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From President Osborne:

Hello ARM members,

I wanted to write and present some ideas for improvements at the Amarillo Railroad Museum.  We have been discussing some of these since I was elected President and presented them to the general membership at last week's business meeting. Our building needs some maintenance and upgrades that I feel will make the property a better place for members and will help attract new members. I will list projects we have in mind below. We are going to proceed with these starting with outdoor projects first to take advantage of the better temperatures and then move inside as colder temperatures arrive.


1)    Repair retaining wall.  This wall was beginning to push out and is the first thing that needs to be repaired before moving forward.  We have begun work by digging a trench along the back of the wall. We will then install dead man bracing about two feet underground with cables running through the wall to reinforce and keep it straight. 

2)    Lay new red brick patio in back.    Once the wall is repaired, we will install the red brick pavers that we were able to salvage, from the old Fort Worth and Denver depot, from the back of the building to the retaining wall.

3)    Bring three phase electrical service to the museum.    Currently, the museum only has single phase electrical service. In order to install the proper air conditioner, we needed three phase service. XCEL could have easily charged us up to $10,000.00 for this upgrade but has agreed to replace two poles and install new transformers and incoming electrical wire at no charge. We are kind of in a holding pattern waiting for this work to be done before we can proceed with several other projects.

4)    Move existing electrical meter to east end of building.  This will allow the wall on the on the south side of the building to be relocated.

5)    The roof overhang on the south side of the building is sagging due to lack of support     We are going to pour a 5' x 80' slab with piers to place support posts to properly support the roof overhang. this will also allow us to relocate the south wall creating much needed space between the south wall and the staging yard. We will have work areas for members to work on their equipment and shelving to place your carrying boxes while unloading your equipment onto the layout. This area will have LED lighting and be fully air conditioned.  

6)    Repair electrical wiring behind the layout walls.    In the work areas between the layout walls, we are installing electrical outlets as well as underneath the benchwork.

7)    Finishing installation of the shingles above the benchwork.    This was begun then halted due to other projects. We need to continue where we left off and complete the layout. 

8)    Paint the fascia boards on the benchwork black.    All of the plywood used for the fascia needs to be sanded, primed and painted black. We need to do this before proceeding any further with scenery and signaling of the layout due to the dust it can create.

9)    Install 2 x 4 walls with sheetrock on the north and east walls.    This will make the layout room look more professional and also give us space to display artwork. We will also install electrical outlets along these walls.

10)    Install three phase, 15 ton air conditioning unit in the main layout room and library.    This is the costliest item on our agenda but will be wonderful for the museum.  I feel we need this if are going to operate as a museum open to the public. Anyone who has given a tour of the layout on a 100-degree day knows what I mean. I also believe it will also help to increase membership. Installing air conditioning in the museum will have to eventually be done and the price continues to increase. 

11)    Turn current building wood car into storge car.    Once all of these construction projects are complete, we can remove the table saw and stored wood from the wood car and use it for storing things like display cases and other large items currently stored in the layout room. We can create quite a bit of useable square footage by removing items blocking walkways. 


As you can see there is plenty to be done.  All of this work will cost money and time.  We are trying to save as much as we can by doing the work ourselves. For example, it would have cost $4500.00 to dig the trench for the new electrical service. We will do that. We salvaged about $7500.00 worth of pavers which we will lay. Repairing the roof overhang and wall would have been $8000.00. We will do that. Even with us doing as much of the work as we can it is still going to cost around $65,000.00 to complete all of the work I have outlined. To that end, I am announcing a building fund drive for the ARM. To date, we already have $25,000.00 pledged by five members. This is not going to be the kind of fund drive that you donate to and maybe, someday the project will happen. We are setting a completion date for most of the major items to be completed by our open house in May. We will use all of the monies raised during this fund drive and then add what is needed from the Museum's investment account. As time progresses, we will work to replace the funds drawn from the investment account.

There it is. My vision, and I hope others, for the Amarillo Railroad Museum. I know it is bold, but I believe necessary. If you enjoy the museum and what it offers you as an individual, then consider participating in the fund drive. I know not all members can donate as those have so far and that is fine. Give what you can and if you are unable to give then enjoy the museum when the work is done.  As I have said, we are hiring a lot of the work done but there is much we need the membership to commit to helping accomplish. Consider your abilities and volunteer. These projects I have listed do not of course represent everything that needs to be done at the museum. We still need people to help with the wiring on the layout to work towards operations in the near future and many other tasks. The guys in the G-Scale Garden Railroad are always looking for volunteers. We will attempt to plug you into whatever you feel you would like and are capable of doing. If you would like to make a donation, please see Kenneth Berry or you could mail it to the museum at P.O. Box 31105 Amarillo, TX  79120. Please designate you wish it to go towards the building fund.


Thank you for hearing me out,


Carter Osborne