2007 Inland Empire Chapter Report

We started the year with our annual banquet meeting in January. We installed two new officers, John Simanton as Vice President and Wayne Show as Secretary/Treasurer. Other offices remained the same as in 2006.

In May we learned the State of Washington had purchased the Central Washington Railroad, the access to our 30-acre museum site. Formerly owned by WATCO, the 108-mile CW ran from Cheney to Coulee City. A new operator was picked and the railroad is now the Eastern Washington Gateway Railroad.

In April we loaned our standard gauge handcar, signs, track tools, models and other items from our collections to the North Idaho Museum in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, for their summer "Railroads of North Idaho" display. We also moved two loads of rail to Reardan on our 40-foot flatbed semi-trailer and several loads of ties, timbers and 3 x 10 bridge planks.

In May, we placed concrete ties (rejected by BNSF) to prepare footings for two donated Union Pacific express boxcar bodies that will form one side of our proposed shop building. On a Friday, Hite Crane moved 3 Hydro Cranes to the Spokane UP railyard, lifted one of the 60 foot cars, rolled it on its side and loaded it on a 50 foot stretch low bed trailer. Two bigger truck cranes were used at Readan to place the car body on the concrete footings. The second car was loaded Friday afternoon and delivered on Monday.

In June we worked on our D-8 dozer, got the magneto rebuilt, put on new hydraulic hoses and did some heavy rock work to build up the low south end of our switching lead. Seven members of the Reardan High School football team came and helped for a half day, driving spikes and moving materials. Always great to get some help. Our chapter had a big operating "O gauge" display, thanks to John Simanton, at Mule Days in the Reardan Fire Station. We did quite well. We celebrated our chapter’s 40^th anniversary with an open house at the Spokane Fairgrounds, the first time we had everything open except during the September Interstate Fair. Many visitors we don’t see at fair time came for the day. This also helped us prepare for the fair.

In July we set a 30-foot pole, to bring power onto the Reardan site. We also dug a ditch to each UP boxcar, laid conduit and backfilled the ditch. It was necessary to rebuild the steering box for our 26,000 pound 1940’s Gerlinger Fork Lift. This was quite a project; the unit looked like it had no attention for years. New bearings and hours of machine work made it steerable again.

In August a group from the Cheney Parks Department came to see our displays and ride our 2-foot gauge train at the fairgrounds. We could do this because of our preparation for the June open house and the upcoming fair in September.

The 10 day September Interstate Fair went well, thanks to our display train at its best, a good crew of volunteers (some working up to 12 hours a day for 10 days), good weather, increased admission and ride prices and sales at our depot store. Mike and Donna McMackin deserve a special thank-you for their work at the depot store and at several northwest area swapmeets that generated considerable income.

In October we learned the restaurant that had hosted our monthly meetings had sold and the new owners would be closing at 3 pm each day. We needed a new clutch in our Case Backhoe so we trucked it back to the fairgrounds and put it in the shop so we could split it apart on a level concrete floor. The project went ok with patience and help from several members and friends. The October Railroad Show was a success thanks to many volunteers and near record attendance.

In November we met at a new restaurant with a nice room; everyone seemed pleased and well fed. We were given a British Railway composite built container, probably built in the 1940’s. The owner loaded it on our truck and we took it to the fairgrounds for rebuilding. While we don’t know much about its history, it will certainly make a good display. Almost all of the steel parts will be saved and new wood parts are being made to keep it close to the original.

In December we held elections of officers with no changes for 2008. Changing engines in our Gerlinger Fork Lift is going forward in the fairgrounds shop.

The volunteers doing the heavy work in 2007 were: Jennell Branson, Scott Dowler, Gene Hawk, Al Hinkel, Larry Parker, Jay Pospisle, John Simanton, Wayne Shaw, Jerry Fey, Tom Heckler, Bruce Juneau and Lee Tillotson. Thanks to the people who helped during the fair and our 40^th anniversary doings, President Bill Gradel, sidetrack editor Dale Swant, sec/treasurer Wayne Shaw and all our friends and members, we had quite a productive 2007.