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Railroad Museum begins $1 Million Fundraising Campaign

John Mitty Monday, March 25, 2013

Railroad Museum begins $1 Million Fundraising Campaign Partners with Strasburg Rail Road Company to Restore and Operate LIRR G5s Locomotive #39

Greenport, NY. The Board of Trustees of the Railroad Museum of Long Island (RMLI) is pleased to announce that RMLI’s Board of Trustees voted unanimously on Tuesday, March 12, 2013 to partner with the Strasburg Rail Road Company (SRC). The agreement culminates five and one half months of talks and negotiations between the two principals.

On Thursday, March 14, 2013 - Mr. Linn Moedinger, President of the SRC, and Mr. Don Fisher, RMLI President, and Mr. Dennis DeAngelis, RMLI Vice President and Counsel, signed an agreement to restore and OPERATE the LIRR G5s Steam Locomotive #39!

Terms of the contract provide for the RMLI to raise $900,000.00 in FY 2013 and transport the G5s locomotive to the Strasburg property, the SRC will add $1,086,861.00 to the project, to complete the restoration of the steam engine in three years and then operate the locomotive on their property for a period of forty-eight years.

Fisher stated that “this partnership is the best way to get the locomotive restored and into operation. After thirty three-years of trying, New Yorkers and others living in the Pennsylvania Railroad region may finally ride behind this historic steam engine. RMLI needs to complete this project with a grass-roots effort. I believe the interest and support for restoring this locomotive will be there.”

The RMLI officially begins efforts to raise $1,000,000.00 for the move and restoration of the locomotive today. Tax-deductible donations may be made to “RMLI Engine 39” at P.O. Box 726, Greenport NY 11944-0726.

For questions and information, please contact Don Fisher at: dfisher@rmli.us or at 631-765-2757.

About the Railroad Museum of Long Island

Created in 1990, our Mission continues to this day: “Dedicated to the restoration, preservation and interpretation of the history and artifacts pertaining to the railroads which participated in the growth of Long Island, its communities and industries for the entertainment, edification, and good of present and future generations.”

The Museum maintains facilities at Greenport, L.I., N.Y. and Riverhead, L.I., N.Y. and is officially recognized by the New York State Education Department. The RMLI primarily serves the communities of Suffolk County. Our visitors and patrons also come to us from Nassau County, New York City, from across the United States and throughout the World!

The RMLI established itself at Greenport in the historic 1892 Greenport freight house of the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR). “Greenport (the Eastern terminal of the LIRR mainline from Brooklyn since 1844), was the reason for the LIRR.” The approximately 3.4 acres that make up “the yard,” including the passenger station, railroad dock, turntable and the Museum, appear on the New York State and National Registers of Historic Places. The Museum building has been restored by our members and volunteers and displays the Museum’s permanent collection of railroad artifacts as well as being host to annually changing exhibits.

The RMLI’s Restoration Site & Visitor’s Center is located on the historic property of the Corwin & Vail Lumber Company in Riverhead and also occupies some of the land that made up the LIRR “Riverhead Yard.” Riverhead, the County Seat of Suffolk County, is at the apex of the North and South Forks of Long Island. Here is where we maintain and exhibit our collection of historic rail cars and locomotives and invite our visitors to “be interactive” with our Museum. You can ride the Long Island Rail Road miniature park train from the 1964 – 1965 New York World’s Fair, climb inside a 1960’s LIRR caboose, activate the fifty-seven accessories on the Historic Lionel Layout and watch scale model trains operate on two indoor train layouts and one outside garden railway.

For more information on the Railroad Museum of Long Island, please visit www.rmli.org, or call Riverhead RMLI at 631.727.7920 or Greenport RMLI at 631.477.0439

jmitty@longislandyellowpages.com

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