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Weekly News April 16, 2012Description
Galveston to Bar Harbor (Part 2): The first third of this 1989 trip in our 1912 Stanley Model 87 was covered in the “Weekly News” of April 9, 2012. That story took us from Galveston, Texas, to Louisville, Kentucky, where this continuation begins.
Often in the itinerary of the “Trans-Con” tours, there were “in between” nights with no checkpoints. Instead, there might be a distance of 250 miles or so to be covered in two days. This was the case between Louisville and Columbus, Ohio, where our headquarters was the Embassy Suites on the beltway on the north side of the city. We followed the south side of the Ohio River through Kentucky to a point just east of Cincinnati, where we crossed into Ohio and proceeded northeast toward Columbus. Our day was quite uneventful as we covered the 250-plus miles with the Stanley operating as it should. On our second night at the Embassy Suites, Brent and Martha Campbell entertained the tour participants next to their motor home prior to the dinner hour. The next day’s run was to Cleveland, about 140 miles, which should have been routine.
Rainfall far above average had deluged much of the East in late spring and early summer of 1989 (high water in the Cumberland River at Nashville was mentioned in the previous story). This flooded many of the roads in northeastern Ohio the day we passed through. At one place, we came to a stop when water covered the road ahead of us, and local traffic was going off to the side on a gravel road detour. Not knowing the depth of the water on our route, I decided to chance it, as the Stanley was high and its 37-inch tires might be up to the occasion. We made it through and kept going toward Cleveland. Farther along, we needed water for the thirsty Stanley. Small commercial operations along the road were closed, and some were under water. We spotted a farmhouse on a hill above the road and pulled in. No one was home, but there was a spigot on the side of the house so we began to help ourselves. Unfortunately, all power was out in the area, and the farmer’s water pump wouldn’t run. Somehow we surmounted the crisis and probably siphoned water from a nearby creek. It was drizzling and cold as we checked in at our motel east of Cleveland, we parked where we were told, and I proceeded to blow down the boiler, as we had done each night. The wind was carrying the boiler’s water and steam toward tour members who were unloading their Fiat near the door, and, not being steam people, they never spoke to us again. Our free day in Cleveland was very pleasant, however, and we had a catered dinner in the Crawford Museum.
The next day we headed straight east with a breakfast stop at a Rolls Royce owner’s home and then crossed the state line for our overnight check point at Warren, Pennsylvania. The weather had improved as we moved on to Elmira, New York, the following day. Moving along nicely through the Finger Lakes Region, we passed through Ithaca and had lunch on an estate high above a lake at Cazenovia, before moving on to Utica for our checkpoint and overnight. John Chapman was my roommate at Mercersburg in 1941-42. He and his wife, Beverly, who lived in Broadalbin, joined us for dinner at Utica.
The next day was especially enjoyable as we had lunch on the main street in Saratoga Springs before entering New England and reaching our checkpoint at Rutland, Vermont. From Rutland, a short day’s run took us to the ski resort of Ascutney, where great things were in store for the next three days. (The story will be concluded in a future edition).
Work Report: On Tuesday night, several attended the Events Committee meeting, swelling our evening attendance to 22. On Thursday, 11 volunteers were on hand to work on some meaningful projects.
On Tuesday, the “cylinder cock problem” on the Model 735 was studied and the cocks cleaned of oil and other debris. The locomotives were cleaned from the April 7 A.V.R.R. operation, and the Cretors popcorn machine was checked over and cleaned. The batteries and the lights on the Rauch & Lang were checked out in preparation for its trip to the BRAACA Swap Meet at Rob Robison’s new facility on Line Road in New Garden Township. More detailed painting was done on the 607’s body, and additional parts for this car were assembled and cleaned. The foot brakes on the Model 725 were taken up by shortening the brake rods with the right-left turnbuckle. Work continued in the rear of the Model 87, in preparation for the newly rebuilt water tank.
Thursday night, the wood was cut, fitted, and painted to go under the water tank on the Model 87, and the long-lost felloe clips for the 607 wheels were found. The railroad’s water tower, noticed to be leaning, was drained, jacked up, and prepared for final fitting of a new leg and base piece. The front ends of all the cars not previously attended to were greased thoroughly for the coming season. The Model 76 was prepared and checked out for its trip to the Sunday Swap Meet. The boiler flues on the two locomotives were thoroughly cleaned. The cylinder cocks from the piston valve engine in the 735 were adjusted and installed. The items we hope to sell at the Swap Meet were assembled, and all were tagged with an asking price. The batteries for the Rauch & Lang are expected to be serviceable for some time, but it was decided to tow the car to the Swap Meet on Jerry Novak’s open trailer, as we are still not sure of the electric car’s range.
On Tuesday, the following were present: Jerry Lucas (in charge), Emil Christofano, Jeff Pollock, Ted Kamen, Dave Leon, Tim Ward, Jay Williams, Mac Taylor, Mark Hopkins, Alan Deike (a longtime member but a new volunteer), Brent McDougall, Lou Mandich, Butch Cannard, Steve Bryce, Richard Bernard (meeting), Anne Cleary (meeting), Susan Randolph (meeting), Dan Citron (meeting), Rose Ann Hoover (meeting), Art Sybell (meeting), Jerry Novak, and Tom Marshall.
On Thursday, volunteers who worked were Dave Leon (in charge), Jonathan Rickerman, Tim Nolan, Bob Jordan (in charge of 607 project), Ted Kamen, Jerry Novak, Emil Christofano, Steve Bryce, Bob Stransky, Lou Mandich, and Tom Marshall.
