December
2nd,
2019
Members
present: Dan
Durachko, Steve Dillon, Lon Beck, Andrew Cobaugh, Andrew Richards,
Tracey Besemer, Dave Felice, Susan Hochreiter, Chris Stutzman and
Gene Tucker.
Guests
present:
Alan Uhler and Kyle Uhler.
Call
to Order:
President Dan Durachko called the meeting to order at 7:03 p.m. in
the train
station.
Guest
presentation: Eagle Scout Project Proposal, Milesburg Troop 45: Boy
Scout
Kyle
Uhler presented a proposal to restore the snow plow as part of an
Eagle Scout project. As
presented, his proposal includes redoing the
roof, windows and siding. The plow is also
missing some handles, he
said. An Eagle Scout project aims to develop leadership skills, and
includes other scouts to assist with the project. Dan Duracho offered
to be the BHRS contact
for this proposal. Funds from the BHRS caboose
fund might be available to assist in buying
supplies. Additional
coordination/approval of the project must still be arranged with the
Scout
troop. (Kyle’s father, Alan, worked on the plow in 1987 as
part of his Eagle Scout project.)
Minutes
for the November 4th
meeting: No
minutes were available.
Treasurer’s
Report:
Treasurer Andrew Richards presented a report covering the period
September10th
through December 2nd.
The report shows an opening balance of $78,244.03,
which includes a
Caboose Fund balance of $4,391.97 (unchanged from the last report).
Receipts totaled $28,185.01, funds received from membership dues,
ticket sales, Eventbrite
ticket sales and the Amazon Smile program,
while expenditures totaled $30,863.99, for station
rent, Oil House
electricity, SEDA-COG Fall Foliage payment, station decorations,
speeder repair
materials, and Halloween supplies, leaving a closing
balance of $75,565.05 (including the
Caboose Fund). The Treasurer
said that the Society is “in good shape”, adding that he is
expecting to receive a refund from the Halloween trains, which will
be reported on the next
report. The Treasurer’s Report was approved
by voice vote on a motion made by Lon Beck,
which was seconded by Dan
Durachko.
Reports:
Webmaster:
Andrew
Cobaugh reported that the Society’s website received 4,491 visits
in
November.
Membership:
No report.
Lemont
track:
Gene Tucker reported that a total of twelve (12) crossties were
installed in the
Lemont trackage for calendar year 2019. Eight (8)
crossties are still along the line, waiting to be
installed next
year. A proposal to bring some ballast cars from Hawbaker’s onto
the line to
spread ballast in some areas was presented, in order to
minimize the need to bring ballast up
from the pile near Dale Street.
In response, Gene said that it makes more sense to get ties
installed
before bringing in ballast. He added that it would be good to get
thirty (30) ties
installed in the coming year before proceeding with
such a plan. A discussion about sign-in
sheets and insurance coverage
for volunteers took place.
RDC
@ RMI:
A trip to Columbia to inspect the RDC at RMI is planned for Friday,
December 6th.
Andrew Cobaugh, Andrew Richards and Cody Martin are planning on
going.
Speeder
rides: The
possibility of operating motorcars on Friday/Saturday, December 13/14
in
Bellefonte was discussed. Permission from NBER would be required.
Availability of motorcars
and operators was discussed. The desired
date/time of operation is Saturday, December 14th,
from 11:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. A request to NBER to operate from the
wye to Water Street is
needed. The Society has no plans to support
the Lemont Christmas event this year.
Christmas
trains: Plans
for supporting the upcoming Christmas trains was discussed. Society
personnel will be required to support the operation. BHRS is to staff
the caboose. The possibility
of offering cookies to patrons was
presented. In future years, the idea of offering a “sensory car”
for children on the autism spectrum was presented.
RDC
car # 9153: A
discussion took place about the future use of this car. An idea to
offer the car
for sale was presented. Alternatively, parts from this
car could be used to keep the other car
(#9167) operating. The
Society would need a donor car to make # 9153 operational. Storage
for
the main car (#9167), once it returns from Columbia, was
discussed. One possibility might be to
ask for permission to store
the car at the NBER engine house.
Adjournment:
The
meeting adjourned at 8:45 p.m.
Respectfully
submitted,
Gene
R. Tucker