The Alberta Railway Museum

As we progress toward the visit by the Museums Association advisors, there are a lot of activities taking place.

For information on the Alberta Museums Association and their role please see: http://www.museumsalberta.ab.ca/advisor.html

The railway tie bin is now full and ready to leave, and the metal scrap bin is loaded (thanks to Larry Zaharko) and ready to leave as well. The track will be sprayed next week (thanks to Jim Sexsmith, Ted VanGunst, Terry Wolfe and Dennis Pringle), Pacific Northwest Rail Works will complete the track work, a track inspector Tony Goulart, has been recruited (he does inspections for Fort Edmonton Park, Valley Zoo and Northlands), the waste bin has been moved behind Peavey Station, the pile of garden soil has been levelled east of the wash car, and the tie storage areas have been straightened up.

We have been fortunate to have the Fine Options crew out for several sessions. This is a bargain - for a few hamburgers, hot dogs, onions, buns, coffee and drinking water a lot of heavy work has been done. Thanks to Alberta Solicitor General Managers and Corrections Officers for their interest in the museum. Painting the station exterior is progressing, the grass has been mowed and the request for a string trimmer has been answered by Dave Stokes' generous offer to buy one!

Scrap batteries have been removed and the search is on for 20 fire extinguishers. We need 15 - 10 pound and 5 - 20 pound ABC extinguishers. Anybody have a good contact? My guess is that auctions are the best place to look.

Plans are in place to outline the parking area with a few of the remaining ties (thanks to Sharon Fieber), the levelled area will be seeded with grass seed and fertilized.

Thanks to Judy Wolfe and Debbie Harcourt for the good work done on the flower display at the entrance.

A major move of archives went from the Office to the City Archives last week. Thanks to Ernie Townend and Derek Sim for their energy in helping to make this happen. Further moves of archival and display materials went from the office to the newly completed area in the east end of Shop 1. That work was done over several weeks by Hans Huizinga and Sharon Fieber.

The speeder service is now ready, thanks to Don Weymouth and Dennis Pringle. One (#44) has been moved up to the MOW area and will be used for track spraying. The other speeder (#45) will be used, along with the crew carrier, for speeder trips this summer. The idea is to have a pull-pull operation with the crew carrier sandwiched between the motor cars. One will be started and pull the string to the end of track, shut down the first one, start the second one and pull the string back to the station. That way the operator is always facing the front of the movement.

Training is available for safe operation of this attraction. Given enough operators and a good schedule, we can offer this revenue generator on Saturdays and Sundays throughout the summer. We don't expect to have trains on Sundays in July and August, except for long weekends because of crew availability.

The gift shop renovation is working out very well. We are able to handle visitors with a minimum of waiting and as they wait to buy train tickets, they also pick up gift shop items.

New displays are being set up: office machines, including a comptometer, cheque writer, cash register and time clock; upgrading the CN Police display; putting the donated VCR/TV combinations into operation(thanks to Ken Jones); new music system; and a greatly enhanced Morse display. Thanks to Ab Krauter, George Kenney and Dave Ruptash for the latter.

Painting diagrams have been requested for 6514/6614. Once the body work is completed, they will be sand blasted, primed masked and painted. The major work in getting them ready for painting is: Terry Wolfe is repairing the rust spots on the bodies; the units will be moved out side, mask the windows and remove the engine grilles, sandblasted and primed; final paint application (masking will be in several stages as each color is applied). For the latter we need a coordinator to see that the job moves forward in cooperation with Master Blasters who will complete the work for approximately $8,500.

The advertising, thanks to Stephen Yakimets, is working well and we are already getting visitors from the area who have not been out before.

Oh, did I mention that the museum is now open for volunteers?

Herb