Everyone, We need to have another meeting about setting up things for our new non-profit status and the way we are going to restructure the group. We had wanted to do it before the end of the year but at this point it does not look like that will happen. So we are looking to have the meeting the first week of the new year. Last time Friday seemed to be the best for everyone, is that still true? Please let me know if Friday January 6th is ok. Everyone who is interested in helping to lay down the ground work for our future is encouraged to attend.

Thanks,
KC

Group:

Today Charley and I worked on our machines at Johnson, NY. Although showers were forecast none appeared and it was a very pleasant day.

However we gor an unpleasant surprise when we opened the container doors and found the MT19 in there, derailed! Since neither of us is very muscular we had to jack up the car to get it onto the rails. Took us a half hour! Since there is plenty of room, we saw no reason why it had to be off the rails.

I suggest that in the future all machines in there be left in an operative mode as far as possible, not in a mode requiring some extensive efforts just to get them out.

We did get the A5 started and charged the batteries. We drained the coolant and left a tag on the machine noting that fact. The coolant was clean and measured -10 degrees safe, but we did not think that was low enough. The coolant is in the big blue jug. Anyone wanting to run the machine this winter needs only to add water, run it, and drain it afterward.

The rotary did not run when we put it away last time, so we pulled the flywheel to see why. The key was good, points were filed, insulation added to the coil wires, but still no spark. I think it needs a new coil, and electronic ignition if available. We left it assembled.

The MT19 needed a bunch of engine oil, which we added, but the trans oil was OK. It is nearly full of fuel. We repaired the choke system and then went for a ride south. That was ended above the bridge by a tree that had been pushed over the track. It needs some chain saw work.

-- Dick Ray

Everyone,

Please remember our next membership meeting is this Friday, November 18th, starting at 7 pm. We will be having pizza and cake so come hungry. We will also be talking a lot about how our new non-profit status will be changing how we do business. The show will probably be a look at Will and Dick's motorcar trip in Mexico plus a few other surprises. As always bring a chair and a friend.

See you there,
KC

Thanks to everyone who came to our first organizational meeting on Friday. We went over the by-laws and made a few changes as well as identifying a number of items we will have as part of our standard operating procedure. We will inform everyone when the next meeting will be expressly for this purpose.

Please keep in mind that our regular membership meeting will be Friday November 18Th and will start at 7 pm and as usual will be our annual holiday meeting with pizza and cake, so come hungry. Also we could use a few good shows for the night, anyone have anything they would like to show? Let me know.

Thanks,
KC

Everyone,

Tonight, Friday November 4th, is our organizational meeting we have been reminding you about for a few weeks now. The meeting starts at 7 pm and I am sure will take a number hours to complete. This is your chance to help lay the rails of the VRA's future.

Hope to see you there,
KC

I had some time today as I was in the area so I walked down to see what others had seen. Just behind the snow mobile dealer there is about 500' or 600' or more feet of damage and because the old ties are really bad or just gone the rails have been pushed off about 2 to 3 feet but can be repaired by putting the rails back into place. Walking down to the snow mobile crossing is where the real damage is,the rails have been pushed off by a big machine of some type and bent at the rail joints.All the rails are still there and not really bent but the rail joints are really badly bent so if we are thinking of repairing this we will need alot of spikes and rail joners. This is where we just put the repair rail jonit in this past summer. This is also where at one time the rails have been cut at this crossing and removed and we put the rails back in place and put a stop sign at this point. In the past we had some people still remove the rails here but we was thinking it was the snow mobilers that came up from the dealer and we talked to them about it and they were all for use keeping the row clear and even said they will help keep it clear too so I don't think it was them. It looks like to me that the power line people did the damage because when they got to the snow mobile dealer they went around the back of the dealer and down the row to get around the dealer at this point and it was done by a big machine. You can see it came off the new power line road they made and it looks like to me it was done some time in the summer time. I have taken some photos of the damge. Its been some time that we have got up there so maybe we should go up and check the ROW MOW shead at Johnson and also start up the cars before winter.I did not have alot of time so this is all I had the time for or to go down to Middletown and talk to anyone.

From-Larry Ten Hoeve- One of the VRA M&NJ MOW persons

Everyone,

Just a reminder that we have set up an organizational meeting for our new non-profit VRA next Friday November 4th at 7pm at the station. Many of you have already expressed an interest in coming out and being involved and we look forward to seeing you there. If you have not already said you are coming, but would like to, please let us know and then come on down next Friday and be part of a new beginning.

Also November 1st is the dead line for the next issue of the Digest. If you are running a project or are an officer you should submit a report. Also if you have a story or other interesting info the group may be interested in you can submit it to us at our regular e-mail address, volunteerra@yahoo.com

Thanks,
KC

Chris,

Recently I finally have had a chance to go exploring for M&NJ mileposts, which you kindly told me about earlier. In addition to the ones you told me about, I also located MP # 1 near the O&R switch, MP #13 (numbers on the top of it) about 800 ft (?) south of Dickison Rd, close to the highway., and MP#14 , south of Unionville and south the the last bridge before the state line (on it's side.). I noticed that you guys hadn't been mowing and today I found out why. Between Westtown and Fordlea Road someone had trashed the rails rather badly, making it impassible for a track car. I assume this is not news to you, but was wondering if you can tell me any more about what happened. Did anyone have permission to do this? As far as I know, the RR had not been sold there and has never been officially abandoned, so it looks like something illegal has happened.. Not that it is any of my business to pursue this on my own or anything.

Regards,
Russ Hallock

Anybody else go up there recently to see what happened?

Chris

Everyone,

It looks like a Friday is the best for most of us and November 4th appears the best day. So lets hear from everyone who would like to come as to whether November 4th at 7 PM is good. This meeting will be all business and could last a while depending on how quickly we get through things and what comes up. I am hoping to be able to do this process all in one night. Come out and be part of the future of the new VRA.

Please let me know,

Thanks
KC

Everyone,

As you read, we now have our non-profit status which means we have some work to do. We had said we were going to restructure the group after the non-profit came through which will include among other things elections of new officers, creation of committees and a new member drive. To reach those and other goals we will need the participation of active and non-active members alike. With these goals in mind we will be having a meeting of all those interested. The date and time are to be determined by this e-mail. I am good for almost any weeknight after 7 except Wednesdays. I would like to see this meeting take place in the next few weeks and ask that if anyone has a bad day and you are interested in attending please let me know. We will then choose the date best for everyone. You have the chance to take this group to the next level. It is my firm belief that new officers and committee chairs will be the best thing for this group. Don't worry, us old guys will be here to help and be part of the future, but we need new people to move forward. When the date is announced please try and make it.

Thanks for you interest,
KC

Everyone,

We have 2 events this weekend that we need some help with. First is Saturday in Hawthorne, the town is having a festival right on Grand Ave and we are going to open the station and bring down the L&NE car to show it off, collect donations for the move and display the plans for that move. We only need a few people and the hours should be from about 10 am to late afternoon.

Sunday is the Jersey Central Terminal Festival. This is where we bring down a few motorcars and offer rides on the short piece of track next to the old train shed. In the past we have made some decent donations but maybe more importantly met some new people (like Lou) who have made our organization stronger. Plus we get to get together and enjoy each others company. If anyone can make this day and bring a car with them please let me know. I know this is a late reminder but I had forgotten it was coming up so soon myself.

If you can make either or both events please let me know, Thanks,
KC

Great news arrived at the VRA headquarters in Hawthorne last week. As of September 13, 2005 the Volunteer Railroaders Association a New Jersey Nonprofit Corporation received approval of our application and is now exempt from Federal Income Tax under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. We are now able to receive donations from the public that are tax deductible. This also allows us to apply for grants from various funding sources and with our plan to relocate the NYS&W Hawthorne station. ---from Chris Vitz

I would like to thank all the VRA people who came out to BRW on the 18Th and 19Th. I received an urgent email from Rod that the railroad will be fined if the right of way, in Flemington, mainly crossings were not clear of brush. On Monday Dick Ray and I met at the Ringoes office. By 10:15 we were on sight at Williams Street, MP 12.4 (pvt). We cut major brush, trees, and removed all other obstructions. Visibility was increased by 100%. The heat index was approaching 105. We did what we could. We returned on Tuesday where I was met by Craig Hartman and Gary Kazin, from Rockaway, and Tom from Pa. We cleaned up all the cut brush, stashing it in the woods north of the crossing. Then we went to Broad Street, MP 12.3 and cleaned up what we could. Then we went to Main Street, MP 12.2. Craig and I walked up to crosswalk at MP 12.0, the railroad looked good from there. I appreciate the guys that came and helped and the railroad thanks you for your help too. Ken

We got the A5 out and running, then attached the rotary. Rotary started eventually, after dropping some gas down the carb, but then it ran well. Sickle bar ran well also. So we brought it up to near the road, and turned it to mow south. That was the end of our successes. The rotary soon quit running and we could not find what was wrong. So we mowed south with the sickle bar a bit until the A5 quit running! It would not crank, so we pushed it back to the barn. Matt and I tried to find the problem and we soon had the A5 fixed. We spent time on the rotary, but it will have to come apart again. Seems to be ignition. -- Dick Ray

Thank you for the nice, positive comments on the Utica trip. Utica was always a mystery for me as I never was able to piece the railroad together between Schyler Street, the shops and the station until we actually rode it on this trip. I remember taking Amtrak from NYC to Utica in August,1974 in the same kind of weather (behind an electric from GCT and an E-8,) to take a bus from Utica to Binghamton. (It was the closest you could get to riding a train to Binghamton.) We expected to see many Penn Central trains on the Water Level route but saw nothing at all the whole 4 hours while waiting for the bus. At the time, the station was open but in tattered, faded glory. While waiting, I got a haircut in the barber shop. This past weekend, it was great to ride the rails into town, park at the restored station, take photos of the many CSX and Amtrak trains that went past and see that even the Barber shop is still there. Thank you to all who helped out on this trip and you're most welcome to those who appreciated it for what it was and became... Steve

Thanks for the kind words, Curt. Wish you could have been there for the trip into Utica station. We parked along the Waterlevel route and watched Amtrak and CSX trains go by our motorcars. We also got a great look at all the various locomotives at the Utica shop complex. In addition, we got to run down the middle of Schyler Street in Utica. Not bad for a plan "B". Steve

I had a great time. Well done to all concerned - Steve & KC great job on the rail operations/refinements; to Mark Schmitt for organizing and leading the flaggers; not to mention God - the sun shone most of the time. Hopefully next year we can go the other direction to see Syracuse. Everyone remember the NJ part of the NYS&W. Observe, first hand, operations on September 17 - 18, 2005 (Saturday - Sunday) for the New York Susquehanna & Western Railway (Southern Division). We are doing the branch lines this year. Management is the same personalities as above so you know it will be great time. See the NARCOA web site, Excursion tab, Area 2 option for details. I'll be there!!!!!!!! Boomer John Ann Arbor X-57

Hats off to Steve and KC on making chicken soup out of chicken s..t. They were faced with a few road blocks through no fault of their own and turned what could of been a one day wonder into a great weekend....... As a side note one of my riders recently lost his wife suddenly after a very long marriage. He courted her in the early 40's in the Utica area and had many fond memories of the Utica station. To go there and see it after all these years meant alot to him...........Thanks guys ! JZ in CT

I would like to thank Steve and Casey for the great VRAA Utica trip this past weekend. I thoroughly enjoyed the street running in Utica. Just a shame we didn't get to take a picture of all the cars on the street. My thanks also to the flaggers that got the crossings allowing us to keep rolling instead of having to stop at the crossings and slow the trip down. John Brown

I want to thank Steve, KC and expecially the flaggers for making the run last weekend an enjoyable event. The challenges of schedule, many that unfolded as we operated, did not make things easy. Despite the heat we had few break downs and everyone seemed to have a good time. I had to miss the Sunday run for personal reasons but assume it went as well. Thanks again to all that worked to set this up. Curt Springstead

Once the panic mode passed by, everything worked out great this weekend!!! Thanks for the opportunity to help out. Even got a ride back to Sangerfield this afternoon with John Schmidt. :-) There was street running down Schuyler St, tours of historical Union Station, lunch at Trackside Tavern (old Armor Meat Offices) and lots of CSX trains through the area too. If you wish to repeat this event next year, please let me know well in advance. There is so much to see & do in Utica as far as railfanning goes that we would be willing to help out. Keep in touch! Jack (uticajack)

Chris, Larry, Matt, and I fixed the worst spot near Westtown amd improved the problem at the ATV crossing. It does need a gauge bar to pull in a wide spot, but also needs a 2X6 hammered in nearby to widen a narrow spot. We have to do both, not just one of them. -- Dick Ray

Ok everyone here is what 8 members with 2 cars one day and 4 the other did in about 15 hours of motorcar rides out of the Lambertville NJ Shad festival. We took in a total of $975.13 and yes you read that right. On Saturday, with 2 cars, we did about $420.00 making Sunday with 4 cars bring in the remaining $555.13. With the success that we had this weekend we are actively seeking other such types of events to go to. If you know of any festivals where a non-mainline track runs into it, please let us know. We will make the contacts and hopefully bring a number of cars.

Again thanks to those who helped out,
KC

Everyone,

    We had a great weekend down on the BRW at the Lambertville NJ Shad Festival. The first day we had 2 cars there, our Woodings and Dave's Fairmont and the second day we added our Fairmont and Larry's Woodings. Each day started out a little slow and the took off around mid-day. At times we had lines probably 25 people long and did not stop running for probably 4 hours. We do not have the exact donations total yet but it will well exceed our expectations to say the least. Thanks go out to Chris, Matt, Mark, Dave, John, Joe, Larry and me for spending some great time together and raising some much needed funds to restore the 40B and maintain our fleet of cars. I am sure we will be doing this again and if we can find other towns doing events like this we should make the effort to get there. The only thing missing at this event was you! We could have used more help so that the people who were there did not have to work all day. Please volunteer next time.

KC

Group:
I would like to thank everyone who came to the BR&W meet on Saturday, May 6. That includes the flaggers, especially. Without the help of Bob Dobrowski and Mark Schmidt we could not have maintained the schedule and we might have delayed the passenger train. The meet was put together in only two weeks, resulting in the flagger directions being less than perfect but Bob and Mark, as professionals, got it all worked out.

We had fourteen cars plus the pilot from the RR with his M9. While a Nor'easter was forecast it moved out to sea and left us with a cool day in the morning, turning to a beautiful day in the afternoon. As the first outing of the year for most of us, it was an opportunity to find the deficiencies of a number of cars, including mine.

Also thanks to Ken Cipiris, one of the trusted RR volunteers who was our contact with the RR, and without him it could not have happened. Thanks also to Al Elliott for providing a seat for the rear pilot and for being the reliable rear car. And Terry, apologies for the mix-up on that. Thanks also to KC Smith who collected the money which is to be split between the BR&W Historical Society, and the VRA fund for restoring the Hawthorne, NJ Station.

Most of all, thanks to all of the attendees who kept it a safe meet, and a pleasant day for everyone.

-- Dick Ray

Everyone,

Saturday was a good day with us meeting and maybe exceeding what we wanted to do. The whole arm strong lever machine has been cut loose from its mounts and is ready to be picked out of the top of the building when a crane is available. We also recovered some rollers from the pipes that once ran out of the tower to the switches and signals. I want to thank, Bob, Ken, Alex, Mark, Joe and Bill for helping out. It was a beautiful day, we saw a few trains, we had a great time and we got the job done. As soon as I can get the pictures downloaded I will post a few.

KC

Well its official, I spoke with Walter Rich today and he told me that everyone at the NYSW has signed off on our proposal to move and restore the station and that we should be seeing a letter to that fact in the next week. So what does that mean? Well it means it is time to get to work. We will be setting up meetings and work parties as we need them and hope that everyone can help out in some way to make the project a success. Thanks to everyone who has helped get us to this point and thanks in advance to everyone who will help us meet our goal.

KC

April 2, 2005, NJ Transportation Heritage Center Presents "Landing in Phillipsburg" The 15th Annual Symposium, for details click here, http://www.njthc.org/events/symp2005.html

These trips were run to help raise funds to restore, preserve and move the historic NYS&W Hawthorne train station. This little train station has been sitting on the corner of Diamond Bridge and Royal Avenues in Hawthorne for over 100 years and is a fixture in the middle of town. Over the last 20 years, as trucks got higher, the buildings roof has been hit many times and it is beginning to take its toll. The VRA hopes to move the building about 50 feet north, away from the corner and away from the turning trucks. As an added benefit this move will open up the corner for better visibility for pedestrians and motor vehicles alike. After the move is made the VRA is planning to turn the area where the station once stood into a public plaza complete with benches, flowers, shrubs and maybe even a garden railroad.

Everyone,

First I want to thank everyone who came out and took part in our special meeting the other day. We talked about a lot of things and came to many decisions. To follow are the things we are looking to do this coming year.

1)   Chris Vitz has been working on getting us set up as a non-profit 501c3. This is going to not only give us the chance to get donations that are tax deductible but will also change the way our group is run. We will be having yearly elections for officers and directors, which will give you the chance to set the direction of the group. Also as part of this we are going to start charging dues of just $20.00 per year to help off set the cost of member services. I know we have not had any dues in our group before but many members have suggested we make this change to help the groups bottom line stay up. When this is all in place we will be making a mailing to everyone.

2)   We have decided to run another Easter Bunny Train next year. The date has not been chosen yet but we are working on it now. This project takes lots of volunteers and many weeks to make it happen. We will be looking for people to sell tickets, work the train, publicize the event, be Easter Bunnies, work as station agents plus more. This project can raise us much of the money we need to run the many projects we do and will do. When this trip is announced please find some time to help make it a success.

3)   The Boro of Hawthorne is planning big changes in the area around our station and part of their plan is to get the station moved away from the corner, which came from a suggestion we made to the Mayor a year or so ago. We have a new member. Lou Digeronimo, who is an architect and who has offered his services to help us get the station on the State Historic rolls and to get the station moved. I would like to publicly thank Lou for his very generous offer and would ask that we all do what ever we can to help make this vision a reality. We have lots of work to do to make this happen and it is going to take a concentrated, determined effort to make sure it happens. It was decided that we needed lots of local support, so we are going to make a push for new members who would be interested and who live in Hawthorne. We have a few things to do before we make that push but hopefully by February we can start. Current members are encouraged to take part in this project and are asked to contact KC for more info on what is needed.

4)   We would like to restore our Lehigh and New England 40B motorcar and have it ready for display by summer 2005. This project will involve taking the car apart, sanding and painting the body, rebuilding the engine and doing other mechanical work. We are looking for some indoor space that is heated and close by the Hawthorne or Butler area. We don't have much of a budget so free is the best rent we can think of. The place needs to have open access to us so we can work on the car weekdays, nights and weekends. If you have any place available like that or are interested in helping restore a piece of history let anyone on the MOW crew know.

5)   As part of our new structure we are going to try and change and upgrade our newsletter. We need a few people who are willing to take the newsletter duties on and are ready to put out a first class publication. Interested?

6)   We also discussed our motorcar rental program, aka: WoodMont Rentals, which allows any member, who is NARCOA qualified and insured, to take one of the clubs cars on NARCOA runs for a fee of just $25.00. Will Hookway is in charge of keeping track of who needs what car when and collecting the fees. You can visit our web site at www.vratrips.org and click on "About us" and then "Who's Who" to contact Will.

7)   The last major thing is our proposed motor car trips for this year. We are looking to do a Bel-Del / BRW weekend, another run over the NYSW southern division and a new run over the northern division. Plus a few other trips that will be a big surprise if we can pull them off. We will need flaggers for most all of the runs and will turn to you for help when the time comes.

As you can see we have lots of things to keep us busy this year and I am sure we will have a few additions as well. We encourage everyone to take part in at least one project and hopefully lots more. Keep your eyes on your e-mails and snail mail for updates and requests for help and volunteer. After all you are all members of the VOLUNTEER RAILROADERS ASSOCIATION.

Thanks for your time and friendship,
KC