Danbury Railway Museum Thread

[andre]

Otto,

As delivered appearance vs McGinnis is still being debated (green ends or NH end paint, personally leaning towards McGinnis)
Floor will be redone while tryign to preserve as much of the original tile as possible (few spots where the floor needs minor attention due to pits or scrapes from being in work train service)
seats will eventually be restored, currently seeking out seat frames that are similar or from the era that match or possibly have a metal fabricator produce the frames and upholster the seats ourselves
the walls and interior is going to be deep cleaned and stripped top to bottom
as for paint and lettering we actually have the original letter boards and numberboards as templates, and our library has paint spec sheets with codes and diagrams so that isnt an issue
we have a good number of volunteers working on this project both steady and occasional help from other volunteers ( but as always the more the better and I am always welcoming of new volunteers)

[Otto Vondrak]

As delivered appearance vs McGinnis is still being debated (green ends or NH end paint, personally leaning towards McGinnis)

I vote McG.

Floor will be redone while tryign to preserve as much of the original tile as possible

Any of those tiles really worth saving? You're probably better off redoing the whole floor. That way, you only have to do it once.

currently seeking out seat frames that are similar or from the era that match

Cool- Where have you looked? Have you reached out to any other museums in the area who might have what you're looking for?

or possibly have a metal fabricator produce the frames and upholster the seats ourselves

Yikes. Have you priced that out? Big $$$. How many seats in those cars?

as for paint and lettering we actually have the original letter boards and numberboards as templates, and our library has paint spec sheets with codes and diagrams so that isnt an issue...

okay, then! No need to reach out to NHRTHA or anyone else then... (Only reason I might suggest reaching out to like minded individuals like the NHRHTA is that you might meet folks who are interested in your project and willing to donate to the cause)

we have a good number of volunteers working on this project

Three? Thirty?

Andre, you answered all my questions but the most important one: What's your budget like? How much fundraising will you have to do? In other words, where's the money coming from? Nothing worse than starting an unfunded project and having to abandon it halfway through due to lack of funds. Or is DRM sitting on a pot of gold set aside just for these two cars?

-otto-

[DutchRailnut]

Otto no one is asking finanial specifics on Naugy projects or other museums you have projects at, so why are you hammering Andre for these specifics???

[Otto Vondrak]

Otto no one is asking finanial specifics on Naugy projects or other museums you have projects at, so why are you hammering Andre for these specifics???

I'm hardly ”hammering" on anyone. I am only asking because it seems Andre is taking the lead on this project, and I am trying to offer helpful advice based on my own experiences with project fundraising. Nothing kills a project faster than running out of money or volunteers or both. Frankly, going to a metal shop to have new seats fabricated sounds like a costly idea. Prohibitively costly. Only replacing some of the floor tiles andnot all sounds like an invitation for doing the same work twice (or three times).

A project without a budget is what we call an "unfunded mandate." in other words, "Go do it, but we have no budget to give you." drawing up a plan for restoration will help determine costs BEFORE you go out and seek funds. Scrambling to come up with materials or solutions as you need them invites cheap shortcuts and shoddy work.

I only ask these questions because I like these cars and want to see them succeessfully restored. I don't care how much money is in the bank, I was merely asking if there is any money BUDGETED for this work at all? If anyone has sat down to do a cost estimate? That's hammering?

I am not working on any projects at Naugy, but if you have questions about any of their projects, I'm sure they'd be happy to discuss them with you. I bet before they start on any work they have a budget or fundraising goals, though...

-otto-

[gregorygrice]

I am the assistant leader of the project and will have another time lapse video with shots from the past Saturday. A lot of Catenary pieces were removed from the head end which revealed some of the remaining seating frames which will help us with getting the new ones looking as identical as possible to the originals.

[gregorygrice]

Three More

[peanut1]

NOTE: Should we modifie the title of this topic to Danbury railroad museum instead of what it says? just a suggestion =)

[gregorygrice]

NOTE: Should we modifie the title of this topic to Danbury railroad museum instead of what it says? just a suggestion =)

We were considering starting a new thread for the project.

[DutchRailnut]

NOTE: Should we modifie the title of this topic to Danbury railroad museum instead of what it says? just a suggestion =)

We were considering starting a new thread for the project.

well that should go in Museum forum as it no longer has anything to do with current topic just my $0.02.

[andre]

New video uploaded by greg from this past saturday:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MciDpA-o ... e=youtu.be

[Jeff Smith]

I've moved it to New England Railfan. The original question was about getting to DRM; may split the topic.

[Jeff Smith]

Topic Split; here's the MNR to DRM thread, which is relevant to MNR: http://www.railroad.net/forums/viewtopi ... 67&t=95256

Some of the posts were kind of borderline related, so I made the split for the DRM thread to be JUST about the DRM, and not about the visit itself.

[gregorygrice]

Topic Split; here's the MNR to DRM thread, which is relevant to MNR: http://www.railroad.net/forums/viewtopi ... 67&t=95256

Some of the posts were kind of borderline related, so I made the split for the DRM thread to be JUST about the DRM, and not about the visit itself.

Got a little confused, So this is where I can update progress and post the photos, correct.

[Otto Vondrak]

Got a little confused, So this is where I can update progress and post the photos, correct.

Yup!

[Otto Vondrak]

I am the assistant leader of the project and will have another time lapse video with shots from the past Saturday. A lot of Catenary pieces were removed from the head end which revealed some of the remaining seating frames which will help us with getting the new ones looking as identical as possible to the originals.

The nice thing is that cleaning up and getting rid of extra materials doesn't cost money (unless you count the cost of a dumpster... but if you're recycling scrap metal, that's a different story)!

Have you called any shops regarding fabrication of new frames?

Have you contacted any other museums to see if they have seat frames they might be willing to trade with you?

-otto-