Dutchess County Rail Trail planners had money in the budget to replace the roof on the Hopewell Depot. The engineers report came back with a cost estimate higher than planned. The County decided to back out of the deal. Now we are back to square one trying to raise funds for a new roof. We have had a couple planning sessions and have identified a few items that can be done to the depot with current resources and volunteer labor. The general plan is to work on what we can accomplish now and renew our fund raising efforts for the new roof. It seems likely that we will be keeping the tarps on the roof for another winter at least. As part of our publicity and awareness efforts, I have started another web site and BLOG dedicated to the Hopewell Depot.

New Tarp 2007 We got the tarp onto the depot roof today. Dennis Miller sent a town bucket truck and a group of volunteers showed up. The photos below show how it went. It is sort of a before and after sequence. The two in the bucket and on the roof were one of our members, Rich Taylor, and Mark VanAmden from the town crew. The rest of us were ground support in handing up boards and holding the ropes. Volunteers were Bill Siebert, Al Marotta, Bill Santoro, Paul Carroll, Nick Andruzzi, Jackie Prusak, Maureen Taylor and of course me doing the photography and occasional rope duty. We started about 10:00 AM and finished up about 1:30 PM. With any kind of luck this tarp will keep the worst of the weather out until we can get a new roof built. The new roof is scheduled to be part of the County Rail Trail construction in the next year or so. This is a hearty thanks to all the volunteers who responded when we needed help. Bernie Rudberg President Hopewell Depot Restoration Inc.

Annual Meeting 2007 Hopewell Depot Restoration Inc. Annual meeting and election of officers. 7:30 PM Wednesday 18 April 2007 East Fishkill Community Center Located off Rte. 82 in the center of Hopewell between the RR overpass and the Rte.376 traffic light across from McHoul's. This will be our annual election of officers and a report on depot work progress. Most of the work has been done by a very small dedicated group. The depot project is sadly in need of help from Saturday work to fund raising and publicity. Depot Progress Over the past year the depot has had some major work done. The sill beams and floor joists have all been replaced with new lumber. The walls have been straightened and braced. Both bay windows have been framed and are awaiting windows. The Town of East Fishkill supplied much of the funding for this work. With the recent change in administration and audits, the Town has withdrawn major financial support for the depot. In October 2006 the Town did supply a new green tarp for the roof to keep out the winter weather. The next big project will be rebuilding the roof structure. With completion of roof work the building will be safe and dry to work inside. Rail Trail The new Dutchess County Rail Trail planning is well under way and it includes the Hopewell Junction depot. It will be built along the former Maybrook rail line from Poughkeepsie to Hopewell Junction. The Hopewell Junction depot is designated as the Trail Head. At recent public meetings we have learned that there is money in the County budget for a new roof on the depot. Also included are items such as a parking area, landscaping and road access for the depot area. Construction on parts of the Rail Trail will begin in 2007. We will present the latest version of the plans at the annual meeting. We have invited some of the Rail Trail planners to the meeting but they declined stating that the plans are not complete yet. There are still issues with MTA Metro North ownership of the land surrounding the depot. In addition the Town of East Fishkill must sort out the road access. With only a small group of volunteers actually working, depot progress is slow. The more volunteer labor we get, the farther the money will go toward future restoration. In the coming weeks we will be asking for volunteer time and effort to make the best use of the county financial support. Keep an eye out for E-Mail notes and/or snail mail letters for specific projects. We will need all the volunteer help we can get. Hopewell Junction is rich in railroad history but much of it is in danger of being lost forever. We must preserve as much as possible for future generations. ************************************ Donations for Hopewell depot Anybody who has been around Hopewell Junction in the last year or so has probably noticed the water pipeline construction along the old Maybrook railroad line. During that construction the crews have found a number of items left over from railroad days. Other donated items awaiting the depot construction include: A steamer trunk, a pot belly stove and a matched set of an antique telegraph key and sounder. If you have or know of any such items we would dearly love to have them for the future Hopewell Junction Depot display. Any items donated are eligible for deduction from your taxes.

The Town of East Fishkill paid for a new tarp for the roof of the Hopewell Depot. We put it up Saturday 14 October.

The only volunteers available were Jerry Carey, Jim Reynolds and Bernie Rudberg. Through the heroic efforts of Jerry with Jim and Bernie as ground crew, we managed to get the tarp on the roof. Using rope and a couple ladders plus a few boards and nails the job took about 5 hours. A 40 foot by 60 foot tarp makes a very good sail on a windy day. We are hoping this tarp will keep out the worst of the winter weather until we can raise enough money to put up a new roof.

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Hopewell Depot Restoration Inc. Progress: September 2006 Hopewell Depot Restoration work is currently at a standstill due to lack of funds. Our major source of funds for the construction work has been the Town of East Fishkill but their situation has changed. Our town financial support has been stopped along with other cutbacks. Our treasury at this point has enough to cover insurance and electricity etc. but nowhere near enough to finish the next phase of construction. All floor and sill beams have been replaced. The walls have been straightened and braced. Both bay windows have been framed awaiting new windows. The next project was supposed to be reconstruction of the roof rafters and roof. Presently we have a used pool cover on the roof to keep out most of the rain but it still leaks in. Estimates for rebuilding the roof run about $60,000 to $70,000. We are searching for funding sources. After completion of phase 1 the building will be safe and dry to work inside. Then much of the detailed restoration work can begin on the interior, walls, ceilings, doors and windows. There will also be work needed on the stairs down into the basement. Water erosion had caused a buildup of sand at the bottom of the basement steps. The sand has been removed and a new masonry wall installed to prevent more erosion. New steps and a floor hatch will be added. Recently the two ceramic sections and the cap on top of the chimney have been removed and stored. They will be reinstalled when the chimney and roof work is done. There are enough projects to keep us busy for years to come. With only a small group of volunteers actually working, the progress is slow. The more volunteer labor we get, the farther the money will go toward future restoration. In the coming weeks we will be asking for volunteer time and effort to make the best use of the town financial support. Keep an eye out for E-Mail notes and/or snail mail letters for specific projects. We will need all the volunteer help we can get. Hopewell Junction is rich in railroad history but much of it is in danger of being lost forever. We must preserve as much as possible for future generations. Many towns across the country have recognized the significance of their railroad past and are restoring their railroad stations. ************************************ Donations for Hopewell depot If you have or know of any such items we would dearly love to have them for the future Hopewell Junction Depot display. Any items donated are eligible for deduction from your taxes. ************************************ Dutchess County Rail Trail Water line construction is completed and the plan is to pave the old roadbed for use as a hiking and bicycling trail. The Hopewell Junction end of that rail trail will be at the depot. There are also plans for a parking area near the depot. One of these days soon you will be able to hike from Hopewell Junction to the big railroad bridge in Poughkeepsie. How did Hopewell become Hopewell Junction ? Hopewell Depot Restoration Inc has produced a new book about the railroads of Hopewell Junction and the East Fishkill area. The book is packaged in a 3-ring binder so you can add your own notes. It contains 173 pages with a brief history of the railroads and 188 pictures of old trains and other scenes around Hopewell Junction. If you would like to see what Hopewell Junction looked like when steam trains were king, this is the book for you. You can almost hear the whistle and smell the coal smoke. These books are a fund raiser for the restoration of the Hopewell Junction depot. All profits from this book will be used for the restoration of the depot. Books are $25 plus $8 shipping. If you are in the area, we can arrange a pickup and forget the shipping cost. 1. Make out the checks to Hopewell Depot Restoration Inc. 2. Be sure that your return address is included. 3. Mail your order to: Bernard Rudberg 7 Marion Ave. Wappingers Falls, NY 12590-6017 If you want to pick up your book locally, send me an E-Mail or call and we will arrange a time and place. Phone 845 221-9330 E-Mail Brudberg@optonline.net CNE Historical Tours Each spring the CNE Historical Tours group explores a section of the old CNE Railway. Here is some feedback from one of the group after the April 2nd tour. "Last but not least I met Bernie Rudberg. Besides the literary giant that he is, he is also another "keeper of the Keys" to another special place in my heart. None other than my "Home away from home" for two years, the Hopewell Junction Station house. He along with others are restoring the grand old building that I spent two years of my life in. When I first moved into the station I had a two holer outhouse, and a hand water pump for running water inside. I had bid the job after having been laid off with a wife and two children so our nest egg was long gone. I had to live there as it was a 124 mile each way commute to work during two gas shortages no less. Though rustic when I first moved into the old station it is nothing to what Bernie has left to work with. Fire damage and vandals have taken their toll on the station. I was shocked when I saw the station on the way home from the trip." ND&C Railroad History There are still some soft cover copies of the book Twenty Five years on the ND&C RR available. All the hard covers are sold out. Barnes & Noble in Poughkeepsie had a few as well as the model train shop in Red Oaks Mill. Other book stores may have a copy or two left. In addition they are available by mail from the Purple Mountain Press in Fleischmanns NY. (Call 1-800-325-2665) and also over the internet on the web site of the New Haven RR Historical Society. Their web site is: http://NHRHTA.ORG Just click on the book sales icon. ************************************ Sharing History Do you know of any photos of Hopewell History ? If you have or know someone who has photos to share with the members, send a note or call me, Bernie Rudberg, at 221-9330.. I have facilities to scan and print photos without any damage to the originals. I can also do minor repairs of cracks or marks on the scanned prints. I can even do the scanning at your location with a portable computer and scanner. If you have photos let me know and I will pick them up and return them after scanning or scan them on site. We would love to see any old pictures you might have hidden away in a family album.

Restoration in progress: April 2006

Hopewell Depot Restoration has received a contribution from the Western Connecticut Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society, operators of the SONO Switch Tower Museum (pictured above)

ANNUAL MEETING Hopewell Depot Restoration Inc. Annual meeting and election of officers. 7:30 PM Monday 17 April 2006 East Fishkill Community Center Located off Rte. 82 in the center of Hopewell between the RR overpass and the Rte.376 traffic light across from McHoul's. This will be our annual election of officers and a report on depot work progress. Most of the work has been done by a very small dedicated group. The depot project is sadly in need of help from Saturday work to fund raising and publicity. Depot Progress With the backing of the Town of East Fishkill, work has been progressing on replacing the foundation sills and the floor beams of the depot. Phase 1 includes new sills around the foundation, a new floor and a new roof. We have recently speeded up operations by hiring a contractor. We also have temporary construction electrical service on a pole near the building. The pole was provided and installed by our good neighbor, Rich Carroll. The sills and floor joists have been replaced and a temporary plywood floor installed. This provides a safer working surface for further construction on the walls and roof. Our contractors have built a new frame for the bay in the east wall. Current work is to straighten the east wall and tie the structure into the interior building frame. The next big project will be rebuilding the roof structure. By the completion of phase 1 the building will be safe and dry to work inside. Then much of the detailed restoration work can begin on the interior, walls, ceilings, doors and windows. There will also be work needed on the stairs down into the basement. Water erosion had caused a buildup of sand at the bottom of the basement steps. The sand has been removed and a new masonry wall installed to prevent more erosion. New steps and a floor hatch will be added. Recently the two ceramic sections and the cap on top of the chimney have been removed and stored. They will be reinstalled when the chimney and roof work is done. There are enough projects to keep us busy for years to come. With only a small group of volunteers actually working, the progress is slow. The more volunteer labor we get, the farther the money will go toward future restoration. In the coming weeks we will be asking for volunteer time and effort to make the best use of the town financial support. Keep an eye out for E-Mail notes and/or snail mail letters for specific projects. We will need all the volunteer help we can get. Hopewell Junction is rich in railroad history but much of it is in danger of being lost forever. We must preserve as much as possible for future generations. Many towns across the country have recognized the significance of their railroad past and are restoring their railroad stations. Donations for Hopewell depot Anybody who has been around Hopewell Junction in the last few months has probably noticed the water pipeline construction along the old Maybrook railroad line. During that construction the crews have found a number of items left over from railroad days. The foreman of the crew is Pete Fadden and he has saved many of these items and dropped them off at the Hopewell Depot. The latest bit of railroad archeology they found is a 20 foot steel signal pole with the ladder and platform. The light assembly on the top of the pole is missing. If you know where to find one let us know. Our depot neighbor, Rich Carroll, has provided a space in his equipment yard to store the pole until we can use it for part of our depot scenery. Railroad book author Dan Gallo has donated the original wooden swivel chair from the Hopewell Depot. Dan happened to be here when the railroad threw it out and he saved it. One day it will once again be part of the scene at the Hopewell Depot. Other donated items awaiting the depot construction include: A steamer trunk, a pot belly stove and a matched set of an antique telegraph key and sounder. If you have or know of any such items we would dearly love to have them for the future Hopewell Junction Depot display. Any items donated are eligible for deduction from your taxes. Dutchess County Rail Trail After the water line construction is completed the county and towns plan to pave the old roadbed for use as a hiking and bicycling trail. The Hopewell Junction end of that rail trail will be at the depot. There are also plans for a parking area near the depot. One of these days soon you will be able to hike from Hopewell Junction to the big railroad bridge in Poughkeepsie. Sharing History Do you know of any photos of Hopewell History ? If you have or know someone who has photos to share with the members, send a note or call me, Bernie Rudberg, at 221-9330. I have facilities to scan and print photos without any damage to the originals. I can also do minor repairs of cracks or marks on the scanned prints. I can even do the scanning at your location with a portable computer and scanner. If you have photos let me know and I will pick them up and return them after scanning or scan them on site. We would love to see any old pictures you might have hidden away in a family album. Do You Have E-Mail ? With the expansion of our mailing list, the cost of each newsletter has gone up. Currently each newsletter mailing costs about $50. We feel that this money could be put to better use on the depot. Therefore we will be distributing an E-Mail version of the newsletter which costs essentially $0 to send out. In addition, an E-Mail version will reach the members sooner than a standard post mailing. Our E-Mail list now contains over 75 names while the snail mail list still has about 90 names. Future newsletters will be sent via E-Mail whenever possible. If you would like to get your newsletter via E-Mail you can write a short note to the editor: Bernard Rudberg 7 Marion Ave. Wappingers Falls, NY 12590-6017 Or better yet, you can reply via E-Mail to brudberg@optonline.net MEMBERSHIP DUES Individuals $10.00 Families $18.00 Seniors/Students $ 5.00 If you get your newsletter via E-Mail, your renewal is due one year from the last time you paid. If you get the newsletter via snail mail, take a look at the address on your newsletter envelope. The date after your name is the last time your membership was renewed. If the date is more than a year ago it is time to renew. Send to the treasurer, Jerry Carey at: Hopewell Depot Restoration P O Box 1044 Hopewell Junction, NY, 12533-1044 CURRENT OFFICERS President. Bernie Rudberg VP and Treas. Jerry Carey Secretary Jackie Prusak Newsletter Editor Bernie Rudberg Bernie Rudberg 7 Marion Ave., Wappingers Falls, NY, 12590-6017 phone 221-9330 or E-Mail brudberg@optonline.net Jerry Carey 27 Tamarack Dr., Hopewell Junction, NY, 12533-6432 phone 897-2145 or E-Mail jcarey_mba@idsi.net Or jerry@mcgrathandco.com JC101694@CS.com

How did Hopewell become Hopewell Junction ? Hopewell Depot Restoration Inc has produced a new book about the railroads of Hopewell Junction and the East Fishkill area. The book is packaged in a 3-ring binder so you can add your own notes. It contains 173 pages with a brief history of the railroads and 188 pictures of old trains and other scenes around Hopewell Junction. If you would like to see what Hopewell Junction looked like when steam trains were king, this is the book for you. You can almost hear the whistle and smell the coal smoke. These books are a fund raiser for the restoration of the Hopewell Junction depot. Work is under way to restore the depot into a small museum and educational facility to preserve a part of the history of Hopewell Junction. It is the last remaining railroad building in the area and is located at the Hopewell Junction end of the Dutchess County Rail Trail. All profits from this book will be used for the restoration of the depot. Books are $25 plus $8 shipping. If you are in the area, we can arrange a pickup and forget the shipping cost. 1. Make out the checks to Hopewell Depot Restoration Inc. 2. Be sure that your return address is included. 3. Mail your order to: Bernard Rudberg 7 Marion Ave. Wappingers Falls, NY 12590-6017 If you want to pick up your book locally, send me an E-Mail or call and we will arrange a time and place. Phone 845 221-9330 E-Mail brudberg@optonline.net

Fly Along the Central New England Railway! If you have "GOOGLE EARTH" installed on your computer, you can "fly" along the routes of the Central New England Railway with the "PLACEMARK" below: (Click to get GOOGLE EARTH)
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We will be adding more routes Because many of the locations on our tour have varying "resolutions" of the pictures, you may need to stop the tour and adjust the height you are viewing. On several locations, you may also stop the tour and click on the placemark icon for more information. Tell us where you want to fly and give us any of your comments

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