Volume 66 – Issue 6                                                                  1 June 2026

From the Brass Hat
Welcome to June. As the temps begin to heat up, so do the activities at the NCRM. June will be a busy month for our Operate-a-Loco program with 3 days scheduled. As many know, all OAL’s for 2026 are completely sold out. There are not many places on the east coast to run a locomotive (let alone nationally) and we are finding most of our guests are now coming from places far beyond the Triangle. All have a great time. And enjoy the experience. A special thanks goes to Cindy Grau for keeping the gift shop open and to the ground crew volunteers who greet the “student” engineers.
Speaking of busy, according to our resident FRA statistician, Dave Chasco, our attendance through May 31st is the best start ever for the museum since we began keeping records with 3,206 riders! May is typically a slow month, but this year we are off to an amazing start. Special thanks to Juli Buker and her marketing efforts. If you subscribe to social media, please continue to share our information throughout your networks, it really helps.
In July we will celebrate America’s 250th birthday with a ride on July 1st. Courtesy of Tom Snyder, we will have a specially decorated locomotive to great visitors as they come over the bridge. Little GE 25-ton engine number 10 is receiving special patriotic graphics. Special patriotic themed locomotives were a feature on many railroads during the bicentennial in 1976, and we’re doing our part for the 250th. It’s looking good and will be ready in time for America’s birthday thanks Tom! Next year there will be another anniversary to celebrate. The 200th anniversary of American railroading will occur in 2027. The national celebration is being spearheaded by the B&O Railroad Museum and the NCRM will participate. Look for additional details to come.
While we can’t promise it will be ready in time for the 200th Rail Celebration, progress continues to be made on our Vulcan 0-4-0 tank engine #17. The running gear is being reassembled along with the air compressor and other systems. Plans are being made for installation of the dry pipe and the first pressure tests for later this year. It’s definitely coming together!
On June 13th Dennis Winchell will be conducting another training class at 9:00am at the shelter behind the office. Remember that all operating crew need to attend one training class per year to stay certified and continue to work the train. If you have not attended any classes in 2026, here’s another great opportunity to get it done. Thanks to Dennis for putting this on.
Finally, we said goodbye (for now) to one of our Bonsal regulars in May. Brandt “Squiggie” Wilkus has moved to Western New York with his family. Squiggie has been a long-term brakeman and we appreciate his years of service. He has indicated he may be able to reprise his role as “Count Squigula” at Halloween, always a visitor favorite.
It’s no secret it takes a lot of folks to keep NCRM running, and as members move out of the area, we are continuously looking for new members and volunteers. As you serve either on the train, or on site at the Museum, please be sure to talk up membership with the guests you meet. You never know who might become a new volunteer.
That’s all for this month. As always, thank you to everyone for what you do for our museum!
-John
John Morck, President, NCRM

 

Get to Know a Member – by Tom Hutchinson

Name: Paul Giordano

How long have you been a member? Since April 2020

Where are you originally from? I was born and raised in a town on the southeastern edge of Queens, NY named Rosedale.

What was your job in real life? For the vast majority of my work career I worked for and retired from the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR). For those unfamiliar with the LIRR, it was originally part of the Pennsylvania Railroad with its main terminus being Penn Station in Manhattan with over 700 miles of track to the eastern end of Long Island. After I retired the LIRR opened a second Manhattan terminus under Grand Central Terminal.

For the majority of my 30-year career I was a System Engineer in the Information Technology department. As a System Engineer, I installed and supported Unix/Linux operating systems and enterprise storage systems for applications ranging from train scheduling and monitoring, time cards, on-board ticket sales to asset management.

Where do you live now (City & State only)? Fuquay-Varina, NC (since retiring in 2018)

Any family…Spouse, Kids, grandkids? Wife Karen and twin daughters that got married 3 weeks, apart 4 years ago. Dayna moved to the area directly after college and lives in Angier. She and her native NC husband have our only grandchild, who we currently watch at least twice a week. Stefanie and her husband live in the Mid-Hudson Valley region of New York.

My sister and nephews have lived in the Cary, NC area for over 30 years. I hate cold weather and my wife hates hot weather, so my wife and I agreed to move here over 20 years ago.

How did you become interested in trains? Honestly, I am not interested in trains or model railroading.

How did you learn about the New Hope Valley Railway? We moved here directly after my last day of work. After the initial thrill of being retired, we needed separate activities to keep us busy. On our way back from the American Tobacco Trail, we saw the volunteer opportunity sign on the water tanker on the north side of New Hill-Olive Chapel Road. My wife insisted I give back to a railroad since I was receiving a pension from a railroad.

What has been your favorite activity at the New Hope Valley Railway? I don’t have one specific favorite thing to do here—it’s really all about the people. It doesn’t matter if we’re out doing track work, figuring out the hydraulics on the brush cutter and car mover, helping with the Save to Ten project or scraping paint off a locomotive; as long as I’m working with the other volunteers.

If you do not receive the operating crew calls, please contact the crew caller Kevin if you are interested in participating in train operations! We need all the help we can get to keep the trains running safely.

 

WHERE ARE YOU?
Just a quick reminder from your friendly editor: If you move to a new mailing address or change your email address, PLEASE let the Membership Committee know as soon as possible! Tom Luke

 

Welcome to new members Len and Astrid Amico, Martha, Calvin and Lucas Nevola (family membership), and Raquel Martinez Chacin. Current members, please welcome anyone you don’t know and make them feel at home. Explain what you do for the Museum and teach them how it is done so they get a feel for things. Start their training early!

 

Weekday Rides: School & Senior Groups on the Rise – by Juli Buker

Our weekday train rides are seeing an increase in both school groups and senior organizations.
We have seen an increase in school field trips, many of which are requesting docent-led tours to enhance the educational value of their visit. Jim Jatko has been doing an excellent job leading these tours and providing a meaningful experience for students. Recently, Willow Oak Montessori visited with a total of 150 students and parents across two separate ride days, and Thales Academy brought 110 students and parents.

We also have had several senior centers ide with us, as well as senior social groups.
If you have children or grandchildren in local schools or daycare programs, please encourage teachers and administrators to consider us for future field trips.

Also, if you are connected to church groups, senior organizations, or other social clubs, please feel free to share our information with them.
For all group inquiries, please contact us here or here, or visit Triangle Train for more information.

WANTED

Friendly Faces to Welcome Visitors to the North Carolina Railway Museum, Inc.
If you enjoy storytelling, meeting new people, history, and connecting folks to the amazing evolution and workings of American railroads, the NCRM Museum Team urgently needs YOU! If you want to dive deeper into the
history of the regional railroads and how they grew industries and connected communities to the world, or if you just want to learn more about how all these railroad gadgets worked so that you can talk about them, the NCRM Museum Team urgently needs YOU! If you feel buoyed up by the smiles and curiosity of a 9-year-old or the interest and remembrances of a 90-year-old listening to you, you have a role to play on the NCRM Museum Team.

With over sixty new historical, technological and educational exhibits being developed at NCRM, there is something new to see almost every month, and we need engaged friendly faces to meet and talk to our visitors about what they are seeing. Current or former educators, museum docents, tour guides, historians, or
excursion car hosts are welcomed, but previous experience does NOT necessarily outweigh your interest in serving. If you are willing to spend 4 or 5 hours on two or three days a month greeting and talking with the visitors at Bonsal, please join us on the Museum Team. Contact: Jim Jatko, NCRM Museum Chair by email or by phone.

 

All Aboard for Halloween & Christmas Ride Season

It’s June, and we are already thinking about Track or Treat, Boo ‘n’ Brew and Santa Express rides!

Tickets recently went on sale and were announced on our social media platforms. We have already sold several cabooses and individual ride tickets, demonstrating just how much people look forward to these events each year.

This season’s rides will follow a format similar to last year, with Track or Treat trains running on Saturday afternoons and evenings, a Boo ‘n’ Brew ride on a Friday evening, and Santa Express rides operating on Saturdays and Sundays. As always, it takes a tremendous team effort to make these events successful, and we’ll need volunteers to help crew the train, assist in the parking lot, staff the Garden Railroad, ticket office, gift shop, and more. The Green Level High School Honor Society has offered to help during the Halloween rides, whether dressing up as witches at Midway or appearing in costume throughout the infield.

We have a unique opportunity this year because we need a new Count Dracula. If anyone is interested in taking on this very important role, please contact Chris Tilley.

 

Decorating assistance is still needed!

We are still looking for someone to help lead some of our seasonal decorating projects.

In the spring, we need a decorating lead for Hop into Spring. The Wednesday crew supplies the heaving lifting, but we are looking for someone to lead the decorating effort. There is a decorating guide with pictures of last year’s decorations to make it easy. It just takes one Wednesday morning to make this happen!

In the fall, we need people to decorate the Haunted Caboose, known as #5228 the rest of the year. With two or three people, this just takes one day to accomplish, and there are pictures from last year to follow.

If you are interested in leading either or both of these decorating efforts, please contact Juli Buker.

 

Great work on social media engagement!

A recent post received 50 likes and 2 comments and reached 23,400 people. Another post earned 35 likes and 8 comments with nearly 12,000 views. In contrast, a different post received only 4 likes and had only 656 views.

These results clearly show that when people interact with a post—by liking, commenting, or sharing—Facebook and Instagram’s algorithms are more likely to distribute it to a wider audience. One of the simplest ways to expand our marketing reach is through increased member engagement with our posts.

Many of you have already been liking, sharing and even commenting on our posts, and it truly makes a difference. Please follow our social media pages, and when our posts appear in your feed, take a moment to like, comment, or share—it goes a long way in helping us reach more people!

 

Last Run (For Now) – Brandt Wilkus (AKA Squiggie)

Don’t panic! Brandt is fine, but he recently moved back to upstate New York for family reasons. While he won’t be a semi-permanent fixture in caboose 309 for the near future, he will still come back to Bonsal several times each year to get his NHV “fix” [hopefully at Halloween]. He also plans on working with some local rail museums near his new home. He has served on the NHV trains faithfully for over 14 years in all types of weather and situations as a car brakeman and senior Train Brakeman. We gave him a hearty send-off after his “last run” in late May.

As mentioned earlier in this newsletter, the NHV is seeking a young, energetic person with a flair for the dramatic to fill the role of Count Dracula at the Midway Crossing trackside vignette for the three Halloween Saturdays and the Friday Boo & Choo rides. [for some reason no photos of Count Squigula in action exist-something about vampires’ images can’t be captured on film?… ed]

 

From the Superintendent – by Chris Tilley

I wanted to make sure all our crewmembers were aware that all slow-order speed restrictions have now been lifted. A lot of hard work on ties and tamping fixed our issues. A huge thank you to all who were involved in that backbreaking task!

Also, don’t forget your annual Rules & Safety training requirements! Each member of the train crew must receive one training session each 365 days to remain current by FRA regulations AND pass the Rules Test every two years or less. A large number of our folks come due in the fall, prior to Halloween trains, so make sure you have some time set aside to attend the class in September. If anyone is in doubt about their current status, contact Kevin Edwards or myself to clear it up.

WE HAVE A NEW RULEBOOK! Thanks to a Herculean two-year effort by Dennis Winchell and members of the Rules & Safety Committee, we have a new GREEN cover rulebook which combines the old rulebook and timetable, updates some individual rules, and puts it in a more user-friendly order. The Yellow rulebook and the timetable are no longer valid.

Our Safety record is excellent because of YOU, the crew, who know their duties and pay careful attention to execution! Thank you ALL!

 

A New Attendance Record

Based on detailed analysis by our member Dave Chasco, the NCRM has topped all previous attendance figures up to this point of the season (end of May) since we began offering train rides to the public. “During our history this is only the 2nd time we broke 3000 (2022) with 3087 riders” he stated. “We have broken 2000 only 5 more times in the past: 2879 in 2016, 2706 in 2017, 2602 in 2021, 2589 in 2023 and 2149 in 2025.” Considering that we were up against Mothers’ Day, High School and College graduations, weddings, and high-profile local events such as “It Has to Be NC” “Artsplosure” and “Apex Peakfest”, we really upped our game.

Normally May is slow at Bonsal, but this year we finished the month with 875 riders, our 9th best May, according to Dave. One likely influence was the hard work by Juli Buker, our Marketing expert. Thanks to her for getting the word out to the right places! Giver her a high five next time you see her!

 

Outreach – NHV Garden Railroad Style


A number of our volunteers set up a small modular G-scale layout and display at the Neuse River Train Show at the North Carolina State Fairground on 23-24 May. [somehow small and G-scale don’t belong in the same sentence most of the time…ed] They passed out over 100 information cards and ride schedules and
even obtained contact information for seven potential recruits!

No cattle were injured during the operation of the railroad that weekend.

Like at our Bonsal garden railway, Minions always are waiting patiently for the next train (used for the scavenger hunt at the train show)

 

New Summer Events Rolling In!

As summer heats up, we’re excited to introduce several new events and experiences this season!

On Friday, June 5, we’ll be testing out two evening train rides at 5:30pm and 7:00pm to gauge interest in relaxing after-work rides reminiscent of the Brew ‘n’ Choo events from years past. Guests can enjoy craft brews from Thirsty Skull Brewing, delicious food trucks including fan-favorite MoonRunners Food Truck, and live music from the Triangle Sax Ensemble, creating a fun and laid-back atmosphere. We’re hopeful this pilot event will become a new annual tradition.

Then, on Saturday, June 27, join us for Summer Sax by the Tracks featuring the Triangle Sax Ensemble performing jazz standards, popular favorites, and patriotic selections in celebration of the upcoming July 4th holiday.

Our official semiquincentennial celebration takes place on Wednesday, July 1, with the 10:30am “Happy 250th Birthday, America!” ride. Guests will enjoy cupcakes and a special visit from Uncle Sam as we celebrate America’s milestone birthday.

On Saturday, July 25, we’ll host Steam Shop Saturday, offering guests a behind￾the-scenes look at the restoration of Locomotive #17. Our steam crew will be hard at work and available between the 10:30am and 12:00pm rides to answer questions and share what it takes to restore a historic steam locomotive.

In August, we’ll kick things off with First Responders Day on Saturday, August 8. Apex Fire, Apex Police, and Wake EMS will bring their personnel and equipment for a fun Touch-A-Truck experience alongside our 10:30am and 12:00pm train rides. Discounted tickets will be available for first responders as a small thank you for the important work they do to keep our communities safe.

Rounding out the summer, we’ll celebrate “Happy 100th Birthday, #308” on Thursday, August 13. Cupcakes will be served at 10:00am before the 10:30am ride as we honor this historic caboose’s century of service.

We look forward to seeing everyone at the railway for these exciting events. If you’re not volunteering for a particular ride, come out and support the railway by riding with us. See you at the railway!

 

Around the Yard