Railroad Forums 

  • New Roof for the Hopewell Depot

  • Discussion relating to the NH and its subsidiaries (NYW&B, Union Freight Railroad, Connecticut Company, steamship lines, etc.). up until its 1969 inclusion into the Penn Central merger. This forum is also for the discussion of efforts to preserve former New Haven equipment, artifacts and its history. You may also wish to visit www.nhrhta.org for more information.
Discussion relating to the NH and its subsidiaries (NYW&B, Union Freight Railroad, Connecticut Company, steamship lines, etc.). up until its 1969 inclusion into the Penn Central merger. This forum is also for the discussion of efforts to preserve former New Haven equipment, artifacts and its history. You may also wish to visit www.nhrhta.org for more information.
 #1322588  by Bernard Rudberg
 
Better weather means more visitors from the Rail Trail

Wanted: vendors for Arts and Crafts at the Depot. First Saturdays in May, June, August, September and October, plus July 11th. For more info E-Mail [email protected]

Now you can donate to the Hopewell Depot restoration online. We have set up a Pay Pal account to accept online donations.
http://hopewelldepot.org/index.php/give" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Your year-end tax-deductible contribution can be an enormous help to the Depot. We are counting on your financial support to help us maintain and grow the Depot (A 501c3 not-for-profit organization) as a cultural center in the region.
Your donation can be directed to fund one of the following initiatives for 2015:
1- Build of the 1892 Interconnect Switch Tower Fund
2- HDR Sustaining Operations Fund

Or you can send a check to:
Hopewell Depot Restoration Corp.
P.O. Box 1044
Hopewell Junction, NY 12533

A 501c3 not-for-profit organization

Sincerely,
HDR Board Members.
 #1323553  by Bernard Rudberg
 
Welcome to spring in the Hudson Valley. Snow flurries all day today.

Even so, we had a number of visitors from the Rail Trail. There was a walking club and a family of curious children who tried out our new train car parking brake wheel..

One of our volunteers was working in the basement workshop cutting wood. It set off the smoke detectors and before we could stop it, the fire department was at the door. After some ventilation and resetting we got things back to normal again.

Just another day at the Depot. Stop around on a Saturday and join the fun.
 #1325699  by Bernard Rudberg
 
The warmer weather has brought out the foot traffic on the Rail Trail and our children's play loco has come out of winter hibernation.



We still have room for vendors at our craft events. If you would like to participate please let me know.

Our dates are: May 2, June 6, July 11, August 1, September 5, and October 3. Our hours again will be 10 – 3, with set-up beginning at 8:30 a.m. This year we are also scheduling rain dates on the following Sunday (example: May 2 rain date would be May 3).

We are asking each vendor for a flat fee of $15 per event. If you reserve please send your non-refundable fee to Hopewell Depot Restoration Corporation at P.O. Box 1044, Hopewell Junction, NY 1252323. In the event of a two-day rain requiring cancellation of both days, your fee will be refunded or credited for another weekend.

We are still limited to having space for only 6-8 vendors. Contact [email protected].

Stop around to the Depot on a Saturday and we will show you what we have done with it.
 #1326785  by Bernard Rudberg
 
Sunny weather brought out the Rail Trail traffic. One interesting visitor was one of the very few women who ever held a railroad brakeman's/brakewoman's job. She worked for the Union Pacific Railroad on the line from Laramie Wyoming to Salt Lake City Utah. At the Depot, you never know who will walk in the door.


Stop around on a Saturday and take a look at the diorama we have of the Hopewell Junction train yard 100 years ago. Kids seem to love it and it has buttons to push for lights.
 #1327880  by Bernard Rudberg
 
On Friday evening we held our annual all-members meeting. On the agenda were election of board members for 2015, Update to the By-Laws, and a presentation by Dick Whalen about the move of the Pleasant Valley RR station to the Rhinebeck Fair Grounds as a permanent exhibit. We will be working with his group to set up the displays and lend some of our displays.
 #1328681  by Bernard Rudberg
 
Stop around to the Hopewell Depot on Saturday May 2. We will be hosting our monthly Arts and Crafts show.
There will be vendors showing off their wares and musical entertainment.


The weather forecast looks good. Come on down on Saturday.
 #1328897  by Bernard Rudberg
 
We had cool sunny weather for the show today. One of the items on display was 1922 Studebaker complete with a picnic set in a metal case.
The idea is that you carry the food in the case and when you are ready, you can heat it up in the engine compartment.


Vendors showed off their wares while we had live railroad music by Rick Soedler.

It was a good day at the Depot.
 #1329971  by Bernard Rudberg
 
Our volunteers have done a restoring job on the "Ice Cutter". Back before mechanical refrigeration was invented, cooling was done with ice harvested from local ponds in the winter. The ice was stored in well insulated buildings so it could last all summer. The "ice Cutter" was used to cut grooves in the ice to form blocks that could be transported by railroads to the ice storage buildings. The Borden Milk plant in Hopewell Junction had an ice house that held 900 tons of ice which would last the summer.

Stop around to the Depot and learn more about Hopewell Junction history.
 #1331622  by Bernard Rudberg
 
Today was a good day for a hike on the Rail Trail. We had quite a few visitors some from as far away as Reading, Pennsylvania.

We are working on a new display of ice harvesting tools. If you have anything in that line stored in your attic, we would love to have for our display.
Let me know if you have anything like that.

We are now on summer hours at the Depot. We are open Saturdays and Sundays from 11:00 to 4:00.

Stop around and see what we have done recently
 #1332778  by Bernard Rudberg
 
It was a cool sunny day with light traffic on the Rail trail.

One of the items donated today was an antique railroad marker lantern,

Don't forget, you can donate to the Hopewell Depot building funds on Pay Pal.
Just go to the web site.


http://hopewelldepot.org/index.php/give" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The Depot will be open Sunday 5/24/2015. Stop around and chat for a while.
 #1333728  by Bernard Rudberg
 
A semaphore was donated by our old friend Jack Shufelt. It will become one of our displays in the near future.

Save the date---- Next Saturday, June 6th, will be our next Arts and Crafts Expo at the Depot.
Several vendors will be there showing off their wares. Stop around and browse a while.
You might even find some nice graduation gifts
Hours will be from 10:00 to 3:00 and the rain date in Sunday June 7th

Next open day for the Depot will be tomorrow (Sunday May 31)
 #1336480  by Bernard Rudberg
 
With intermittent rain showers today, we had many people from the Rail Trail trying to keep dry including one young couple from Russia.

Our volunteers made progress on the display case for our ice harvesting items. Before Mechanical refrigeration, homes and businesses depended on natural ice to keep food cool. In the winter there was a big business in cutting ice blocks from almost every pond and lake. The Bordens milk plat adjacent to the Depot had an insulated ice house that held 900 tons of ice which would last through the summer months. The ice blocks came from a pond in Billings and were hauled to Hopewell Junction by the ND&C railroad.

The Depot will be open tomorrow (Sunday). Stop around and chat for a while.
 #1337397  by Bernard Rudberg
 
Despite cloudy rainy weather, we had quite a few visitors from the Rail Trail today including one group all the way from Alaska.

The latest addition to our tools display is a railroad spike maul. It was used by men like the famous song hero "John Henry" who was a "steel drivin man".
It was used to drive spikes into the railroad ties to secure the rails. You can look it over in our display of railroad work tools.
Click on the image to enlarge it.

Don't forget, you can contribute to our restoration online via PayPal. Just open the following link on our web site

http://hopewelldepot.org/index.php/give" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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