This page contains old news items from the website 

Archive Index

• New "Gift Shop"  (1/04)

• Carbarn Update (1/04) - Suppplement 02/08

• Crane 0711 rebuild update (12/03) - Suppplement 02/08

• Trackmobile operating (12/03)

• RTA # 161 "Airporter" Arrives at the museum (5/03)

• NORM at 2003 Home and Garden Show

• NORM receives trusses for new carbarn

• NORM and Grand Rapid Electric Railway reach agreement

• Car Barn Progress (5/00)

• PRR Boxcar Acquisition

• Toledo Streetcar # 588 is moved to NORM.

• Cleveland "Airporter" Joins the Roster

• LSE 42 joins the Roster

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Here is a view of the interior of the PRR Outside Braced boxcar. It is being modified into a rolling bookstore. ( ! ) NORMS' plans for it are to keep it in the barn when the store is closed, and roll it outside during work sessions. A loading ramp and platform will be built to accommodate customers, as the car will be spotted on a barn lead. The bookstore is expected to be ready by spring 2004.

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The second carbarn is common up fast. The purpose of this carbarn is to get more of the collection housed indoors. Construction started on May 30th 2003. On August 25th the last of the posts was set in place. However there were problems with the original plans and water which caused the overruns in the budget. By the end of October the framework of the building was finished. The photo to the left was taken by John Kostelnik on 10/25/03. The view is looking North towards the new storage yard being built directly behind the barn (previous storage yard was this site, now moved further back due to this barn).

The 2nd carbarn is now standing tall and awaits 250 tons of ballast before the track can be laid to and through it. Plans call for three storage yard tracks to extend out behind it, of which two are already in place. This barns main purpose will be to house and protect cars and equipment that is waiting to be restored. The barn sits just a short distance behind the Bennett barn, which is now dedicated to car restoration projects. NORM will soon have the ability to house 18 to 20 cars under roof!

To offset the additional costs for the carbarn a SPECIAL Carbarn fund has been established with a goal of $16,000. $8000 of which was a challenge grant from one of the members. We are happy to report thet we have made goal with a total of $16,815 being raised. However we continue to need your support. If you would like to help, please send your tax-deductible contributions to the museum at: Northern Ohio Railway Museum, PO Box 458, Chippewa Lake, OH 44215-0458

Supplemental - 02/08

Since our last progress report, both the main car barn (named after N.O.R.M. co-founder Red Bennett) and the storage barn (no name as yet) have been completed and are in service. The Bennett barn houses our restoration projects, including CRC 0711, TTC 2778, the C&O (Hocking Valley) caboose and open Rio De Janeiro trolley. The back barn shelters future restoration projects, spare parts and the PRR X-23 “rolling book store”. Tracks extend through both barns to form a Dead Line behind the back barn where parts cars are stored. Today only four cars are on the “wrong” side of Buffham Road - the rest are safely in storage.

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Here is an updated view of Cleveland Railway/CTS/RTA Crane 0711 during rebuild into a gas-electric.
Partially blocking the view is a 4 wheel work car carrying the cranes' compressor. The crane was spotted on the center barn lead while a work crew removed 1203 from storage across Buffham Rd. 1203 now rests on the shop track lead in front of the barn awaiting cleanout before being moved inside for eventual restoration. The photo above was taken 11/8/03 by John Kostelnik.

Supplemental - 02/08

After several years of hard work by museum volunteers, the conversion of Cleveland Railway Crane # 0711 to gas-electric power has been completed. In October of 2004, Crane # 0711 rolled out of the Bennett barn under its own power. In the two years since, # 0711 - our first restored trolley - has switched almost the entire collection into the barns or onto the dead tracks. In the future, we hope to offer public caboose rides with # 0711 serving as locomotive.

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This is a view taken on 11/8/03 showing NORM's freshly repainted trackmobile towing C&O caboose 90960 ( for braking purposes ) with a drawbar in its coupler pinned to 1203. To the left is the barn lead switch, to the right is the Wye. View is to the North East. .Paul Oswald did a great job painting the trackmobile "Traction" Orange. It has proved useful fo moving the cars around!

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The RTA Rapid #161, also known as an Airporter car, was delivered to the museum the first week of May 2003. This car was purchased by the then Cleveland Transit System 1967 for an expansion of the heavy rail rapid system to Cleveland Airport. Hence, its nickname. Cleveland was the first city in the US to have rail service linking its airport to City center.

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Norm makes it first public appearance outside of the train show circuit! We were at the huge Home and Garden Show from Feb 8-16, 2003. The show was at the IX Center just south of the Cleveland Hopkins Airport. Our traveling display was  hosted by Lolly the Trolley. 

With Lolly the Trolley as our backdrop, NORM has a huge eye-catching display to introduce the world to our "new" museum.

Chris Oles, Mark Adamjik and Steve Heister prepare for a busy opening day.

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The trusses have arrived for our new carbarn in preparation for the arrival of the rail equipment from Grand Rapids Ohio. The new 10 car carbarn will be built directly behind the Bennett carbarn.

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NORM and Grand Rapid Electric Railway reach Historic Agreement

For the last thirty some years, the Northern Ohio Railway Museum (NORM) and the Waterfront Electric Railway, Inc. (WER, more recently known as the Grand Rapids Electric Railway) have been independently working towards similar goals of creating operating electric railway museums in the northern Ohio area. To date, both organizations have built fine facilities, but public operation has not yet begun at either.

To help attain our common goals WER is joining forces with NORM. WER has offered NORM all of its electric railway equipment and materials so that NORM can complete its demonstration railroad and begin public operation. This includes six electric cars and locomotives (one car is ready for public operation), enough overhead wire and hardware to build all of NORM's overhead and all of the components needed to build a substation to generate 600V DC power to run electric equipment. Also included are WER's excess track materials and signal equipment.

To prepare for this, NORM will construct its second car house. This will be similar in layout and size to the Anson W. Bennett Car House and will be built to the north of it. This second car house will give NORM indoor storage for an additional ten pieces of equipment including the six from WER. The new car house will also include indoor storage for car parts. The total cost is estimated at $95,000 with monthly payments just slightly higher than those of the Bennett building.

This is a very big step financially for NORM and your help is needed to make it happen. NORM must pay off the remaining $17,000 balance on the Bennett Car House. To make this a reality, one of NORM's members has created a challenge grant in which he will donate up to $8,500 if the rest of the membership donates the remaining $8,500. To date $1,500 has already been pledged or donated towards that amount. Your contributions to the CARBARN FUND will now be used to match this challenge. Each of your dollars will now be worth two!

Northern Ohio Railway Museum wishes to thank Charlie Sheets and the Waterfront Electric Railway for their generosity and for their foresight in furthering the preservation of electric transportation and the enlightenment of the public about its history and benefits.

Walt Stoner, President
Northern Ohio Railway Museum

Charlie Sheets, President
Waterfront Electric Railway, Inc.

Ralph P steadying a piece of signal equipment about to be loaded on the flatbed trailer for its move to NORM as part of the donation from the Grand Rapids museum.

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Anson W. Bennett Car House Update 5/00

The building exterior for the Anson W. Bennett Car House may be done, but more work continues. The car Barn was dedicated on Aug 3rd 1997 during Members Day. Tracks are in place in the Car Barn. Tracks leading from the mainline were recently extended into track leads into the Car House. Much of the grading has been done. Piles of rail and rail materials, ties, including switch ties await placement. The big holdup is basically stone for ballast. The right-of-way requires about 700 tons of ballast stone. This will cost about $7000, maybe $5000 if used stone can be found. In any case, it takes money. Consider becoming a member and/or donating to the Car Barn, Track or General fund. 

New Pennsylvania Boxcar Acquisition

Soon after the move of Toledo Streetcar #588, this boxcar was moved. It also came from Grand Rapids, Ohio. It is a Pennsylvania Railroad outside braced wooden boxcar. This photo shows it inside the carbarn at NORM just after a track-mobile shoved it inside next to car #588 and LSE # 151. (J. Kostelnik)

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Toledo Streetcar # 588 is moved to NORM.

This is a photo essay of the recent move of car # 588 from Grand Rapids, Ohio to NORM at Chippewa Lake Ohio. All photos courtesy of John Kostelnik.

Cleveland Rapid "Airporter" 161 Joins the Museum

Cleveland's RTA has donated one of the "Airporter" Rapid Transit cars from the Red Line. These cars were purchased by Cleveland in 1968 in conjunction with the extension of the Red Line to Cleveland Airport. These cars along with the original Blue Bird cars operated side by side on the line until the arrival of the new Tokyu Cars. All the Blue Birds and Airporters have since been retired. Museum members have been also removing various parts from the other Airporters since Thanksgiving as the rest of them are to be scraped. In removing the parts, museum members have learned a lot of how this car works and have added a lot of spare parts to the museum's inventory. These parts can be used on out PCC's, St. Louis Cars and Car 161. In addition they can be used for trade or sale with other museums.

Photos of the Airporter and the Blue Birds are available on-line

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Lake Shore Electric # 42 Joins the Museum
Based on articles in the Sept-Oct 1998 The Northern Light