December is upon us and with it comes the scaled down version of Midwest's annual Christmas events.  The Saturday events will take place on December 5th and 12th beginning at 4:00pm and ending at 8:00pm. The Sunday events will be on December 6th and 13th from 3:00pm to 7:00pm. Admission is $10 per person for adults and $5 each for children ages 3 to 12.

     Details of the events have been well documented in the November issues of Marker Lights as well as through email and Facebook posts. The latest state guidelines request that group events be limited to no more than ten people in family pods and that is how our reservations are being accepted through Etix (link below).

    
         Social distancing will be practiced and there will be no admittance without properly worn masks. Hand sanitizer will be available. For additional details refer to our November issue or the Midwest Railway Facebook posts.

Reserve your day and time for the Midwest Christmas Tour and Train Ride by clicking the ticket below. Once connected to Etix, scroll through December and choose your desired day and time slot.                  

     Frequent visitors to the Historic B&O Roundhouse throughout the years are well aware of the progress that Midwest has made inside and out. The photos above highlight just a few of the most recent changes, some of which were intended just to brighten the interior and make first time visitors first impressions a more positive experience. 

     Replacement of the rotted ties around the last section of the turntable ring with concrete was recently completed and is shown in the top row. The second row is the cluttered corner of the machine shop after the arrival of the plasma table before the sand blaster was relocated and pressure washing of the brick wall begun, followed by the newly cleaned brick and recently painted wall. A concrete pad was added along the west side of the warehouse building which became the new storage area for our fuel tanks. The original signage on the sliding wall between the machine shop and roundhouse stalls was restored as depicted in the next to last row and the newly poured concrete pad on the north outside wall of the machine shop is shown in the bottom row with the storage shed for gas tanks.

     There are many other projects undertaken during 2020 that were completed or still in progress. Readers of Marker Lights know that along with the push toward the restoration of 4070, we have completed the front end display photo op, are in the process of rebuilding the cab, creating cad drawings for construction of a new tender and have reorganized the warehouse to be used for the locomotive's part storage. The shipping containers that sat in the yard the past few years have all been moved to the open area of stalls 13 -15 to create our future sand blasting containment area. Shelving has been constructed in some for small parts storage and others have been loaded with parts that were stored elsewhere on the property. The air compressor was moved outside of the machine shop into the steel shed and new air lines were run throughout the machine shop and roundhouse to facilitate the usage of pneumatic tools while also eliminating trip hazards. One of the largest projects that is nearing completion is the repair of storm sewer lines throughout the yard. Blockages from years ago caused repeated flooding in the turntable that resulted in the use of sump pumps and their constant maintenance. Once the many holes and trenches have been backfilled no one will notice all of the work that went into alleviating the problems. The main advantage of the project is that now the turntable will be usable all year round with no danger of freezing over.

     Other projects that have been ongoing but are only noticed by frequent volunteers is the continued maintenance of the ancillary equipment that is used on a daily basis around the facility. The forklifts, cranes and the manlift are just a few of the many pieces of equipment that are in constant need of repair and always seem to break down at the most inopportune times. 

     2020 has been an odd year, no doubt, but Midwest is moving toward the future one step at a time.

     The most extensive project undertaken by Midwest in recent years has finally been completed. Beginning with the removal of a large portion of the storage track running from the turntable alongside the west wall of the roundhouse last January, it continued with the removal of a large portion of the brick floor of the turntable pit followed recently by the relocation of the storage containers that sat alongside the driveway by the machine shop.

     As previously written, once excavation was begun many problems were encountered that required much more digging, repair and more than one visit by the company contracted to suck the muck out of the lines and then flush them out. Now, with the drains working properly, the steel sump pit that was installed many years ago has been removed and more vertical clean out pipes have been added to the system. Occasional flush outs should keep the drains flowing without the use of the pumps that required constant maintenance.

    There is still some backfilling to be done and the bricks need to be relayed in the turntable pit. The storage track will be rebuilt and of course, regrading will be done to ensure level ground around the roundhouse. The completion of this project allows us to cross one big item off of our to-do list.