Railroad Museum of Long Island happenings?

Hauspiper, Olaf the Red, Michael,

It was good to see you at RMLI on Saturday. Really, I was happy you were there! I'm glad you had the opportunity before heading out to sea to lend a hand with the restoration work in progress - whether it was on RMLI's diesel #399 or the Twin Forks' C-60 caboose or MOW cars. That, Michael, is how the work gets done, time and money applied. I thank you for your help.

As for your opinion regarding model train interests at the Railroad Museum of Long Island, I respect your opinion but I do not agree with it.

The Museum facilities, at Riverhead and Greenport, are large enough to support many diverse interests in railroading and railroad preservation. Our mission is to maintain and preserve Long Island Railroading History and to present that history to the public. How we accomplish and support our mission and keep our doors and collection open to that public is fundamental. My comments and postings are not "smoke and mirrors." They are factual, pragmatic observations - challenges, solutions and hopeful directions for our Museum.

I welcome you to re-enlist at the Railroad Museum of Long Island, and while you are at home continue to volunteer with the duties and work necessary to keep the Museum alive and well.

Thanks again,
de Don n2qhvRMLI

Hauspiper wrote:first of all I was a former memeber of RR.net my original sn was lost or something I did not use it for almost 3 years.

Ah yes, Olaf the Red. Your account was disabled three years ago because of your behavior. If you can't find a better way to express yourself, then you are not welcome here. It's perfectly okay to disagree with someone, but there are nicer ways to discuss that disagreement than what you are doing now.

I was going to stay out of this but, I will make a general statement about this being someone who is out in Riverhead every week and has been making progress on Restoration Projects, a.ka. the Dinky 399

If you folks don't like the fact no work is getting done, what is stopping you from coming down and helping us. If you have time to waist on this site why can't you use your time well and help a cause that you think needs reform. I also do not apreaciate the fact that it is being said, no work is being done...look at 39 there is a lot of progress on that.....nit in Riverhead you say....well every week end we are working on the restoration of the Dinky and if we had more volunteers to help we would do more like the 2900 cars or something else

Unless you are actually in Riverhead and working you have no right to complain in the fashion you are.

That is it for my little rant

Anthony, over and out.

Well I see I started quite an uproar here..I would like to touch upon some key issues I am reading about here..

Dave Keller mentions that he donated many old forms from the war years. Why not make a few exhibits and put these on display? LI is very well known for its use of Towers and Hooping orders till this day. An exhibit could be made to showcase this with some photos, the orders, etc. Instead RMLI has a layout and some videos playing in Riverhead. Granted Greenport does have displays however Riverhead does not, and it seems to me Riverhead is the key location where people visit due to location and the equipment.

Now, a few things for Don starting with your quotes...
"Yes, as you have seen, the RPO has been dismantled and scrapped. As the center section was prepared for moving onto the flatbed, it collapsed in on itself! The car's entire body had settled down below the center frame as there were no longer any serviceable cross members holding it up. The body was literally resting on the trucks' bolsters and LIRR supervisors had deemed the car unable to be moved."

Did this car not (along with the other 54 that was scrapped) operate as part of the 1976 heritage train? In essence then this car was hauled to Riverhead and sat for how many years with nothing being done?

"As for work schedules on the P72's, the Board of Trustees deemed the ongoing restoration of Bi-level car 200 and the metal work on Switcher 399 to be current priorities. Painting of the baggage mail car into Riverhead Railroad Festival "Circus Train" colors was also a priority for our August 25 - 26 Festival."

The Bi-Level looks like hell! I recall seeing photos of a paint crew going at it a few years ago, why was it not finished? To many projects at once? That car looked great after it was painted...now it looks like it did once again before it was sandblasted. This car should be a very high priority behind 39, after all it was the prototype. This is a perfect car to be on display for people to walk though on the property...ill get into that again in a minute. The baggage mail was painted to look like a banana with a monkey, Ill see it being a good idea for the railfest theme and all, but with all the other equipment needing work, why not do something constructive like paint a P72 back to Grey and Orange.

Steve,
First off excellent work on the website. You must be highly commended for what you do and keeping track of everything. I always visit your site and always find something new. Please keep up the good work.

Greenports turntable looks wonderful now that all the weeds are gone and stopped. Lets also not forget the great job Twin Forks did with the repaint of it several years back.

You say: "I was at the B&O Museum, Smithsonian, and York, England RR Museum. No operating material... RMLI perhaps needs quality material, not quantity." Best statement I have read so far here..

Anthony:
People have every right to complain about the progress. Some people that are not to happy today including myself have put in there share of work only to see nothing become of it. You mention 399 is being actively worked on, If I had to guess only because its somebody's pet project. Other then that and the painting of the Circus abortion, what has been done in Riverhead in terms of promising equipment restoration? I cant think of almost anything. 1556 was painted almost 10 years ago, once again by Twin Forks. Im sure there are some small little things going on but how many people will notice them?

Getting back to equipment and displays..
Don says: "The Museum facilities, at Riverhead and Greenport, are large enough to support many diverse interests in railroading and railroad preservation. Our mission is to maintain and preserve Long Island Railroading History and to present that history to the public."

So why not do it? Yes, Model trains can be worked in in a historical perspective, a prime example is the one in Greenport. A true scale model, using period equipment, etc, to show how it used to be. Last I looked Riverhead had an 8x12 circle with some random stuff running, but yet no real displays. Ok, theres a bell...

As it was put above, the property resembles a football field. If RMLI had the offer for the Watermill ping, I would jump on it if it was in good shape. This would make an excellent display on the property to show how it used to be.

Then theres also the #1 as mentioned elsewhere here as well. Why not pull this thing out of the shed once in a blue moon for railfest? Hell she was fully operable not long ago and is on a flatbed with rollers...Operating steam at RMLI? This could be a decent draw as well as a traveling exhibit. If its just gonna sit in the barn im sure there are other organizations that would love to put this to good use.

If RMLI is as its stated with an utter lack of volunteers maybe it is time to look in the mirror and reassess there goals. It may be time to de-acquisition some key pieces and send them to a better home with a better chance at restoration.

-10lb

What that Baggage Car was painted into was a total and complete joke, do you people want to be taken seriously or not?

10lbReduction wrote:Dave Keller mentions that he donated many old forms from the war years. Why not make a few exhibits and put these on display? LI is very well known for its use of Towers and Hooping orders till this day. An exhibit could be made to showcase this with some photos, the orders, etc.

Sounds like a good idea. Is this a project you can spearhead? Displays and exhibits don't appear from thin air. They require people to assemble them.

10lbReduction wrote:The Bi-Level looks like hell! I recall seeing photos of a paint crew going at it a few years ago, why was it not finished? To many projects at once? That car looked great after it was painted...now it looks like it did once again before it was sandblasted. This car should be a very high priority behind 39, after all it was the prototype. This is a perfect car to be on display for people to walk though on the property...ill get into that again in a minute. The baggage mail was painted to look like a banana with a monkey, Ill see it being a good idea for the railfest theme and all, but with all the other equipment needing work, why not do something constructive like paint a P72 back to Grey and Orange.

I agree that paint can go a long ways towards making a good impression. Again, is this something you can help with? Fundraising? Finding materials donations or at cost? Finding a crew to paint the car?

-otto-

I started my rants because I think the board did a injustice on passing the Ping, among other things, I know keeping the cars we have are a problom and I know with my carrer ahead of my fun which I would really like to plug away and paint a car or two or work on Twin Forks C-60.But this car is peferct for preservation and displays. I am not here to make trouble. I have been thinking that this is the museums swan song for the past few years. I have ben a member off and on since 1999 during my younger years I was out there almost every weekend. But as jobs and women come into a guys life they put it off and when I get home I get out there as much as I can. I see the toy trains as just that, we were ment to preserve the real thing yea it is nice to see a layout the one we have now is perfect, but another car in the football feild that has displays inside, The Library is full of pictures and artifacts that a museum has a duty to bring to the public. I will be good and I want this swan song to end, end in the new beganing for the Museum not a toy train museum but a Railroad Museum that includes a few toys but we have to remember we are here to interpret Long Islands rich railroading history.
Michael Arnold
The Big O
Olaf the Red
US Merchant Marine

Hmmm ... 708 times this thread has been read !
With several members of RMLI reading & posting here, it would seem that they should be able to capitalize on this opportunity to increase membership & helpers ???

New blood will come with new ideas, the old guard will either embrace this or give them such a had time by fustrating their interst/efforts that they will "go up the road". It's a typical tale that happens again & again in our hobby. Leadship with a true view to the future will find a way to make good use of their enthusiasm !

I for one, wish RMLI nothing but the best !

Everyone's got time to make (good) suggestions, but none to help make them reality? It takes time, people, and money to make things happen. Can't spend the time coming out to the museum? Maybe you can make some phone calls from home to contact potential suppliers and contractors. Maybe you spend an hour on the Internet looking for historic photos and other leads. Can't make a cash donation? Maybe you have a service or material you can donate to the cause (or offer at reduced rate). There's many ways to volunteer, and they all don't require being on site swinging a hammer.

Otto; you need to accept the fact that it is much easier and less threatening to make destructive criticisms. Constructive criticism takes much more intestinal fortitude, guts.

Otto Vondrak wrote:Everyone's got time to make (good) suggestions, but none to help make them reality? It takes time, people, and money to make things happen. Can't spend the time coming out to the museum? Maybe you can make some phone calls from home to contact potential suppliers and contractors. Maybe you spend an hour on the Internet looking for historic photos and other leads. Can't make a cash donation? Maybe you have a service or material you can donate to the cause (or offer at reduced rate). There's many ways to volunteer, and they all don't require being on site swinging a hammer.

Then why don't you Otto?

Dump The Air wrote:

Otto Vondrak wrote:Everyone's got time to make (good) suggestions, but none to help make them reality?... There's many ways to volunteer, and they all don't require being on site swinging a hammer.

Then why don't you Otto?

Then why don't I what? "Volunteer?" Well, for one, I'm not the one making all the "good suggestions," I was asking if the people with the suggestions cared to get involved on any level. And second, I already volunteer with three museums/railroads. I've been a member of Rochester Chapter NRHS since 2000, where I have volunteered over the years in track construction, equipment restoration and operation. Now I live down here, so I edit and publish the monthly newsletter. Down here, I volunteer with the Catskill Mountain Railroad (volunteer No. 108), where I occasionally help with track and equipment restoration, but my energies were focused on building a new web site and designing new brochures for the 2008 season. I have also authored a couple of articles (Hudson Valley Magazine and Railpace) to get us some publicity, And third, I'm a member of the Railroad Museum of New England (member No. 1971), and I occasionally volunteer with track and equipment restoration on the Naugatuck Railroad. I also spearheaded the project to build a new website and I am currently co-editor of our new blog.

I'm also an Assistant Scoutmaster with my Boy Scout troop, and I think I have a 9-5 job in advertising, and I have personal commitments as well.

I personally have no vested interest in RMLI, though I do wish them success. If there was something they thought I could help them with, I would certainly see if I could accommodate them (or at least help them find someone who was better suited to help than I). But this isnt about me.

Is it?

It is a standard belief and statement in Engineering circles that you NEVER ask help from someone who is doing nothing because that person will continue to do NOTHING. Always ask someone that is busy, they will gladly help you and get the job done.

To de Don n2qhvRMLI;

It was good to lend a hand on the C-60 project last month. I recall we got one end of grab irons scrapped down and repainted on that day. Hopefully, you guys did a bang-up job on the last work day.

BTW, is there any chance of acquiring the funding to erect a barn/shed to house two or three of the best pieces of equipment? As you know rail cars and inclement weather don't mix well, and with the recent resto of the Jordan Spreader and now C-60, it'd be nice to have them indoors for future preservation.

Good gentle readers of the Forum,

I am preparing the web-hosting of the November 14 photos from Strasburg right now. My report has been received by the Museum Trustees today and has been forwarded to Suffolk County DPW and all the other Engine 39 Team members. I am now within minutes of getting the report up on the Forums.

I will post my comments regarding this ongoing Forum discussion later tonight or tomorrow.

Be well, and please take a few minutes - all of you - and see if you can think of just one small thing that the Railroad Museum of Long Island has ever done RIGHT in it's eighteen years of existence. Am I the only cheerleader? Have none of you ever had a GOOD time or a GOOD experience either visiting, volunteering, or supporting this Museum? If you had, could I see a few of those posts in this thread, please? If you have NEVER had a worthwhile experience at the Museum, I am truly sorry and as President I will see what I can do to make your visit and your time at RMLI worthy in the future. I promise.

Thank you,
de Don N2QHV