New Roof for the Hopewell Depot

Brisk fall weather today. Most of the work was on the two doors in the west wall. The arch-top door gets a lot of detailed attention while the square-top door gets new panels.

Next work sessions will be Wednesday 11-16 and Saturday 11-19.

We had our usual table at the Poughkeepsie Train Show today. We talked to a lot of old friends and made some new friends. We also sold a few T-Shirts and books. It was a fun day all around.

11-19-2011 Today’s work was inside on a sunny day. A catwalk was installed for the ceiling insulation work and the reception center ceiling was almost finished.

We are planning to continue the work on Wednesday 11-23 and Saturday 11-26.

If you have any good fund raising ideas let us know. We need to fatten the treasury to pay expenses.

Saturday 11-26-2011 We welcomed three new volunteers from John Jay High School today. They did a super job of removing the scaffolding and cleaning up the construction mess in the reception center.

The next working sessions should be Wednesday 11-30 and Saturday 12-3.

11-30-2011 Today’s activities included salvaging interior original wall bead boards, installing a walkway for the ceiling insulation work and adding a vapor barrier in the agents office. The west door look good in a new coat of paint.

The next working sessions will be Saturday 12/3 and Wednesday 12/7. We have lots of inside work to do.

We have a general membership meeting scheduled for Tuesday, Dec. 6 at 7:15 p.m. at the East Fishkill Community Center. We have the building starting at 7. The meeting is open to the public and we have business to conduct also. You can come to the meeting and join the Restoration. We would be glad to have you on board.

12-3-2011 We had a very productive day at the depot. A stove from the Fishkill train station was donated. Much of our salvaged wood was sorted and cleaned. Two insulators made by Whitall Tatum Glass Company were found along the Rail Trail. The east door got new glass and the agents office got a new ceiling.

The next work sessions will be Wednesday 12-7 and Saturday 12-10.

We still need fund raising and volunteers to do the work.

12/7/2011 On a cold and rainy Wednesday we worked inside the depot. Dick measured the stove base for some repair work while Rich worked on the west door latch. Meanwhile Laura, Mike and Andy put a new ceiling in the ticket office.

Since the County removed the porta-johns from the Rail Trail we have arranged for a depot porta-john donated by Herring sanitation.

The next work sessions will continue the inside work on Saturday 12/10 and Wednesday 12/14.

If you have any good fund raising ideas let us know. We need funding to continue the restoration.

It was a busy weekend at the depot. We worked both Saturday and Sunday. Herring Sanitation delivered a donated Porta-John. A sag in the reception center floor was jacked up and a hatch was added for access to the attic insulation work. New battens were added to the east wall.

On Sunday the insulation was blown into the ceiling of the reception center, agents office and the ticket office. Feeding the insulation bales into the blower was a dusty job.

The next work sessions will be Wednesday 12/14 and Saturday 12/17.

12/14/2011 On a bright sunny day the depot sports a bit of holiday decoration. Inside we worked on the bead boards for the interior walls. The last photo is of 18 inches of new insulation in the ceilings.

The next work sessions will be Saturday 12/17 and Wednesday 12/21.

I have been in contact with a Wall Street Journal reporter who is working on an article about the train barge traffic across New York harbor. He would like to hear from anybody who can fill him in on the historical aspects of those barge connections. If anybody has info for him you can contact him at his E-Mail address:

[email protected]

Wednesday 12/21/2011 It was a rainy day but work continued inside. Most of one wall of the reception center got restored beadboard. Our electrician worked on the west door outside light. There were two donations. The Lionel coin bank flashes lights and plays train sounds when you put a coin in. The pole lantern is a Dietz No. 8.

There will be no work sessions for the next two Saturdays. We may work on Wednesday 12/28 if anybody is interested.

As president of the Hopewell Depot Restoration Corp. I want to take this opportunity to thank all who have supported the saving and restoration of the Depot by volunteering, sponsoring materials, sponsoring benches & windows, and your generous monetary donations. With the help of many dedicated volunteers, we have come a long way since Dec. 2010 when the County wanted to tear the Depot down. My anticipation is to open the Visitor’s Center portion of the Depot by April 1st 2012. With your continued support I fully believe this can happen.

Attached, are our next three months work schedule and material needs to help make this happen.

On behalf of the Board of Directors, I wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy and prosperous New Year.

Rich Taylor, President of Hopewell Depot Restoration Corp.

************************************************

Work schedule for next 3 months to opening of the Visitor’s Center for the Depot


1. Relocate coffee table & etc. to south west corner of museum room.

2. Finish planking and scraping interior wall and hang interior door.

3. Clean out room completely and remove most of the sub flooring.

4. Level out and rake dirt in crawl space as best can.

5. Jack up rim joist a ¼ “ by one post on west wall and install wood wedge.

6. Install 2” foam board to rim joist to 3 outside walls and cover dirt with 6 mil plastic vapor barrier.

7. Re-install all plywood sub flooring using construction adhesive and gal. nails.

8. Install 1x4 flooring over red resin paper- biscuit joint all butt ends.

9. Sand floor with drum sander and seal with 3 coats of gym seal satin finish.

10. Cover flooring with resin paper and tape all joints and edges.

11. Blow in foam insulation 3 outside walls by others.

12. Install 1x6 bead board to 3 outside walls.

13. Install all ceiling, window & door and base trim.

14. Paint all ceiling, walls and trim 2 coats.

15. Install all lighting, switches outlets and heating & cooling system.

16. Set up Visitor’s Center and open to public with grand opening ceremony.



Items we need sponsored to opening the Visitor’s Center


1. Foam insulation for outside walls $2,100

2. Ductless wall mounted heating/cooling system $2,800

3. One 3’x7’ interior door unit 250

4. Rental of drum sander 230

5. Large moldings for ceiling, base and window & wall trim $1,350

6. Display cases, benches and folding chairs

1-4-2012 The temperature this morning was 7 when we started work on the reception room floor. The main idea was to use jacks to level the joists and add insulation around the inside of the foundation beams. Of course the coffee crew had hot brew and munchies to keep us thawed out. In the afternoon the newly fabricated stove repair parts arrived. We got a lot done despite the chilly weather.

Next work session will be Saturday 1-7-2012 and the forecast says it should be much warmer. The insulation and floor work will continue.

We had glorious warm weather today ( 50’s in January ? ). More insulation was added around the foundation beams and also at the top of the east wall. Also some work was done on interior woodwork and the reception center floor. A collection of old bottles was found in the crawl space under the reception center.

Our next work sessions will be Wednesday 1-11-2012 and Saturday 1-14-2012.

Come on down and join the fun.

Wednesday 1-11-12 The main project for today was adding plastic vapor barrier under the reception center floor. In addition plastic was added to the museum ceiling in preparation for bead boards and more blown in insulation.

Next work sessions will be Saturday 1-14-2012 and Wednesday 1-18-2012.

Remember, the Hopewell Depot Restoration Corp is a 501 C-3 non-profit group so any contributions are tax deductible. If you can help out, send a check to:

Hopewell Depot Restoration Corp.
P. O. Box 1044
Hopewell Junction, NY
12533-1044

Saturday 1-14-2012 Most of the day’s work went into the reception center floor. After the padding was laid down and marked, Mike started nailing down the floor boards. We also acquired a box of recycled hardware for the depot. The last photo is the depot on a chilly January 15th afternoon.

One of our members has created a Facebook Page about the Hopewell Depot Restoration. Take a look at this URL.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Hopewell ... 2071793718

The Hopewell Depot Restoration project also has a new web site. This site is growing.
http://www.hopewelldepot.org

Next work sessions will be Wednesday 1-18-2012 and Saturday 1-21-2012.

Remember, the Hopewell Depot Restoration Corp is a 501 C-3 non-profit group so any contributions are tax deductible. If you can help out, send a check to:
Hopewell Depot Restoration Corp.
P. O. Box 1044
Hopewell Junction, NY
12533-1044