ORCHARD PARK DEPOT 2012

The Year 2012 at the Orchard Park Depot
January - February 2012

The Depot Crew continues to meet at the Orchard Park Depot on Wednesday and Saturday mornings throughout the winter. The buildings and grounds are checked on a regular basis for security issues, as is the rolling stock.

Orchard Park Depot Chairman Bob Snyder is on special assignment, and asked that I provide this Flyer's Depot Update. BR.

The big news from the Southtowns is that the Depot's 5-1/2 year wait for our $50,000 Grant appears to be finally over. On Friday, January 27th, Jim Slominski hand delivered paperwork to the Empire State Development Corporation that will allow the Society to proceed with the restoration projects budgeted for in the Grant.

The first half of the Grant money will be used to install a new heating system in the Depot, renovate the bathrooms, and conduct an "Existing Conditions" Study of the property. Once this work is completed, the other half of the Grant money will be used to rebuild the BR&P caboose, and to continue ongoing roof repairs to the Depot and Freight House.

In addition to the above work, the Depot Committee hopes to rebuild the center garden this spring. Over the years this garden has become a constant, time consuming maintenance "chore" during the growing season. This year the Committee hopes to "simplify" the garden's plantings, thereby making its maintenance less labor intensive.

The Depot's first big public event for the year will be the Orchard Park Garden Club's annual plant sale. The sale is open to the public on Saturday, May 12th. Over the years, the OPGC has been very supportive of our restoration efforts. As a result of another very successful decoration sale at this past year's "Holiday in the Park" event, the Club donated $500.00 to the Depot. The Society offers its sincere thanks to the OPGC for its donation. So, if you need some new plants for your home garden, here is an opportunity to shop for them, and at the same time, further express our gratitude to the Orchard Park Garden Club.

And some more good news! Over the week of February 13th, Armor Heat has finished the installation of the new heating system. All of the old Cast Iron Radiators now are toasty warm and the Depot can be used all year round! Finally, 2012 is the officially designated 100th Anniversary of the Orchard Park Depot. Plans are in process to host a 100th Birthday Celebration. Further details will follow.

March - April 2012

The heat is on! The Orchard Park Depot has heat, just like it did when the building was new, 100 years ago. The new high tech system is amazing. The original heating system consisted of a coal-fired furnace that heated water in a large boiler which was then pumped to cast iron registers in each of the stations rooms. That large and labor-intensive water heater has been replaced by a very small high-tech modern system. New hot water pipes were installed and the old cast iron registers, which were found to be in excellent operating condition, were connected. No more deliveries of coal, no more shoveling, no more making sure the fire was good and no more messy clean-up of ash left after

burning the coal. Heat is at our fingertips and electronically controlled. During the cold weather, the automatic thermostat is set to turn up about an hour before we show up for our work parties and then it automatically turns itself back down four hours later when we leave.

The saga of the washrooms continues, with much work being accomplished since the last newsletter. The washroom for men is nearing completion with the installation of the original sink, the slop sink, urinal and two new toilets. The two sinks were resurfaced and now look brand new. On March 21st, Bob Reynders and Jim Slominski put the new latches on one of the original windows, while Roger Smith ground away the old tile in the ladies washroom, helping to get the walls ready to hold the new tile.

The Society's Honor Roll board has been taken down, to be shipped to the new Lee Street museum. In its place is a new custom-built train announcement board. Bob Reynders did most of the work on that announcement board in his shop at home, then brought it to the depot where a crew hung it in place. The new board looks very official and very authentic. You might even think it was made by the original owners, the BR&P Railway.

While all of the work was being done, a number of items accumulated that will either be taken to the salvage yard for cash or put into the dumpster. The depot crew removed the old furnace from the passenger station basement and stored it in the freight house, along with several other discards, until disposal at a later date. Some discarded items that were found in the attic were removed by Duane Warchocki, Roger Smith and other depot crew members.

On March 10th, Bernie Foit, of Foit-Albert Associates, visited the Depot in preparation for starting the "Existing Conditions" study. The completion of this study will give the Society a formal professional analysis of the Depot's condition. It will also identify the structural problems that exist and prioritize what should be done. This study will give the Society additional credibility when it applies for future grant funding.

May - June 2012
Things are plenty busy at the Depot this season with much work accomplished and much more yet to be done. The ladies washroom is getting it's new white tiles, the work started the end of May, and should be ready for inspection during the societies Summer meeting at the Depot. The stations original drinking fountains are functional again after many years of being dormant, there's even paper cups to drink from and two original looking waste cans to throw the used cups in.

The Depot continues to fulfill it's mission as a place of learning. On May 23rd and May 30th approximately 100 preschool children visited the Depot for the annual E-U-Kids field trip. Yours truly toured the guests through the passenger station and a walk around of the BR&P caboose which takes about 45 minutes. Jim Slominski stayed on the 30th to give the afternoon session of Ed-U-Kids a 1 PM tour.

We also had two wedding parties at the Depot. One party came on June 1st just for photographs and the other party said their vows at the Depot on July 7th.
Our clean up efforts have taken huge strides since the HDC has opened. Gone are many of the items we have been storing for the society. Books, magazines, maps, signs, railroad artifacts, t.v. monitors, a light table, all moved to our new museum. There are many more items to be moved to Lee St. as this job is an ongoing process. So look for some great displays at the HDC in the near future as we continue to move Western New York railroad history to a place that will soon be a destination for all railroaders..

Other projects in the works for this summer are: continue prep work for the outside street lights (one in each corner garden and two in the center island garden) and possible installation of the lights, complete makeovers for all three gardens (everything will be taken out except for a few perennials) and clean up, fix up and paint up of the B,R&P caboose.

Stop out for a hot dog, some birthday cake (the Orchard Park depot is celebrating it's 100th birthday) and an inspection tour of the Depot during our the societies July 21st annual Summer meeting. Greg Jandura, Society Historian, Will make a brief presentation about Harry Yates, who was responsible for the construction of this beautiful building. There will be plenty of finished projects for everyone to see and we will have Chicken BBQ tickets available for sale.

Click here to read about the history of Harry Yates and the Orchard Park Depot

Diner from the Depot! Chicken BBQ, August 19th at the Orchard Park Railroad Depot 11 AM until sold out. BBQ Chicken with two sides choose potato salad, cole slaw, macaroni salad, applesauce or 4 bean salad, $8.50 Take Out Only, pre sale tickets available at the Summer meeting.

Regional Rail Notes...
Exploding Boxcars in Orchard Park!
by: Lamont Mitchell

I like to write about the 1940's and 1950's because a lot of our members remember that time period. Often memories from this time period are quite reassuring and comfortable. Considering the above, and in honor of Independence Day, I therefore relate the following story, as told to me last year at Orchard Park's Ice Cream Social.

In simpler times, you could do, and get away with, a lot of things that today would only generate cries of outrage and calls for legal suits.

In the "old days" there were comic books. Comic books, not the sex and violence kind that dominate the industry today, but the kind that were funny, like Tom and Jerry, Little Lulu, or Archie, or adventurous like Dick Tracy, Hopalong Cassidy or Terry and the Pirates. Anyway, in those days comics included advertisements aimed at their readers, kids. Around this time of the year comic books would contain ads for things such as, (Gasp!) fireworks. The ads would offer combination packages of various types of fireworks for amazing, kid affordable prices.

So the story here centers around two Orchard Park brothers, Ron and Don. One of these individuals happens to be the father of one of our members. The last name will remain untold, but you know who you are.

The brothers, while reading their comic books, are seduced by an advertisement for a fireworks package. They therefore send in their money and await the delivery of their package.

But how does the package arrive? The U.S. Mail?, No. UPS?, sorry, it doesn't exist yet. Railroad? Yes! Railroad. The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. One June day the brothers are summoned to the Orchard Park Depot to pick up a package, their fireworks package.

No big deal you say. Well wait, and read on.

Upon their arrival at the OP Depot, the brothers are directed to a boxcar. Still no big deal. Well not exactly. Walking to the designated boxcar, which is labeled as carrying EXPLOSIVES, the brothers find their package. Nailed to the floor, in the middle of the boxcar, is a wooden crate containing the brothers' fireworks package. It is the only package in the entire car! How's that for customer service?

Unbelievable you say. Not at all, in a time when things were much different in our world. The story is amazing, but true.

As you're enjoying this year's fireworks at your local park, think back to the B&O Railroad, a boxcar delivered to Orchard Park, and two brothers, whose story is remembered today as if it was yesterday. Thanks for the memories Ron and Don.

Epilogue:

Well there you have it, a prototype for the Lionel "exploding boxcar"!

While some may find the above trivial and unrelated to our railfan hobby, think for a moment. Is our hobby only about accumulating data concerning different phases of a particular locomotive model, or photographing every single train that we run into? I'd venture to say that for most of us it's not just about the trains, but also about our contact with people, and their experiences with trains.

Take care my friends and be thankful for your independence.

July - August 2012

On Friday July 27th our Depot was host for the Village of Orchard Park's annual Ice Cream Social. This year the evening started off with the dedication of Orchard Park's first Southtowns Scenic Byway sign. It was truly a great honor for our society to have the BR&P Depot chosen as the historic landmark for the Village. The sign tells the story of the Depot and of how Harry Yates Jr. brought the BR&P Railway to Orchard Park.

More about the "Scenic Byway" can be found at www.wntssb.org . There are photos on the sign of the Schwendler family waiting for a train at the Depot and of a steam engine pulling a passenger train into the station. In attendance for the dedication were many local dignitaries. Mayor John Wilson led the ceremony with a short explanation of the Byway and of how important it is to tourism in this area of Western New York. Our own Jim Slominski and society president Joe Kocsis each spoke on behalf of the Depot and for the society. The sign will be installed on the now closed old roadway leading up to the Depot from South Buffalo Street.

The dedication was followed by the Ice Cream Social which officially started at 7pm. An estimated two thousand people spent the next three hours enjoying ice cream, eating pieces of our Depots 100th anniversary cake and visiting the Depot. The evening ended with a very impressive fireworks display set up on the lawn in front of the freight house.

The Depot Crew, along with much appreciated help from their families, sold water, pop, coffee and potato chips from the baggage room in addition to doing tours of the Depot and policing the area. Our staff was: Jim & Maureen Slominski with daughters Katie (and boyfriend Ron) & Emily (with boyfriend Keith), Bob Reynders, Roger Smith, Gary Ludwig, Duane Warchocki & lady friend Mary Kay, Nick Warchocki, newest member Alex Trank and yours truly.

In other news from the Depot are the on going gardens projects and the near completion of the washroom makeovers. The center island garden is the first of our three gardens to be converted to maintenance free. The dirt and existing material surrounding the shrubs and trees in the garden were removed free of charge by Jim Kern Construction Company. The empty space was then filled in with several donated loads of mulch. The new look is clean and weed free.

The Depot Crew is ready for the upcoming chicken BBQ of August 19th. and we are hoping for a great turn out. The Crew is also finalizing plans for the restoration of our BR&P Caboose and the installation of garden lighting.

September - October 2012

It's my pleasure to introduce our newest Orchard Park Depot Crew member, Alex Trank. Alex has actually been working with the Depot Crew since the end of June and has faithfully shown up for our work parties all summer long. He either rides his bike to the station or gets a ride with his mom or dad. Through the long hot summer, we would see him on Wednesdays and Saturdays without fail. He is our right hand young man. No job has been too big or too small for Alex. Bob Reynders recently honored Alex with a surprise membership to the society. Congratulations, Alex, and welcome aboard!.

The projects "to do" list seems never to end. Most recently, the Crew has been readying the attic above the passenger station for insulation. This is a very large space with more than enough head room to walk around in. Chief Electrician Bob Reynders has prepared the wiring and anything else that should not be covered with foam and fiberglass for the upcoming installation, while Jim Slominski and Roger Smith have been vacuuming and assisting in the removal of anything that does not belong in the attic.

The corner garden by the station was converted to low maintenance by removing all but a couple of the old plants and then filling the space with six inches of mulch. Soon, the remaining corner garden by the freight house will be similarly converted, as well.

Space limitations in our last issue of the Flyer prevented the publication of wedding photographs at the depot. Held on July 7th, it was a grand affair and showed the Society's Orchard Park Depot in the best light.

As always, if you would like to be with us during our work parties, stop out at the Orchard Park Depot on a Wednesday or Saturday between 8:30 and noon.

November - December 2012

November and December saw the last of the outside work at the depot in Orchard Park. Leaves from the Catalpa trees on the East side of the depot along with leaves on the far side of the tracks were raked up and left for pick up by the DPW or raked into the wooded area beyond the tracks. That's Bob Reynders with Alex Trank raking on November 3rd. The attic saw it's final readying for insulation as Bob Reynders and Jimmy Slominski fitted plywood to be nailed in place after the job is completed.

Another project had Roger Smith and Gary Ludwig rework boxcar number one's big sliding door in order to get it to open a little easier, their work paid off as the door is much easier to open now. The Crew also rebuilt the door jamb on the street side ladies entrance to the depot. Thanks to Gary, Roger and Bob Reynders we now have a door that's not as drafty as it used to be.

Orchard Parks annual Holiday in the Park took place around the depot once again this year with Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus making their visit with the children between 4 and 7 pm on Saturday December first. The crowd was huge as always, possibly bigger this year due to the warm snowless weather we had. Santa (AKA Fran Hogenkamp) broke his last years record of visiting with four hundred children in the depot by at least thirty children.

In addition to Santa all of the usual activities took place; horse drawn wagon rides, crafts in the library, community tree decorating on the lawn in front of the freight station and food to eat in the DPW building. The Orchard Park Garden Club sold holiday decorations outside in the drive through and donated their profit to us and the village. The Depot crew sold coffee and hot chocolate out of the baggage room in addition to doing crowd control. The evening was a memorable event for the residence of Orchard Park and a great opportunity, for our Society to share our treasure with the community.

The following members were in attendance this year; Bob Reynders, Jim Slomoinski, Roger Smith, Gary Ludwig, Duane Warchocki, Bob Snyder and our newest Depot Crew Alex Trank. On behalf of the entire Orchard Park Depot Crew we Wish You the Best of a Happy New Year

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