(erielack) ELHS Convention - Rochester, NY - DAY 1

["Tupaczewski, Paul R \(Paul\)" <"paultup_@_lucent.com">]

Hello all,

	I brought my laptop with me so I can provide updates...

	Today's weather in Rochester was supposed to be crappy.
Surprisingly, there was quite a bit of sun today - a downpour showed up
around dinner time, but that's fine by me!

	First event of the day was a tour of the New York Museum of
Transportation and the Rochester & Genesee Valley RR Museum - both are
connected together by a 1-1/2 mile home-built line. The NYMT has a few
trolley cars and a Genesee & Wyoming wooden caboose - former DL&W 619! Very
nice. The R&GV folks also store some of their equipment here. Of note is an
EL express boxcar (the kind with the inset door, former Erie). It's in
BEAUTIFUL shape, and has a very good paint job (considering its stencilled
paint date is 12-14-60 at Susquehanna!) A neat find!
	A mile down the road is the R&GV Museum, in the former Erie station
at Industry, NY. Yes, Erie: The former Erie Rochester Branch runs past their
museum. Today, this line is run by the Livonia, Avon (pronounced "aaa-von,"
not "ay-von") and Lakeville - more on them later! The Museum is quite nice,
and they have a good collection of equipment (including a HUGE collection of
construction equipment!). Of note to list members: A former DL&W MU electic
power car; an Erie arch-window Stillwell, and a beautifully-restored, inside
and out, Erie "Dunmore" caboose. They gladly ran trips for us on their 1-1/2
mile line (which starts out of the Museum with a 4.5% climb!) using their
NKP Alco S4 (love that sound!) and U.S. Army H12-44 - first time I've heard
an FM diesel actually under load and operating! Nice and smooth! The folks
at the R&GV Museum deserve major kudos for being so accomodating to all of
us, with plentiful cab rides and photo runbys!
	Of note: The LA&L crossing here is protected by modern overhead
crossbucks. The ladderguard on the side has some interesting stencilling:
"ERIE LACKAWANNA R.R.", along with someone's name as "Chief Eng'r, Signals
and Comm" - yes, this crossbuck was put in place for the EL, but it looks
almost brand new!
	I snuck down to Lakeville, NY (about 20 minutes away) to see the
Livonia, Avon and Lakeville's shop facility. I stopped into the office to
sign a release (an absolute must for anyone stopping by to take photos), and
the people there are friendly like you wouldn't believe! It's a very
friendly operation there. Parked outside the shop was RS1 #20 - the
"Cadillac" of the fleet. It even has a shiny brass fuel tank cap! Probably
the nicest RS1 I've ever seen. Switching the yard was S2 #72 - the crew was
working the unit switching around large cuts of cars, and it performed
beautifully. Of course, I was pretty shocked when I saw the original
builders plates that read "Built 1941"! A 60-year old engine working 6 hours
a day, 5 days a week. What a operation!
	Inside their enginehouse were two of their newly-purchased former
MEC/D&H C424m's, as well as their C425 and C420.
	Back at the Conference Center, there were a few presentations in the
afternoon: A black-and-white film of the "construction of a boxcar" at the
Rochester-area Merchant's Despatch Shops; a talk by Harold Russell about the
trials and pitfalls of writing articles for publication (hobby-focused), and
a slide show by Chris Hauf.
	After dinner, a small group (around 20 or so) went to the LA&L shops
for a night photo session. The railroad posed C424m's 424 and 423 for
pictures. The two units are rebuilds of former EL C424's (424 was EL 2401,
423 was EL 2407). They now wear LA&L's attractive (and absolutely spotlessly
clean!) black and yellow paint, reminiscent of the EL freight scheme or the
NKP diesel scheme. A great night session, and more hospitality from the LA&L
folks (they even turned on headlights to improve our stationary
ambient-light photos!)
	Wrapup: In one day I've managed to see 7 Alcos and 1 FM (and not a
single EMD), almost all of them operating! Not a bad first day! Kudos to
Convention Chairman Chris Hauf for doing an excellent job!

	More tomorrow.... The LA&L folks told us a northbound road train
(with possibly three Alcos!) will be departing Lakeville tomorrow morning at
8:00 AM. I'll check that one out, definitely! :)

	- Paul


Paul R. Tupaczewski______________
Lucent Technologies
Mobile Internet Applications
Wireless Networks Group
67 Whippany Road                 Voice: (973) 386-4966
Room 15C-121                           Fax: (973) 386-3538
Whippany, NJ 07981       E-mail: "paultup_@_lucent.com"
____________________________________


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