The Dispatcher Volume 52 Issue 8 August 2017 Central Oklahoma Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society Oklahoma Railway Museum, Ltd. NARCOA Affiliate Member Garden Railway Convention Visits Museum By Larry Dodd The Tulsa Garden Scale Railroad Club hosted the 33rd annual National Garden Railway Convention this year on July 10 through July 15 at the Renaissance Hotel and Convention Center in Tulsa Oklahoma. Attendees were from all 50 states and a few foreign countries. The convention includes activities on site at the convention center as well as a number of tours of local garden railroad layouts, railroad attractions and museums. One particular tour on July 11 included tours of Oklahoma City/Edmond garden scale layouts and The Oklahoma Railway Museum. We had 4 different 40 passenger tour buses arrive at our gate bringing convention attendees. Fortunately they were spaced throughout the day. The tour was designed to rotate people between the various private garden railroad layouts and the museum on specifically assigned buses. Additionally, we had over 100 guests arrive via private cars. Needless to say it was a busy day. Steve Kamm, Anne Murray-Chilton and my humble self acted as tour guides as best we could. Karl Stevenson had our HO layout running full steam and it was enjoyed by all who attended. Chuck Shinn was inside the Display Car happily entertaining the crowds. The air conditioning inside the cars helped, but the garden scale group really did enjoy our “little train set.” Despite the sweltering heat, the tour group enjoyed our facility and took countless photos of the rolling stock buildings and dropped several nice donations into our well. We appreciate the Garden Railroad Convention making us one of their “whistle stops.” In This Issue Garden Railway 1 President’s Column 2 Museum Update 3 RI RPO 760 4 Ramblin’ Rails 5 Education Update 6 Board Update 8 Track Display 9 Around The Grounds 10 First order of business on arrival at Oklahoma Railway Museum was to locate some Current Projects 11 shade for a group photo. The following three groups dispersed before we could Timetable 12 encourage them to pose, so I was only able to get one group. However; this is indicative of the group sizes that we had. Great attendance! Page 2 The Dispatcher The Oklahoma Railway Museum’s mission is to provide an educational experience of railroads and how they shaped Oklahoma and the Nation. The President’s Column Oklahoma Railway It has been four years this month (August) since I Museum, Ltd. joined the Oklahoma Railway Museum. FaceBook (405) 424-8222 reminds you of events by popping up pictures Board of Directors from your previous “posts.” The picture that came Eric Dilbeck, President up was of the RI 17834 Caboose. It was after the Bob Nantois, Vice President and museum had just started rebuilding the caboose Program Chair (vs the disassembly and cleaning). You could still Drake Rice, Secretary see someone standing on the other side of the Charles Price, Treasurer caboose. This was the first project I worked on at Craig Larson, NRHS Director the museum as a volunteer. At the time, I did not Bob Cossairt, Director of have any ambitions other than volunteering one Museum Grounds & Facilities or two Saturdays a month. Wow did that change! Bob Hussey, Director of As the RI Caboose restoration progressed, my role at the museum did as well. Track Maintenance Initially I helped with various restoration projects. Eventually I became more Terry Birchett, Director of involved with the operations of the museum. I think my test of commitment was Mechanical Operations shoveling coal for six days (not that I complained much,see picture above), as I Harry Currie, Director at Large was soon appointed Vice President, taking Larry Dodd’s place. I think this was Greg Hall, Director of Museum Activities another test as I was not even in the position a full term before elected President. Bob Cook, Director of Now as President, I find myself happily working on a variety of projects in my spare Museum Displays time: from working with Greg Hall painting rail cars to helping Anne with marketing, Ed Birch Jr., grant writing, and numerous other tasks. Our expansion plans are gaining a lot Train Show Chair of momentum and I am learning it takes a lot of work to keep it going. Especially Anne Murray-Chilton, balancing work, the museum, and my home life. Thankfully, I have a very supportive Membership Chair and helpful wife. (She edits the newsletter every month, and does a great job!) Eric Dilbeck, While I never had plans to become President or even a board member, it has been Interim Dispatcher Editor rewarding. I could not have found a more dedicated group of people to work with. Over the last four years, I have made friends and formed relationships across the country. I look forward to the next four plus years! See you on the rails! Day Out With ThomasTM September 29th & 30th October 1st, and October 6th, 7th, & 8th The Dispatcher Page 3 Museum Update By Drake Rice With the rains we have received, the grass is growing. If you would like to donate some time, the museum can always use some help cutting grass and edging. The museum has the equipment and if you can supply the time, it would be appreciated. Contact the museum office if you are willing to help. The batteries have been installed in the MKT 48 and the unit is now out of the shop. Additional oil has been ordered for our engines to top them off. Currently in the shop is the ATSF 2571 for some attention. It has had a water leak and other minor issues that will be addressed in the coming weeks. It is hoped to have this engine running during Day Out With ThomasTM (DOWT). Later this fall, Frisco 814 will go in the shop for battery replacement along with some other adjustments. The 814 has been the workhorse this summer handling all passenger operations since January, and performing very well. Work continues on the MKT Inspection car in the shop. Volunteers have moved all the DOWT items into one box car and put the RS-3 spare parts in another along with parts for our Porter steam engine. That was a big project on the last weekend in July and we thank those who helped. If you have been to the museum, you may have noticed some stakes. These are part of a survey of the entire property. This is to help plan the museum’s expansion by maximizing the use of the land. The Le Flore Depot will be arriving in the near future. Once the depot is on site, the next project will be a fence to help secure and control access to the museum property. Meetings will resume this winter on the master plan and future of the museum. Anne has been working on a volunteer guide for use at the museum. As we continue to grow, it helps us focus on our mission but provides guidance for any issue that may come up. It is important that we have a plan in place and volunteers know how to respond to issues when they arise. If you would like to help with the DOWT, please contact Anne at the museum office. We are looking for volunteers to staff the many positions that need to be filled. Thomas is our big event for the year and ticket sales are already ahead of the last year, which is a good sign. July has been a record month for passengers at the museum. There were 8 train rides in July. Based on our records we’ve carried 1141 passengers. This brings our year-to-date totals above 2016’s, a positive sign for the museum that more and more people are coming to the museum. This means people are seeing nice displays that Steve Kamm and his helpers have been organizing and setting up. We are having guests from Southern Kansas, Southwest Missouri, Eastern Arkansas and Northern Texas. We are becoming the place in our region to ride a real train and learn about the railroading. The last regular run day before DOWT will be September 2 on Labor Day weekend. We have several pieces of equipment coming to the museum in the near future. These are truly exciting times at the Oklahoma Railway Muesum. We hope you will come out and join us as we continue make improvement to the museum and its equipment. As always, we hope to see you at your museum. Engraved Purchaser’s Name ___________________________ Platform Bricks Phone No. _______________ Cost is $50.00 per brick. A maximum of 4 lines with 16 letters and spaces per line. More than Line 1 one platform brick can be donated to the Museum and you can make copies of the form below. Mail completed forms with check or money order to: Line 2 Oklahoma Railway Museum 3400 NE Grand Boulevard Line 3 Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73111 Call the museum with any questions. 405-424-8222 Line 4 Page 4 The Dispatcher Rock Island Railway Post Office 760 Crosstie By Eric Dilbeck Donations As announced in the July Dispatcher, The Oklahoma Railway Museum has Friends and families of ORM acquired Rock Island Railway Post Office (RPO) car #760. This car has a little continue to make donations history behind it. It started life as the New York Central sleeper “#10416 Peekskill to the museum for crossties, Bay” in 1948. It served on the New York Central lines until 1959 when it and 9 other equipment and facilities.