Volume 65 – Issue 2 February 1, 2025
From the Brass Hat
Well, it looks like the weather is finally giving us a break. Today is the 26th , and it actually hit 50 where I live. Weather does not stop the work at Bonsal, but it sure is a lot nicer when its north of freezing. This weekend there was a lot of activity in the yard as a switch crew led by Mike MacLean moved several pieces of equipment around to place cars into position for some sorely needed maintenance. The work was done efficiently and safely. Shout outs to Kevin Edwards, Harold Boettcher, John Cummings and Gray Lackey for helping out. I managed to assist as well (wife needed me out of the house). Next time you come down to Bonsal you will note several pieces of equipment temporarily out of order. Our Bonsal Youth Crew was also very active this weekend with a ROW cleanup crew organized by Brandt Wilkus, aka Squiggie going down the line to remove trash and improve the appearance of our railroad. Thanks to Thomas, Jake, and Patrick Cook who assisted Squiggie. Other members were also involved in various projects and it was very gratifying to see so many personal vehicles in the yard on a January Saturday. It goes without saying the Wednesday crew continues to get many things done on a weekly basis, but for those that can’t come out during the week, it was great to see so many help out on a weekend.
On January 18th, over 50 members came out to enjoy a great meal and get an update on North Carolina Railway Museum Activities. The annual meeting is a time to reflect on the past year and learn what activities the various committees have planned for 2025. Rob Grau gave his thorough and informative financial update and Ed’s Catering in Fuquay-Varina made sure we did not go hungry. Chris Tilley was presented with a certificate to commemorate his ten years serving as NCRM’s president. That’s quite an achievement and certainly a hard act to follow. With the meeting proceedings completed, it was time for the celebrated NCRM Auction. Member John Martin once again served as acutioneer. This event is becoming a tradition, raises some money for the organization, and is most of all a lot of fun. Once again, Squiggie came prepared to bid. I even had to sneak a must- have D&RGW lantern back to the house. A special thankyou goes to Tim Carroll who pulled significant items from his personal collection to place in the auction. Tim, we are thinking of you as you continue to recover. We definitely look forward to the 2026 event. That’s about all for this article, hope to see everyone out at Bonsal as the weather continues to warm.
All the Best,
John Morck
President, NCRM
Get to Know a Member
by Tom Hutchinson
Name: Randy Evers
How long have you been a member? Since October 2015
Where are you originally from? Burkettsville, Ohio (western side of Ohio). I lived there for 50 years and moved to North Carolina for a new job.
What was your job in real life? Electrical engineer/regulatory engineer for two different medical companies. It is neat to see some of these products that I helped design in doctor’s offices and occasionally shown on TV.
Where do you live now (City & State only)? Willow Spring, NC
Family? Married for 16+ years with five grandchildren and one great grandchild on the way!
How did you become interested in trains? I had a 4’x8’ Lionel Santa Fe layout as a kid that I shared with my 3 other brothers (and 4 sisters). We almost wore it out, and I still have it.
What is your favorite activity at the New Hope Valley Railway? I enjoy making animation happen on the garden railroad. I love to see kids’ reactions – especially with the Thomas trains and the fire trucks. I like building things for the garden layout and adding motion displays.
New Member Orientation
by Dennis Winchell
The next New Member Orientation session will be offered on Saturday, April 5, 2025 from 10 am to noon. It will be held under the covered area behind the Dispatch Office, and include a tour of the NCRM property along with some of our ongoing projects. The New Member Orientation session is intended to share information about our history, bylaws, policies, how to get information, who’s who, and most importantly how to get involved as a volunteer (and have fun). This session is open to those who have been members for up to 2 years. This is not a substitute for the Rules and Safety training sessions necessary to get involved with train operations, but we will explain how to attend those sessions, too. This will be the first of two orientation sessions offered in 2025. The next session will be scheduled for some time in the Fall. If you are interested in attending on April 5, please RSVP to Dennis Winchell or Velinda Chapman by Wednesday, April 2.
Help Wanted for Caboose 302’s Storage Box
by Victor Varney
When caboose 302 and 309 were in spent nuclear fuel service the crews were required to store a lot of gear on board. In 309, the main storage area is underneath the long, padded seat. Our visitors get a kick out of seeing all the stuff left behind on 309 when the padded seat is lifted up.
In contrast, in 302 there is blue storage box mounted on the floor where gear was stored inside. Unfortunately, the foam padding inside cut for different pieces of gear was badly deteriorated. All the gear in the storage box was removed after 302 got to Bonsal in 2022 and put inside some of the cabinets below the cupola.
That makes it hard to show our visitors “all the gear left behind” on 302.
It would be great if one or more of our volunteers could remove all the deteriorated foam padding inside the storage box and install new, more stable foam padding with cut outs as they were done originally. That will allow us to put back all the gear into the storage box so it is easy to show our visitors.
I took lots of pictures to show what gear was inside the storage box so we can put it back in just like it was for the last crew. Here are a couple pictures of what the inside of the storage box looks like today. As you can see the upper part inside can lift out to store more gear below.
If you are interested in this project (a great one for the winter), see Victor Varney or send a email by clicking here.
Auction Action
by Cindy Grau
A special thank you to all the people that make the auctions held during the annual meeting. We made a little more than $1,100 which will go towards the Museum/Depot funds. We are one step forward to finishing the depot.
A very heartfelt thank you to all the people that donated items to be auctioned. You are so special. A huge shout out to our auctioneer John Martim for leading an entertaining and profitable auction. It was fun! Thank you also to Kyle Obermiller for all of his help. If he wasn’t there, I could not have done so much. Special thanks to Marco Zarate for using his square to make credit cards useable. It helped several people and certainly raised the amounts they bid.
Hope to see more people next year. There will be new items and lots of fun to be had. Remember that next year we will be holding the NC Railway Museum’s Annual meeting in a new location. It will be in the Farmingwell Building at the North end of our track on Olive Chapel Road. Lots more details will be coming out this year.
NCDOT Approves $250K Study to Extend the NHVR to the ATT
by Victor Varney
After over two years of effort by a couple of our members the NCDOT at their Transportation Board meeting on January 8, 2025 approved $250,000 for a study to extend the NHVR to the ATT. See the page (right) out of the NCDOT Transportation board meeting where this study was approved. This study will include engineering and surveying to assess 1) reinstalling 4400 ft of rail from the north end of the NHVR to the ATT, 2) extending the ATT south to New Hill Olive Chapel Rd, or 3) doing both. The results from this study will provide information to seek State and Federal level grants to implement one of these options.
The NCDOT Rail Division, that owns the “gap” Right of Way, will oversee this study. A kickoff meeting for this study is expected in Feb 2025. It is to include the NCDOT Rail Division, the NCRM, Wake County Parks & Rec, the Town of Apex and possibly Wake County Planning. This study should complete with recommendations and details later in 2025. This is a very significant development for the NCRM in our quest to extend our line 4400 ft north to the ATT and begin new bike aboard services that are very popular elsewhere in the US.
The ATT in Wake County attracts a half million visitors every year. Wake County Parks & Rec wants to find a way to connect the ATT to Harris Lake Park just south of Bonsal. This rail line extension represents a potential dramatic increase in riders for the NHVR.
See the picture (left) showing a concept from a very successful bike aboard service in PA. A gondola carries bikes and the riders than go to a passenger car to ride on the train. YES – we have available equipment to start a bike aboard service with our current equipment with some straightforward modifications.
As some of you may recall, Duke Energy donated 6200 ft or track to us located at the Harris Nuclear Plant for this project, with a deadline to remove the rail at HNP by June 30, 2026. We are now discussing with Duke Energy to extend that deadline a couple more years. Again, there has been no plan for NCRM volunteers to lift the rail at HNP. This would be done by a contractor paid as part of the overall rail line extension of the NHVR to the ATT.
More to come…
Membership Dues Reminder
by Tom Hutchinson
If you have not renewed your membership for 2025, please do so as soon as possible. The automated dues reminder from the membership system you received at year-end will provide you a link to access your membership record on-line, where you may pay your 2025 dues by credit card. Or you can mail your renewal check to NCRM Membership, PO Box 40, New Hill, NC 27562 … just remember to use the new 2025 dues levels and put a note on the “memo” line for the type of dues. Or you can pay your dues the old-fashioned way in cash to either Robert Middour or Tom Hutchinson of the Membership Committee. Check or cash can also be used if you do not have an email account and therefore did not receive this reminder.
IF YOU ARE 60 YEARS of AGE OR OLDER…we have a new dues category this year, “Senior Member”. Dues for this category will remain at $20 annually. However, since this is a new dues category, when you renew, you will need to (1) cancel the dues notice for regular membership renewal, (2) change your member profile to “Senior Member”, (3) renew your membership at the senior member dues level. If this is the first time you have accessed your membership profile, you will also need to set up/change your password.
Welcome to new members Tony Stanley (Senior member) and Porter Horton (Tim Carroll’s nephew) (Lifetime member). Please make them feel at home!
If you do not receive the operating crew calls, please contact the crew caller if you are interested in participating in train operations! We need all the help we can get to keep the trains running safely.
Historic ACL Baggage Car Renovation Update
by Tom Snyder
Since its retrieval from Duke Energy’s Shearon Harris Nuclear Plant and relocation to the NHVR’s Bonsal Yard, our ACL car has become the designated future home for railroadiana collections from our members. The years have not been kind to ACL #1665, however.
Since its arrival in May 2022, much effort has been spent clearing out decades of junk, clutter and scrap metal. This was performed primarily by a member who has worked tirelessly since the car’s arrival. During one of the cleaning efforts, a newspaper header from a 1941 Jacksonville, FL was found underneath a pile of decades-old accumulation dirt and debris.
The car’s exterior profile was changed many decades ago. It was constructed in 1916 with a clerestory roof prior to railroading’s streamlining era. It was then refitted with a “turtle-back” roof design in 1954. [For a complete history of this car, please see Larry Goolsby’s excellent article in the October 2022 Telegrapher, https://www.triangletrain.com/tarheel-telegrapher-october-2022/ reprinted with his permission from the ACL&SAL Historical Society’s Lines South magazine. -ed]
One of the first major improvements was the replacement of the four baggage doors. Using the original door design, new replacements were crafted by Willett’s Rail Car Restoration of Spencer, NC. Once installed, the new door
s minimized moisture penetration into the interior and added impetus to the project.
A major effort has been expended on the interior to remove peeling paint on the walls and ceiling. To date the walls have been scraped, primed and a portion has been final coated. The ceiling paint removal process is comparable to “how does one eat an elephant”? If the answer is not familiar to you, ask a ‘seasoned’ NHVR volunteer. It is beyond being a “labor of love”. Think of standing on a ladder or scaffold with your arms extended overhead, hour after hour, to scrape/grind old paint to achieve a smooth finish. Try it for a while and you may consider ‘water boarding’ as a more pleasant activity. But work is progressing…
Another area of change and improvement is the electrical system. The original electrical equipment closet has been emptied of its components. Much of the heavy castings will be sold for scrap value. New components have been installed to operate display lighting and overhead lighting throughout the car. The original metal ceiling light shades are being reworked for an LED reinstallation upgrade. Each baggage door entrance has its own overhead interior light to allow night operations to be performed.
Years of abandonment and deterioration had allowed moisture to damage/rot portions of the wood floors. Work is currently underway to remove the damage and rebuild the floor structure for future installation of the beautiful display ca
binets and fixtures we have acquired.
We welcome volunteer-assistance with the rehabilitation and repurposing of this future museum-quality project. No special training is required to participate. We will teach you all you need to know to be successful in assisting in this project. By the time we are done, this 109-year-old car will look like it just came off the builder’s shop floor and last for decades of enjoyment by our Museum visitors.
[Anyone wishing to become a Benefactor of this project may do so under the NCRM’s Adopt-a-Train program. Details on our webpage. -ed]
Around the Yard
We did have a few visitors to the Museum during the cold weather. It appears they were not expecting an outdoors museum experience.
Dave Brook, one of our trained Museum Docents, provided a 30-minute guided tour in sub-freezing temperatures. He said they enjoyed the tour, but were probably very happy to return to a warm vehicle when it was done.
Rules and Safety Training 15 March at 9 a.m.
by Chris Tilley
The next Rules and Safety Annual Training session will be conducted on 15 March 2025 at the NCRM Gazebo, located behind the Dispatcher’s Office. Bear in mind that each member of the Operating Crew (Car/Train/Head Brakemen, Conductors,
Engineers, Signalmen, Dispatchers, Switch Tenders) are required to attend at least one session every 365 days in order to maintain Federal Railroad Administration mandated crew currency requirements. For newer members, this is your first step toward advancement in the crew qualifications. Training will consist of “classroom” discussions of the rulebook, timetable, policies, interaction with passengers and general railroad information followed by a “hands-on” portion covering brake systems, coupling the train, connecting air brake lines, etc. Come prepared to run a train! Lunch, boots, long pants, rulebooks, radios (if you own one), gloves, water, etc. Rules tests, required every two years, will be given during lunch or after the hands-on session. If you don’t remember when you took it last, email Kevin at [email protected] and ask.
We will have several other sessions in spring, summer (at least one Wednesday) and just prior to the Halloween/Santa Trains. Those who fail to meet the training requirement can still serve as Car Hosts or other non-crew-related jobs.
