FRIENDS OF THE TANANA VALLEY RAILROAD
NEWSLETTER

SPRING 2003

Notice of Annual Meeting
We will have our annual meeting on May 10 at 10:00 AM. The location will be the entrance hall to the Pioneer Museum at Pioneer Park (Alaskaland). A continental breakfast will be available. The chief function will be to elect officers for the coming year. There will also be presentations concerning the design of the museum, last year¹s operations and activities and projected operations and activities during the coming summer. A tour of the locomotive shed and engine No.1 will be available following the formal part of the meeting.

Membership.
A membership form for 2003 is included with this letter. It is very important for our supporters to continue their membership. Now that we are operating, our insurance costs just under $4000 annually. This is our chief operating cost. However, there are other expenses; we buy a variety of materials, tools, lubricants and other expendables every year. Our operating costs are paid by membership dues, ride contributions and sales of our books, videos, clothing and rail segments. Perhaps you would like to give someone a gift membership. People who already seemingly have everything imaginable are good candidates.

The Museum.
The design phase of the museum is fully funded and USKH should have the design completed and ready for bid by the end of this summer. Whether we go to bid this year or next will depend on availability of funds. We have benefited greatly from the enthusiasm of the local DOT personnel. Come to the May 10 meeting to see the plans and the site.

Engine No. 1.
The engine ran well last summer. We developed a problem when our valve timing got loose and needed correcting. But that was fixed. We¹re getting better at running the locomotive but keeping a full head of steam remains a major accomplishment. Much to the satisfaction of park management, we managed to avoid conflagrations along the right-of-way. We are currently undergoing our annual boiler inspection and test and plan to run on Memorial Day, May 26.

There remain mechanical restorations to be made to the engine to bring it closer to manufacturer¹s specifications. This last year we rebuilt the throttle linkage, replacing parts worn from usage. Some of the remaining repairs involve removing the axles. We hope to wait until the museum shop is available to perform this operation.



Speeders
Several summers ago, Johne Binkley kindly gave us the remains of a narrow gauge speeder of uncertain parentage. We assumed it was a Fairmont, as that was the most popular of the speeder manufacturers. It was fairly complete except for the motor. Since that time we have been able to purchase a Fairmont motor from the Alaska Museum of Transportation and Industry. Gary Farnham has the speeder and motor at his shop and is working on getting this marvel of transport functioning again. Gary reports that it appears that the Fairmont motor fits, so maybe it is a Fairmont. The Tanana Valley RR had a number of speeders of this vintage. The early gasoline engine has a very distinctive sound and a functioning speeder of this type will be a valued addition to the collection. Besides, riding a speeder can be exhilarating.

Speeder Trailers
The Alaska RR has helped us on a number of occasions. Most recently they gave us access to a junk pile from which we were able to pull four standard gauge speeder trailers in various states of preservation. It appears that we may be able to resurrect three trailers converted to narrow gauge. Dave Nester has the best example at his house and is working on it. Functioning trailers will be useful for a number of purposes. We may make one into a car for distribution of ballast. (The Pioneer Park track could really use the application of ballast in some places.)

Web Site
Yes, we do have a web site and it¹s been the same for years. Recently Bill Worthington has taken it over and is bringing it up to date. Our plan is to add timely material about days we will be operating, upcoming work sessions and work session accomplishments. The site address is http://ftvrr.org. Some of you may remember a much more complex address. That thing is history.

Passenger Car
The TVRR had at least three passenger cars that ranged between forty and fifty feet long. They were wooden all-chair coaches. We have been receiving money from the bed tax program to build a replica passenger car. The design we have chosen is a car belonging to the White Pass and Yukon. This car is thirty feet long and still too long for operation at Pioneer Park so we are reducing its length even further. It will utilize the Arch-bar trucks recovered from a river on the Seward Peninsula. These trucks have been rebuilt and will have the wheels resurfaced before reassembly. Drawings of the car will be available at the meeting. While not a reproduction of a known TVRR car, this will be a car of the same era and short enough to operate on the Pioneer Park track. It is sometimes hard to realize that there were once thousands of miles of railroad the same gauge as the Pioneer Park track that operated with equipment nearly the same size as standard gauge railroads. Because of some tight clearances and sharp curves it is not practical to operate full-size narrow gauge equipment there.

Activities
We offer a variety of activities to people who want to get involved. Besides locomotive operation and maintenance, we will be building museum displays and performing research on the early years of Fairbanks. We encourage all who are interested to become involved. Two contacts are: Bill Stringer @ 479-6606 and Bill Chace @ 488-3805. There are usually work sessions on Saturdays starting at 10:00 AM. Visitors are welcome. Laborers are revered.