Randy Pirkle, SRM Administrator

The Christmas season is in full swing at the museum. In November, Santa arrived accompanied by the Jingle Bell Dancers from Miss Cindy's dance studio.  We had a children's choir visit from Maysville and we opened our 2nd Annual Festival of Trees curated by the Duluth Historical Society. The Festival of Trees will remain on display till December the 31st.

This holiday season, we added a 2nd rail car Polar Express Experience which increased our capacity by 50% - allowing more families to enjoy the show! Through a great deal of team work, we've set up and equipped the second car, upgraded heat in the original car and equipped both cars with matching projection equipment. All the upgrades have made operating the event easier on staff and more pleasing for those attending.

While holiday events have had a lot of focus, other projects continue to progress.  The teams working on the park train rehabilitation have made significant progress both on track and on mechanical. The team have installed flooring inside the Western Union boxcar and replaced the flooring on the Southern transfer caboose. Our landscape team continue to add trees and color to the campus and our full scale track team have been busy as well.

Santa's arrival Nov 19

Separate from the routine projects around the museum, the contractor on our new Rail Transit Exhibit building started moving dirt in November.  This is a huge step forward and they are making rapid progress. To complete this project, we need your support. By making a contribution to SRM, you will receive a write off on your 2016 taxes.  Please visit the museum's donation page today!

In 2017, we have an exciting lineup of events planned at the Southeastern Railway Museum! In February, we are introducing the Black History Month Art Exhibition: Rising from the Rails. The opening will be on February the 3rd, with the exhibition remaining on display till the 28th. There is now an open call for art, if interested in exhibiting artwork, register here. Then in April, we will continue with Caboose Days and our annual photo competition.

We wish you and your family a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
We look forward to your next visit at the museum and
hope you enjoy seeing the evolution and growth at SRM!

James Gero Polihronakis, Education Coordinator



The Southeastern Railway Museum's education department continued its Second Thursday program on November 10th. The weather was great and we had a good turnout for our theme vehicle, the Cement Truck from Ernst Concrete. It was a pink cement truck in honor of breast cancer awareness month. The pre-schoolers had a great time making cement as their activity, learning about the vehicle, the cement truck and playing a cement hopscotch game. In craft, they built a cement truck using geometric shapes and finally heard a story about a funny little cement truck. Everyone was happy and the children had a great time. Next month's vehicle will be trains, one of our most popular vehicles for Second Thursday. We are doing trains as our theme vehicle for December to coincide with the museum's Polar Express experience.

Learn more and register for the next Second Thursday event HERE.

To make a donation to support the education department, please visit the museum’s website.

Lloyd Neal
 


Car 1104 is being used for the Polar Express Experience this year. But, a few mechanical issues needed work to make this happen. First, some electrical work is being done to the car. Dale G and John K are leading up this work. A new electrical panel is being installed as a portion of this work. The photo shows John’s work on placing the new panel in shape.
 
Second, work on the heating system is being done. The roof panels were lifted with Jordan R. on the backhoe to do some heavy lifting. Gary C went on the roof to work on the heating repairs. Then Gary C., Steve S., John K. and Lloyd N. placed the roof covering metal plates back in position.
 
Third, window repairs are being performed by Bob E and Lloyd N. The repairs are temporary plywood patches to cover damaged areas until a more through repair can be made.
 

Samuel Rehonic

Be it a simple loop of track, or a massive model empire that occupies a basement, model trains and model railroading have always fascinated. For some it's about the models themselves and the ability to create. It's a complete range of skills, research, planning, and designing. Woodworking skills are required to lay the track and then electrical skills to successfully install all the wiring.

You improve your artistic and modeling skills as you build. Each model becoming a miniature piece of artwork. For others it's the sheer joy of running a miniature train. Others still love the history that can be brought back into life as locomotives and trains that have long passed into the ages are seen running once again in miniature. Either way you look at it, it's just plain fun!

Our yearly Model Railroad Days is a celebration of the hobby. We joined forces with the North Georgia Moduler Railroad Club and welcomed a massive HO scale model railroad into our exhibit hall. We also had in the exhibit hall several beautiful On30 scale models and layouts built by our own Ken Greenwood. All representing narrow gauge rail operations. Outside the theater came the clatter of wheels on rails and wailing whistles of classic Lionel trains. As Mr. Tim Romano brought in his collection of classic post war O scale trains. Attracting kids both young and old!

This year was our most well attended Model Railroad Days yet. The crowds on Saturday and Sunday were a steady flow around the layouts, and we kept the trains large and small running. Layouts on display ran from the beautiful and realistic to the whimsical. One model railroad donated by the Hard family was even offered as a raffle prize, to further spread the hobby and give one lucky winner the chance to start their own small scale empire.

The North Georgia layout was set up all through the weekend, and into the next week. On Monday, after the main event had ended, we played host to one of the local Boy Scout Troops as they came out to the museum to learn about how railroads work and run. The troop was decided into teams, and each team given a model train and told to run their train around the layout, dropping off and picking up cars according to their switch-lists. The task of completing their runs without bumping into each other, and avoiding the local passenger train made this a fun and engaging puzzle.

The hobby of model railroading at our museum goes beyond just the weekend celebration in November. This was the first weekend we were without our old trusty Georgia & Tennessee Railroad. Built by Len Purdy in the 1980s, the railroad was finally decommissioned after decades of good service. In its place however, rises a new HO scale model railroad. While our guests watched the other layouts operated, there was a Feeling of excitement as eyes turned to the new and larger railroad growing in the corner of our exhibit hall.

For those of you wondering, progress is good on the Georgia & Tennessee Railroad II. Regular work sessions are held Friday nights around 8:30pm to well into the night, and are well attended by both members of SRM, and our friends with North Georgia Moduler. Next year, we hope to add the grand opening of our own layout to the festivities during Model Railroad Days!

The Rail Transit Exhibit Building is a new building project at SRM that will provide additional covered exhibit space with four tracks with a capacity of holding up to 8 full size 85’ rail cars plus having room in the middle for most of our transit equipment, freeing up space in building 2 to get a couple of more cars under shelter.  This is partially funded by a Transportation Enhancement (TE) grant which is a federal grant program that includes funding for many types of projects, including transportation museums.
 
The ceremonial groundbreaking was on October 25^th, and work by the contractors finally began this past week after a delay to get final permits.  The initial work is to remove vegetation from the retention pond/sediment basin so that silt fences can be installed prior to the expansion of the basin which is a required part of our project.  Once the silt & erosion control measures are inspected, work can begin to enlarge the basin and to prepare the building site itself. 



That will require fill on the North side to level the site.  There is also the need to relocate the water lines to building 3 so they won’t be under the new building.  We would ask that all members and volunteers remain away from the construction site for safety reasons.  You can safely observe much of the activity from the end of building 2.  In the meantime, there are pictures of the work around the basin accompanying this article.

This project will take a number of months with the exact schedule to be determined, with weather (if it ever rains again) playing a part.  Footings and foundation should be in place by January with the building itself to follow.
 
Since the project is costing quite a bit more than our budget and designated funding, we have started a fundraising campaign to raise $200,000.  This will enable us to fulfill our obligation for the base contract and also will go towards installing tracks in the building and future electrical work.  We will be announcing recognition levels for giving in the near future.

To make a donation, please visit the museum’s website.

The Museum Gift Shop is well stocked with toy trains, kid's t shirts, puzzles and books. Check out the new Thomas and Polar Express items, train ornaments, stocking stuffers, and gifts for rail fans of all ages. The Atlanta Chapter NRHS Calendar for 2017 is in stock and would be a nice gift for train lovers. Stop by the Gift Shop before 3:00 p.m. on Thursdays and Fridays and 10:00 a.m.- 5:00 p.m. on Saturdays. A friendly volunteer will help you.

Did you know that the museum hosts birthday parties for children of all ages? For one group rate you get 20 people into the museum, train rides for everyone and 2 hours in an airc onditioned railcar to have your party. Stop by or call us for more details!