Another successful and beautiful Railroad day! Photo by Bob LaMay

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06226-0665 Mark Your Calendar: 1/13/2019 Annual Meeting and Banquet 2/9/2019 Chocolate Fest Sumner & Sumner 2/17/2019 Monthly Meeting Windham Hospital 7:00PM

1 Work continues on the Roundhouse floor. The tent is to keep the concrete above freezing by trapping heat from some heat lamps. Photo by James Key Another successful and beautiful Railroad day! Photo by Bob LaMay Connecticut Eastern Railroad Museum PO Box 665 Willimantic, CT Mark Your Calendar: 1/13/2019 Annual Meeting and Banquet 2/9/2019 Chocolate Fest Sumner & Sumner 2/17/2019 Monthly Meeting Windham Hospital 7:00PM 3/17/2019 Monthly Meeting Windham Hospital 7:00PM 4/21/2019 Monthly Meeting Windham Hospital 7:00PM 5/4/2019 Opening Day Golden Spike Commemoration 5/19/2019 Monthly Meeting Windham Hospital 7:00PM

2 Vol. 25 No. 3 Sept Jan 2019 The next scheduled meeting of the Connecticut Eastern Chapter, National Railway Historical Society will be held at Georgina s on Sunday, Jan 13, 1:00 PM Please note! If you have photos, short articles, or just want to make a comment please forward them to: James L. Key - Editor jameslkey@gmail.com Please! Annual Banquet Sunday, January 13, 2019 Adrian Atkins Our only social event of the year! If you haven t seen other members lately this is your big opportunity. As in the past several years our banquet will be held at Georgina s located just west of Bolton Notch at 275 Boston Tpke (Route 6 & 44). Light hors d oeuvres and a cash bar start at 1 P.M. followed by the buffet at 2 P.M. The main buffet will feature Beef with Mushroom Brown Sauce, Stuffed Pork and Chicken Marsala. You can fill in the voids with salad, carrots and roasted potatoes. This will be topped off with strawberry shortcake, tea or coffee. The cost remains at $35, the same as last year. RESERVATIONS: should be made by sending your check, payable to CERM. We need to receive all checks by January 7, Mail checks to: Connecticut Eastern Railroad Museum P.O. Box 665 Willimantic, CT Questions should be addressed to Jeff Laverty at or his cell DIRECTIONS: (see next Column) President: Chapter Leadership Vice President: Treasurer: Asst.-Treasurer: Secretary: National Representative: GTJ Editor: Endowment Committee: Mark Granville mfgranville@charter.net Duke York Jeff Laverty jeffrr41@yahoo.com Vacant Jean Lambert Ray Axelrod James L. Key jameslkey@gmail.com Howard Raphaelson Adrian Atkins Richard N. Symonds, Jr Museum Website Like Us on Face Book From the East - Routes 6 & 44 will merge with I-384. Take the 1st exit to Routes 6 & 44. Go 1 mile and Georgina s will be on your left. From the West - Take I-84 east to I Get off Exit 5 (Route 85), turn left and go to the bottom of the hill, Route 6 & 44. At the light turn right and proceed up the hill and look for Georgina s on the right. Jean Lambert has arranged for a very interesting speaker and Mark Granville will review what we accomplished as a group during Hopefully, we may hear a little about plans for next year. Please plan to join fellow members and friends at the banquet. Banquet Speaker Details Jean Lambert Speaker: Tom Chase Subject: "Great East Thompson Train Wreck 1891" There will be a movie/slide show presentation. Question and answer time. A display of photos related to the train wreck. About Tom Chase: He is a gentleman who loves trains and railroad history. He is a member of the Thompson Historical Society, Thompson, CT, Mass Bay RRE and Connecticut Eastern Railroad Museum, to mention a few. For at least five years in October, the Thompson Historical Society and Connecticut Eastern Railroad Museum have done a presentation of the "Great East Thompson Train Wreck", on site. It has been very well attended over the years. Mr. Chase has been the lead person, with other members of the Thompson Historical Society. Ray Axelrod who leads the "Walktober" walks has become a part of this event. I also am a member of the Thompson Historical Society. I do attend every year. There is always some new information that makes the story a little more interesting. Maybe you have some interesting facts to share, or questions. Hope to see you at the Banquet. I am very sure that you will enjoy Mr. Chase's presentation. Page 2

Banquet Speaker s Topic Jean Lambert The Great East Thompson Four-Train Wreck of 1891 is still renowned in local history. Not many wrecks have involved so many trains.

States Express could pass without delay. In East Thompson, the Boston Freight collided with the Southbridge Local, spewing wreckage all over the two main lines. The Express collided with the wreckage.

a Director of the Massachusetts Bay Railroad Enthusiasts, a member of many railfan organizations, and Curator of the Ramsdell Transportation Collection of the Thompson (CT) Historical Society.

3 Banquet Speaker s Topic Jean Lambert The Great East Thompson Four-Train Wreck of 1891 is still renowned in local history. Not many wrecks have involved so many trains. Early on the dark, cold, foggy morning of December 4, 1891, the dispatcher in Putnam, Connecticut put the Boston Freight on the westbound main line, so that the eastbound Long Island and Eastern States Express could pass without delay. In East Thompson, the Boston Freight collided with the Southbridge Local, spewing wreckage all over the two main lines. The Express collided with the wreckage. It was being closely followed by the Long Island Boat Train, which ran into the rear Pullman car of the Express. Wreckage everywhere! a Director of the Massachusetts Bay Railroad Enthusiasts, a member of many railfan organizations, and Curator of the Ramsdell Transportation Collection of the Thompson (CT) Historical Society. Pillar Crane Adrian Atkins Several years ago we obtained an old pillar crane from the NYNH&H RR yard in Middletown. The main metal parts have been stored at the museum patiently waiting resurrection. The broken pieces of the 8 diameter base casting have already been welded together. Art Hall has plotted our location for the crane and we are now contemplating pouring the crane foundation. We are now trying to find some large anchor bolts or fabricate them ourselves. This is work we can do this winter in preparation for the good spring weather. In the spring, we hope to pour the sizeable foundation in conjunction with a round house floor pour. East Thompson train wreck, December 4, 1891 Archives & Special Collections, University of Connecticut Libraries While a lot of the facts are indisputable, there are still areas where we are looking for definitive answers. Tom will tell the story of the wreck, show all the pictures we have, mention areas of controversy, and point to directions for future research. Tom Chase grew up in Newton Centre, Massachusetts, near the Highland Branch of the Boston & Albany, which he regularly rode during his early years. One of his favorite activities was going over to the B & A mainline in Newton and watching whatever was going through, including the last steam in In 1958 he boarded the New England States at Worcester Union Station bound for Elyria, Ohio and four years at Oberlin College. He majored in conservation of art, did graduate work at New York University's Institute of Fine Art, and had a distinguished career in conservation and restoration of Oriental Art at the Smithsonian Institution's Freer Gallery. Since retirement to Woodstock, Connecticut he has gone back to trains, and is now Pillar Crane and Base Page 3

Roundhouse Floor Adrian Atkins Work continues on the floor.

concrete floor all the way to the main electrical panel. We have surpassed this goal! We are now over 2/3 done!

This will complete all concrete work up to Pit #3.

To finish the floor work we need to do some brick work at the ends of the pits by the big doors.

This will permit Bob Hassett to permanently install the large antique drill press and get it running!

Not coughing up and blowing black goop out of your nose for 2

Climbing up to the 1st step to get into our rolling stock has been reduced. 4.

4 Roundhouse Floor Adrian Atkins Work continues on the floor. One goal of mine has been to come in the rear door of the roundhouse and look all the way to my left and see a concrete floor all the way to the main electrical panel. We have surpassed this goal! We are now over 2/3 done! We planed on making the last pour of the year during the week of 12/3, and we did! This will complete all concrete work up to Pit #3. Hopefully, 3 more pours in the spring will complete all the floor concrete. To finish the floor work we need to do some brick work at the ends of the pits by the big doors. After the floors are complete, we need to brick up the columns for the lower 8 feet. This will permit Bob Hassett to permanently install the large antique drill press and get it running! Some benefits of the concrete floor we are observing: 1. Not coughing up and blowing black goop out of your nose for 2 days after working at the museum. 2. Navigating around the round house is safer for everyone. 3. Climbing up to the 1st step to get into our rolling stock has been reduced. 4. We (Duke York and I) can see more out of the round house windows. Thinking ahead we have a great opportunity to clean - CLEAN - the round house when the floor is completed. We will have eliminated the largest dust generator. When the floor is done we should clean the walls and wash the window both inside and outside. This will make the round house a lot lighter and brighter and look a lot better to visitors. Fixing the broken window mullions should be done at this time, also. We are making progress... Page 4

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6 Railroad Day 2018 Sometimes the pictures speak for themselves... Page 6

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8 Railroad Day 2018 cont. Page 8

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10 Night Shoot 2018 Page 10

riser from an old buried cistern that we believe was the water supply for the round house.

At the time, we just covered the shaft over to protect it so no one would fall in.

It is still below the grade we want it at.

high enough to pour concrete through the rear windows. This need is over! The area is now a mess.

grading be- Photo by Bob LaMay hind the building.

was poured along with the December round house floor pour.

11 Well, Well, Well... Adrian Atkins While cleaning up behind the round house several years ago, we found by accident the concrete riser from an old buried cistern that we believe was the water supply for the round house. The concrete top of this riser shaft was broken. At the time, we just covered the shaft over to protect it so no one would fall in. The area behind the round house has all been filled in over the years. It is still below the grade we want it at. During the pouring of the round house floor we have had to build up earthen ramps so the mixer trucks could get high enough to pour concrete through the rear windows. This need is over! The area is now a mess. We have a mountain of fill behind the round house that we obtained from the trail project for the purpose of grading be- Photo by Bob LaMay hind the building. We needed to raise this concrete well riser in order to get it above our new grade so surface water will not run into the well. Preparing for the Trains, Trees & Toys at Windham Textile Museum This concrete riser work was formed up and we was poured along with the December round house floor pour. This is important because if we poured it alone we would be hit with a costly minimum pour charge by the concrete company. Before we can grade in the spring we will need to clean and sort the large pile of ties that is in our way. These were donated by the P&W and the NEC Railroads last year when line upgrades were being made. Some day we will have a large flat graded area behind the round house. Hopefully it will be large enough for a large tent. That is if we can keep from piling everything in that area! Photo by Bob LaMay Progress is being made on the repair of our loyal GE 20 ton Photo by Bob LaMay Photo by Bob Hasset Photo by Bob LaMay Page 11

12 Just a few reasons to visit the museum Opening Day May 4th 2019! Page 12

October 2015 Issue #271. President s Chatter

October 2015 Issue #271. President s Chatter October 2015 Issue #271 President s Chatter Our first meeting at our new location was held on September 22 nd. We had a very good turnout. A sample of our new Bumper Plaque was passed around and those