels.


ROCHESTER STREETCARS......................... No. 91 in a series

Rochester Transit Corp. 028
Author's Collection

© Charles R. Lowe

The January 19, 1941 fan trip on streetcar lines in Rochester was a snowy, overcast day not well suited to the photography of the era. When the group reached East Main Station, the clouds briefly parted and a lucky few shots were made of cars which were almost never photographed. It seems that the only time sweeper 028 made it into a railfan photo is our present image. This car was unusual since its brooms are arranged to push snow to the left. Normally, on double-track lines, snow would be piled to the right of the track by use of a right-hand sweeper; a left-hand sweeper such as 028 would just pile snow in the adjacent track. One wonders where 028, built in 1900 (apparently by McGuire) and riding on a Lewis and Fowler truck, would be used and why it lasted until 1941. Perhaps the answer is that it was useful in clearing certain yard tracks. More likely, 028 was retained to the bitter end of surface streetcar operation because of tree lawn track on the Lake Avenue line where snow piled up along the curb would not obstruct passenger loading onto streetcars from the sidewalk. Such track had once been common in Rochester but was restricted only to the Lake line in later years. In any case, 028 is seen here in its last campaign. By May 1941, after the end of surface streetcar operations on April 1, 1941, it would be stored at Blossom Road Yard ready for scrapping later that year.


ANNUAL RENEWAL TIME
NEARLY UPON US

Each year, those who are strongly interested in the health and well-being of NYMT are asked to make an annual membership donation to the museum. Such donations are one leg of the three-legged stool that keeps NYMT open, the other two being admissions and gift shop sales. Please click and print the below form, you can fill it out and donate according to the level of membership which is best for you.

http://www.nymtmuseum.org/membershipForm.html

For this, you receive: the ability to become an active volunteer; 10% off any gift shop purchases; a membership card; admission to the museum at no additional cost when open to the public (excepting some special events); the Headend; and a small gift as a token of appreciation for your donation. Such charitable donations may also be used as a deduction for tax purposes. Please also consider donating to one of several projects also listed on the form that may be of interest to you.




HEADEND


Volume 32, Number 5 September-October, 2018


HEADEND is a publication of New York Museum of Transportation, © 2018. All rights reserved. No portion of this publication may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher.
www.nymtmuseum.org (585) 533-1113




Headend

Editor Charles R. Lowe
Associate Editor James E. Dierks
Printer Bob Miner
On-Line Publication Bob Sass

Board of Trustees

President and Trustee Charles R. Lowe
First Vice President and Trustee Carlos Mercado
Second Vice President and Trustee Jack Tripp
Third Vice President and Trustee Nancy Uffindell
Secretary and Trustee Jim Dierks
Treasurer and Trustee Bob Achilles
Trustee Doug Anderson
Board Member Bob Sass

Department Leaders

Archivist Jim Dierks
Chief Engineer Charlie Lowe
Chief Lineman Charlie Lowe
Chief Track Car Operator Rich Fischpera
Exhibits Manager Jim Dierks
Event Manager Nancy Uffindell
Facilities Manager Dave Coon
Gift Shop Crew Manager Beth Adams
Gift Shop Manager Doug Anderson
Group Tour Manager Jim Dierks
Historic Car and Building Manager Charlie Lowe
Marketing Manager Jim Dierks
Master Mechanic Strafford Cars Charlie Lowe
Master Mechanic Track Cars Rich Fischpera
Model Railroad Manager Bob Nesbit
Membership Manager Bob Sass
New Volunteer Manager Carlos Mercado
Officer of the Day Manager Jim Dierks
Substation Manager Bob Sass
Track Maintenance Manager Rich Fischpera
Trainmaster Charlie Lowe

EDITORIAL COMMENT

As we come to the end of the year, membership renewal will be upon us. One of the most important benefits of being a member is that it allows one to act as a volunteer at NYMT. Please consider both renewing your membership and becoming an NYMT volunteer as well.

Charles R. Lowe, Editor



ALL ABOUT US

The New York Museum of Transportation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit museum chartered by the Board of Regents of the University of the State of New York. We are managed and operated entirely by volunteers, and the welcome mat is always out for anyone wishing to join our work. Open for visitors all year on Sundays only, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., we also welcome group visits during the week by appointment.

We are located at 6393 East River Road in the Town of Rush, and our mailing address is P.O. Box 136, West Henrietta, NY 14586. www.nymtmuseum.org is the place to find us on the internet and learn much more about us. Also, you can visit us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/NYMTmuseum.

Want to contact us? Call us at (585) 533-1113 or send us an email at info@nymtmuseum.org. And, remember to tell your friends!

Consider becoming a member www.nymtmuseum.org/Membership.php .