Thanks in part to the gift from the Village of Orchard Park, mentioned as breaking news in the last issue of the Flyer, Bob Reynders and crew installed two new reproduction sets of lights in the baggage room, part of the overall program to replace all of the passenger station lighting with genuine reproductions of the original equipment.
Bob Reynders and crew install two new light fixtures in the baggage room. The fixture is an exact copy of the original. From left to right are Jim Slominski, Duane Warchocki (behind Jim), Bob Reynders (on ladder), Gary Ludwig and Roger Smith. |
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From time to time a little manual labor is required to clear a path to the depot, here performed by the newest Orchard Park crew member, Duane Warchocki. A security alarm failure was the result of the cold January weather and the lack of heat in the freight house. A terminal box in the freight house froze, setting off alarms in the freight house and the railway cars on the siding. Bob Snyder met a technician from Eastern States Alarm Company at the depot. The technician identified the source of the problem and put the system back on line. |
March 2009
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Wednesday and Saturday work sessions continued through the end of winter at the Orchard Park depot. February 7th found the depot crew building a new shelf for a piece of our electronic equipment in the passenger station basement. Bob Reynders, Gary Ludwig, Duane Warchocki, Jim Slominski and yours truly were outside to cut up scrap wood to make the shelf. |
| February 14th was devoted to repairing damage to the passenger station roof caused by squirrel activity. Bob Reynders and Jim Slominski cut up wire material to cover the hole in the outside overhang, then Bob, Jim and Roger Smith sealed the hole. The squirrel was found dead in our animal trap in the attic of the passenger station a couple of days later. We’re not sure if he died from the confinement in the trap or from the peanut doughnut we used as bait. |
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On March 11th, the depot crew replaced a piece of temporary roof covering on the BR&P caboose cupola that had been damaged by a severe wind storm. Finishing the month were the usual on-going clean-up and storage activities, as shown by the photo of Duane Warchocki helping Bob Reynders pack away part of our “Holiday in the Park” display. |
| On Saturday, March 21st, the depot crew had their annual pancake project planning meeting breakfast at the Pancake House on Union road in West Seneca. Plans were put together for projects we hope to complete in 2009, following a review of the good project year of 2008. |
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May 2009
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As the weather warmed up, the work parties at the depot slowly moved from inside to outside. Our resident wood worker, Gary Ludwig, continued working in the station agent’s office while the rest of us moved to the gardens, the freight house and the caboose. |
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On May 2nd, Bob Reynders cut up a cast iron downspout that was hanging in a dangerous position off of the freight house west wall. Later that month, Roger Smith, Jim Slominski and yours truly loaded Roger’s trailer with scrap metal that was sold at a Cheektowaga scrap dealer. We got very little cash for the scrap. But getting rid of it helped us make a lot of room in the RPO car and in the freight station. I planted many new plants, some shrubs and a whole lot of annuals, while Roger Smith eased into the grass cutting season. |
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On June 3rd, our annual visit of Ed-U-Kids took place. We had four groups tour the passenger station and the caboose, about 80 preschoolers, plus their teachers, in all. I started the tour at the passenger station while Jim and Roger assisted the kids in and out of the caboose while Jim explained its interior. On June 10th, a parade of small groups of second graders and their teachers took similar tours. |
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Next up: final installation of lights in the passenger station. Stay tuned!
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