GRANT AWARD ANNOUNCEMENTS

The Board of Directors of the Tom E. Dailey Foundation is pleased to announce 11 grant awards totaling $34,246 which were approved at the November 7, 2015 quarterly board meeting, including the following railroad heritage grants. Since its creation in 2013, the Foundation has awarded grants totaling $448,546.00. For more information, please visit http://www.daileyfoundation.org.


Saint Albans C & O Modelers & Museum, Saint Albans, WV - $ 4,000

This 15 year-old group, the Saint Albans Chesapeake and Ohio Modelers and Museum (SACOMM), requested funding to replace the roof and a portion of the remaining windows in the 1906 Chesapeake & Ohio Saint Albans Train Depot. The City of Saint Albans and the Saint Albans Historical Society are partners in this project. SACOMM uses the depot as its headquarters. It is the goal of the group to restore the depot to a resemblance of its former glory and to use the building once again as an actual rail transportation stop (CSX trains run past the stop today) for both scenic tours, as well as to develop the site as a stop for Amtrak passenger traffic. The development of the depot will be a significant part of the Saint Albans’ Comprehensive Plan and is a key focal point for preserving and promoting railway history in the community. The total cost for the roof repairs is $37,300. Some of the work will be done by city employees. Various community groups (Women’s Club, etc.) and businesses have contributed to the repairs.

Electric City Trolley Museum Association, Scranton, PA - $ 3,000

This group submitted an application for the restoration of trolley car #505. Originally manufactured in 1929, the car was in operation with the former Scranton Transit Co. until 1954 when it was replaced by a bus. The overall restoration project is estimated at $350,000. To-date they have raised $117,000 and invested 3,500 volunteer hours. When fully restored, Car #505 will be put into operating service on the Lackawanna County’s Electric City Trolley Museum’s five mile long excursion track for the public to ride and enjoy. The group will use the car to help educate the community on the historic heritage of northeastern Pennsylvania, specifically, how the trolley carried workers to the coal mines, iron and steel plants, textile mills, railroad yards, etc. The grant request of $3,000 will be part of the $95,000 phase of steel work.

North Carolina Railway Museum, Inc., New Hill, NC - $ 5,000

This long-time group—the East Carolina Chapter of the NRHS—requested funds to relocate the 1884 Goldston Depot from its current location in a Goldston, NC, storage yard to the New Hope Valley Railway where it will act as a passenger depot and central loading area for their excursion trains. Built in the small town of Goldston, the depot was used for passenger service until the 1940s and freight service until the late 1950s. After being abandoned, the building was saved by a prominent Goldston family in the early 1970s and moved to private property where it remains today. The 35-mile move is expected to cost $40,000. The depot is in remarkably good condition and only needs exterior paint and some windows fixed before it is operational. The group offers many educational programs for school children, and the depot will be used as a classroom as well as an example of North Carolina history.


East Broad Top Preservation Association, DuBois, PA - $ 2,500

This group is dedicated to the preservation of the National Historic Landmark East Broad Top Railroad located in Mount Union, Pennsylvania. Specifically, they requested funding to restore an original narrow gauge, East Broad Top-built hopper car. The EBT railroad is unique in that they built every hopper car (more than 300) for their own use. These unique, narrow gauge hoppers are examples of the industrial coal heritage of the area’s railroads. Only the EBT hauled large amounts of coal to sustain its rail operations. This 7-year organization normally operates a small 3-mile steam train excursion. But they began renovations to the railroad in 2011 to enhance its educational and historic experience. The cosmetic restoration of the hopper car will complement the linear park the group maintains on the East Broad Top right-of-way.

Lake Superior Railroad Museum, Duluth, MN - $ 2,500

This group is restoring a 1906 Duluth & Northeastern RR 2-8-0 locomotive #28. The restoration has been underway for over two years and is close to completion. They have passed all FRA inspections during the teardown and rebuild. The one remaining task is to re-tube the boiler jacket. Fraser Shipyards of Superior, Wisconsin, has agreed to do the work at cost. All the materials needed for the re-tubing have already been purchased with other funding. With the boiler work completed, volunteers will use the winter and spring for final touch-up with the expectation by summer 2016, the locomotive will be in full steam. The group operates excursions along the beautiful shore of Lake Superior from Duluth to Two Harbors through the deep and majestic North Woods. Their volunteers have put in thousands of hours of work on the project, and they have raised over $100,000 in donations and grants.

Lake States Railway Historical Association, Inc., Baraboo, WI - $ 2,746

This group has been awarded two grants in the past. In this latest application, Lake States notes they have received several railroad heritage book collections in 2015 that number several hundred volumes. This substantially exceeds the current shelf capacity of the library. They are requesting funds to purchase additional shelving units to accommodate the new collections and some margin for future collections. They have provided the vendor quote for the materials along with numerous photographs to document the need for the funding. They wish to purchase two library-grade base shelving units and three add-on units (plus shipping charges). The group, established in 2007, focuses on documenting the rail history of the Western Great Lakes region of the U.S. during the 1880-1916 era. They are dedicated to the highest standards of scholarship, research, and preservation. They note previous TEDF grants have been greatly beneficial.

Boothbay Railway Village, Boothbay,ME - $ 7,500

This 50-year-old group requested funding to restore their 1895 S. D. Warren Baldwin locomotive #2. Originally purchased by the S. D. Warren Paper Mill Company, the locomotive replaced horses and wagons in the mill yard to haul pulpwood and coal. A daily workhorse, during its heyday, the locomotive helped S. D. Warren produce more than 35,000 pounds of paper a day. In 1974, the mill complex was added to the National Register of Historic Places as the Cumberland Mills Historic District. The locomotive restoration project, estimated at $87,000, includes building a new boiler, repairs to the iron frame, all new bearings, a new cab, and a new saddle tank. The application included a project plan and budget and numerous photographs of the work to be done. The group’s mission is to conserve and display authentic Maine rail history artifacts from the mid-19th to the mid-20th centuries. The 30-acre village includes two dozen buildings many of which are filled with artifacts of Maine’s railroading history. They welcome more than 25,000 visitors annually.

A very large thank you from the Project 505 group. We are starting the metal work on the car body this month and the grant could not have come at a better time.

Rocco A. Genovese
Manager, Project 505 Capital Funds Committee
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