**LONG ISLAND PRESERVATION NEWS**

[ConstanceR46]

I love seeing the work OBRM does!

As a question - is there a path in mind for the planned spur to the museum yard?

[RGlueck]

Insurance and legalities make everything more expensive and longer to get accomplished than anyone would like. That being said, OBRM does inch forward with what can only be good news. Yes Gary, we miss the regular updates and photos, and please remember, there are those of us who are not "victims of Facebook"! The #35 cab restoration is an inspiration, and you will soon see why I say that!
I would like a report on what else has been happening to the crown jewel locomotive. At age 69, I am losing hope of ever seeing a G5s back in steam or even reassembled. For me, that would be tragic.

Dick G.

[MADDOG]

I love seeing the work OBRM does!

As a question - is there a path in mind for the planned spur to the museum yard

YES! It will be a political and financial football, however we do have an end game.
MADDOG

[Twin Forks NRHS]

Hello Everyone!
Twin Forks is back in business! We have been working diligently on our two Long Island Cabooses and we have started work on our Osgood Bradley car(W-85). We have also acquired the two Missouri Pacific Cabooses and P&LE boxcar in Riverhead. We have started a Gofundme to help with moving the cars. (Link- https://www.gofundme.com/f/project-screaming-eagle ) Please feel free to message us if you have any comments, questions, or if you would like to help us out. Here is a link to our new website as well: https://www.twinforksnrhs.org/ More info and detials coming soon.

[MADDOG]

As the Oyster Bay RR Museum is busy wrapping up the turntable project for the year and hopefully forever ,our crews have been busy on other fronts.
Dinky #397-the Blue and Grey unit has been getting an interior overhaul in preparation for its use as the display 25 tonner. Once the Turntable has been 100% completed (soon), we plan on using a crane to place the other 25 tonner on the turntable and also hack #50 (N -22 prototype). Then we will use the crane to move a few other pieces around the yard including the boiler of #35. We are just waiting on RR Construction Corp to begin the installation of rails on the TT deck.
Our volunteers are still working to complete the cab work and the removal and replacement of all of the boiler studs. Then we will reinstall the cab and all of the appliances on the boiler shell. This will allow visitors the opportunity to sit in the cab of #35 attached to its boiler, off the ground.
As for those of you/us who have or have not succumbed to FACEBOOK, this where we will be posting all videos and photos.
Sorry Dick!!
MADDOG

[Twin Forks NRHS]

Hello All,

It has been quite a while since we last provided an update on our progress. In the past year, the Twin Forks Chapter has seen a great many changes in the composition of its leadership and membership, and our work sessions have become more ambitious than ever before.

Firstly, we are happy to announce that the Chapter has acquired former Missouri Pacific Cabooses #13456 and #13388, as well as a Pittsburgh & Lake Erie 50' boxcar. These three cars have long sat on a landlocked spur near Kroemer Avenue, roughly two miles from our worksite in Riverhead Yard. The boxcar will ultimately serve as our storage car. We currently have a fundraising campaign to help fund the relocation of the three cars to Riverhead Yard.



As far as the rest of our collection is concerned, our first major project (or projects) of the season was the restoration of former LIRR N-22B Hacks #C-63 and #C-64. Over the years, our Chapter has had considerable success in keeping these cars well preserved and well maintained. Still, the interiors remained largely untouched since their retirement, with C-64 in particular being the recipient of much graffiti. The past few months have seen the interiors and exteriors of both cabooses completely repainted, albeit with lettering remaining to be applied. In addition, we have also succeeded in making the plumbing, electrical, heating (stoves) and brake systems fully operational. While all preserved equipment tends to be a constant work-in-progress, we are happy to report that these two cabooses are now suitable for showcasing to the public, inside and out.





In recent weeks, some of our attention has shifted to former LIRR MOW car #W-85, a former Boston & Maine "Osgood Bradley" coach that had been converted for alcohol and sandite service on the LIRR. With ample unused space and shelving, the car proved to be a perfect fit for relocating all of the tools and other equipment we had previously stored in C-64. To our surprise, a test of the car's electrical system and close inspection of the car's structure has shown that the car is actually in better shape than previously speculated, and we look forward to returning the car to its original color scheme of B&M "Minuteman Red" and making it an attractive and visible centerpiece to our collection in Riverhead Yard.





With so much attention on the rest of the cars, one piece that has yet to receive our full attention is former LIRR #W-93, the Jordan Spreader. This has long been one the most iconic pieces in the Chapter's collection, but because of its comparatively intricate and complex design, we have decided to put heavy repairs on hold and focus on preserving the spreader in its current state until we are able to dedicate the proper amount of time for welding and painting.



We hold work sessions more or less every Saturday from 11-5, and new volunteers are always welcome. For more information and questions about work sessions, please send us an email at [email protected]. Please also feel free to stop by and see the progress that we continue to enjoy, and stay tuned for future news and updates!

[RGlueck]

What you have posted deserves nothing other than real praise! For a long time many of us have thought the RR collections on LI have not gotten the attention they continually require. Comments for you: Why are the two bay window hacks painted in MTA colors rather than LIRR orange? Do the MoPac cabooses have any LIRR history, or are they simply interesting artifacts of RR design? The sandite car, nee coach, is a nice snag. Glad to learn it is getting the old Boston & Maine colors.
A very positive report. Thank you!

[Twin Forks NRHS]

Hello RGlueck,
Thank you for your support! If you are interested in coming out in person, just shoot us a message!

As for our rolling stock, we decided to paint C-63 and C-64 in the MTAs Blue and Yellow paint scheme because no other cabooses in preservation on Long Island are currently painted in that scheme. We wanted to set ourselves apart from the other organizations. We plan to do the lettering on the two caboosee next spring.

As for the Missouri Pacific Sedalia cabooses, they were never owned by the Long Island, however they did arrive in Riverhead on their own wheels. We wanted to save them so that we can show how different the Long Island cabooses were to the rest of the country.

[workextra]

Regarding the recent work done by the Twin Forks NRHS.
Those guys are operating on a shoe string budget managing to do all they did with as little as they had.
A real change in the culture of preservation (railroad) on LI.
This organization seems to have their act together and wants their mission to be a little different than others. Too much of the same is not good either.

For many years it’s been the same stagnant existence of rusting equipment and little to no interest.
The old guard dead ended and did what they could and we’re happy with status quo. The status quo might be great for little kids but turns away those with the skills needed in Rail preservation, that approach has been a death blow for many years in Long Islands busy and very competitive market. There’s so much other stuff to do, would you rather volunteer with a successful organization or with a bunch of selfish greedy old men playing with the G16 and Lionel? The old guard essentially let go of a nice size lot of heritage equipment because of lack of interest inability and on and off refusal to do any work.

I commend the work done by Twin Forks and hope the positive change can take hold and old grudges be settled respectfully and let it be seen what needs to be done.

Fact is, LIRR WILL NEVER PAY A DIME THE RESTORATION OF ANY OF THE SCRAP METAL IN RIVERHEAD.

This is not political. We’re supposed to work together to achieve success and not have in fighting.
The fact is, the infighting has FAILED Long Island railroad preservation. Nobody can deny that fact.

[ConstanceR46]

I don't think being too hard on the RMLI is justified - they've made progress with restoring a lot, including the little 0-4-0... I don't think it's exactly fair to pin "Status Quo" on the RMLI, especially as they've made strides with restoring the BEDT steamer and the 0-4-0... stuff like Lionel has broad appeal - which can be leveraged into donations.

I'm not saying the RMLI is free of blame - the MB54 being cut up was a travesty. Nor am i attempting to devalue the OBRM and TF NRHS. But, at the same time, categorizing the RMLI as sitting around is blatantly untrue.

[Twin Forks NRHS]

Hello All,

With the cold weather fast approaching, we are trying to maximize our productivity and get some last minute projects completed. This week, we were able to install a couple of windows in our Boston & Maine coach. Over the years, as a few windows in this car sustained damage, they were simply boarded over with plywood to provide some level of weatherproofing and security. We had purchased a few pieces of Plexiglas from Home Depot, and cut several new window panes from it.

We felt the installation of these new panes would improve both the exterior aesthetics and the interior lighting of the car. Four of the new windows are now installed.

Although full-fledged painting will have to wait for friendlier temperatures, we will proceed with general upkeep of the car and the rest of our equipment throughout the winter. Feel free to reach out to us with any questions or any interest in attending our work sessions. Additionally, we pumped air in the brake system and it held air. The car fully passed a brake test.

[RGlueck]

Forward momentum on the full-size equipment will serve the LIRR museums much better than will any Lionel train set. If the real deal gets attention, it attracts the interest of serious restoration hounds. If you miss those people, you might as well fold up the tent and leave town.
Just my opinion.

[hondajohn]

The structural restoration of LIRR #35's cab is complete, and I've attached some before-and-after pictures to demonstrate our progress since December 2018. All that remains is to fabricate/install new wooden windows and doors, paint the interior and exterior, and apply numbers.

IMG_20190108_142441761.jpg (448.16 KiB) Viewed 2545 times

67203558_2336630169706143_6076215487782453248_n.jpg (109.62 KiB) Viewed 2545 times

67403128_2336630073039486_7828242182371803136_n.jpg (93.4 KiB) Viewed 2545 times

[RGlueck]

Since you're not yet ready to reassemble the G5s,may I make the suggestion you use the cab, the whistle on a compressor and the bell in Santa Claus and Fourth of July parades? You'll get noticed and you can hand out informational flyers along the parade route. You may find it requires road permits due to the width, but the Nassau Police with likely agree for special occasions. Other than showing it off at public events, don't park it anywhere outside the museum compound!

Nice piece of restoration, by the way.

[MADDOG]

Hi everyone,
Our immediate plans are to complete the restoration of the cab and then re-install in on the firebox.
Our fabricators have been busy removing all of the bad boiler studs and we purchased the remainig staybolt caps from RMLI.
Over the winter and spring, we will be reinstalling the caps, after sandblasting and painting of course, onto the firebox and replacing the bad studs to enable us to hang the restored cab.
As part of our plan regarding the simulators, having this cab reinstalled on the boiler will yield us a steam locomotive simulator to go with our early and late diesel sims as well as our M1/M7 sims. Our volunteers have beeng athering all of the cab and backhead appliances to reinstall.
Now that the turntable is being finished, we plan on hoisting GE 25 tonner #398 onto the turntable along with Cabin Car #50. This will free up yard space to move #397 away from the turntable and allow us to lay out one long track north from the turntable.
We have also planned to move #35's frame closer to the North fence, #35's boiler from an east/west to a north/south position.
Then we plan on placing our 2-40 foot trailers on either side of #35's boiler and putting a roof on it, so we can perform some work on the boiler.
When the running gear comes back completed, we will then have the frame rebuilt as part of the contract with SOC and will then be able to put the entire lower end of #35 back together. Over this winter, we are getting new tender truck wheels/axles/bearings installed.
Big plans for 2020 and the future!
MADDOG