JOSHUA BERNHARD
Joshua’s railroad relatives go back to 1891. Three generations on his dad’s side worked for the Illinois Central as engineers on both yard switchers and passenger trains. Because of this family history, Joshua chose a railroad theme for his Boy Scout Eagle project. He melded his expertise in movie media with the #223 restoration efforts and produced a 10 minute movie on the team’s progress to date. The DVD has been shared with other railroad museums and railroad historical societies along with sales to individuals.
Joshua is currently a student (2012) at BYU in history and media arts. These talents have been tapped by the restoration team and the Union Station’s library with Joshua contributing and maintaining to the Golden Spike Chapter of the Railroad & Locomotive Historical Society’s social media. The public can now call up on the computer information about the Chapter on Facebook, Youtube and a blog.
Prior to joining the restoration team Joshua had no experience with machinery but he jumped right in and now proudly has dirt and grease under his fingernails. He particularly enjoys working on the hot rivet team and doing research for Lee Witten our librarian. His plans for post-graduation are to be involved with museums and or the film industry.
When asked what the completion of the #223 restoration will bring to the community he answered, “It will help preserve the arts and crafts of restoration, such as hot riveting and woodworking as exampled by the recreation of the train cab”.
