MUSEUM UPDATE The Dispatcher November 2020 - Oklahoma Railway Museum
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The Dispatcher November 2020
Upcoming Events
All End-of-Year Events have been cancelled!
MUSEUM UPDATE
By Drake Rice
October has been a wild month! The month began with warm sunny weather with lots of
grass to mow, and it ended with an Ice storm that knocked out power around the city. The
museum had a lot of broken trees limbs and a downed power line, but we made it through
without any long-lasting damage. Our great volunteers quickly cleaned up the branches,
and OGE workers have fixed the downed line. Thank you to Jay Chilton, Jerry Gore, and
Philip Resnick for all your hard work cleaning up the museum grounds and Greg Hall, Guy
Lynn, and Eric Dilbeck for clearing the track of tree limbs in time for the Friday and
Saturday Halloween Trains.
The Halloween Train went very well. We had good passenger counts even with the
distancing requirements, and most runs sold out. We appreciate all those who volunteered
and helped, especially our great car hosts and Jerry Gore, who sanitized the cars between
runs. Our 1st Annual Costume Contest was very successful, with over 70 people
participating! The winners were announced on Friday 11/06: Colin Fordenbacher won the
Child’s Trophy for his BNSF Locomotive costume. Brandy Nawaz and Family won the
Group Trophy for their Alice and Wonderland costumes, and Storm Barnard won the Adult
trophy for their William Affton costume.
Earlier in the month, Amanda Resnick and Steve Kamm manned a display at the Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum, for
their Steam Punk Event. The hand pump car was taken over and displayed along with other items. Special thanks to those
who helped get everything over there in the morning and picked up and returned in late afternoon. It’s events like this that
help our museum grow, and our Administrator, Anne Chilton, works closely with other museums in the OKC area and is
always looking for ways to get ORM out in the public.
Track repair work was completed on the south of NE 16th at the beginning of October. This will allow our two new Farmrail
Cars to come in prior to our Christmas train. We are looking forward to the additional seats for the Christmas Trains, since the
Polar Express was cancelled. The Christmas Train will run December 12th, 13th and 19th through 23rd. We need volunteers
for all 7 days, so please contact the museum at 405-424-8222 or amanda@oklahomarailwaymuseum.org to help out.
Engine 48 is now out of the shop, but the 615 and 814 have gone in. The F-9 814 needs a few injectors rebuilt. The
Milwaukee Road 615 has an unknown issue. The mechanical department is investigating the problem. The passenger cars
are all running well, a lot of TLC keeps everything operational. Hats off to the members who keep an eye on the oil, fuel and
other items to make sure everything performs at train time.
It looks like we will need to replace some ties prior to the Christmas Trains. We have marked approximately 40 ties that need
to be addressed, along with cleaning up the limbs along the right of way, and some drainage work. Please consider helping,
think of it as some exercise before Thanksgiving. Remember, masked are required while on the museum grounds.
We hope to see you at your museum!
Board of Trustees Meeting October 29, 2020
(This was a Zoom Meeting)
Reviewed, discussed and approved the Minutes and Treasurer’s Report. Reviewed the status of Grants.
Next meeting set for November 24th.
• Update on Museum Operations,
• Seven dump trucks of branches removed. Clearing continues.
• 3D virtual tour is complete and live on the website.
• Halloween train sales are good with decorating left to do.
• Christmas train: Ticketing being finalized, staffing will be an issue, social distancing logistics need
to be decided, need a second Santa
• Trackwork Guy Lynn cleared of branches
• Farmrail cars will be delivered in a couple of weeks
Meeting Adjourned at 7:55 pm.
Financials
Total Income $76,965.00
Total Expenditures $20,132.91
Checking account Balance; $31,510.00
Frontier Bank CD $224,137.74
MidFirst savings $25,000.00
Work Trailer By Steve Kamm The Oklahoma Railway Museum has a new display—a Work Trailer—located outside the fence, just north of the Children’s Play Area. The idea for this display began nearly a year ago. While browsing the internet, I came across a photograph which caught my attention. Several railfans had built their own display by placing a derelict work trailer on a stack of railroad ties. Remembering that the ORM also had a broken trailer, which had been sitting against the west perimeter fence for several years, it seemed as if we could create our own (and better) display. Work on the ORM display started in July 2020 by first receiving approval of the project from Museum President Eric Dilbeck. Next, five disused railroad ties needed to be found. Fortunately, Guy Lynn was able to locate the needed ties, and Jerry Gore used the tractor to move the ties into position. Jerry also used the tractor to recover the broken work trailer and move it to the barn. Incidentally, the trailer in question never worked on any railroad other than the Oklahoma Railway Museum. It had been cobbled together years ago from bits and pieces by Guy Lynn and Phillip Ford. During the trailer’s useful life, its spine had been broken by overloading. Once in the barn, Jerry cleverly inserted extra bracing to straighten the top deck. Charles Price and I stained the deck ORM green, and Jerry repainted the wheels ORM yellow. Meanwhile, 2 x 4 boards were assembled and painted to simulate steel rails. (Remember, funds at the ORM are currently in short supply!) With the base completed, the refurbished work trailer was mounted and secured. An explanatory sign was developed, printed, and affixed to the work trailer. With that, the ORM gained a new display which hopefully will be of interest to our visitors. The sign reads, “Trailers like this one were used by section gangs to transport tools and materials to worksites along the rails. Trailers could be simply pushed to the site. Alternatively, they could be towed by 4-man pump carts or motorized speeders. Try to spot a pump cart and a speeder on the Museum grounds.” And, by the way, during work on this project I learned that the Museum has four more work trailers. Two are currently in use for making track repairs, while two more are awaiting refurbishment.
Gifts of Insurance
A gift of your life insurance policy is an excellent way to make a gift to Oklahoma Railway Museum. If you have a
life insurance policy that has outlasted its original purpose, consider making a gift of your insurance policy
to Oklahoma Railway Museum. For example, you may have purchased a policy to provide for minor children and
they are now financially independent adults.
Benefits of gifts of life insurance
Receive a charitable income tax deduction
If Oklahoma Railway Museum retains the policy to maturity, you can receive additional tax deductions by
making annual gifts so that we can pay the premiums
If Oklahoma Railway Museum cashes in the policy, you will be able to see firsthand how your gift supports
our charitable work
If we retain the policy to maturity, or you name us as a beneficiary, once the policy matures, the proceeds of
your policy will be paid to our organization so that we can use the proceeds to further our charitable work
How to make a gift of life insurance:
To make a gift of life insurance, please contact your life insurance provider, request a beneficiary designation
form from the insurer and include Oklahoma Railway Museum as the beneficiary of your policy.
Contact us
If you have any questions about making a gift of a life insurance policy, please contact us. We would be happy to
answer questions that you have.
Please let us know if you have already named us as a beneficiary of your life insurance policy. We would like to
thank you and recognize you for your gift.
Motor Car Run Being Planned
ORM is working with Farmrail on scheduling a motor car run in Western Oklahoma, in April. Tentative dates are
April 10-11, so watch for future details on this activity. ORM appreciates Farmrail and the staff for all the help and
support they provide our museum. Oklahoma has many good short lines like Farmrail, A-OK, WT&J, AT&L and
the Stillwater Central. They provide a great service to our state and its citizens.
Donation Box
Because of closings and cancellations, we are in need
of donations more than ever before! Brick purchases
and donations will make a real difference during this
difficult time.
Please visit our if you are able to give! DONATE
Wish List
Contact Anne Chilton 405-424-8222 annem@oklahomarailwaymuseum.org if you would like to
purchase anything on this list. To donate funds click link above and mention what funds are for in
the note section of donation form.
• Rail Drill
• Rail saw
• Heavy Duty shelving is needed for the Archives (2 units) and museum storage area (3 units).
• The museum is in need on a box blade for our tractor. The one we have is worn out and
beyond repair. If anyone has one to donate or funds toward a new one, it would be greatly
appreciated.
Around the Museum
The Museum, after the Oct. 26th ice storm. Our great volunteers had it cleaned
up in no time, and Halloween Train went on as scheduled!
Volunteer, Steve Kamm, does museum outreach at The Cowboy Museum for
their Steampunk event on Oct. 24th.
The Eerie Engineer at The Myriad Garden's Pumpkin Patch.
Th
Adorable ladybug rides the Halloween Train.
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3400 NE Grand Boulevard
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The Dispatcher
Timetable
Oklahoma Railway Museum (ORM) - Open Thursday, Friday, and Saturday from 9:00 AM until 5:00 PM
Closed on major holidays.
ORM Train Rides - First and third Saturdays, April through August at 9:15 AM, 11:15 AM, 1:15 PM and 3:15 PM
ORM Board Meetings - Last Thursday of every month at Oklahoma Railway Museum - 7:00 PM
Oklahoma “N” Rail - For information call Rick Inselman (405) 412-1552
Oklahoma Model Railroad Association - For information contact Phil Howell via email omratrains@gmail.com
Central Oklahoma Garden Railroad Society Contact information:
Steve Lemcke (405) 703-0209 e-mail steve.lemcke@att.net
Marshall Douglas (405) 290-8989
Steve Kamm (405) 685-3755 email skamm@college.occc.edu
Passenger Rail Oklahoma - Passenger Rail Oklahoma volunteers provide Amtrak depot hosting for the Hartland Flyer in
City of Norman, OK most evenings, holidays, Saturdays, and Sundays.
The depot opens at 7:50 AM. Contact Evan Stair at sfrr@aol.com, www.passengerrailok.org,
or (405) 366-8957. Depot volunteer opportunities are available.
Oklahoma S.W. Division NMRA - 2nd Saturday of each month, 1:00 PM, Goldman Room, Kirkpatrick Center,
Jim Heidon, President
Yukon’s Best Railroad Museum - Thursday/Saturday/Sunday and by appointment. Located 1 block north of Main and UP
tracks in Yukon. Call John Knuppel, (405) 354-5079, for times and information.
Waynoka Station/Waynoka Historical Society - 202 South Cleveland, Waynoka, (580) 824-1886. If you can help,
call Sandie Olson.
Corrections
Any changes to the above information or articles in “the Dispatcher” should be directed to the editor, at
info@oklahomarailwaymuseum.org. For information on upcoming programs contact Anne Chilton at
annem@oklahomarailwaymuseum.org.
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