On the Eve of Great Change

 March 31, 1976, was a foggy day full of drizzle.  Spring was slow to come that year and it was a gloomy few days as April approached.  This was to be no normal March-to-April change, though, not for railroading in the northeastern United States of America.  

Fifty years ago, railroaders and their families went to bed knowing that it was hard to tell what was coming in the morning.  Like the foggy sky, the future was unclear and hard to see.  The largest change in the history of railroading in that region was about to become reality for them.  April 1 would be the start of Conrail's operations, bringing federal help and a bold new goal into sharp focus.  

Bob Camp, Detroit, Mort Walton photo

As amateur historians, many of us who love railroading reflect on the past to find some solace in the present.  Change is more constant than may wish it to be, and having an understanding of the past helps us to build a present and future that incorporates the better changes as we can manage it.  But there is no way to tell how it is going to turn out.  There is no crystal ball, really, no guarantee it will work better than it does today.  We have to credit the fallen flags, the companies that tried their best to survive an era that had turned against them.  They were forced to give up.  And when that happens, it feels like maybe we should give up, too.  

But like Conrail, we have to try.  It is an obligation of every person to try.  In order to push our families and our community forward, we must take action.  Gloom and the fog in the future is no reason to sit and wait.  To create a better today and tomorrow, you cannot wait for life to come to you.  Action, accountability, compassion, and perseverance are indispensable for improving our future.

And so, let's be like Conrail was, on Conrail's 50th birthday.  Let's take a chance, even if on a wild idea, to make things better.  Maybe tomorrow we can do it again!  

That grass is always growin'...

 As railroads in our area prepare to host a series of operating sessions this spring, we are all working hard to button up a few projects and smooth out any operational issues.  Hosting sessions is a great way to enjoy the railroad, and we want to ensure the best opportunity for good operations.  

For the Onondaga Cutoff, that includes some long-awaited scenery to be finished at Iroquois Paperboard, along with prepping and checking paperwork and cleaning up the area to eliminate distractions.  

Here we see a variety of scenery projects coming to fruition at Iroquois, with paved track and parking lots along with weed-strewn siding tracks and spurs.  Iroquois Paperboard is a profitable industry at this point, but it's old, and the variety of buildings speak to the on-again, off-again nature of manufacturing in Central New York.  

Of course, adding the glue to all of this is always a harrowing feeling, there is a lot that can get worse with ballast and glue.  But we pulled it off, with some help from the kids and with a good deal of patience.  It is really looking the part now!

This will be the last scenery project I include on the OC before the sessions in April, and I think it will help the visitors be immersed in what we are working to create.  Just gotta make sure those switches aren't glued shut first!  :-)

'Dizzying Times'

 I feel as though the last few weeks have my mind spinning in two directions and four or five directions at all times.  Everything has either gotten more complicated or more difficult, or both; people are struggling in different ways, some unexpected; fear seems to be growing everywhere that ignorance is not.  This is a wild time.  Even big success can pale in comparison to the dizzying array of information and emotion that rolls around it.  

As things twist and turn and veer with little regard to my whims, I am especially grateful to my wife and kids and community and also to the model railroad hobby.  It offers a respite along the journey and this is one of those years that really seems to need more respite!

And so I turned to the job of adding some more scenery around Iroquois Paperboard, which will include paved-in track in the industrial property.  This follows the prototype in Solvay, NY in the 90's, and is a fun thing to re-create, albeit a tedious task.  I used the Walthers grade crossing styrene kits to suggest concrete panels, which were trimmed one by one to ensure clear flangeways.  Once the canopy glue dried, I added yard ballast mix to the tracks around the panels.  

Ballast is carefully tucked into the sides and ends, and then spread around to fill out the tracks.  

This is gentle, careful work, just the sort of thing that requires focus and therefore gives the mind a break from spinning too quickly.  Little by little.  

It is deep in places to reach to the top of rail elevation, so I used some other stone I had purchased for ballast that was the wrong color to fill out a base, enabling more coverage for the yard mix.  I glued it down with my usual 3:1 mixture of water and white glue, with a few ounces of isopropyl alcohol mixed in, and with a generous pre-spray of just isopropyl alcohol to break the tension.  After 8 hours it is solid as a rock.  

When you need a break from chaos or life, the hobby is there to help!