The Crusader - Reading Railroad Heritage Museum

The Crusader
“Preserving the Past for the Future”
April 2011
New Exhibits Unveiled
Meet Zachary Cole
New exhibits continue to be put together at
the Reading Railroad Heritage Museum. One of
these exhibits showcases Reading Company office
furniture and builder photos of diesel engines. It
also includes some of the office equipment used at
various offices. One such piece is an Eddiphone,
manufactured by the Thomas A. Edison Company.
An Eddiphone recorded dictation on wax cylinders
for later transcription by a secretary. It was used at
the Reading Terminal for many years. Another
exhibit shows some of the gauges used on steam
engines.
Zachary is one of our newest members. He
is a Senior at Abington Senior High School.
Zach has been building model railroads since he
was old enough to hold tools. This is why we are
delighted that he has assumed the task of building
an N-Gauge display in the gift shop. It will be
constructed on back to back shelves at a height
where visitors of all ages will be able to see it.
Plans are to have a 3-dimensional layout with
push-buttons. This will be a step up from the
GEOTRAX that continues to fascinate our youngest
visitors. Thanks, Zach, for helping to make our
museum more interesting. Photo taken by Paul
Troutman.
The photo above shows part of the office
furniture exhibit. Our Museum Curator, Paul
Troutman, took the photo.
RCT&HS
1
The Crusader
APRIL 26th GENERAL MEETING
essence we have gotten in the habit of using next year's dues to
pay some of this year's expenses. Every year this situation has
gotten worse to the point that this year we have started
borrowing against 2012 dues in April 2011. This is a situation
we can no longer ignore. We need some significant fund
raisers to support the General Fund.
Note that this affects only our General Fund. For all
other Funds we do a good job of keeping expenses within the
Fund balances.
President Duane Engle called the meeting to order at
7:30 p.m. there were 6 officers and 33 members in attendance.
Don Davis pointed out that the amount of the Redners tape
donation was $460.00 not $46.00. A motion to accept the
March 2011 minutes with corrections was made by John
Brown and seconded by Don Crabtree. The motion passed.
The election committee reported that Tom Brown and
Jonathan Barket were elected Directors. Jim Adams will
remain as Treasurer and John Brown will remain 1 st Vice
President. Thanks to Gary Saggio for his service as Director for
the past 2 years. A motion was made by Larry Mundell to
destroy the ballots. This motion was seconded by John Greene
and was passed by the membership.
 Pete Urbaitis questioned if staggering the dues would be
helpful. It was felt that it would not.
 Rick Bates pointed out that if we break the deficit down;
this is a problem we can fix. We would need to earn about
$2000 more a month. Doubling the number of visitors to
our museum would go a long way.
EXECUTIVE BOARD
Duane Engle 610-929-5661 rcths.dengle@juno.com
The April meeting of the BOD was held at 7PM on
April 3rd at the Adams residence in Mohnton, PA. Topics of
discussion and motions carried are as follows:
 Financial – life time membership fund raising proposal,
selling duplicate/nonessential items from our collection,
financial management (budget), 2011 projected income
and expenditures, a change in the spending policy has
been passed- all purchases must now be preapproved no
matter what the cost.
 Museum – results of the March planning meeting
concerning the future focus of the RCT&HS and RRHM,
security at the museum, a policy was passed that all locks
used on RCT&HS equipment and buildings must be the
property of the RCT&HS, a motion was passed to spend
$800 to complete the gas auxiliary heating project at the
museum.
 Car 2060
 Car 1189
 Miscellaneous – election results, event participation
request in Paradise PA, RCT&HS 35th anniversary
celebration, master calendar designation (museum lunch
room), and communication improvements.
 Bill Krug asked about holding a raffle.
John Brown said
that a raffle is considered gambling and you would have to
check with the Berks County District Attorney to see if this
is possible. Gary Saggio added that we need to apply for a
small games of chance license and that there are rules that
need to be followed.
TREASURER’S REPORT
Jim Adams 610-777-3764 adamsjimca@comcast.net
The next general meeting of the Executive Board will
be held at 7PM at the Reading Railroad Heritage Museum in
Hamburg, PA on May 3rd.
BUDGET & FINANCE / FUND RAISING COMMITTEE
John Brown 717-426-2238 JWBROWN929@AOL.COM
All committee chairmen have been asked to cut back
on expenses that are paid out of our General Fund. The two
primary sources of income for the General Fund are dues and
profits from the Sales Committee. Every year we set aside in
the Encumbered Fund enough money to pay for future
Crusaders and BEE Lines. The rest of the money in the General
Fund is used to pay insurances, utilities, vehicle registrations
and maintenance, MP&RE expenses, administrative/office
expenses and various other expenses. Every year the General
Fund runs out of money and we borrow from our Encumbered
Fund. In December when the next year dues receipts come in
we repay the monies borrowed from the Encumbered Fund. In
RCT&HS
2
The Crusader
later transcription by a secretary. It was used at the Reading
Terminal for many years. This is a rare item. Come and see
it! Another exhibit shows some of the gauges used on steam
engines.
A special THANK YOU goes to AKZO-NOBEL
LLC, formerly Glidden, who donated 14 gallons of top quality
paint to be applied to our chain link fence along the front of
our property.
MUSEUM BUILDING COMMITTEE
John Corbit 610-781-1939
Duane Engle reported that the installation of the gas
auxiliary heating system is complete. Next we plan to do roof
inspections to see what needs repair and start working on better securing the buildings on the museum property.
LONG RANGE PLANNING TASK FORCE
Carol Adams 610-777-3764 adamsjimca@comcast.net
No report.
TRACK & GROUNDS
Duane Engle 610-929-5661 rcths.dengle@juno.com
Things are getting very busy in the way of grounds
work. We have begun to do a good walk over of the areas that
have been graded to look for rebar and other pieces of metal
that are sticking out of the graded material. We still need volunteers to help with this. We have also begun moving some of
the extra material left over from Phase One of the grading
work and clean up of the wind strewn straw from seeding.
Track construction will wait till the ground dries out and stone
can be spread. We will be working on some of these grounds
issues over many of the following weeks. Anyone that can
help with any of this work or even regular mowing please
contact me.
MODULAR
Jonathan Barket 570-366-1533 jono1920@aol.com
We had a fantastic time in Pottsville at the Fairlane
Village Mall. We were a total of 96' long. We had several
news companies do a piece on the display including T102
Radio, Pottsville Republican, as well as the
Merchandiser. This show was the first to display the newly
rehabbed Dana modules which came out GREAT thanks to
Greg Yanos, Bill Bubeck, John Messersmith, Skip Arbogast,
and Bob Capone. I would like to thank everyone who helped
at this show.
At Pottsville, we were also able to test out our newly
built ramp for the smaller trailer. We no longer need to lift
the modules for loading! I want to thank John Messersmith
and Garry Saggio for designing and building this back-saving
ramp! We are also continuing to work on specific modules in
our work room in Hamburg. We have just finished up adding
occupancy detectors to the Belt interlocking. Next show we
will be able to see the trains on the dispatching computer
almost all the way around the layout. We have also been
working on the new Schuylkill Haven Modules. Our goal to
have these completed will be the July 4th Strasburg
Show. All the framework is finished, all the track has been
laid, and now it is receiving the base layers of foam for the
scenery. Other smaller side projects are continuing such as
A motion to refer the Treasurer’s Report to the
finance committee for audit and vote was made by Larry
Mundell and seconded by Tom Brown. The motion Passed.
MUSEUM OPERATIONS
Dale Woodland 215-723-5848 dwwrdg@verizon.net
Stephanie Smith and Dale will do a RRHM/
RCT&HS presentation at Muhlenberg Elementary Center on
Wednesday May 25th. This Thursday TV 69 is to do an
interview at the Museum for their Berks Time Train program.
CURATORS REPORT
Paul Troutman 610-926-4919 ptrout@epix.net
Volunteers have completed additional outlets for
exhibits. As we continue to add more LED lights and
illuminate cases we are reducing the need for the inefficient
overhead gymnasium lights. This not only looks far better,
but this will reduce our electric usage for lighting.
One of our new exhibits showcases Reading
Company office furniture and builder photos of diesel
engines. It also includes some of the office equipment used at
various offices. The Eddiphone, manufactured by the Thomas
A. Edison Company, recorded dictation on wax cylinders for
RCT&HS
3
The Crusader
the buildings for the soon to be built refinery section, a new
sign for the movie theater, and more building upgrades. We
also replaced the defective switch on the Fleetwood module.
Our next show will be at the Laurel Mall in Hazelton. The
show dates are: Setup June 15th, Show runs June 16th
through June 19th (Teardown). I hope everyone can come
and check out the recent upgrades that everyone in the
Modular committee has been working hard on. We are
hoping for another 96+ foot layout for Hazelton. Show hours
will be mall hours. I hope to begin setting up starting around
6PM. HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE!
year. Currently the membership breakdown is as follows:
574 Individual, Lifetime or Honorary, 84 Family, 104
Contributing, 53 Sustaining, 16 Corporate, and 8 Student
memberships.
2010 members that have not renewed for 2011 have
been dropped from the Crusader newsletter mailing list. We
will be sending reminder postcards out to all of the nonrenewals.
PUBLIC RELATIONS
Andew Dietz 914-886-3459 Andrew.dietz11@albright.edu
Don Crabtree reported that the A5a parade engine
will be at the Berks Heritage Center this weekend. We also
have two parades lined up for May.
PASSENGER OPERATIONS
No report.
MOTIVE POWER AND ROLLING EQUIPMENT
SALES
Duane Engle 610-929-5661 rcths.dengle@juno.com (for mail order
questions contact Dave Heffner at 717-290-1493
daverj1@verizon.net)
The HO F-7’s from InterMountain are still available. The HO C630’s from Bowser and the SW1500’s from
PCM have been pushed back to a Spring 2011 release.
Sales for our train meet went well. We did $810.00 in sales.
The following helped with sales at our train meet: Duane
Engle, Ryan and Lynwood Lamm, Bill Bubeck, Ken Riegel
and Larry Mundell. Thank you to everyone that helped.
The Fairlane Mall show in Pottsville went very well. We did
$1832.50 in sales. Thank you to the following members who
helped: Gary and Linda Saggio, Dave Hafer, Jim and Carol
Adams, Nick Spock, Larry and Steph Curvey, Duane Engle,
Greg and Barb Goodridge and Duane Briscoe.
I also want to thank everyone who has helped with
sales in the gift shop at the Museum. We are looking for help
to do the Hamburg Train Meet show in June. Our next big
show is at Hazleton June 16 to 19.
John Stoudt R.E. 610-775-1197 /Tim Weidner M.P. 610-780-0497
No report.
ACQUISITIONS
Steve Schwartz 610-434-1289 schwartzsj@juno.com
No report.
ARCHIVES / PUBLICATIONS / CALENDAR
Rick Bates 610-647-9359 rbates@voicenet.com
 Archives
Thanks to the following for donations to the Archives in the past month: Don Crabtree for a set of bound
volumes of the Reading RR Magazine and bound volumes of
the Annual Report of the ICC Chief Boiler Inspector; Roland
Behle for some photos, magazines, and other railroad-related
paperwork; John Greene for a RdgCo correspondence file and
some photos; Eric Quimby for an O-gauge model, advertising
compass, and RdgCo annual report; and Andrew Dietz for two
more boxes of railroad books. A status report was written and
sent to the NRHS on their grant for archival materials.
Archives sorting continues, with work done by Rick Bates,
Bill Stafford, and Randy and Justin Mengel in the past month.
In the past month we also answered 18 requests for historical
information, most of which come in via the RCT&HS
website.
SAFETY
Duane Briscoe 610-777-4196
This month we completed our monthly inspections
of all fire extinguishers and emergency lighting. A priority
list was compiled and given to the Executive Board. We
added an emergency phone number list to the gift shop next
to the cash register. This month, the following individuals
joined the safety committee; John Stoudt, Mike Stahman,
Paul Troutman, Randy Mengel, Wendell Brown, John Funk,
Duane Engle, and Ed Donahue. Our short term goals are to
place additional emergency phone number lists in prominent
positions at the museum and to conduct another fire
inspection tour with the Hamburg Fire Chief.
 Publications
If you didn’t receive the double-issue Bee Line,
#1&2 for calendar year 2009, contact the Mailing Committee.
We are now working on the next issue.
 Calendar
Work is progressing on the Year 2012 Calendar
MODELING -John Greene 215-721-3006 greene@netcarrier.com
MAILING
Ken Riegel 610-777-4555 RCTHS214@comcast.net
The 16th street tower model in HO scale should be
available by the end of May. The Southampton Station
model in HO will be available this summer.
No report.
MEMBERSHIP
TRAIN MEET
Melanie Zimmerman 717-445-6301 rcths.membership@juno.com
As of April 26 we have a total of 30 new members
and 809 renewals which brings us to a total membership of
839 for 2011. We had 901 members around this time last
RCT&HS
Dale Miller 610-372-3759
Gross sales for the spring train meet were $810 and
admissions amounted to $1672. The fall meet will be held
on October 2nd.
4
The Crusader
CONVENTION COMMITTEE
John Greene 215-721-3006 jgreene@netcarrier.com
There was attendance of 50 at his year’s convention
and we earned a net income of $1800.00.
Hamburg Museum Track Fund
WEBSITE AND CORRESPONDENCE
Receipts
Norman O. Mueller 610-446-6651 rcths.questions@verizon.net
Mike Sakal 610-777-3268 msakal@comcast.net
No report.
Current Month: April, 2011 = $30.00
Total: May 2007 thru April, 2011 = $28,418.00
Payments
ENTERTAINMENT
Current Month: April, 2011 = $0.00
Total: May 2007 thru April, 2011 = $20,997.15
Current Fund Balance = $7,420.85
Dale Woodland (215) 723-5848 dwwrdg@verizon.net
Tonight Paul Kutta will present a slide program on
the Jersey Central Lines. Next month Tom Poserina will
present a program on Reading Stations and the PG&N.
OLD BUSINESS
None.
RCT&HS Corporate Members
NEW BUSINESS
 Pete Urbaitis reported that Bob Linden, former Reading
Russell & Julia Angstadt; Bethlehem Car
Works, John Greene, CEO, Telford, PA (215)
721-3006; Centralia Coal Sales Co. ,WilkesBarre, PA (570) 822-4135; Municipal &
Financial Services Group, Annapolis, MD (410)
226-910; G&K Hobbies, Bill Krug CEO, Reading,
PA (610) 374-8598; Health Insurance Solutions,
Inc., Tom and Nanette Poserina, Health
Brokers (215) 721-2220; “It’s All the Rage”
Hair Designs, In memory of Charles W. Moyer,
conductor, passed away.
 Don Crabtree presented the security task force report.
 Tonight’s coal bucket contained $140 and 11 envelopes.
CLOSING
Dale Woodland made a motion to adjourn and the
motion was seconded by and Pete Urbaitis. The motion
passed and President Duane Engle adjourned the meeting at
8:33PM.
Jr., 1213 Penn Ave., Wyomissing, PA (610)
375-0816; Jonathan L. Shalter III,
Conservationist-Naturalist-Historian, Temple, PA;
Lancaster Chapter, NRHS, Christiana, PA (610)
593-4968; Outer Station Project, Benjamin
Bernhart, historian, author, publisher; PENNVIA
Private Railcars, Inc., Passenger Dome car
charters in the US and Canada, West Lawn, PA
(610) 678-3604; R. Harris Russo, MD,
Neurological Surgery, Kalamazoo, MI (269)
343-3939; Rabenold, Koestel, and Scheidt,
Attorneys at Law, Wyomissing, PA (610)
374-2103; Reading and Northern Railroad, Co.,
Andy Muller Jr., CEO, Port Clinton, PA (610)
562-2100; Rich Yoder Models, Richard Yoder,
O-Scale Brass Importer, Wyomissing, PA (610)
678-2834; Security First Inc., Security, access
control, surveillance systems, 107 W. Lancaster
Ave., Shillington PA (610) 777-8890; SMS Rail
Lines, Bridgeport, NJ; Town & Country
Newspaper, Pennsburg PA, (215) 679-5060
Members Exchange
WANTED: The modular committee is in need of a
7’ X 14’ enclosed utility trailer with ramp door to
transport modules. Please call Jim Blake at (215)
538-3139 with price and condition.
Pay Down the Loan Program
Receipts
Current Month: April, 2011 = $511.00
Total: Nov, 2010 thru April, 2011 = $8,051.72
Payments
Current Month: April, 2011 = $500.00
Total: Nov, 2010 thru April, 2011 = $8,000.00
Outstanding Balance = $89,000.00
RCT&HS
5
The Crusader
Mark Your Calendars
 May 24th: General Meeting of the RCT&HS at Trinity Bible Fellowship
Church, Rt. 73, Blandon, PA
 May 28th: Picnic Rail in Blandon, PA
 June 16 - 19: Modular and Sales at the Laurel Mall in Hazelton, PA
 June 29—July 4: Modular and Sales at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania in
Strasburg, PA
Save your Redner’s Tapes
www.readingrailroad.org