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PRESERVING and MAKING RAILROAD HISTORY MISSION to Preserve, Restore, Interpret and Operate Historic Railroad Equipment and Artifacts Significant to Northeast Indiana

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PRESERVING and MAKING RAILROAD HISTORY MISSION to Preserve, Restore, Interpret and Operate Historic Railroad Equipment and Artifacts Significant to Northeast Indiana 2012 ANNUAL REPORT PRESERVING AND MAKING RAILROAD HISTORY MISSION To preserve, restore, interpret and operate historic railroad equipment and artifacts significant to Northeast Indiana. VISION We preserve and make railroad history, offering outstanding hands-on educational experiences through the operation of steam locomotive no. 765. DIRECTORS William Otter, President; William Woodward, Vice-President and Excursions; Michael Guptail, Treasurer; Richard Brinkley, Secretary; Steven Winicker, Mechanical; Thomas Nitza, Training and Facilities; Wayne York, Excursions; Kelly Lynch, Communications; Richard Popp, Director at Large, Henry Germann, Director at Large EX-OFFICIO Richard Melvin, Operations; Al Rayner, Safety; David Cox, Mechanical. Fort Wayne Railroad Historical Society, Inc | a 501(c)3 Non-Profit Corporation 260-493-0765 • fortwaynerailroad.org • Post Office Box 11017 • Fortayne, W Indiana • 46805 WILLIAMSON, WEST VIRGINIA Volunteers guide the organization’s every task, from bookkeeping, mechanical work and maintenance, inspections, housekeeping, event administration, souvenir sales, advertising, and outreach. Active DOCUMENTED VOLUNTEER HOURS SPENT volunteers number about 40 with 72 participating IN THE SHOP AND ON THE ROAD. this year, with ages ranging from 10 to 77. The 765 visited terminals in Bellevue and Toledo, Ohio, Williamson, West Virginia, Conway in RAILROAD EMPLOYEES AND THEIR Pittsburgh, and Enola in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, FAMILIES RODE OUR EXCURIONS. and St. Louis, Missouri. The 765 consumed its weight in coal during 11 weeks of operation and was under fire for a total of 51 days, MILES OF EXCURSION SERVICE. 29 of them consecutively. The Santa Train remains one of the society’s most important fundraising events. Both it and the Open House were record breakers in attendance numbers PASSENGERS BOARDED THE SANTA TRAIN. and revenue generated. Memberships support day to day operation of the organization, railroad preservation, and excursion start up costs and members contribute time and talent throughout the year. Members support the MEMBERS SUPPORTED THE SOCIETY. society from around the world. PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA TOLEDO, OHIO ST. LOUIS M E K A MICHIG A N E L RI KE E LA I OWA TOLEDO P E NNSY LVA N I A N BELLEVUE J FORT WAYNE PITTSBURGH HARRISBURG M A RY LAN D O H I O ILLIN OIS I N D I A N A DEL W E ST VIRGINIA WILLIAMSON ST. LOUIS SSOURI V I RG INI A a Multiple Unit connection were just a few of the things that were on YEARS OF PROGRESS, MILES OF CELEBRATION the list. 2012 was an critical year for the Fort Wayne Railroad Historical Society. Wayne York, our Excursion Director, was charged with assembling and managing a capable and trained corps of Car Hosts. This was no easy task At the conclusion of 2011, we were reviewing all aspects of our operation as our travels would take us from Ohio to West Virginia, Pennsylvania for ways to improve our methods, our results, and to seek good excursion and Missouri. Car Hosts are expected to transport themselves from one possibilities, and had yet to solidify operating prospects for 2012. That location to another, not mention that they had to do this in between all changed when Rich Melvin, our Operations Director and Senior their normal weekly activities in such a way as to be ready for a 6:00 Engineer, received a call from a top Norfolk Southern executive AM Saturday morning briefing in most cases. Car Hosts are a critical in response to a letter that was sent to the company months earlier part of our safety program in that they are responsible to make sure thanking them for all of their excellent assistance in deadhead moves our passengers get on and off the train safely. This can be a challenge during the previous season. That letter also contained a suggestion to depending on the terrain of the boarding area. Not one injury related to consider utilizing the 765 to help celebrate the 30th anniversary of NS. the boarding process was reported from our more than 7,000 passengers. Wayne also deserves credit as being one of the founding members, Not only was that suggestion well received, it resulted in the President celebrating 40 years with the society, and the person responsible for and CEO of NS instructing his staff to work with us to put together suggesting the utilization of the 765 to NS for their 30th anniversary an extensive excursion program for NS employees that would span six celebration. different terminals on the railroad. This presented the organization with one of the biggest challenges it has ever faced in regards to properly Gary Bensman, Supervisor of Standard Practices, joined us for the preparing for this duty. We needed to immediately begin operating season by living on the train for the duration. Gary has a long history crew and car host training, mechanical repairs and modifications to with the Society and is without doubt one of the most experienced 765 the 765, obtaining a first-class passenger consist, not to mention the operators we have. He was able to provide invaluable assistance to our less exciting aspects of an undertaking of this scale such as obtaining mechanical team and brought his many years of experience to the table the largest insurance policy we have ever purchased and figuring out for our benefit. Gary believes strongly in following the operating and all the servicing and transportation logistics. Our managers responded repair procedures that the Nickel Plate Road utilized in achieving their professionally and with dedication. great success, and this proved to be a winning formula. Steve Winicker, our Chief Mechanical Officer, put together a rather Dave Cox, a long-time volunteer, accepted the position of Chief overwhelming list of all the various mechanical projects that would need Mechanical Officer Trainee, with the goal of eventually assuming the to be accomplished. Parts of the locomotive and tender that had not seen position of CMO. Dave also spent the entire season living on the train. the light of day for many years were now being pulled apart and rebuilt. The responsibility of maintaining and operating the 765 for weeks on Extensive modifications to the braking and electrical systems would end was immense and by having our first line of mechanical ability a few be necessary to comply with current NS standards and the ability to cars behind the 765 at all times, we had a comfort level that could not operate a brand new 3.2 million dollar diesel from the cab of the 765 via have been better. Kelly Lynch, our Communications Manager, made sure that we Rich Melvin, Operations Manager, played a critical role in many aspects took advantage of every outreach and social media tool available and of the 2012 operations. From his detailed scouting and preparation of significantly upgraded our annual informative publications. We had information packages for every service event, including such things as a record number of followers on the various electronic forums and how many feet from the tracks to a nearby hydrant, to his intimate were able to gather vital feedback that proved without a doubt that knowledge of the many miles of rail we would travel on, Rich enabled many thousands of fans had the opportunity to see and enjoy mainline us to garner praise from NS for the highly professional pre-planning steam, many for the first time. Kelly also published a book, Magnificent that was so essential to smooth operations. Rich was also our Senior Machine, that is the most thorough illustrated history of the 765 ever Engineer and readily handled the 765 for the high point of his career by printed. taking the train over Horseshoe Curve. Our volunteer crew answered the call of duty beyond expectations. The Tom Nitza, Training and Facilities Manager, had his work cut out for hours were long and hard and our various crews responded without him when he volunteered to establish our Drug and Alcohol Testing complaint. It is important to point out that no injuries were reported for Program-a requirement for the past season. We now have a professional the season and that the 765 experienced no major mechanical issues in program in place, identical to that of any railroad operation. It was an over 3,700 miles of operation. immense job to develop and institute the program. Tom also handled all safety training and general railroad operation training for the entire The challenge is to recognize everyone that contributed to our successful crew. His efforts have recently produced various on-line courses that are efforts for the 2012 season, and they are many. Countless hours of cleaning, available to the membership. In addition to the previously mentioned polishing, painting, and a multitude of other tasks were performed by responsibilities, Tom handles our physical plant in regards to building our volunteers. Everyone that participated deserves heartfelt thanks and grounds maintenance, track work, and diesel maintenance. for a job well done. The dedication of our members makes our success possible. Mike Guptail, Treasurer, was able to work with the most significant revenue and expense numbers the society has ever seen. We had a We wanted to bring the highest level of professionalism that we could tremendous amount of preseason expense to prepare the engine, tool achieve to all aspects of our operations. This included such things as car, and auxiliary tender, as well as securing the passenger car consist, establishing a Crew Chief, further developing our training and safety arranging proper insurance, purchasing crew uniforms, ordering sufficient programs in depth and content, and even going so far as to providing merchandise for the concession car, and purchasing enough coal for the uniforms for the operating crew. All in all, we wanted to change the season.
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