My mother's sister is visiting for three days.
My mom's deaf as a post, my dad can't be bothered to get out of
his chair, so I will be doing the entertaining - the chauffeuring and
the talking and the communicating - for the next three days.
So I'll be posting back here Thursday.
Thanks for your patience.
Monday, May 21, 2012
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Pennsylvania: Train museum packed to move
From Altoona Mirror: Train museum packed to move
The platform layouts at the Alto Model Train Museum in the Rockway Building are vast expanses of plywood covered with miniature landscapes - fields, hills, homes and stores - interlaced with tracks.
They're utterly non-portable.
But the museum association will be moving them, because a bank has foreclosed on the building and has begun eviction proceedings.
Museum association members wonder whether they can find suitable space at an affordable cost and doubt their mostly over-70 membership has the manpower to transfer the layouts by the mid-July eviction deadline.
"We've been panicking," said John Curfman, association president. "We just have a lot of stuff to move and no place to move it to. That's our dilemma."
The museum will likely need to scale down, he fears.
First National Bank of Pennsylvania foreclosed against Rockway building owners Gabriel and Roberta Pellegrini recently, according to the Blair County register-recorder's office.
First National acquired the property on Industrial Avenue at 29th Street at sheriff's sale for $15,000, money that covered tax and other liens, according to Leslie Ott, real estate clerk for the sheriff's office.
The Pellegrinis owed the bank $406,000 on the property, which has a market value of $743,000, according to Ott and the register-recorder's office.
Gabe Pellegrini's engineering firm, Innovative Consulting Group, previously headquartered in the building, recently completed a Chapter 7 bankruptcy liquidation.
On receiving the eviction notice, Curfman tried unsuccessfully to negotiate a deal to stay, offering to pay more rent than the gift-level $2,000 the association has been paying the Pellegrinis for the entire 6,000 square-foot third floor.
"But the [new] owners wanted us out," he said.
More recently, he asked the lawyer representing the bank for an extension, but he didn't get a reply immediately, he said.
The association members are breaking down the platforms to move them, Curfman said.
"They were built piece by piece, and that's how they have to come apart," he said.
He guessed that dismantling and resetting would take 300 man-hours or more.
He estimated it would also cost $2,000 for new materials.
The association can reuse the trains, tracks, buildings and scenery if members dismantle them carefully, he said.
And they can mark the plywood and the accessories to help in recreating the existing layouts, he said.
But it might be more practical just to leave the plywood in place in the Rockway building and start over, especially if a new location doesn't allow for similar configurations, Curfman said.
If the association doesn't locate a new home before the eviction deadline, it could store some layout components temporarily.
"But the trouble with storage is you can tie up an awful lot of money," he said.
The association enlisted a real estate agent a few days ago.
Members were half-expecting eviction and had been scouting for a new location, but not seriously, Curfman said.
But after receiving the letter from the bank's lawyer, "we got real serious," he said.
Members were hoping they could find something downtown, where there's plenty of space available, presumably for a reasonable price.
They've had no luck so far.
"You'd think people with space to rent would rent it cheaper, rather than have it sit empty," Curfman said. "But that doesn't seem to be the case."
Because the association is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, renting would create the opportunity for a tax write-off for a landlord, Curfman said.
On Friday, at the museum, Curfman looked over the biggest of the six platforms.
"Can you imagine dismantling all this?" he asked. "My back hurts already."
The platform layouts at the Alto Model Train Museum in the Rockway Building are vast expanses of plywood covered with miniature landscapes - fields, hills, homes and stores - interlaced with tracks.
They're utterly non-portable.
But the museum association will be moving them, because a bank has foreclosed on the building and has begun eviction proceedings.
Museum association members wonder whether they can find suitable space at an affordable cost and doubt their mostly over-70 membership has the manpower to transfer the layouts by the mid-July eviction deadline.
"We've been panicking," said John Curfman, association president. "We just have a lot of stuff to move and no place to move it to. That's our dilemma."
The museum will likely need to scale down, he fears.
First National Bank of Pennsylvania foreclosed against Rockway building owners Gabriel and Roberta Pellegrini recently, according to the Blair County register-recorder's office.
First National acquired the property on Industrial Avenue at 29th Street at sheriff's sale for $15,000, money that covered tax and other liens, according to Leslie Ott, real estate clerk for the sheriff's office.
The Pellegrinis owed the bank $406,000 on the property, which has a market value of $743,000, according to Ott and the register-recorder's office.
Gabe Pellegrini's engineering firm, Innovative Consulting Group, previously headquartered in the building, recently completed a Chapter 7 bankruptcy liquidation.
On receiving the eviction notice, Curfman tried unsuccessfully to negotiate a deal to stay, offering to pay more rent than the gift-level $2,000 the association has been paying the Pellegrinis for the entire 6,000 square-foot third floor.
"But the [new] owners wanted us out," he said.
More recently, he asked the lawyer representing the bank for an extension, but he didn't get a reply immediately, he said.
The association members are breaking down the platforms to move them, Curfman said.
"They were built piece by piece, and that's how they have to come apart," he said.
He guessed that dismantling and resetting would take 300 man-hours or more.
He estimated it would also cost $2,000 for new materials.
The association can reuse the trains, tracks, buildings and scenery if members dismantle them carefully, he said.
And they can mark the plywood and the accessories to help in recreating the existing layouts, he said.
But it might be more practical just to leave the plywood in place in the Rockway building and start over, especially if a new location doesn't allow for similar configurations, Curfman said.
If the association doesn't locate a new home before the eviction deadline, it could store some layout components temporarily.
"But the trouble with storage is you can tie up an awful lot of money," he said.
The association enlisted a real estate agent a few days ago.
Members were half-expecting eviction and had been scouting for a new location, but not seriously, Curfman said.
But after receiving the letter from the bank's lawyer, "we got real serious," he said.
Members were hoping they could find something downtown, where there's plenty of space available, presumably for a reasonable price.
They've had no luck so far.
"You'd think people with space to rent would rent it cheaper, rather than have it sit empty," Curfman said. "But that doesn't seem to be the case."
Because the association is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, renting would create the opportunity for a tax write-off for a landlord, Curfman said.
On Friday, at the museum, Curfman looked over the biggest of the six platforms.
"Can you imagine dismantling all this?" he asked. "My back hurts already."
Saturday, May 12, 2012
May 12th Is National Train Day
From Forbes, Beth Greenfield Blog: May 12th Is National Train Day
Amtrak may not be perfect—far from it, actually—but I, for one, remain a loyal, longtime fan (especially of the Acela, for which I’ve got plenty of tips for improving your journey). And, come this weekend, National Train Day will bring celebrations and exhibits to communities all across the country to honor the 143rd anniversary of the U.S.’s first transcontinental railway. Major events—with entertainment, model-train displays, interactive exhibits, and tours of Amtrak equipment and luxury private rail cars—are taking place in train stations in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and Philadelphia, as well as in transportation museums and historical societies in more than 150 other towns and cities from coast to coast.
Amtrak may not be perfect—far from it, actually—but I, for one, remain a loyal, longtime fan (especially of the Acela, for which I’ve got plenty of tips for improving your journey). And, come this weekend, National Train Day will bring celebrations and exhibits to communities all across the country to honor the 143rd anniversary of the U.S.’s first transcontinental railway. Major events—with entertainment, model-train displays, interactive exhibits, and tours of Amtrak equipment and luxury private rail cars—are taking place in train stations in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and Philadelphia, as well as in transportation museums and historical societies in more than 150 other towns and cities from coast to coast.
The coolest part, in my opinion, will be the opportunities to climb aboard some historic and private-luxury rail cars, including:
In New York’s Grand Central Station, the restored Amtrak Pullman car Hickory Creek, the 1923 Pullman Kitchi Gammi Club, the private 1922 Cannon Ball, and a 1950 Amtrak sleeper car—as well as an Acela Express, for the uninitiated.
At LA’s Union Station, you can get on the Union Pacific Genset Locomotive, a freight train; a restored 1927 classic steam engine, the Santa Fe No. 3751, listed on the National Register of Historic Places; and the Overland Trail, a 1940 Pullman lounge car.
In Chicago’s Union Station, catch rail cars including the 1948 Silver Chalet, originally built for the Western Pacific Railroad; the Warren R. Henry, built in 1955 for the Union Pacific Railroad’s Portland Rose and refurbished by a Houston businessman in 2004. You can also take a 40-minute ride on one of three Amtrak special excursion trains, including a Superliner Sightseer Lounge. All aboard!
Friday, May 11, 2012
National Train Day chugs through Dallas-Fort Worth on May 12
From Star Telegram: National Train Day chugs through Dallas-Fort Worth on May 12
National Train Day will be celebrated in Fort Worth and Dallas this weekend with educational events. They include the chance to view big locomotives and model train displays, and to talk with train operators and staff and model railroaders. You can take a round-trip ride on the Trinity Railway Express, or watch the Amtrak, TRE and DART Rail trains in action. There will also be free entertainment, balloon art, face-painting and food and drink vendors. Find the complete event schedule online.
National Train Day
10 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday
In Fort Worth: Intermodal Transportation Center, 1001 Jones St.
In Dallas: Union Station,
400 S. Houston St.
Free
214-803-7285 ;
www.texasrailadvocates.org or www.nationaltrainday.com.
Monday, May 7, 2012
CA: Railroad ride starts, ends at Grover Beach station
From Times Recorder: Railroad ride starts, ends at Grover Beach station
Central Coast Railroad Festival is expanding its rail excursions on the California Central Coast.
Central Coast Railroad Festival is expanding its rail excursions on the California Central Coast.
The festival has scheduled a National Train Day Family Excursion starting at and returning to the Grover Beach Train Station on Saturday, May 12.
That same day, a National Train Day Wine Rail Excursion will travel from the Amtrak station in San Luis Obispo to the station in Paso Robles for wine tasting, with a return trip on a private bus.
A special Wine Rail Excursion on June 22 will take guests to the Pomar Junction Train Wreck Friday party in Templeton.
Check-in for the Family Excursion on Amtrak’s Pacific Surfliner will start at 11:30 a.m. at the Station Grill in Grover Beach, where children will receive free railroad promotional items.
At 12:30 p.m., riders will board the Surfliner, which will deliver passengers to the National Train Day festivities in San Luis Obispo by 1 p.m.
Activities will include railroad art displays and operating model trains from the San Luis Obispo Model Railroad Association.
Riders will assemble to reboard the train at 1:40 p.m. for the return trip to the Grover Beach station, where they’ll receive a free ice cream treat from Doc Burnstein’s Ice Cream Lab’s big red truck.
Tickets at $25 for adults and $19 for children 15 and younger are available on the Railroad Festival website at www.ccrrf.com.
Those who take the Wine Rail Excursion that day will leave the San Luis Obispo Amtrak Station at 3 p.m. aboard the Coast Starlight for a trip to Paso Robles, where wine tasting and railroad songs and stories from troubadour Don Lampson will be served up at the D’Anbino Tasting Room.
Guests who take a monthly Second Sunday Wine Rail Excursions aboard the Coast Starlight up or down the Cuesta Grade will learn a little railroad history, be served a light lunch and visit rail-related wineries.
The new excursions include a Sunday, May 13, trip that starts in San Luis Obispo and visits Pomar Junction Winery; a Sunday, June 10, trip that starts in Paso Robles and visits D’Anbino Tasting Room and Pomar Junction Winery; and a Sunday, July 8, trip that starts in San Luis Obispo and visits Pomar Junction Winery.
Wine Rail Excursions, limited to 24 people, are $49 for adults and $39 for children 15 and younger and usually sell out in advance.
The special excursion offered Friday, June 22, will start at 3 p.m. in San Luis Obispo aboard the Coast Starlight to Paso Robles. The cost for this trip is $39 per person.
A private bus will take guests to Pomar Junction for a barbecue, wine tasting and rockin’ blues from the Brad Wilson Band and then back to San Luis Obispo.
Tickets and complete schedules are available on the Railroad Festival website.
For more information, call the festival office at 773-4173.
Hobo’s Bash to mark life on rails
Oceano Depot is planning a Hobo’s Bash to celebrate the colorful culture of itinerant individuals who once rode the rails across America.
The fundraising event set for Saturday, May 19, at the Oceano Depot, 1650 Front St., will begin at
2 p.m. with a social hour.
A dinner to be served at 3 p.m. will include “hobo stew and all the trimmings,” plus dessert and a soft drink, coffee or tea, said Oceano Depot Association President Linda Austin.
Prizes will be awarded for the best hobo costumes, Austin said.
The event also will include live music, operating model trains from the San Luis Obispo Model Railroad Association and prize drawings.
More information and tickets at $25 per person are available by calling 489-5446 or 440-9994
Sunday, May 6, 2012
Exhibit at event marks Amtrak’s 40th anniversary
From the Toledo Blade: Exhibit at event marks Amtrak’s 40th anniversary
In 1971, the newly created Amtrak was generally viewed from one of two angles: the salvation of passenger trains in the United States, or an orderly funeral to phase them out. Forty-one years later, "America's Railroad" is still running, operating trains in 46 of the 50 states despite frequent budget battles in Washington, philosophical debates about its existence, and countless Jay Leno jokes about its trains' uneven on-time performance and occasional involvement in accidents. That history is recounted in an Amtrak 40th Anniversary exhibit train that has toured the United States since last May 7 and makes its penultimate stop in Toledo today as the centerpiece of this year's local National Train Day event. Through a mix of memorabilia, pictures, advertising, models, and full-scale dioramas, the train's three exhibit cars trace, in chronological order, Amtrak's run from its 1971 startup as the successor to passenger trains previously run by private railroad companies to its current-day operation of 150-mph Acela Express speedsters in the Northeast and cross-country overnight trains with dining and sleeping car service. "It's just interesting how much polyester there was in the 1970s," Derrick James, Amtrak's director of government affairs and corporate communications, quipped concerning the uniforms Amtrak attendants and dining-car staff wore during the company's startup years.
In 1971, the newly created Amtrak was generally viewed from one of two angles: the salvation of passenger trains in the United States, or an orderly funeral to phase them out. Forty-one years later, "America's Railroad" is still running, operating trains in 46 of the 50 states despite frequent budget battles in Washington, philosophical debates about its existence, and countless Jay Leno jokes about its trains' uneven on-time performance and occasional involvement in accidents. That history is recounted in an Amtrak 40th Anniversary exhibit train that has toured the United States since last May 7 and makes its penultimate stop in Toledo today as the centerpiece of this year's local National Train Day event. Through a mix of memorabilia, pictures, advertising, models, and full-scale dioramas, the train's three exhibit cars trace, in chronological order, Amtrak's run from its 1971 startup as the successor to passenger trains previously run by private railroad companies to its current-day operation of 150-mph Acela Express speedsters in the Northeast and cross-country overnight trains with dining and sleeping car service. "It's just interesting how much polyester there was in the 1970s," Derrick James, Amtrak's director of government affairs and corporate communications, quipped concerning the uniforms Amtrak attendants and dining-car staff wore during the company's startup years.
Amtrak's early uniforms and car decor featured the Disco Era's vivid colors, which also served to distance Amtrak from the gloomy, austere final years of private passenger-train operation.
"We always knew that Amtrak's survival was not a foregone conclusion," Paul Reistrup, the company's president from 1974 to 1978, said in Amtrak: An American Story, an Amtrak-published history that is among commemorative merchandise offered in the exhibit train's gift shop. "The Nixon administration considered it an experiment and might have let it pass if the 1973 energy crisis had not awakened people to the need for transportation alternatives."
A desire to promote passenger trains as an alternative to driving or flying is the driving force behind National Train Day, too, said Bill Gill, a regional coordinator for the advocacy group All Aboard, Ohio and the Toledo event's chairman.
"A lot of people in our region are not aware we have the beautiful Amtrak station and four trains a day that come through here," Mr. Gill said. Building awareness, he said, can make the existing trains useful to more people and foster support for better passenger train service in Toledo's future.
"We'll get thousands of people down here who have never ridden a train before," said Dave Gedeon, the director of commuter services at the Toledo Metropolitan Area Council of Governments, a National Train Day co-sponsor. "We still have hopes in the future of the Toledo community becoming a high-speed [rail] route," he added.
Along with the exhibit train -- which actually arrived Thursday and was set up Friday for visitors today -- Amtrak will offer tours of Superliner passenger train cars currently in use on many of its long-distance trains, and a Norfolk Southern freight locomotive will be on display.
Inside the train station at Martin Luther King, Jr., Plaza, National Train Day Toledo will feature rail-related displays, live music, food, and prize drawings. Several model train layouts will be operating, and "Engineer Steve" will give hourly, youth-oriented safety presentations.
Steve Rathke, a Norfolk Southern engineer from Springfield Township, said he began his "Engineer Steve" presentations at area Safety Town events after one of several car-train collisions during his railroad career.
"People, both young and old, have misconceptions surrounding trains and railroad tracks," Mr. Rathke said. "I feel that clearing up these misconceptions and educating the public is one way that I can make a difference. .… With the help of Engineer Teddy, a stuffed bear dressed exactly like an engineer, we talk to the kids at their level. As a group, we watch a cartoon and sing songs about what we learned."
National Train Day will start at 9:30 a.m. with opening remarks by several local and railroad dignitaries, including Toledo Mayor Mike Bell and Paul Toth, president of the Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority, which owns and renovated the then-crumbling Toledo train station during the mid-1990s. Tours and displays will be open to the public until 4 p.m. Admission is free.
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
England: Junior model railway club
From Fenland Citizen: Junior model railway club
MARCH and District Junior Model Railway Club is still going strong after moving to the new rooms at March Railway Station in September last year.
MARCH and District Junior Model Railway Club is still going strong after moving to the new rooms at March Railway Station in September last year.
Club leader Gary Christy said this has allowed the club to meet earlier at a more suitable time for school nights and to expand. Said Gary: “The Junior Club is now up to eight members with two additional full-time helpers and we successfully gained a Fenland District Council Youth Grant for £500 last December to build a new layout.
“Other than the grant, the Junior Club is totally self-funding through a small subscription charge but mainly from donations of unwanted model railway items and toys, most of which we use but some are sold at online auctions to raise funds.
“We are also grateful to the Friends of March Railway Station who allow us to use the rooms for a modest donation and Ridgeons who have supported us with the purchasing materials for our layouts.”
The Junior Club meets every other Tuesday from 6.30pm to 8pm in the Station Rooms along Platform 2 of March Railway Station.
“We do currently have places available and would like to welcome new members between the ages of seven and 16,” added Gary, who can be contacted on 01354-653045 or via email on gary@christy.org.uk for more information.
“If anyone has any model railway-related items they wish to donate to the club we would be very grateful or if anyone has some trains that have not been run for a while they can get in contact to bring them along to run them on our layout,” said Gary.
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