**LONG ISLAND PRESERVATION NEWS**

So I was thinking... if any of the preservation groups on Long Island want to do an article about their projects and future plans, send me a note. Let's make it an article to post on RAILROAD.NET. Here's one article about Long Island, let's add some more!!

http://railroad.net/articles/railfanning/lirr/index.php

PM or email me if you're interested...

-otto-

While not an article, an update on this forum.

From the Board of Trustees from the Oyster Bay RR Museum:

To the average commuter on the LIRR during the middle of the twentieth century there is probably nothing that symbolized their hours spent riding the rails more than the inside of a Ping-Pong coach. The P-54 coach as it was classified was designed as a lightweight coach to replace the wooden fleet. The light weight and truck design also resulted in the rough ride that earned the cars their nickname. An interesting feature of the cars is that they were made to be converted from steam hauled to electric with relative ease. They served the LIRR faithfully for an impressive 60 years!

When the last were retired in 1974 many found homes on tourist railroads. Subsequently, none were saved by any preservation group on Long Island, leaving a major gap in telling of the story of the LIRR. In the recent past a few opportunities have come up to rectify this. Such opportunities included the car on the Long Island Expressway and the batch of cars in Boonton, NJ. Unfortunately the cars that were available had been gutted or significantly altered and all suffered badly from corrosion thus making their salvage and restoration cost prohibitive.

Recently the Knox & Kane tourist railroad in western Pennsylvania closed its doors for good and sold off its equipment. A scrap metal dealer bought a good portion of the rolling stock, including three Pings. Thanks to our friends from Island Rail LLC we were put in contact with the scrapper and arrangements were made to inspect the cars. For cars that are notorious for rotting out, these are remarkably solid, a testament to the care and maintenance given by the Knox and Kane. One car in particular, T-54 #7433, is in remarkably good shape and still retains its original seat frames and classic round windows.

While we are fairly picky when it comes to adding rolling stock to our collection, this car was simply too good to pass up and the odds of finding another car in as good of shape are very slim. After an inspection trip by the OBRM we have purchased it for inclusion into the museum. This car is a very important acquisition and in reality, we had planned for such an acquisition in our long range plans in the hopes that such an opportunity might arise. The cost of purchasing, transporting and restoring the coach are considerable but we feel that the collection would not be complete without it. As it stands now the car should be delivered to Oyster Bay in March/April of 2009.

Naturally, we are seeking donations toward this cause. For all those impassioned lovers of the ping-pong and those wishing to ensure the continued preservation of the LIRR's rich history, here is your chance to make a difference. Please consider sending a tax-deductible donation to us and mark your check's memo box "PING PONG". Donations may be sent to: OBRM, P O Box 335, Oyster Bay, New York 11771.

We want to give big thanks to Island Rail LLC for all of their support and for being a corporate sponsor of the project. We will keep you updated as things come together. Meanwhile, feel free to forward your questions to us at [email protected].

See also: http://railroad.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=63&t=57388
Maddog

Glad to see one Ping Pong was saved so kudos to Oyster Bay. To bad we could not save the Watermill car, I will never give it up. There is always ways to get money and that is not from Lionel Cars and not from Little.
Olaf the Red
US Merchant Marine

Gentle Forum Members,

Please turn your attention to our RMLI "News and Events" webpage:

http://www.rmli.us/News_and_Events.html

We are pleased to begin a recruitment program for new Museum Volunteers in 2009. Thank you for taking a look and please consider spending some time with us this year.

de Don n2qhvRMLI

Hauspiper wrote:Glad to see one Ping Pong was saved so kudos to Oyster Bay.

Another ping that was at Knox & Kane has gone to the Arcade & Attica in upstate New York.

Hauspiper wrote:Glad to see one Ping Pong was saved so kudos to Oyster Bay.

One or two supposedly went to Ashtabula, Carson & Jefferson Scenic RR, to join their other P54's:

http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPi ... id=1329450

MADDOG wrote:I realized that there is a huge problem, but would like to know what his is...

Please yake your personal disagreements outside. This thread is for **LONG ISLAND PRESERVATION NEWS**

-otto-

Gentle Forum Members,

It has been since November 2008 that I have posted anything new on the LIRR G5s Steam Engine 39 restoration. Work has been progressing steadily and I will be making a visit to the Strasburg Railroad Shops during the week of April 6th. A full report and new photos will be forthcoming.

Until then, may I direct your attention to a "Strasburg Update" thread, currently active and located on the "Railway Preservation News" Forum. http://rypn.sunserver.com/forum/viewtop ... =1&t=27216 There are two photos of new crown bolts and flexible staybolt sleeves for Engine #39 as well as a very interesting discussion on the replacement of #39's roof sheet, (page 2).

Until I return from Strasburg, enjoy,
de Don n2qhvRMLI

Car 60 Repainted

http://img15.imageshack.us/img15/131/img0486l.jpg

See also: http://railroad.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=63&t=60557

-nice paint job on the cabin car. How is # 39 doing? Any updates on #35? Springtime is here, visit some trains time. Hope a lot of people make it to the LIRR museum sites.

Roger

LIRR G5s Engine #39 Report from Strasburg, April 8, 2009

(NOTE: click on the thumbnail to view a larger image.)

On Monday, April 8, 2009 I had the pleasure of meeting with Rick Musser, Shop Foreman and Linn Moedinger, President & CMO at the Strasburg Railroad Company. Work is progressing on the firebox of Engine #39. 39’s new roof sheet has been fabricated and work continues to prepare it for installation.




I was happy to meet one of the young craftsmen who work for Strasburg, Mr. Brendan Zeigler. He has been spending many hours working on the firebox restoration. Brendan is a frequent contributor to the Railway Preservation News Forum and has the exceptional ability to explain complex mechanical/engineering concepts in a way the layman can understand them.




Repair work continues on the backhead. Overall, the backhead is not in bad condition. Welded repairs to those areas showing too much erosion are being performed to build those areas up to full thickness.




The crown sheet on the other hand is another matter. Upon close inspection it was found that steel around many of the staybolt holes in the center of #39’s crown sheet had been badly eroded. Since so many areas had been affected it was deemed most efficient to cut out the bad section and replace it with a new crown sheet section. In the following photo, the red marks outline some of the worst pitting and steel erosion surrounding the staybolt holes.




Looking upward from inside the firebox, we see that much of the crown sheet has been removed. The remaining steel does not exhibit the erosion and pitting seen in the center of the crown sheet. (Note the supporting rods for comment later in this report.)




Here is the new crown sheet section, resting on the floor, awaiting installation into the top of the firebox. Note the tabs welded around the perimeter of the steel. These tabs are located to hold the steel section in place while welding is performed.




Brendan holds one of the many flexible staybolt sleeves that will be welded onto the roof and side sheets of the firebox.




In the following photo we see the sleeve set upon the sheet;




a staybold is passed through for demonstration purposes;






and finally the cap is placed over the staybolt into the sleeve.




These flexible staybolts are located in areas of the firebox that must be allowed some movement while expansion and contraction of the steel occurs during firing and cooling.


Following are three photos taken the week of May 8, 2009 by Rick Musser at Strasburg.




The roof sheet is held in place by braces and the new flexible staybolt sleeves have begun being tack welded into place.




Work is progressing at a rapid pace.




This is a brand new staybolt not yet finished. It awaits machining to place the threads on the end and the taper. This is critical work as the threads at both ends of the bolt must start together to maintain the correct distance between the inner and outer sheets of the firebox.




Here we see two NEW support rods. These rods were manufactured to replace the two broken rods located below the roof sheet and above the crown sheet as shown in earlier photos.




Since our inspection trip on April 8, we have shipped #39’s whistle valve and bridge pipe valve (turret valve) to Strasburg for locating and mounting on the roof sheet. In June we will move the steam manifold to Strasburg. Following is a photo of #39’s bridge pipe valve prior to shipping.





Respectfully submitted, May 8, 2009
Don Fisher, President RMLI

Looks great, keep up the good work.

Sweet! Ehen do they think 39 will be done? Whose doing work on the wheels + axles? I wonder how 35 is doing...

Engine 35 after retirement in Eisenhower park-

About now-

FROM THE OYSTER BAY RR MUSEUM:
Sunday June 14th was prep day for the return of former LIRR Ping Pong coach.
As I am writing this posting, 2pm Monday 6/15 , one of our trusted volunteers is in Marienville PA with Silk Road Transportation rigging the car onto highway bogies for the (VERY) long trip to Oyster Bay. The car will be leaving PA Tuesday 6/16 morning and is scheduled to cross over the GW bridge around 10pm. The car is then to be routed to Oyster Bay and unloaded around 8am Wed. 6/17.
Our volunteers will be coordinating with Silk Road during the unloading process and without any surprises, the car's unloading will be be complete by early afternoon.
We will the conduct another inventory of needed parts for restoration.
MADDOG