Click on each picture for a closer look!
.
As can be seen in the photographs above, work on the TH&B caboose is proceeding very nicely with the wall reconstruction nearly complete. Remember that this caboose had a wooden structure with a metal sheathed exterior so lots of woodwork was needed to restore it.
.
Below, we also see that the development of the miniature model of our CLC Whitcomb is proceeding as time permits with its now having a fine front grill in place at both ends. A team of volunteers also worked on the Sweet Creek steam engine's wiring, cleaning of the Romulus chassis and reworking of the boiler (see below). Work also began on completing the miniature railway depot which will be the topic of our next post.
.
Posting by Russ Milland; Pictures by Stephen Gardiner & Lance Gleich
.

Click on each picture for a closer look!
.
This past weekend again saw progress on several old and new fronts with work continuing on the TH&B Caboose, the F7 Cab, the miniature railway engines and depot. On Saturday, Michael and Dave made a long trek to Sudbury to pick up much needed parts to restore the Pyke Crane
.
As shown in the attached pictures, the F7 Cab is progressing nicely as one of our teams continued to do the "dirty work" of grinding away and sanding the surfaces inside the cab. As can be seen in the pictures, the exterior has also had its surface dents and dings filled in and sanded. Various compartment doors can also having been cleaned up and primed. We also addressed the cab with a welding torch to finish up the framework. In one of the pictures you can see the fireman's side of the front windows looking great after having been primed.
.
Watch for more weekend progress reports in Part 2 of this posting!
.
Posting by Russ Milland; Pictures by Stephen Gardiner & Lance Gleich
.

Click on each image for a closer look!
.
I recently received a call from a Mr. Tim Irish, who advised that he had two authentic Canadian Pacific Railway trainman's uniforms and he wanted to find them both a good home. After a brief conversation, he agreed to donate the uniforms to the Toronto Railway Heritage Centre. It turns out that Tim is Sergeant Tim Irish of the Toronto Police Service Forensic Identification Services and we can certainly appreciate his sensitivity in not immediately identifying himself during a cold call on the telephone.
.
Sergeant Irish delivered the uniforms to Derek on March 1, 2010 and advised that they belonged to his uncle, Ross Michaelis, who was a trainman on the CPR's Parry Sound and Cartier Subdivisions between Mactier and Cartier. The uniforms are in pristine condition, each with jacket, vest, pants and hat and with CPR brass buttons. One is a single-breasted summer weight uniform (shown at left above) and the other a double-breasted winter uniform (shown at right above). Both were made by Tip-Top Tailors here in Toronto, a massive 1929 building at Bathurst Street and Lakeshore Boulevard that was recently converted into a condominium. Both hats were also made in Toronto at Stokes Caps and Regalia, a company still doing business manufacturing uniform paraphernalia in Mississauga.
.
The map above shows the CPR line that Mr. Michaelis would have worked while wearing these uniforms. Cartier is west of Sudbury at the end of the double track section. Mactier is 130 miles north of Toronto.
.
We thank Sergeant Irish for his generous and thoughtful donation to the Toronto Railway Heritage Centre.
.
Posting and pictures by Derek Boles

Click on each image for a closer look!
.
In a previous post, we featured the dramatic lighting that has been installed to light up the roundhouse. In this posting, we show two images above of Cabin D and the Toolshed quite late in the day which displays the dramatic lighting installed for these structures as well.
.
Posting by Russ Milland & Images by Stephen Gardiner

Click on each image for a closer look!
.
Despite the late winter dump of snow on the Roundhouse property as shown in the picture at the left above, our determined volunteer crews once again put in a great work effort this weekend indoors at the roundhouse.
.
One of our two crews continued to work on the restoration of the interior of the caboose. We got the sills cut for the windows and the new flooring laid up to the floor sill. We also continued to strip the doors down in preparation for new paint and reinstallation.
.
On a second front, we covered the miniature turntable with some recycled Caboose shrinkwrap that we luckily kept in preparation for the Mini Depot to be painted on the inside this week. The end of the day was spent cleaning up after ourselves in preparation for the contractors coming in to install the heating in the stalls - this is good news!
.
Meanwhile, on our third front (the F7 cab restoration front), our team primed the rest of the electrical compartment doors, as well as the insides of the exterior side doors. We also prepared two plywood patches on the engineer's and fireman's risers. Both are finished and ready to install. Three of our volunteers then started to cut the metal frame supports to support the sofa enclosure at the back of the cab. All pieces are cut, placed and ready to be welded.
.
Posting by Russ Milland based on information from Dan Garcia & James Rasor; Pictures taken by various volunteers using Lance Gleich's camera.
.

Click on the image for a closer look!
.
Derek Boles, TRHA's historian, publishes a daily posting on the Toronto Railway Heritage Yahoo Group List. These postings document major railway oriented events that happened on that day of the year. One of today's items is as follows:
.
"February 28, 1986:
.
The last official engine movement occurs at Canadian National's Spadina roundhouse as CN switcher No. 7729 moves CN GP7 No. 4803 to the Canadian Pacific John Street roundhouse. The Geep had been donated to the City of Toronto in 1984 to commemorate the sesquicentennial of the incorporation of Toronto. The Spadina roundhouse was subsequently demolished to make way for Skydome, now the Rogers Centre." .
.
If you wish to read these daily postings from Derek, simply join the Toronto Railway Heritage Yahoo Group List by clicking here.
.
Moving counter clockwise from the upper left, the images show:
.

• #4803 in action on the road in Edmonton, Alberta in June of 1970 - Photograph by Richard Yaremko from the Helmut G. Osterman collection
• #4803 in residence at the CN Spadina Roundhouse on May 20, 1985 by John Vincent
  
• #4803 in residence at the John St. Roundhouse by Russ Milland
• #4803 below the CN Tower in Roundhouse Park by Russ Milland
• #4803 in Roundhouse Park in front of the CP Roundhouse by Russ Milland
• Close up of the cab of #4803 by Russ Milland
  

.
Posting by Russ Milland; Pictures as attributed above
.

Click on the image for a closer look!
.
Derek Boles, TRHA's historian, publishes a daily posting on the Toronto Railway Heritage Yahoo Group List. These postings document major railway oriented events that happened on that day of the year. One of today's items is as follows:
.
"February 27, 1960: The Locomotive Preservation Committee of the Upper Canada Railway Society visits the Canadian National Railway Spadina roundhouse for the purpose of choosing a steam locomotive suitable for preservation and presentation to the City of Toronto. The committee chose U-2-g 4-8-4 No. 6213 and it was presented to the city in August 1960. It was subsequently moved to the Canadian National Exhibition (CNE) grounds, where it was mounted adjacent to the old Stanley Barracks, then being used as the Marine Museum of Upper Canada. The locomotive was maintained by the UCRS for several years, later by members of the Toronto Locomotive Preservation Society. In June 2009, the locomotive was moved to Roundhouse Park for incorporation into the Toronto Railway Heritage Centre."
.
The image above shows #6213 residing on the CPR John St. Roundhouse in 2009 after having been moved there that year from the CNE.
.
If you wish to read these daily postings from Derek, simply join the Toronto Railway Heritage Yahoo Group List by clicking here.
.
Posting by Russ Milland; Image from TRHA website home page

Click on each picture for a closer look!

.
This museum, while much more extensive than ours will ever be, because of its size, was a very interesting place to visit, and perhaps we can gather some ideas for our Toronto museum.
.
The site is the original location of the Central of Georgia Savannah Repair Shops, which were closed in 1963 when the Central was purchased by the Southern Railway. After years of neglect the Southern began to demolish several of the structures; but a group of concerned citizens halted the destruction and title to the property was transferred to the City of Savannah. The site continued to remain abandoned and decaying until the Coastal Heritage Society accepted management of the complex. Currently, the structures are being restored to serve as interpretive and exhibit space for the railroad museum and to house elements of the planned expansion, to include the Savannah History Museum and a new children’s museum. They also hope to develop a functional restoration shop for historic railroad rolling stock.
.
The above is taken pretty much verbatim from the brochure handed out. However, my personal observation is that they already have quite a collection of equipment and buildings, most of which appears in pretty good display shape. They also have at least one steam engine which they occasionally fire up. Here (starting at the upper left) are captions for the pictures:
.
Picture 1 is an overall view of the roundhouse and turntable at a music festival event at the facility.
.
Picture 2 is their little "critter" that they use to move equipment around with. It has an automotive-type transmission and control.
.
Picture 3 is their model layout on display which is a reasonably accurate representation of the site.
.
Picture 4 is a rear view of the roundhouse.
.
Picture 5 is the smokestack complex, which is an identifying feature of the site, when you approach it from the city.
.
Picture 6 is a sample of one of their display signs, which also explains a bit about the smokestack complex.

For more about the Savannah Georgia Roundhouse Railroad Museum, visit their website by clicking here.

Posting and Pictures by Dave Flinn

Click on each picture for a closer look!
.
This past weekend, our dedicated volunteers continued to pursue restoration work. As you will read in these reports by two of our volunteers, the work involves a lot of small tasks and takes siginifcant amounts of time and elbow grease to complete.
.
This is Not a Picasso by James Rasor
.
"Work on the TH&B Caboose went very well this weekend thanks to Bob, Lance, Richard and James. Test paints for the exterior were applied using two samples provided to TRHA by Benjamin Moore who has been generously helping us match the original red and the original yellow applied on top of the red. A small area is also being tested to see how different primer colours may affect the test paint before we make a final decision. Inside the caboose, work went very well with all the backside of the metal sheathing painted and all the new structural supports painted."
.
As the F7 turns by Dan Garcia
.
"First order of business was to check the flooring - any spots that we were a bit unsure upon installation last week we are no longer concerned with. The floor feels as solid if not more so than it did before. . After that, we got to work. Stephen ripped out the old wires from the ceiling conduits and ran twine in place, while Richard painted the outsides of the exterior doors - they look great. Richard also finished painting the steps into the nose, which should be able to be installed next week. The three of us then got to work on the various electrical door panels, Richard painting while Stephen and I prepped. We also removed the two interior engine room doors and did the same. All of the doors now have a coat of grey metal primer on one side, and will get the second coat next week. . Stephen also did some additional cleaning in the nose of the cab and painted the "kickplate" at the edge of the steps. I took a grinder to some of the bits of metal that were still sticking out a fair distance into the space allocated for the sofa."
.
Posting By Russ Milland; Pictures by Stephen Gardiner, Lance Gleich and James Rasor
.

Click on each picture for a closer look!
.
The TRHA offers tours of Union Station on the last Saturday of each month at 11 a.m. Cost is $10 each payable on arrival for the tour. Reservations are not necessary and those interested should meet by the Traveler's Aid counter in the centre of the Great Hall at 10:50 a.m. For more about these tours, click here.