GSMR 1702 was restored this year after being out of service for 12 years

In my part of the world, we are very blessed indeed with GEORGETOWN LOOP #111, UP #844, and the Manitou & Pikes Peak #4 !!!

I can't put the saddletanker of my dreams in a class with all the great successes that have happened this year, but little Coronet Phosphate #6 has a coat of paint now, and I'm starting to make a bit of progress with her many ailments.

You Can't Keep a Good Lokie Down.

Lets not forget to give credit to the PRR T1 Trust for casting a driver with a recreated steel recipe. Plus they have started work on the distinctive prow, along with the digitization of the blueprints.

Sadly,nothing from the East Broad Top again this year.I realize not everything can be preserved, but the EBT certainly should be.

The volunteer group has actually done a lot of stabilization work and started reroofing at least one building If I remember correctly. I'm not a member of the group but I highly recommend everyone look at the work the Friends of the East Broad Top Railroad and what they do. https://www.facebook.com/FriendsOfTheEBT/

To see over 50 projects that were completed in the last 12 months, go to TRRM Online at www.atrrm.org/blog. To see the 250 or so that are in progress, look at the Progress Reports page.

Aaron Isaacs, editor
ATRRM

I have not been very active at Mid Continent RR museum this year, but have a few things to share being nobody else is at the moment. Will try and hit the positive high notes or at least some that I know about. Again not heavily involved at this time so no doubt there is a whole lot more to crow about.

1: The Polson #2 is operable. Went through a number of break in runs without pulling trains of course. Some minor problems solved which were expected after the scope of work done. Congratulations to Skip and many thanks for the crew who participated in breaking the locomotive in and trying their best to bring steam back to MC. Cranial Rectal Inversion has hampered progress, but the locomotive is up and running. http://www.midcontinent.org/equipment-r ... ollection/

2: DSS&A sleeper car acquired and on the property. Much has already been shared about this. SOO #957 became a donor car and some of the draft gear is already swapped.

3: Work continues on EJ&S #2, 1864 combine with much structural work.
http://www.midcontinent.org/equipment-r ... outhern-2/

4:LS&I #64 is being worked on between other projects that are on going. Going to be one heck of car when finished. http://www.midcontinent.org/equipment-r ... peming-64/

5: Goodman Lumber Co #9 received a new cab, floor and running boards and probably a lot more. A cosmetic restoration for a wonderful Wisconsin locomotive which is finally under a roof. I know an end beam was planned but not sure if it got installed yet or not?
http://www.midcontinent.org/equipment-r ... ollection/

6: New car barn going up and think the excavating was finished this fall? This will be a great benefit for the restoration crew as many of the restored and unrestored wooden cars will be under cover. Do not have a lot of details on the new building but this is a Godsend to the survival of the wooden cars and probably a couple of steel cars as well. I know the Jim Hill car is going indoors!

7: Not much info to share about CN&W #1385 4-6-0. Guess her cab is done, most of the running gear/frame work sounds done or heading towards completion in near future. Boiler contract out with a contractor who has done FRA work before. A step in the right direction for sure.

8: Lackawanna coaches going through truck rebuilds. Two are finished and now #595 trucks are in the shop waiting on fund raising from my understanding. Along with recent projects by building and grounds people some sorely needed infrastructure both with buildings and rolling stock used in daily service has been addressed or is in progress.

I am sure there is much more going on but I am impressed with some of the positive things happening. The membership on the ground needs to take a bow as does the donors that make the projects happen. Without our donors support many of these project they wouldn't be happening. Without a dedicated group of volunteers none of this would happen. So to those involved take a bow and thank you. Regards, John Risley.

The Colfax Railroad Museum in Wisconsin had a very productive year. We finished the repairs on our carshed from the tornado damage two years ago, finished the roof on Omaha Route mail car #301 and started the lettering on it, the 1898 depot rewiring is now 90% complete, the new library/archive has one remodeled room, and the new heating system was completed last week. We are now approved as donation sites for the Combined Federal Campaign for federal employees and for THRIVENT insurance company member donations. The big news is that we have purchased an additional 1/2 acre of land that now connects our properties, except for that pesky railroad running through the middle! LOL
Herb Sakalaucks
Chairman
Colfax Railroad Museum

The Niagara Railway Museum Inc. located in the former Canadian National Railways Fort Erie diesel shop has had a very good 2016 as we continue to grow and develop our site. With our funds being very tight, we aren't able to go as far as we want to, but we have started working on some of the equipment.

In 2016 we held 3 successful open weekends (we aren't open on a regular basis yet), which brought in visitors from across Ontario and NY state. We even had visitors from other countries including the UK and Germany. Many of our displays were expanded or revamped. We've started working on sealing up the rows of broken windows (shop has been closed since 1989), with the major section of the heavy repair bay being the first section finished. Outside, the Museum started a track realignment of the yard tracks. 2 of the 3 shop tracks are connected, however, it was decided this year to shift the track closer to it's original alignment, to get rid of a bit of a tight curve.

The Museum's biggest project of the year is coming up in a week when we move a 1935 ex-CNR wood body flanger. The car has been used as an office/conference room for close to 50yrs. CN 56323 will join our other flanger, 56425. We now have one car with plow blades but no body, and one car with the body, but no blades. For now, the car will be kept as is, being able to use the interior space for meetings and rotating displays. 56323 will be restored as time and funds permit. The exterior is of course rough looking, but the interior is in much better condition.

So we're wrapping up 2016 on a high note, and head into 2017 with lots to look forward to.

The East Troy Railroad Museum had a couple of significant preservation accomplishments in 2016, including the completion and dedication of our new maintenance facility. We also brought restored Chicago, South Shore & South Bend interurban #33 back to operating condition and dedicated it in a joint event with the National Park Service.

Old Pueblo Trolley, Inc. has acquired and moved into a new shop facility located at South 4th Avenue and East 36th Street in the City of South Tucson, Arizona. This facility provides some 30,000 square feet of inside space for storage and maintenance of trolleys and buses as well as approximately 30,000 square feet of outside fenced storage space.

Progress on the 1924 Brill continues and we hope to have it ready for testing on the Sun Link system in the next year. We are also discussing the possibility of operating a vintage streetcar route separate from Sun Link with the City of Tucson and City of South Tucson and may explore the possibility of a heritage bus route in the future.

In restoration, we are continuing to work on Old Pueblo Transit Company No. 135 (1960 GM TGH-3102), Warren Bisbee No. 8 (1938 Yellow Coach Model 1204) and Tucson Rapid Transit Company No. 50 (1946 Ford Transit). Work has pretty much stopped on our 1928 Twin Coach as no additional funding has been secured to continue restoration, nor is any anticipated in the near future. At the moment, the primary concern is maintaining the vehicles that we have operating, completing the move from leased outlying facilities to the new shop and constructing/upgrading the quality of the displays.

Fundraising is being increased to address the costs associated with the restoration work that is ongoing and move related expenses. Most of the funds received have come in form of large donations from foundations or a few large donations from members/friends. Small donations make up a portion of our receipts, but we do not depend on them to cover any part of our operating budget.

Going forward, we will be watching the legislative action in Washington very closely-particularly any bills that address reform of the Tax Code as there are a few proposals that will very adversely affect donations to tax-exempt charitable organizations if they get passed into law. One of the proposals offered by the President-Elect would reduce certain tax rates and eliminate the deduction for donations to charitable organizations. We must make certain that we make our voices heard, as this would affect a significant number of organizations very adversely.

Although this thread seems to be focused on locomotives and rolling stock, it may be of interest to note the significant progress achieved in 2016 on restoration of the Keokuk Union Depot. The Keokuk Union Depot Foundation reached its goal of $1 million for restoration of the roof to its 1891 appearance. This achievement came through meeting the 1/3 matching grant of the Jeffris Family Foundation, with significant help from the Iowa Historical Resources Development Program. However, individual contributions accounted for the bulk of the matching funds.

As a result, the apex of the central tower (leveled off around 1950) was reconstructed and lifted into place, and most of the central tower has been roofed with clay tile (manufactured by the same firm that supplied the original tiles of 1891). Much of the eaves and soffit around the downriver end of the building have been reconstructed, following up on similar work done in 2015 on the upriver end. (The Depot is located below the Mississippi River bluff in Keokuk, along trackage used by Pioneer Railcorp and BNSF Railway).

Tiling of the roof and further repairs will continue into 2017. The capital campaign for these efforts is being extended into 2017 to raise another $250K to cover needs that came to light during the current phase of work.

A lot of action has gone on this year at the Illinois Railway Museum those being:

1. Receiving ARMCO B71
2. The purchase of the DRGW Burnham shop 130 ft turntable
3. Removing both items listed above through the use of the CNW wrecker and UP American crane in house saving the museum a large amount of money by doing so
4. The Electroliner project is on going with the trucks and cars being repaired.
5. Building two more barns for the property
6. California Zephyr Western Pacific 801 the Silver Beaver baggage car has been delivered to the property

John, I am glad to hear of so many items getting much needed attention. It seems like if you don't post anything, nothing gets out on what is going on. I do check the facebook page, so a little gets out, but in any event, thanks for your efforts. I have to say that I am flat footed that all of the hype to return steam to Mid-Continent, and now they have an operable locomotive there that they refuse to run? CRI was your name for it, and that seems about right. It has been fun to see progress on 1385, but that is still a few years away at best. I see that they scrapped or scrapping the SOO 1257 for parts for the Duluth. Too bad, but as you said, all those years outside take a huge toll. So very glad they are getting more indoor storage!

Steve

The Bluegrass Railroad Museum has enjoyed another fine year! Our passenger count increased again, which in turn keeps us in existence, and pushes our projects further.

Early this year we received Norfolk & Western flatcar #202507, from the Kentucky Utilities company. It'd been used at one of their large fossil fueled generating stations, and was recently deemed surplus.

Shortly after, we erected the Southern Railway heritage double track signal bridge, from nearby Control Point Rosemont, on the former CNO&TP mainline. It was a gift from Norfolk Southern back in 2014 or so. We have it gracing our Mainline and Station Tracks, as they leave the yard area. All of the signal heads function properly, though their control is manual. They look great from the platform!

This past summer, we enjoyed the Lehigh Valley Coal #126, for two operating weekends. The Gramlings are fun and knowledgeable, and we look forward to hosting them again in the future.

We've fresh paint on Norfolk and Western #675, a GP9. Lettering will come in the new year.

Other, smaller projects have been accomplished, as upgrades to the excursion coaches. The track was maintained, along with our annual quota of new ties, we also had a farm crossing rebuilt, and several switches worked on. Brush on the right-of-way remains an eyesore, but we're working at it.

We still have plenty of work to go, and are approaching 2017 with a good financial outlook. Some big ideas have been discussed, but only time will tell the outcome of those discussions.

James Hinman