For some time, we had some concrete posts lying around the museum property. This year, I decided to put a couple of them up in one of our flower beds that offers some protection to the wooden electrical service pole supports, from cars parking in our gravel lot. I have included photos showing the two posts as originally set and then after they were painted for visitors. The post shown with the number 30 on both sides was given to the museum many years ago and unfortunately, I have lost both the donors name and the railroad history. Note that the number 30 appears on both sides. The gentleman who gave it to HVRM, told me it was a milepost marker and that the reason he saved it, was that the street address of his house was also 30 and he was going to set it up in an obvious spot to show that the house was 30 "such and such lane". After having it sitting around for some time, he finally gave up on the idea and decided to donate it to the museum. As I said, I can no longer recall the railroad that it was from. I'm hoping someone can identify the marker from its rather individualistic shape, and/or number fount. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

Les Beckman (Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum/North Judson, Indiana)

I'm no expert on Hoosier railroads, so I can't help on the identification of the railroad. That said, they look nice as you have repainted them and certainly enhance the appearance of the property.

When I was at TVRM, I repainted some of the cast iron signs that we had on the property. We installed a large cast iron sign on the driveway crossing at Grand Junction (as there was no railroad crossing sign previously installed there). The sign came off one of the N&W lines and we blasted it and primed it before repainting. To reduce the liklihood of theft, the ends of the steel bolts that hold it to the boiler tube post were heated after the nuts were tightened and smashed-effectively riviting it to the post. I also repainted the turntable. To add flourish (and contrast), the American Bridge Company erector's plate was painted fire engine red and the raised letters and border painted in white.

Keeping the property presentable to the public was something that the roads that were in a position to do so, took great pride in. Stations often had manicured lawns or small floral gardens adjacent to the platforms or other facilities. At the very least, areas that were open to public view were expected to be kept tidy and organized.

Alan -

Thanks for the compliment. I'd like to find at least one more concrete railroad post to add to the display. Maybe someday!

Your painting of the erectors plate on your turntable is an interesting idea. How about a picture sometime? I can't recall for sure that our yet to be installed turntable was built by American Bridge, but I think it was. I'll have to check to see if it has an erectors plate the next time I'm at the museum.

I agree that museum property should be kept looking as good as possible. We attempt to do this at HVRM, and have had some success but certainly could do better.

Finally, it is not certain that milepost 30 came from an Indiana railroad. We are close enough to Illinois and also to Michigan, that railroads there might be the source too.

Les

The C&EI marker is for the Chicago and Eastern Illinois that was bought by the Missouri Pacific which in turn was bought by the Union Pacific.

Fred Heilich

Fred -

I have the donors name for the Chicago & Eastern Illinois concrete property line marker. It was located on the old Chicago & Indiana Coal Railway that the C&EI acquired in 1894. The C&IC (known as the "Old Coal Road"), through a series of circumstances, was eventually put up for abandonment in 1922 with the southern portion being sold to the Cincinnati, Indianapolis & Western (B&O) and the balance becoming the Chicago, Attica & Southern. All of the Old Coal Road trackage now lies abandoned.

The C&EI itself was eventually split up between the Missouri Pacific and the Louisville & Nashville, now Union Pacific and CSX respectively.

Les

No problem Les. I'll look around. I believe I have it uploaded somewhere. Painting the items as they were originally spruces up the appearance of the place. That makes it more attractive to the public, maintains the morale of the staff and volunteers and arrests deterioration of the object.

Here you go, Les.



Not perfect, but good enough-it's not easy painting raised letters that are cast. I did plenty of touching up. The white lettering really stands out. Mostly I painted it as a finishing touch to repainting the outer surfaces of the turntable. Most of us did not notice that the builder's plate was there due to its location and the fact that the last time the turntable was painted, the builder's plate was just sprayed over with black paint. The whole job took me three days to do-prepping the surfaces and painting. The reason I did it was this-the turntable is where everyone takes photos of the locomotive being turned. The previous paint was peeling and fading to a bluish gray shade and was frankly an eyesore.

While I was looking for the turntable photo, I found this photo of the cast iron railroad crossing sign I repainted and erected at Grand Junction. The station sits in the middle of the wye and trains cross the driveway/walkway at speeds up to fifteen miles an hour. After we started hosting DOWT events, the danger presented by the lack of signage was made clear. I recalled where this sign was stored, media blasted it, primed it and painted it.




The signpost is indeed a cut down piece of boiler tube that came out of the 630 during it's rebuild. The tube was slightly narrower than the mount on the back of the sign, so a band was welded to the tube.

Alan -

Great work! The warning sign at Grand Junction is nicely done and the erectors plate is striking! Incidentally, the "Ambridge Plant" was located in Ambridge, Pennsylvania. Gee, wonder how they got that name???

Incidentally, I wonder how many RyPN'ers noticed my little bit of "unauthentic" painting of the C&EI Property Line post? Free ticket on a 2014 Hoosier Valley train to English Lake (at my expense) for the first one to point it out!


Les

Thanks! I don't have a photograph of the NO TRESPASSING sign that is by the gate leading to the shop. It's also cast iron with raised lettering. No sooner had I finished painting it, than a rain storm came up. Fortunately, I had a plastic bag with me and some tape, so I bagged the sign and it turned out all right.

There are at least three other cast iron signs somewhere in storage at TVRM. One is a landmark sign that the Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railway had placed at the bridge on South Chickamauga Creek, just below the East Tennessee and Georgia Railroad crossing. They commonly used cast iron signs to identify the names of creeks, rivers or other locations other than stations.

I believe that we also have a standard cast iron crossbuck in storage. I chose the other railroad crossing sign as it is different than the crossbuck and looked more visually appealing and appropriate for the location. The height of the sign used was calculated to place it at eye level to pedestrians approaching the crossing.

The last sign in storage is a sign that came from a road down in Georgia that was to be used at closed crossings. I forget the exact wording, but it made it clear that pedestrians and motorists were forbidden from using the crossing under penalty of law.

As for the NO TRESPASSING sign and Grand Junction crossing sign, not only are they restored and on display-they're serving their original puposes too!

You are correct sir! The second "R" had no "period" after it in the concrete, so I just dabbed a bit of black paint in that location. Send me a PM with your info Steve, and I'll arrange for the free ticket.

Les

On the railroad crossing sign, the period is in fact cast.

Alan
Your sign looks great.
When I was reading this post My 9yr old Daughter saw the picture and said "I've seen that sign". So I asked Her where. She said at the train museum We went to on the way to Disney world.
That was 2 years ago!
We really liked the museum and train ride.

Steve A W