Silvis News. The Quiet Giant. Visual treats of locomotive heaven. April 2018

Transcription

1 April 2018 Silvis News Visual treats of locomotive heaven The Quiet Giant At the north end of town sits an enormous building constructed in 1903 full of rail road history. This spring I was granted unprecedented access to National Railway Equipment Company also know as NRE. The visual delights I experienced would make the modest of train enthusiast s mouth water with excitement. Guiding my personal hour and a half long tour was the General Manager, Pat Murphy. Inside the halls of this massive six plus acre facility once occupied by the Rock Island lines as a equipment repair facility, I soon became overwhelmed with the visual treats of locomotive heaven. Looking at the outside, you may think this must be where locomotives come to die. Contrary, rebirth is about to begin for these old iron horses. National Railway Equipment is the largest employee-owned locomotive repair and refurbishing company in North America. NRE purchased the Silvis facility in 1990, and their corporate headquarters is located in Mt. Vernon, IL. NRE has several repair and specialty shop locations throughout the United States including Silvis, IL; Milwaukee, WI; Houma, LA; Paducah, KY; Calgary, AB; with satellite offices in Australia, Croatia, Africa, India, and the UK. NRE s reach spans the globe, and the list of services are seemingly endless: manufacturing New to complete locomotive overhauls, black box recording systems, dynamic braking controls, and the list goes on and on. Murphy explained, the locomotive industry is going through a cycle, and NRE has recently emerged out of a two year low. For several years government incentives drove the market towards new locomotives purchase. Although lacking any substantial government incentives recently. Buyers are now looking Continue pg. 2 1

2 Continued from page 1 towards the used market as a cost saving measure. Nearly four million dollars is the going rate for a new locomotive, says Murphy. On the other hand, a qualified locomotive rebuilt unit would run in the neighborhood of one hundred and fifty thousand to half a million dollars, and that s with todays technology. Furthermore, he elaborated, many of the newer and much larger locomotives are too heavy for many of the nations aging tracks. Additional track upgrades are also a must to run the newer and much heavier locomotives. Thus this can be a niche market for NRE by producing reduced weighing locomotives if needed. Overall, purchasing an remanufactured locomotive built for current track conditions adds to NRE S share in the market. What is the life expectancy of new versus used? Forever really the some minor upgrades, but for the Class One Railroads, it s generally years depending on service, and then they would be overhauled-remanufactured says Murphy. As the market swings towards used locomotives within the past year business is picking up and NRE is looking to expand their work force. We currently have 56 employees at our Silvis location says Murphy, further, we are looking to expand that number considerably. We are looking for general laborers, electricians, pipe fitters and welders. People that want to come to work, and make decent pay with great benefits. For further information about NRE please visit By Matt Carter Did you know Silvis has a full service bicycle repair and sales shop? Timothy and Loree Phlypo opened Let s Ride on August 8 th, 2010 and their customer base has been growing ever since. In 1972 Tim started riding. Over the years his passion grew into first a job then his own business. Continuous riding has helped him recover from a few hip replacements, bicycles are his life. Whether you are looking for a bicycle, bicycle accessories, or bicycle repair you can find it all right here in town. Let s Ride is located at 89 9 th Street. The full service shop includes tune-ups, details, and all things tires. Tim even carries bicycle clothing. So if your biking needs are beginner, advanced or anywhere in between, he has you covered. For a full list of services and prices go to Let s Ride promotes safe riding. Some of Tim s safety tips include bells, lights, bright colors, helmets, and always being prepared for the unexpected. The best part of visiting Let s Ride is the knowledgeable and friendly owners. Tim and Loree invite you to stop by to look around or ask questions anytime. You can find them hard at work Monday-Friday 10:00-5:30 and Saturday 10:00-2:00. So as Tim says, Stop in and Let s Ride! By Laci Weber Spring is here and we are making deals on in-stock bikes Timothy Phlypo Let s Ride! 2

3 Cooperative Effort Helps Beautify the Downtown Silvis Main Street, the City of Silvis, Silvis Garden Club and 1st Avenue business owners worked together last summer to enhance the look of the downtown. Silvis Main Street and the City bought 8 huge cement planters last spring. The Silvis Garden Club purchased soil, donated and planted over 80 plants. While Silvis Garden Club fertilized and deadheaded all the plants, the most important job was done by the First Avenue business owners who agreed to water the planters daily. It couldn t have been possible without the downtown businesses commitment to help. We would like to recognize their efforts: Brian at Avenue Tap, Jose & Maria at El Pueblo Mexican Grill, Silvis Library youth group, employees at San Luis Food Market, employees at QC Custom Tees, Flora Cantu of Salon El Molino, employees at Quad City Bar and Stool, and Travis of Water World Aquatics. Thank you! By Kathy Hall 3

4 McGehee Center Rental The McGehee center can be rented for $25 per hour with a minimum 2 hour rental. $100 deposit is required. Deposit fee s are waived for non-profit organizations. Rental hours are from 8am-10pm seven days a week, 365 days a year. Cash is required for the deposit and hourly rate. Proof of Silvis residency is required. Rent of the center includes table and chairs, 42 cup coffee pot, chaffing pans, refrigerator, garbage cans and liners. Reservations must be made in person at the city clerks office. Silvis Garden Club City wide hydrant flushing April 2nd thru 20th Opening day for the Silvis Garden Club greenhouse is April 21st at 9am. The greenhouse is located at 651 1st Ave. North. Greenhouse hours for the spring of 2018: Tuesday- Saturday 9am-1pm, Sunday 1pm-4pm, closed on Monday. Silvis Garden Walk Silvis Garden Club is looking for homes in the area that have beautiful or unique landscaping. Their annual "Garden Walk" is June 23rd. If you, or someone you know, are proud of your garden & would be willing to show it off, please contact Kent (309)

5 Silvis Fire Department News In 2018, the City of Silvis Fire Department is celebrating it s 110 th year of service to the citizens, businesses, and visitors of Silvis. Eighteen men started the department in These men felt a strong duty to their neighbors and friends. A duty to help them in their times of need. That duty still holds strong today. Currently, Silvis has 30 paid-on-call Firefighters. Each of these Firefighters have taken on the role because they feel it is their duty to help in the time of dire need. The small pay check is not why they choose to be members of the department. They did not choose to be part of the fire department for fame and glory. They joined the department to fulfill a need to the community. Our Firefighters have full-time jobs, are students, or are retired. They take time away from their families, get woke up in the middle of the night, and spend several evenings a month training. Their commitment to their duties is unparalleled. Two of our newest Firefighters are Guadalupe Lupe Vargas and Ashley Engh. For many years, the role of a Firefighter was deemed to be a man s job. Over the last 20 years, that mentality has started to change. In % of Firefighters in the United States were women. Lupe and Ashley make up 6.7% of the Silvis Fire Department roster. They prove that firefighting is not a man s job. They do the same thing that any male Firefighter is required to do. And they do it very well! If you are interested in becoming a Firefighter for the City of Silvis, please contact the Chief at or stop by the station at th Street from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday to pick up an application. By John Winters Silvis Public Library Teen Intro Sewing April 9th, 18th & 25th 5pm-7pm Learn to hand stitch, mend, follow a pattern and operate a sewing machine. *You will need to attend all three classes. For ages Space is limited to 8 patrons. Please call (309) Adult Sewing Basics Saturday, April 14th, 2-4 pm Learn basic sewing skills, sewing machine and tool basic, sew seams. Participants will make a Mug Hug craft they made themselves. *It is recommended that you attend the basic class prior to Tote Bag and Pajama Shorts. Sewing Tote Bag, Monday April 16th, 5:30-7:30 pm Sewing Pajama Shorts, Monday, April 23rd, 5:30-7:30 pm *Space limited to 8 participants. 5

6 Gone In Sixty Seconds! Schadt Park hosted nearly one hundred and fifty area youths for the annual Silvis Optimist Easter Egg Hunt. Silvis Optimist members spent half an hour hiding eight hundred candy filled eggs. When the signal was given at 11am on Saturday March 30th, all eight hundred eggs disappeared in sixty seconds or less. Spring Bulk Pickup April 16th & 23rd Community Shred Day Saturday, April 28th, 10am Noon At the Silvis Public Library *Limit 2 Full Boxes* April 16th Bulk pickup for regular Monday residential pickup 6 am. April 23rd Bulk pick up for regular Tuesday residential pickup 6 am. E-Waste Drop-off April 21st 8am-10am Silvis Public Works Yard 1st Ave. N. and 12th St. Thank you to the entire writing and editing staff. If you would like to join our volunteer team please mcarter@silvisil.org. Produced by: Silvis Arts Council. *For additional copies please visit 6