In the mean time, Jay worked on the valve packing. New packing material will be ordered so that this task can be completed.

Bob and others were able to move the old #7 water tank. This now makes for a clearer path for getting the office trailer removed. Bob also did some further measuring to see if #8 is going to fit in the museum. It is very close and will know more once a contracting company visits us and gives us their opinion on the feasibility and cost of moving #8.

At lunch time we had a group talk to bring everyone up to speed on things going on around the museum (relocation, Guest Engineer, #8 move, etc.) Everyone is very excited about steam running in 2012 and the Guest Engineer program. Look for the program to be on the MNGRR website in the next week or so.

Our next work session will be on Saturday, February 25 though staybolt work may continue on the 18th if there is any interest. The sooner we can finish the stay preparation on #4 the sooner we can get back to work on #7.

Saturday was a very productive day at the Museum.  The plan was to start getting the  museum in shape for the February school vacation week.  The first step was planning where everything should wind up in the museum.  Coach 19 will come into the building for restoration sometime this year, and space had to be found for her.  We used a scale drawing of the museum and cut-outs of the cars to find the best arrangement.  Then Nancy Hall and Dick Meyer went around identifying things that could be disposed of or otherwise moved out of the building.

On Saturday morning people started showing up shortly after 9 am.  Christina Aliquo was
there to coordinate things.  There was a Board of Trustees meeting at 10 am which took several people away for about an hour.

What was accomplished:

Track panels moved out of the museum.

Spare wood moved out of the museum space.

Wooden child train, pump car, and Vose car moved alongside Pondicherry.

All sorts of stuff thrown out.

Steering engine moved out of the way.

Special thanks to all the volunteers who helped:  Hans Brandes, Dick Bond, Lincoln Good, Donovan Gray, Nancy Hall, Sharon Hickey, Larry Perkins, and Fred Roberts.

Later in the afternoon Brian Durham and Fred Roberts helped Track Supervisor Mike Moulison check out a bad joint bar and search for replacements.  They also did a detailed inspection of the Trails West and Yard switches.

Kyle Collins and his friend Tim were removing hardware from Boxcar 60.  This car is being substantially rebuilt to make it weather tight so the mechanical department can safely store parts there.   Hans Brandes has the door he rebuilt in his garage, and Bob DeWachter
sand blasted and painted all the door mounting hardware.

Those in attendance today were: Joe and Jay Monty, Bob DeWachter, Colby Miles, Kyle Collins, new  recruit Tim Jones, (recruited by Kyle, thank you Kyle) and Hans Brandes. Not everyone could work on #4 so we tackled additional projects outside since it was a nice day and there was little to no snow on the ground.

Joe, Jay and Colby worked on the drilling staybolts. Colby and Jay took turns being inside the firebox while Joe was on the outside. The process was to drill using increasing drill bit sizes until the stay could be separated from the sheet. Once the stay was out, the sheet was then prepared using a cone grinder. Joe had determined which stays were to be removed. Once things got underway, stays started coming out. Today, we were able to removed 3 stays and we think we can do 4-5 day. Given, that we have to do 20 stays, we should be able to get through this during the spring,

In the mean time, work on box car 60 continued. Hans, Kyle, Colby and Tim were able to move all of the seat cushions to car 55 (the roof on 60 leaks badly). Once done, Kyle and Cobly worked on removing old tar and felt paper that was on the roof. The showed that a large portion of the roof is rotten and will need to be replaced. Some more siding was also removed. Bob finished powder coating the fittings for the new door. They look great.

Tim also did a good job of cutting up the pallets into firewood and putting it into the wood box car. We will continue to work on cleaning up the yard area by either cutting up, salvaging or getting rid of junk piles.

Bob and Hans looked potential ways to shore up the older portion of the engine house that has sagged. No real perfect solution at this time though it looks like using some of the extra ribs lying around will be the most cost effective way to go. No one wants to spend money on a structure on property that we don’t own.

Our next work session is officially in two weeks on Saturday, February 11 though there might be some people down there next Saturday. Until then.

Yes, the Museum is closed, the steam engine drained, and the cars in storage for the winter.  But that does not mean no one is working or that nothing is going on.

Here is what happens in a museum that is closed for the winter:  planning, organizing and training.  In fact, many of us like the winter months best because we can focus on planning and organizing for the year ahead.  It is hard to plan when you are running trains seven days a week or putting on a special event like Polar Express.

In June you may pick up a tourist magazine and see an ad for the museum.  That ad was placed in January or February based upon our operating schedule set in the first week of January.  Special events are put on the calendar and detailed planning starts.

In May we will have a new exhibit explaining who, what, when, where and why of the Maine two foot narrow gauge railroads.  That planning started in 2010, and included a
successful grant application to fund part of the exhibit.  We are now at the stage of final edits of text, photos and maps so they can go to the printers.

January is the time to review the past year and Polar Express to capture lessons learned, and revise our marketing and operational plans while the experience is still fresh in our minds.

The railroad managers have gotten together with the museum director and agreed our focus must be on the visitor experience and customer service.  This requires standardization of procedures, and training of everyone involved.  We will revise and simplify our operating rules, develop a passenger train standard operating procedure, and provide useful training to train crews before we start seven day a week operations in May.

The museum director, archivist and education director are taking a hard look at the museum space and the room freed up with Pondicherry moved out of the building.  The question is how best to use our museum space to create a family friendly environment
that provides an entertaining educational experience to our guests.  The museum is still a mild disaster after Polar Express.  It has to be cleaned up, painted and restored to order before the February school vacation week.

Sandy River Combine 14 is looking old and tired after years of birthday parties.  The restoration team is redoing the interior and benches.  We are also putting together a marketing plan to sell more birthday parties at the museum.

Since winter means no outside painting, we are looking around inside for painting and lettering projects.  A large sign will be place behind and above the ticket counter to hide the electrical boxes and help our patrons.  We are also going to re-letter the Mount
Pleasant, which includes sanding down for a smooth surface and re-painting. The Portland History Docents program starts in February and we are putting together our course materials.  We get between 5 and 12 new volunteers with docent training through this program every year.  This year we will tell the class we are really want all of them to come to us and qualify as conductors.

January is also annual budget season.  Our museum director, treasurer, president and
vice-president have put together a draft budget that will go to the board for approval this month.  We have also revised our accounting codes to better match expenses to programs and departments.

The beginning of the year is also the time we heavily research grant opportunities and deadlines to make sure we take advantage of every grant opportunity.  There is often
some back and forth between planning and grant writing.  We may have to modify our planned activities to fit the criteria of certain grants.

We are also designing a vibrant and entertaining program for school group tours.  We may use grant funding to hire a consultant to write the program, and then vigorously market that program to schools in the area.  At the earliest, this program would be in place this fall.

Contrary to popular belief, Polar Express did not really end on December 23, 2011.  Everything that went up or on the train had to come off, get boxed, be labeled, and stored away.  All our merchandise, furniture and exhibits at Ocean Gateway had to be returned to the Museum.  The gas stove, food preparation tables, and kitchenware had to be put away.  The North Pole station, Christmas tree, and Elf village had to be removed from City Property.  Steam engine Monson 4 had to be drained and put away for the winter.  Chef uniforms must be laundered and stored.  The list goes on and on!

Polar Express is a major special event that requires a lot of preparation, a tremendous effort to run for 15 evenings, and just as much effort to take apart and store.  We do
not have any elves or flying monkeys to come out at night to do our work for us.  The people who fired the steam engine, directed traffic, and collected tickets during Polar Express are also the ones who put up decorations and are now taking them down.

Here is what we have done since December 23^rd to put Polar Express to bed:

Roger Merrow has removed all the exterior and interior lights from the passenger cars, and swept everything out.

Lincoln Good, Brian Durham, Donovan Gray, and Fred Roberts have taken down, boxed, and labeled all the car decorations.  Larry Perkins has put the labeled boxes in
the Christmas trailer.

Griffin Bourassa, Brian Durham, Hans Brandes, and Larry Perkins helped Allison Tevsh Zittel and Christina Aliquo cleared out Ocean Gateway.  The building manager said he had never seen us get it done so quickly!

Joe and Jay Monty, Bob DeWachter, Kyle Collins, Hans Brandes, Gerry Bagley, and Roger Merrow drained the water out of Monson 4 and winterized her.  They also worked on the coolant heater on Engine 1.  Gerry Bagley had previously removed all the steam hoses on the train.

Lincoln Good mopped up the museum floor to get rid of all the spilled hot chocolate!

Donovan Gray is revising the Polar Express standard operating procedures based upon lessons learned and feedback received from the public and our volunteers.

Hans Brandes, Brian Durham, and Larry Perkins took down the 20 foot Christmas tree and moved it from the North Pole to the yard.

We are pleased to be a part of this fantastic program again this year!

For the seventeenth consecutive year, Portland area history lovers will have a unique opportunity to do something fun for themselves and good for their community. Starting February 9, 2012, free classes on local history, art, and architecture, as well as on public speaking will begin.

The Portland History Docent (PHD) program is a collaborative effort by Greater Portland Landmarks, the Maine Historical Society, Tate House Museum, Victoria Mansion, Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad and Museum, Spirits Alive – Eastern Cemetery, Friends of Evergreen Cemetery, and Fifth Maine Regiment Museum. These eight organizations are joining forces to provide a thirteen-week training program for new volunteer guides at each organization’s respective museum site. Each sponsoring organization gains trained volunteers, while students benefit from the information and instruction they receive free of charge. PHD graduates are asked to commit to a year of volunteer time at one of the sponsoring sites of their choice. In return they receive knowledge, experience, and friendships that will last a lifetime!

The 2012 class runs on Thursday mornings, 9:00 am to noon, at the Maine Historical Society in Portland beginning on February 9 and finishing on May 3, 2012.

Visit:  http://portlandlandmarks.org/Content/20.php for more information.

In attendance today were: Gerry Bagley, Bob DeWachter, Joe and Jay Monty, Kyle Collins and Hans Brandes. The #1 task was to get #4 drained and winterized. We quickly went to work getting #1 started up in order to pull #4 out and start a fire. With the water in the boiler warmed up, the water was drained, cylinders were drained, safeties were removed, coal was removed and the engine cleaned up for winter storage.

Bob, Kyle and Hans headed with the forklift to bring the North Pole back to the yard. This was a good opportunity as there was no snow on the path or the ground and nothing was frozen. The structure is now in back of the yard and the signs have been removed for safe storage.

Gerry took off all of the steam hoses earlier in the week, so this saved us another task.

During lunch, Jerry Angier and Brian Durham stopped by. Joe gave them the plan for renewing staybolts in #4 so that we can run steam in 2012. This will help meet our goals of crew education, public education and steam for Polar Express 2o12.

Our next work session is in two weeks on January 14. Plans are to work on either #4 to prepare for staybolt replacement or to continue to put rivets in #7′s tank or both if we have enough people! Hope to see you then.

There were so many there that coming up with a list of names would certainly result in someone being left off. A rough estimate is that this took well over 150 manhours and numerous steel parts.

Saturday started with an admiration of a completed Pondicherry. The carpentry work done on this car is nothing short of spectacular. The Restoration crew did a great job and the car looks great both inside and out. Now it was time for the big move. Many have worked hard to plan and prepare for this move. We knew it would be a long day as the move was a process that we had not done before.

First up was to clear move the rail bus out of the way. This did not take long as it was light and only had to be moved within the museum building. Next came track laying. Sections had to be laid between the Pondicherry and Mount Pleasant and between the Mount Pleasant and the big door. Next move was to roll the Mount Pleasant out. This went well though we discovered that moving it out of the way in the parking lot was a challenge. The move persevered. Next came the Pondicherry, it came out and then was moved across the parking lot, which included around a few parked cars. By 4 PM, the Pondicherry was on the mainline. Next was to put the M0unt Pleasant back inside in the position where the Pondicherry was. This was got done though there were a few snags that resulted in it becoming a very long day. The move finally ended at 9 PM, what a long day!

So the Pondicherry is out there, almost ready to go. There is punch list of things that need to be done this week that will be addressed separately.

Again, many thanks to everyone who made putting the Pondicherry in service for Polar Express. It will be a car that we can all be proud of.

On Friday there was a very good turnout for track work and work around the engine house. The track crew consisted of Mike Moulison, Vincent LeRow, Brian Durham, Bill Piche, Griffen Bourassa and Dakota Dumont. The crew headed out to ballast and level west of Cutter Street. This is the area where the new ties were put in. Lots of stone got put down and many low areas were raised. It’s great to get this done before Polar Express starts and before the ground freezes. This most likely is the last track work for the season. It was a season of getting alot of hard work done out there. Great job by all that helped out with this effort.

Also on Friday, Roger Merrow, Bob DeWachter and Hans Brandes were in to work on projects around the engine house. Roger was working on engine 14. This is a little gas critter that hasn’t turned a wheel in a few year. Roger has taken this on to bring this back to life. It now has a new starting key, fan switch, oil fiter and new oil. After quite a bit of tinkering, this now runs and works great for pulling #4 out of the house. Bob worked on areas around the coal stove to ensure that it safely insulated from the wood all around. The stove works great. Hans worked on shelves in boxcar 60 so that parts and other equipment can be stored more efficiently.

Saturuday brought many folks in: Rick Knight, Gerry Bagley, Roger Merrow, Bob DeWachter, Rich Currie, Hans Brandes, Bill Piche, Kyle Collins and Griffen Bourassa.  Good thing as it was the day to prep the Polar Express train and begin preparations for moving the Pondicherry out of the museum. Brian and Donovan had put the train together earlier in the week (thanks guys). Steam hoses (rebuilt in 2009 but never tested) were brought out and hooked on.#4 was fired up by Bill and Griffen (this was Griffen’s first time helping to fire up #4, he got lots of advice considering that there were 4 Engineers and 1 Fireman there) and the whole train was put together. To make a long story short: the hose from the engine had to be rebuilt with a fitting change and a leak in a pipe car 22 had to be fixed. Good thing that we did this today as doing the first night of Polar would not have been the right time. All of the new drain valves worked flawlessly and we now have heat for Polar Express.

The first of four sets of shelves in boxcar 60 are now up. Kyle finished these off and moved lots of things that were spread out on the floor to up on the shelves. More shelves will be built. Kyle also started pulling up the floorboards beteween the doors that are rotten. These will be replaced as part of rehabbing this car.

Preparations for the Pondicherry move were begun. Hans and Bob scavenged snap track from all over the yard area. The move will happen next Saturday and will be a daunting challenge. Let’s cross our fingers that we can pull this off under very challenging circumstances.

We had our inaugural coal stove lunch of chili, garlic bread and a special dessert made by Rick’s wife Jane. It was very tasty and sure beats “round steaks” from McDs.  We will see what we can put together for next Satuday.

Speaking of which, next Saturday we will be back at it again. Hope to see you then.