Once again, we had several crews working on the layout this past Saturday. One crew consisting of Charles and Eve tackled painting the Irondequoit backdrop sky blue, then moving on to sealing the Niagara Falls deck with brown paint. Another crew consisting of Phil, David S., Fred, James, and Elliot tackled the construction of the supports for the Albion deck. This is the highest point on the railroad, and is key to completing the rest of the main line roadbed. Matt G. completed the track connection from Irondequoit Yard to High Falls, while Otto and Tim installed the masonite backdrop at High Falls (more photos to come). Once again, we made great strides before cleaning up at 5:00 and getting ready for our annual pizza party.
Backdrop installation at High Falls
At 6:30 we hosted our annual Kick-Off Pizza Party for new and old members alike. Alumni member and club co-founder Otto Vondrak gave a presentation on the history and theory behind our fictional railroad, the Rochester & Irondequoit Terminal. Otto also shared a brief show that featured photos of completed scenes from the old layout. Club advisor "SuperDave™" Scheiderich followed that with a presentation about the history of Rochester's railroads. Did you know at one time there were five different railroads plus trolleys and interurban lines serving the city? Now the major player is CSX, but a whole new group of short lines have emerged to provide local service. Following a break for dessert, David S. showed a brief show of some of his railfan activities from this past summer.
Otto had another surprise for us... Our 2013 club cars have arrived from
Accurail! They fit the late-1960's era and are based on similar cars that were in the Pittsburgh & Lake Erie fleet. The "1829" number refers to the founding date of RIT, though decals are included to renumber the car any way you like. For you historians out there, pre-1976, R&IT boxcars were in the 1000-series, they were later placed in the 10000-series. We will have information on how you can purchase these cars available soon.
Transferring from trolley to diesel train at Midway Station
We'll be meeting again this week Tuesday around 7:00pm, and again on Saturday at 11:00am. Also, please don't miss our club visit to the New York Museum of Transportation and the Rochester & Genesee Valley Railroad Museum this Sunday, September 22. Many of our club members past and present have volunteered at these museums over the years. We'll be meeting in the club room at 11:00am and depart together to enjoy museum tours and train rides. Cost per person is $10.00.
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