Heartlands Train Club News

NEWS FROM THE MAY MEETING:

Joplin 45 Ton Locomotive Acquisition:   We are now waiting for the paper work that is necessary to remove the engine from the site at Joplin.  A formal contract between the Heartlands and Taylor Crane is needed for International Paper to let us come onto the site and remove the engine.  It appears that at this time all is moving in the proper direction and at some time in the near future the engine will be moved to Carona.

1023 Locomotive Progress report:   A bell for the 1023 has been located and John Shomin and Larry Spahn traveled to Springfield, Missouri, on April 13th after the slide show to pick it up. The slide show was well attended and enjoyed by all. The bell is very nice and is complete with all the mounting hardware.  It supposedly came off of a Missouri Pacific locomotive but is not marked.  Jeff Cooney found the bell on Craig’s list and notified us about it.  

    Bill and Don Bailey of Little Rock, Arkansas, have donated a very nice steam gauge for the 1023.  We now have two matching gauges for the engineer and fireman sides of the engine.  

     Jerry Messer of Jerry’s Crane Service brought his crane out to Carona on April 25th and, with John Shomin and Larry Spahn assisting him, installed the bell on the engine.  The bell is very heavy and awkward to handle and that is the reason for the crane.  Jerry welded the new mounting studs in place and also spot welded the nuts that secure the bell in place.  The steam whistle that Ron Chamberlain donated to the 1023 project was also installed at this time.  New threads were cut on the pipe that the original whistle was hack sawed off of and a two inch pipe tee was installed to mount the whistle.  This will also allow us to put air into the whistle should we want to blow it at a later date. The threads were also welded on the whistle and fittings to hopefully make removal much more difficult.  Jerry only charged us $100.00 for his four to five hours work and use of the crane.  A big Thank You to Jerry Messer Crane Service.   

Winfield Flint Hills Rides:  We had two rides out of Winfield on Saturday, May 4th. The day was cold and dreary with misting rain but everyone enjoyed the trips and all had a good time.  We had a total of 455 passengers for both trips.  The train traveled as far as Grenola, passing through the Flint Hills and over the Grand Summit along the way.  Daniel Archer was our engineer and he dressed the part in striped overalls, red bandana and engineers cap.  Daniel did a great job handling the train.  The coaches rode smoothly and gave an enjoyable ride.  Jim McKeel was our conductor with John Chambers and Gordon Garret helping out as brakemen.  Car Attendants were Phil Aylward, Brian and Chase Carlson, Robert Ferguson, Tony Cook, and Larry and Kathy Spahn.  Souvenir sales were brisk.  A big thank you to Jim McKeel for putting these trips together and to everyone for coming so far to help out.  Linda Shomin also provided several hundred business cards that she designed and printed with club information that were handed out to riders.

Grass Mowing:  Tom Johnston has been busy trying to keep up with the grass cutting.  He has mowed the grass twice already.  Thanks, Tom!

Loss of Long Time Member Nancy Offenbacker:   We are sorry to report the passing of Nancy Offenbacker.  Nancy was a long time Heartland member and, along with her husband Ed, was an avid supporter of and participant in our organization.  Nancy was a board member for many years and also served several terms as both Secretary and Treasurer.  She will be missed.

W.B. Johnson Memorial Plaque:  The heavy rail mounting post and memorial plaque that was placed inside the fence that surrounded the 1023 while it was in Schlanger Park has been re-installed at the 1023 display outside of the Webb Center in Carona, Kansas. John Shomin and Larry Spahn worked on the relocating and painting of the display. The plaque is currently on display inside of the museum and will be installed outside at a later date.

Click HERE to read about the John Spahn Memorial Motorcar Ride on April 6th.

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