And the Amherst Railway Society Founders award grant goes to

Al P. · **Joined:** Wed Jan 11, 2012 2:31 pm **Posts:** 60

The Railroad Museum of New England,
For the Continued Restoration of Boston And Maine GP-9 #1732. this was the first time the Amherst Railway Society gave a single Grant for 10K, and they hope to make it a annual Grant.

Attachment:

amherst show.jpg [ 56.74 KiB | Viewed 3106 times ]

Show here is Amherst Railway Society President Sudro Brown Presenting the Check to RMNE board Charman Howard Pincus. To his Right are Celeste Echlin President , and Shop supervisor Sam Walker.

Attachment:

DSCN0039a.jpg [ 130.19 KiB | Viewed 3106 times ]

1732 show on a snowplow work extra in February 2001 before the crankshaft broke. the grant monies will allow us to complete the replacment 567 engine.

daylight4449 · **Posted:** Sun Jan 29, 2012 8:40 pm

Great job on getting the grant! I can't wait to see 1732 in service.

PCook · **Joined:** Sat Jul 02, 2005 7:16 am **Posts:** 2127

And lets also mention that the Amherst Railway Society puts much of the proceeds from each years West Springfield Show into preservation grants. They have been very generous distributing many thousands of dollars each year to good causes, and over the many years that the show has been held, their gifts to preservation now total way up in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. And putting it all in perspective, the Amherst Railway Society, that makes these major contributions to preservation, is an independent railroad enthusiast organization based in Western Massachusetts. A very impressive achievement by a relatively small group of dedicated people!

PC

Howard P. · **Posted:** Mon Jan 30, 2012 1:02 am

We're honored and pleased that Amherst Railway Society awarded this first Founder's Grant to RMNE's 1732 Project. It really will help put us over the top for the major part of the 1732's restoration, the rebuild of the diesel engine. Previous grants, one being the Leigh Webb Memorial Preservation Grant, plus an NRHS Preservation Grant, have enabled us to obtain the first 8 rebuilt power assemblies for the replacement engine.

As Mr. Cook mentioned, ARS has awarded many preservation grants during the last 20 years. ARS President Sudro Brown announced that the total is more than $600,000 in that time. They have helped many projects move along toward completion in that time, and those of us in the trenches of railway preservation are most appreicative of ARS's support.

Howard P.