The Messenger - June 1997

New Volunteers

A membershnip drive was conducted earlier this year as part of the master plan strategy to increase the number of volunteers. The master plan committee recognized that the goals identified in 1994 could not be achieved at the 1994 membership level. The goal of establishing a museum village representative of the Phoenicia of a century ago requires many more volunteers than we had at that time. In fact, meeting our short term goals relating to Engine 23 and our cars being restored requires additional volunteers.
3200 letters were sent to people within a 150 mile radius of the museum and the response has been gratifying. Over 100 new members have joined the museum and a number of those members have indicated a desire to help ranging from clerical support thorugh baggage car restoration to returning Engine 23 to operation. Our membership now stands at an all time high of 287 paid members.
The Board of Directors expresses their deep appreciation for the support provided by the volunteers who folded, stuffed, sealed, and mailed all those letters. Holly and Harris Cohn, Katie and Dexter Jeannotte, Pat Rudge, and Beth Waterman put in time on successive Saturdays to get the mailing done. One of the new members, Tom Johnson is shown below hard at work, finishing the roofing on the clerestory of the Boston & Maine baggage car, with long-time member Ernie Gehrer. The Phoenicia station can be seen in the background.

Ashokan Exhibit

The current summer exhibit on the construction of the Ashokan Reservoir during the period 1906 through 1916 is bringing many new visitors to the museum. People who now live in houses removed from the floor of the reservoir, people who are related to laborers, engineers and builders of the reservoir, and people descended from the inhabitans of the towns inundated by the reservoir are coming to see the exhibit. It is bringing people outside of the normal railroad interest spectrum and providing an excellent means of broadening the awareness of the museum in the large mid-Hudson community. Over 125 photos are mounted on display panels and an additional photo album is available for viewing. The album also includes the names of the residents of the villages displaced by the reservoir for those who wish to verify their genealogical ties to the area.
The adjacent photo (courtesy NYC-DEP) shows an eastbound Ulster & Delaware passenger train with two baggage cars and eight passenger coaches astanding at the Olive Branch depot. The Olive Branch depot and its adjacent community of Ashton were eradicated by the reservoir an various stages of construction of the dam and dikes.

Ulster County Legislators Sam Magarelli and Ward Todd and Rose LeFevre, District Representative for New York State Senator Charles Cook, spoke during the brief ceremonies at the opening reception for the exhibit on June 29. The legislators pledged to seek support for the museum to enhance our facilities and role in the community and increase the tourism value of the museum and the railroad. They asked for community support of their efforts by letters to them and other members of the legislature. The celebration of the exhibit featured a train ride from Mt. Pleasant donated by the Catskill Mountain Railroad. The Phoenicia Elementary School Wind Ensamble, under the direction of Ron Westervelt, played a variety of musical selections as part of the informal ceremonies welcoming the visitors to the station. One visitor estimaded the attendees at about 200 total.
The brochure describing the show is enclosed with this newsletter. Beth Waterman, ESRM Director of Education and Publicity, produced the show and assisted Lonnie Gale, ESRM Curator, with the acquisition of the images included in the exhibit. Many of the images are reproductions of items in Lonnie's personal collection. A large number of images were also provided by the New York City Department of Environmental Protection, which manages the Ashokan Reservoir. Supporters of the exhibit are listed in the brochure.

Calendar

• June 23, 1997, Members meeting, 7:30 pm, Phoenicia Station, Bob Steuding Ashokan Reservoir, Last of the Handmade Dams. Copies of his book of that title will be available for purchase and signing.

• September 27, 1997, Volunteers picnic, 5:00pm; Slide Show, 7:30pm, Topic TBA, Phoenicia Station

• November 5, 1997, Members meeting, 7:30pm, VFW Hall, Rt 9W, East Chester Bypass, Kingston, TBA

• December 14, 1997, Annual Christmas Party and Santa Train, 1:00 to 4:00pm, Phoenicia Station

Museum Expansion

The museum has made an offer of $12,000 for the two parcels (about 4.5 acres total) on either side of the museum south of the railroad right-of-way, but the seller continues to hold off in the interests of moving all of his land at once. At issue is the sale of approximately 18 acres north of the railarod right-of-way which is in the Esopus Creek flood plain and is of marginal value as a developmental site. Currently, ESRM has $13,005 in hand for the purchase, but additional monies for the final price, surveys, subdivision costs, and closing expenses are needed.
The Board of Directors thanks the following donors who have pledged a total of $1075.00 annually for ten years to assist in this purchase: A. Campbell, Leslie Fahey, Ernest Gardner, Steve Hopkins, Elanie Jonston, Dexter Jeannotte, Raymond Oram, John Sammet, Robert Shaw, Bob Symington, Peter Tassone, and Richard Tenewitz. Funds received in excess of those needed immediately will be retained for additional land purchases next to the museum.

Children's Events

The museum was visited by two separate children's groups recently during weekday openings by special arrangement. The Phoenicia Elementary School had a field trip to the museum for selected third and fourth grade students of Jean Druffner on June 18th, 1997. Ralph Goneau and Lonnie Gale, with the support of Ed and Betty Bolsetzian, hosted the event. Jean Druffner was assited by teacher's aide Mirian Kellerhouse and two students' mothers, Carmen Adler and Paula Tar. Jean reported that her students enjoyed the visit to the museum immensely and were very appreciative of the volunteers' efforts for their visit. The fact that a city was created to support the reservoir workers captured their imagination. The class wrote letters to Ralph Goneau who led the tour and provided a door prize raffle which pleased the students. One of the young girls remarked on the beauty of the main waiting room.
On June 4th, the Funshine Day School for pre-kindergarten children sponsored a train ride and visit to the museum. Museum member Doug Traudt, who is also a conductor for the Catskill Mountain Railroad, arranged for the visit of his son's fellow nursery school students. Lonnie Gale, Ralph Goneau, and Ed and Betty Bolsetzian served as hosts for the visit. We hope to see some of these youngsters as adult volunteers for the museum two or three decadeds from now.

Thanks for your Support!

www.esrm.com

Those of our members who are 'network literate' will recognize the heading of this item as a World Wide Web address. It signifies that the Empire State Railway Museum, Inc., is entering the computer age with the coming of our own web page. After August 1st, 1997, information about ESRM will be available on line at 'www.esrm.com' on the world wide web for a six month trial period. We will also be linked to other railroad museum related sites and to local pages such as the Ulster County and Catskill Center web sites. Museum hours and coming events will be provided. Membership information as well as mail order catalog for items in our gift shop will be provided. (The 15% member discount will be available for such purchases to all members.) Recent newsletters will be available and our current summer exhibit will be featured. Members' comments by E-mail will be welcomed. Because the site will be maintained by a service provider and is not on-line to any museum officer, there will be a lag time between receipt of correspondence and reply to such letters. Let your officers know what you think about our museum and our web site. Depending on results during the trial period, a decision will be made in December with regard to continuation of the site. Sign on and tell us what you like about your museum and what is needed to improve it.

Board of Directors Actions

The Board approved elevation of the station platform to provide handicap access to the station without the necessity of multiple railed ramps. A single ramp will provide access to the raised platform. The board authorized a six month experiment with on-line computer access to an ESRM Web page (See story elsewhere this issue.). The existing slate of officers was reelected for another one year term.

Directory Name Change?

Kalmback Publishing has asked ESRM to consider a name change for the Guide to Tourist Railroads and Museums to better reflect its use as a tourism and travel reference guide. Kalmbach feels that its placement in book stores would be enhanced with a name change. Please let us know what you think about this proposal.E-mail ESRM or write to us at the address below for fastest evaluation for your comments.

Empire State Railway Museum, Inc.
PO Box 455
Phoenicia, NY 12464-0455