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Grant Application for Mt. Baxter
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Two years ago, Midwest was awarded a grant from the John H. Emery Rail Heritage Trust in the amount of $18,000 that was subsequently used for repairs to CTVX 90, one of our three Nickel Plate Railroad passenger cars. Although the amount was not enough to cover the entire cost of all repairs performed, the funds went a long way towards replacing the vestibule doors, repairing wood windows, body work and sandblasting and repainting the car and roof.
Slated for some much needed repairs this year is our Pullman car Mt. Baxter. Repairs to this car were mentioned in January's issue of Marker Lights when the priorities for 2021 were highlighted and the intention was to once again apply for this grant. Deadline for the application was February 1st, and again a group of dedicated Trustees put in many hours researching material and filling out the required forms for what will hopefully be a successful bid.
Our wish list for determining the amount of the grant being applied for includes sand blasting, metal work, window repairs, truck work, holding tanks and a complete repainting. Items may be eliminated from the list depending on the amount we are granted if indeed we are successful. New holding tanks will enable us to once again get the bathrooms back in working order if we do receive the full amount.
Besides enabling us to cross one item off of our priority list, a successful application would be a good start to another Covid hampered year.
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Exterior views of Mt. Baxter are shown in two of the photos above along with a photo of 90 after work was completed using funds from the John H. Emery Grant.
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Boy Scouts Earn Their Badge
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Midwest played host to Boy Scout Troop 208 from Westlake on a cold Saturday in January. Trustee Mitch Karibinus coordinated the event with the scouts who ranged in age from grades 6 through 10. The scouts spent the day learning about all things railroad as they were given a full tour of the roundhouse and rail yard by volunteer Nick Resar, and also had the opportunity to crawl around our vintage railroad equipment. Representatives of American Steam Railroad were also on hand to share their knowledge and update the group on the restoration progress of 2100. The ultimate goal for the scouts, besides having a great time, was to earn their Railroad Merit Badge.
It wasn't all fun for the scouts, though, as they were also tasked with preparing lunch and dinner for everyone in attendance as well as our Saturday volunteer work crews. Camp was set up in the "front yard" of the roundhouse where they prepared and served the meals. Midwest has received a lot of good feedback from the attendees and we are hoping to host more similar events in the future.
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Boy Scout Troop 208 from Westlake had a great time earning their Railroad Merit Badge on a recent Saturday in January as can be seen in the photos above and at left. Events like this help Midwest in advancing its' goal of education as well as restoration. The scouts set up Camp Midwest for food prep and meal serving (top left) and toured the facility and were presented with informative talks and demonstrations throughout the day.
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Working Together In Education and Training
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Marker Lights has been closely following the progress of 4070's cab reconstruction. While the work is all being performed by volunteer members, it is worthwhile to point out that the majority of the structural work that includes grinding and welding, is done by younger members under the watchful eyes of our skilled veterans. Along with restoration and preservation, a large part of the Midwest Railway Preservation Society mission is education and training. Every aspect of what we do on site gives younger
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volunteers an opportunity to learn skills that can benefit them on a daily basis inside and outside of the roundhouse. Areas included are equipment maintenance, hydraulics and pneumatics and soon to be added, machining.
As the restoration moves forward, there will be many opportunities for members to learn new skills while contributing to bringing the locomotive back to life.
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Work continues on the cab as volunteers keep busy welding the new steel that was tacked in place previously. One of our more experienced members supervises one of our younger members as he grinds weld (above). One of the connecting rods is shown being moved from the roundhouse to the work room in the warehouse (below).
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Welders Needed!
As steel repairs are nearing completion on the cab structure, we are looking forward to the next steps in the restoration process. Outside of the locomotive itself, the next largest item is the tender. Although the tender frame is to be reused with replacement truck assemblies, the tender itself will be made new as described in previous issues of Marker Lights. Tom Wiatrak has completed the first set of drawings that are currently being checked for accuracy and design details. When completed, drafting will continue with internal construction design and detailing. After checking is completed, materials will be procured and welding will begin.
Since the tender will be constructed utilizing sheet metal, there will be a lot of welding required. Multiple welders can work simultaneously in this phase in order to make good progress. If you or anyone you know is qualified and would like to assist on this project, please contact the office. There will also be weld repairs required on miscellaneous smaller parts, so if you would rather work on smaller items, we have those too.
Come on down and lend a hand. Together we can bring 4070 back to life!
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Follow Us On YouTube!
Recent searches through the MRPS archives have uncovered numerous videos featuring 4070 and other topics of interest to railfans. Although Midwest has had a YouTube page for a number of years, there haven't been many videos uploaded over the past few years. A few new (old) videos have been added recently with more to follow. We will also be adding videos that will feature restoration progress on 4070 as we move along in that endeavor. Check it out when you get the opportunity, and watch for future updates.
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Our focus on the 4070 project has stirred many memories of her glory days in members that were part of that glorious past. Frank Wrenick shared this one.
"On one of our return trips from Akron, it became apparent that there was not going to be enough coal in the tender to get us back to the roundhouse. After we swept up the last nugget of coal in the tender with a broom and a shovel, our engineer, Joe Seaman, brought 4070 to a stop in a heavily wooded area south of Cleveland. The entire traincrew and staff poured off the train and disappeared into the woods on both sides of the tracks to gather up any suitable wood to substitute for the missing coal. After fifteen minutes the tender was reasonably well stocked with everything from dry tree branches to discarded wood pallets and boards, and we set off for Cleveland. When we finally arrived back at the roundhouse, we even had a few sticks and boards to spare. One thing we learned from this venture was that wood burns a lot hotter than coal, so there was no problem in keeping steam pressure well up on the gauge!"
Our thanks go out to Frank for sharing that story. If anyone would like to contribute their memories you can contact Marker Lights by email at newslettermrps@gmail.com. Memories and photos may also be published to our other social media sites.
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Is 4070 running on coal, wood or both?
Only her operating crew knows for sure!
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Photos From the Midwest Archives
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The Marker Lights staff has been perusing the photo archives in the office and have found many that we thought would be of interest to our readers. With this issue we will begin presenting a few at a time so everyone can see that the more things seem to change, the more they actually stay the same.
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The above undated photo of the turntable and roundhouse shows visitors wandering the grounds during an open house years ago at Midwest. The turntable now is fully operational and the areas around it no longer covered in greenery. The tracks radiating from the turntable are constantly in use now for storage.
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One constant at Midwest is that volunteers are always busy performing restorations and maintenance. The photo above left was taken during the last restoration of the B&O wagon top caboose on display by the entrance. Much like the clean up and painting that took place inside last spring, volunteers in the past did similar work outdoors on the steel shed.
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Even though restoration of stalls 6 through 10 is far from complete, that section of the roundhouse looked a lot worse when the photo above left was taken. Winter at Midwest (above right) with the turntable frozen in place was a common occurrence up until repairs on the sewer system were completed last year. Track maintenance seems to always be on the agenda at Midwest (below). The turntable is once again due for trackwork.
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Long on our list of facility improvements has been the restoration and reorganization of the front room of the warehouse building. Volunteers have started working to clean out the room and make headway to eventually turn it into our welcome center and gift shop.
There is a lot of work to do but most of it can be done by volunteers. Some of the work required is warm weather work such as exterior tuck pointing and roof recoating. The glass block windows were redone recently by volunteer Ed Palidar, but some finish work remains along with securing the interior and exterior doors. Plans are being made to run electrical power to the building to serve lighting in every room and heating will be added to the front room to allow year round usage.
Along with the recent re-organization of the store rooms in the building these steps are being taken in order to maximize utilization of the warehouse, another historic building in the complex, to further the MRPS mission.
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Usually on the agenda for the January Board of Trustees meeting, is to set the dates for the current year's open house events. Once again, due to the uncertainties of the Covid 19 situation, the open houses may be in jeopardy and no dates will be decided at this time. Small group tours that were instituted the latter part of last year will be made available in the interim but will most likely not be scheduled until at least late spring because of the unsettled grounds due to last year's excavations. Once again, reservations for the tours will need to be made through Etix and links will be available through the newsletter, web site and social media.
As conditions improve, regular open houses will once again be scheduled with announcements made through previously mentioned formats. In the mean time, watch for the opening of group tours.
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Although volunteer hours were greatly curtailed in 2020 due to the Covid-19 situation, Midwest volunteers were still able to log in well over 12,000 total hours during the year. The Board of Trustees wishes to thank all of our members who generously donated their time to the betterment of the organization. We acknowledge those who contributed below.
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Antz, Greg 725.5
Bartsche, Dave 341.5
Bates, Karen 272.0
Benson, Scott 30.0
Beres, Mike 74.0
Billey, Mark 320.0
Boyle, R. 4.0
Carson, Brian 4.0
Chester, Marco 75.0
Ciparis, Alex 17.5
Cooper, Fred 20.5
Drew, Jacob 125.5
Emling, Steve 639.5
Emling, Martie 160.0
Forcone, J. 90.0
Gottlieb, Earl 310.5
Gross, Tom 75.0
Gruzan, Zachary 214.5
Gurchik, Bob 26.5
Hass, Peter 14.0
Hass, Lee 14.0
Hirzer, Erik 87.0
Hixenbaugh, B. 4.0
Hunt, Colin 8.5
Hunt, Tom 99.5
Kapusta, Eric 48.0
Karibinus, Mitch 305.0
Kelley, Lynda 200.0
Kristof, Art 168.5
Kristof, Kathy 8.0
Kole, Mike 4.0
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Korpos, Steve 2234.5
Kulik, Rich 11.5
Mangold, Dave 21.5
Marconi, Sebastian 75.5
Marn, John 46.5
McCown, Ken 929.5
McCown, John 90.0
Moyer, Simon 47.0
Nash, Jessica 4.0
O'Brien, Bill 20.0
Petit, David 48.0
Pietrasz, Dale 111.0
Palidar, Edward 1752.0
Pohorence, A. 22.0
Ramkey, Bud 161.5
Resar, Nicholas 256.5
Risko, Tony 35.0
Saydor, Jeff 25.5
Saydor, Jon 25.5
Sedgley, Charley 110.0
Stojsavljevic, Pete 275.0
Stojsavljeviic, Sue 2.0
Thomas, Stephen 217.5
Underwood, Jack 101.0
Wert, Dennis 105.5
Wiatrak, Tom 90.0
Yandek, Ken 960.0
Zeyer, Don 11.0
One Day 189.5
Total Volunteer Hours 12,303.5
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If any member notices errors in their listing, whether it is in spelling or total hours, please contact the office so the errors can be corrected.
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It is with sadness that we report the passing of member and volunteer Sid Workman. Sid handcrafted the series of electric guitars from original roundhouse beams that he then donated to Midwest as a means for MRPS to raise money. His latest creation was a guitar with a solid body that matched the CT&V RR logo that has yet to be raffled off. Sid was 72 at his passing on New Years Day, and will greatly be missed by all.
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Sid Workman (left) is shown above with Executive Director Steve Korpos and one of the guitars that he hand crafted and generously donated to the organization.
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Correction
In the January Issue of Marker Lights, the L&M locomotive update erroneously reported that the repairs to the cab floor included steel diamond plate. The repairs were actually done using rubber diamond plate over plywood. We are sorry for the misleading information and gratefully thank those that brought the error to our attention.
The Editor
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Happenings "aROUND the HOUSE"
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An archive photo looking south from stall 6 at the turntable is shown above (left) with a similar photo taken from almost the same vantage point in January (right). While the grounds around the turntable may look neater in the "before" photo, the chaos surrounding the turntable in the current photo is a result of recent excavations. Note the difference between the old hut and the new. Ironically, the weather appears to be the same in both photos.
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Two older views of 123 are shown here. The photo above was taken in 2001 after Bob Lodge went to pick it up and bring it to Cleveland. The locomotive was owned and operated by the Oliver Iron Mining Company in Minnesota.
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One of the cabinets in the roundhouse displays this sticker inside the door when opened. This is a common sentiment among volunteer welders here at Midwest. A sponsor of MRPS, Lincoln Electric provides services and assistance to the organization.
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To highlight the sponsorship of Lincoln Electric, the signage that hung previously on the east wall of the machine shop was moved to the wall above the recently donated plasma table. Once we obtain a laptop computer and a few other parts, the table will be operational.
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The GP10 sitting in stall 3 of the roundhouse is being prepped for painting. Preparations include sanding along with some minor body work. Once completed, a fresh coat of paint will be applied before the locomotive returns to Cincinnati.
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The Penn Central was once one of the many railroads that served the Cleveland area. Created by the merger of the New York Central and Pennsylvania Railroad, its' logo is displayed on this sign found in the roundhouse.
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Our roundhouse cats were treated to canned cat food recently and showed their appreciation by posing for this photo. The normal menu is dry food or whatever they can catch around the yard.
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Help Needed
Volunteers with skills and/or experience in the following areas are always needed. Please stop in and lend a hand.
Diesel Mechanics
Carpenters
Electricians
Masons
Welders
Machinists
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Membership Dues for 2021
Dues are annual (one year)
REGULAR...........................$45.00
FAMILY................................$60.00
SENIOR (55 and older).......$40.00
BENEFACTOR
INDIVIDUAL..................$100.00
BUSINESS....................$100.00
PLATINUM LEVEL............$500.00
(OR MORE PER PERSON/YEAR)
ALL DONATIONS ARE TAX DEDUCTIBLE
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Proud Partners of Midwest Railway Preservation Society
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Proud Sponsors of Midwest Railway Preservation Society
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Steve Emling, President
Steve Korpos Jr., Executive Director
Ken Yandek, Chairman of the Board
Karen Bates, Recording Secretary
Greg Antz
Mark Billey
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Mitch Karibinus
Ken McCown
Dale Pietrasz
Bud Ramkey
Petar Stojsavljevic
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MARKER LIGHTS NEWSLETTER
Editor and Chief Writer: Ken Yandek
Send comments and feedback to: newslettermrps@gmail.com
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Open House Schedule for 2021
Open house events for 2021
have not yet been determined.
Watch for announcements on social media,
our web site and through email.
Midwest Railway Preservation Society.
Historic B&O Roundhouse
2800 W. 3 rd Street
Cleveland, OH 44113
Get guided tours of the site
Learn how railroads helped make Cleveland an industrial giant
Climb on board an original, elegant “parlor coach” from the 1920's
Hear the history of the famous “4070” steam locomotive
Share in our vision to save the Roundhouse
Visit our gift shop
Donation for Admission: $10 adults, $5 children 12 and under
Free admission to all members in good standing
All proceeds to be used for Roundhouse restoration efforts
Please wear weather-appropriate clothing and closed-toe shoes as the site is still in rough condition.
Children must be under the supervision of an adult at ALL times. Visitors with disabilities are
Welcome but should know that the site and equipment are NOT ADA-accessible.
For more information, call (216) 781-3629
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