Another busy weekend here at the Railroad Museum of Long Island Riverhead! Final steps toward the completion of the new deck outside the historic Lionel Layout were taken. 50 metal plates were installed on 25 of the deck’s support beams. This is to keep the deck in one piece during severe weather. The deck and ramp are now complete and ready for visitors in the spring. New electrical outlets were also installed on the Lionel Visitor’s Center Building with temporary spotlights timed on a solar cell to provide much needed light and electricity. The spotlights will be replaced with historic station lamp posts. One station lamp has been bolted into place, while it’s matching twin receives needed metal work. The two lamps on the deck help to give the allusion that the former Potato storage barn (now housing the layout) is actually a freight house, similar to the Greenport Museum. The building also had brand new gutters installed to keep the snow and rain off the deck, away from our visitor’s heads! To date many shingles have also been replaced and repaired on the side of the building, which is the reasoning behind the so many “out of place” white shingles mixed in with the tan. The building in the spring time will receive a white coat of paint that will be a close match to the color of many Long Island Rail Road stations, such as Southold.
On the layout inside work has been done to add trees and grasses to the Roundhouse, to give is a life like appearance A lot of wiring has also been done to hook up the accessories and
the buttons that will make the different items work.
Looking toward spring, we have also started work on our LIRR G-16 World’s Fair Train Set. Before the train returns to service the passenger coaches will extensively inspected, with much of the brake rigging taken apart and rebuilt. This is part of the museum’s on going preventive maintenance program, which helps us keep the trains running without inspection, the safest way possible for the enjoyment of our guests.
Thanks goes out to Greg Kruszeski, Steve Susic, Anthony DeBellis & Don Fisher for their hard work this weekend.
