From the archives... Merry Christmas from ALCO-GE News

 For the holidays, we jump back into the Rochester & Genesee Valley Railroad Museum's archives where we find the December 1952 edition of ALCO-GE News from the American Locomotive Company and General Electric Company.   This monthly newsletter appears to have been sent to ALCO customers to keep them up to date on different things related to ALCO products.

In this case, first we find holiday wishes for a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from the American Locomotive and General Electric Companies.   A sentiment we echo at the R&GVRRM.    We also find out that Mr. P.T. Egbert has been promoted to ALCO President after starting his career at American Locomotive in 1922.    On the back, we also find an up-to-date list of carbon brushes to be used in the various electric equipment on ALCO-GE locomotives including traction motors, traction generators, auxiliary generators and more.   A very useful sheet then and possibly useful information today for those of us working to preserve ALCOs of this vintage.

The R&GVRRM has several years of ALCO-GE News in our collection, and we will share more each month.    For now, we will again echo the same sentiment of this newsletter and hopes everyone has a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Last weekend to ride the Holly Trolley!

As Christmas draws closer, it is also means the end of Holly Trolley season is drawing closer as well.    The good news is that you have one more chance to ride this weekend, December 18th (10:30AM to 4PM) and 19th (11AM to 4PM).   Details are available on the NYMT's website.   Don't miss your chance to enjoy this unique holiday event.   We hope to see you out at the NYMT this weekend!

Not able to ride this year, but curious about the operation.   Here is our latest YouTube video featuring Holly Trolley operations from Saturday, December 11, 2010.

Latest newsletter available - December 2010

Interested in learning more about what is going on at the Rochester & Genesee Valley Railroad Museum?   Please read the December 2010 issue of our newsletter, The Semaphore, online in PDF.    If you would like to read more, please check out our online newsletter archive.  We have nine previous years currently available.

"45 Tons of Fun" in January issue of Railfan & Railroad Magazine

It takes a lot of volunteer work to keep the trains running at the Rochester & Genesee Valley Railroad Museum. Many of our volunteers work behind the scenes in our Restoration Shop keeping our equipment in top shape. There are some projects that seem to take on a life of their own, due to any number of factors. Locomotive restorations are no different. When our General Electric 45-tonner entered the shop more than 10 years ago, no one knew what to expect once the engine was disassembled and inspected. Further challenges ensued when one team picked up where the last one left off and the time came for reassembly. In the January issue of Railfan & Railroad magazine, Motive Power Superintendent Joe Nugent pens a guest column describing the process of the last few years as we work to get RG&E 1941 back on the road. The article is a nice little promotion for our museum that lends some insight into the world of preservation that our visitors might not ordinarily see! The article also features photos by Joe and volunteer Chris Hauf. Find it at the newsstand or your favorite hobby shop!

Penn Central Deepwater Green

In 2002, the R&GVRRM repainted ex-Penn Central transfer caboose #18526 back into its as built PC 'Deepwater Green' paint color and Penn Central lettering.  Choosing an accurate color was important to the museum and after much research, a paint code for 'Deepwater Green' was uncovered in an online Sherwin-Williams fleet color database.    The color listed and used was a General Motors color (supplier color code WA5764 / Sherwin-Williams formula number 2312).

With the formula code along with colorimetric measurements made off of the green samples taken from the car prior to sandblasting to insure a match to the mixed paint, the museum worked with its local Sherwin-Williams automotive paint dealer, Rochester Auto Color, to have the formula code 2312 turned into paint for the caboose.   With Rochester Auto Color having success in getting paint formulas from Sherwin-Williams, they mixed both Sherwin-Williams Acrylyd Plus urethane enamel for the sides of the car and Acrylyd acrylic enamel for the roof in Deepwater Green.   After spraying out some test samples, the resulting paint was colorimetrically very close when measured to samples taken from the car in locations where UV fading would have been minimized.   Thus, the car was painted with the supplied paint.

After eight years, the car's paint has stayed in excellent shape.   In 2011, we do plan to polish the car to remove a little haze on the paint and return it to its as painted shine, but we remain very pleased with our investment in the Sherwin-Williams paint. 

The caboose can be seen here in service at the R&GVRRM in October 2011.


We hope this information helps others restoring Penn Central equipment.   There are many other codes for other railroads and construction equipment within that database by searching from this page.  There is no guarantee Sherwin-Williams will have a paint formula for the codes, but it is a place to start to get the information needed to work with your local Sherwin-Williams Automotive Finishes dealer just as we did.

From the archives... The New Empire with WAUGHMAT Twin Cushions...

As we continue to look at materials published in celebration of the relaunch of the New York Central's re-equipped Empire State Express, we find a very high quality brochure put out by the Waugh Equipment Company highlighting many of the details on the new Empire.   Most importantly, of course, was Waugh's selling of the WAUGHMAT Twin Cushion draft gear which was installed on all of the couplers of the new Budd built ESE cars.   Yet the brochure below spends most of its pages highlighting the train and not their product.

So please take a look at this brochure which has many nice photographs of the interior of the Empire State Express as it went into service on December 7, 1941 along with many details on the train's appointments.

From the archives... An Empire State Express souvenir...

While December 7, 1941 is best known for one anniversary, Pearl Harbor Day, it is also an anniversary for those interested in the passenger operations of the New York Central Railroad.   On this day, the New York Central debuted its newly re-equipped  Empire State Express.   Two trains of new Budd built streamline equipment went into service as the Empire celebrated its 50th anniversary.  To let riders know about the special day, a souvenir was offered.  A postal cover from the first run canceled on the train's RPO car which included a specially printed envelope and the card to the left highlighting details of the streamliners inaugural run.


Here we have two examples of the cover's specially printed envelope.   One for Mr. Earl Horsington in Skaneateles, NY and one for Mrs. M. Munson in Whitesboro, NY.   One typed and one handwritten.

Thus as we remember Pearl Harbor Day, some railroad historians take note of this New York Central anniversary.  It has a special meaning for the Rochester & Genesee Valley Railroad Museum as the museum rosters seven cars from the 1941 re-equipping of the Empire.    Six coaches and one RPO (possibly the RPO that made the cancellations above) are under active restoration at the museum for continued use in excursions.    So the Empire State Express lives on here in the archives of and in the preserved equipment of the Rochester & Genesee Valley Railroad Museum.    Want to help us continue to preserve both?  Please consider a donation to help support our museum efforts.   We also welcome people to come out to help us work on both our archives and our equipment.

And more to come... From the archives of the Rochester & Genesee Valley Railroad Museum.

From the archives... Advertising for the new 'Empire State Express'

In 1941, the New York Central was preparing to re-launch its Empire State Express passenger train in its golden anniversary year.    Print advertising was critical to getting the word out about how this already famous train was about to become the "World's Newest and Finest Streamliner" when it was re-equipped with all new Budd built stainless steel passenger cars.   A sample of the advertising is shown to the left.   It is interesting to see the different points they used to sell the train including, "...historic murals and fluorescent lighting beautify its spacious parlor cars and coaches...".    The Empire was relaunched on December 7, 1941.     

The Rochester & Genesee Valley Railroad Museum is proud to have preserved seven of the cars from the original 1941 Empire State Express.   The R&GVRRM has six coaches and one of the two Railway Post Office cars.   The cars are currently located at the R&GVRRM with work underway across all of the cars including the replacement of all of the window glazing; a job that was recently completed with the window modules completely rebuilt in the five in service coaches.   Additionally, NYC #2567 is currently in the museum's restoration shop receiving restoration work on both the interior and exterior.    

Come ride the Holly Trolley...

The NYMT's Holly Trolley will be running again this weekend.   Please stop out to enjoy this fun holiday event.
More details can be found on our Events page or on the NYMT's website.

The R&GVRRM will also be displaying and have our sales tables at the RIT Tiger Tracks Train Show this weekend in the Gordon Field House on the RIT Campus.   Before or after your trolley ride, please come to the show, stop by our tables, say hi and maybe purchase a book or video for your favorite railfan or maybe even yourself.

NYC #2567 - Working on the details...

While we continue to work on prepping the upper walls, ceiling and baggage racks for repainting inside NYC #2567, our restoration team is also spending some time working on some smaller details in the restoration of the car.   One project is the in-place restoration of the cove lights in the south end of the car.   While the cove lights at the north end of the car have been removed for restoration and installation of new internal light fixtures, it was determined that it would be easier to leave the south end lights in place; removing only the internal light fixtures for rebuilding.  

One of the steps in the restoration process was to repaint the interiors of the fixtures shells white; returning them to their original state.   To make this happen, that portion of the car was cordoned off with plastic sheeting and with the car pre-heated, the fixtures were masked and painted.   Here are some before & after photographs of the painting progress achieved during the Tuesday evening work session on November 30th.

Before

After