PAGE 6
THE DALLAS POST
Sunday, April 6, 2008
CIVIC BRIEFS
Ecumenical musical
comes fo Music Box
“Meshuggah-Nuns,” the new
ecumenical “Nunsense” musi-
cal by Dan Goggin will be held
today, April 6, and April 10-13
at the Music Box Dinner Play-
house, 196 Hughes St.,
Swoyersville.
Tickets are available for
dinner/show or show only.
Curtain time is 8 p.m. Thurs-
days through Saturdays and 3
p.m. Sundays. Dinner is served
90 minutes before curtain.
Call 283-2195 or 800-698-
PLAY for reservations.
Battlefield guide will
speak to Round Table
The Wyoming Valley Civil
War Round Table will intro-
duce Paul Cooksey as its speak-
er at 7 p.m. on Thursday, April
10, in the lower level of the
Daddow-Isaacs American Le-
gion Post, Route 415, Dallas.
A licensed battlefield guide
at Gettysburg for 23 years,
Cooksey will give his presenta-
tion on “Pickett’s Charge.” The
program is open to the public.
Spaghetti dinner
scheduled for Aprif 12
The Franklin Twp. Volunteer
Fire Company will hold an
all-you-can-eat spaghetti dinner
from 4 to 7 p.m. on Saturday,
April 12. Dinners include spa-
ghetti, meatballs, salad, bread
and butter, beverage and dess-
ert.
Cost is $6 for adults, $3 for
children ages 7-12 and free for
those 6 years of age and young-
er.
Proceeds from this event
help support the company,
equipment, and training.
For advance tickets, call
333-5970.
Pickering Society to
meet on Saturday
The Colonel Timothy Picker-
ing Society Children of the
American Revolution will hold
its second annual meeting on
Saturday, April 12, at the Cas-
tle Inn in Dallas.
Officers for the 2008-2009
year will be installed. The
speaker for the meeting will be
James May, Chaplain US Army
Retired.
For more information, please
contact pickeringsociety@ya-
hoo.com.
Walkathon benefits
Children's Association
Northeast Pennsylvania
Family, The region’s original
family resource guide, is spon-
soring the "Do It For The
Kids" Walk-A-Thon and Fun
Day to benefit Wyoming Valley
Children’s Association at 10
a.m. on Saturday, April 12, at
the Children’s Association’s
future home — 1133 Wyoming
Avenue, Forty Fort.
Registration begins at 9 a.m.
The event will include a 5K
(3.1 mile) walk, children’s
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Phila. Phillies $67
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An independent associate of
Dugan’s Travels
activities, a bake sale and
more.
All proceeds from the event
will be used by Wyoming Val-
ley Children’s Association to
provide physical, occupational
and speech therapy to local
children who have disabilities
and preschool education to all
children.
To register to walk, call
Wyoming Valley Children’s
Association at 829-2453.
Chicken Bar-B-Que
set for April 13
A Chicken Bar-B-Que will be
held from noon to 2 p.m. on
Sunday, April 13, at the Noxen
Volunteer Fire Company, Stull
Road.
Price is $7 per diner and
takeouts will be available.
Victorian Dinner will
benefit CCK group
The Wilkes-Barre Women’s
Organization for Networking
(WW.O.N.) will sponsor a
“Victorian Dinner” to benefit
“Community Cares for Kids”
(CCK), an all-volunteer orga-
nization operating on children
with severe birth defects and
disfiguring injuries, at 5:30
p.m. on Thursday, April 17, at
Tribeca Center (formerly Victo-
ria Inn), Route 315, Pittston.
The night will feature an
Introduction on CCK by Dr.
Francis Collini, board-certified
plastic surgeon; Lisa Lewis, “A
Victoriana Lady,” speaking on
the Victorian and Edwardian
eras along with vintage cloth-
ing, demonstrations and props;
music by “Melinda” featuring
the soft music of various artists
such as James Taylor and Elton
John.
There will be a buffet dinner,
dessert and cash bar and raffle
tickets available.
Cost is $36 per person. For
tickets and additional informa-
tion, contact Mary Ann Rubin
at 298-2616.
Open Mic Night
slated for Apnl 19
An Open Mic night for poet-
ry and acoustic music will be
held at 7 p.m. on Saturday,
April 19, at the Mary Steg-
maier Mansion, Franklin
Street, Wilkes-Barre.
The event is being conduct-
ed by Janelle Marshallick, a
junior at Dallas High School,
as her senior completion pro-
ject and is open to high school
and college students only.
Anyone wishing to perform
should pre-register by April5
by calling 675-0163. Prizes will
be awarded.
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VULCAN
Continued from Page 1
Spohrer and his six children op-
erated Marney Railroad at the
site on weekends as the railroad
provided passengers with scenic
rides along the river.
Marney Railroad continued to
run until the flood of 1972 devas-
tated the Henschel and Son en-
gine which was sold and now sits
in a barn in St. Mary's, Pa.
Not even a flood could damp-
en Spohrer’s interest in train en-
gines. Within a year after he re-
tired from practicing law in 1993,
he purchased a Cagney steam lo-
comotive engine that had been
manufactured in 1903 and used
at an amusement park. After ob-
taining 600 feet of panel track for
the engine, Spohrer spent 1996
to 2002 laying track at the Good-
will No. 2 Hose Co. Bazaar in
Plymouth and giving rides to at-
tendees for a fee which he donat-
ed to the fire company. The Cag-
ney engine was sold in 2005 to
the Strasburg Railroad in Lan-
caster County, where it operates
daily.
While touring the Steamtown
National Historic Site in Scran-
ton in 1987, Spohrer noticed
what looked like a Vulcan en-
gine. When he learned the tour
guide had no idea what a Vulcan
engine was, he realized there
was a need to promote aware-
ness of the engines.
Vulcan engines were the prod-
uct of Vulcan Iron Works in
Wilkes-Barre. The company
opened in 1849 and produced
mostly steam locomotives that
were shipped worldwide. In
1883, Pittston Iron Works,
Wilkes-Barre Iron Works and
Vulcan Iron Works merged with
a $586,000 capital, amounting to
what Spohrer says would be the
equivalency of about $25 million
today.
The Vulcan office was in the
building on South Main Street in
Wilkes-Barre where the Wilkes-
Barre Area School District Ad-
ministration is now housed. Oth-
er Vulcan locations were in
South Wilkes-Barre, Hanover
Township and West Pittston.
The American, British, French,
German and Italian armies all
owned Vulcan engines and Vul-
can engines were rampant in
Northeast Pennsylvania coal
yards. Many of the engines were
sold during World War I and
World War II. At its peak during
World War II, the company em-
ployed about 2,500 people.
“Vulcan was a very prestigious
place to work,” Spohrer said.
After the war, Vulcan switched
to making diesel electric en-
gines, but struggled to compete
against General Electric and
General Motors and was forced
into bankruptcy in 1954.
Vulcan Engine No. 4385 was
manufactured by Vulcan Iron
Works in 1942 in Wilkes-Barre. It
was one of the first diesel electric
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transported to RMDI.
CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK PHOTOS/FOR THE DALLAS POST
George Spohrer and Ron Delevan, owner of RMDI Locomotive Services at the Coxton Railyard in
Duryea, are shown in front of Vulcan Engine No. 4385. Vulcan Engine No. 4385, which weighs over
45 tons, was taken apart into two pieces and lifted by crane onto two flat bed trucks in order to be
Vulcan Engine No. 4385 sits at RMDI Locomotive Services at the
Coxton Railyard in Duryea. Owned by the Luzerne County Rede-
velopment Authority, the train awaits restoration to its original
1942 condition.
engines built for the U.S. Army
and was sent to San Antonio,
Texas. After the war, the engine
went into private industry.
Engine No. 4385 returned to
Wilkes-Barre in the 1970s when
it was bought by the City of
Wilkes-Barre. Marvin Roth, a lo-
cal vending distributor, procured
the engine along with 20 rail cars
and the Market Street Square
station complex. Roth turned
the site into a restaurant and ho-
tel. The property was later sold
to Thom Greco and Vulcan En-
gine No. 4385 deteriorated from
weather, vandals and thieves.
In 2005, Spohrer looked into
the possibility of obtaining Vul-
can engine No. 4385 and having
it restored. The Luzerne County
Redevelopment Authority pur-
chased Market Street Square
complex and Spohrer was put in
charge of the engine’s restora-
tion.
The authority owns 65 miles
of railroad in the county from
Avoca to Ashley on the east side
of the Susquehanna River and
from Exeter to Kingston on the
west side of the river. Spohrer
would like to see the engine run
with passenger cars and a dining
/
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car to provide people with a sce-
nic ride of the Susquehanna Riv-
er. He says the closest dining car
train ride available is in the Wil-
liamsport area and is very pop-
ular, with reservations booking
weeks in advance.
“Sadly, when you get out of
this area people think of us as an-
thracite coal and the United
Mine Workers and strikes,”
Spohrer said. “By restoring this
engine to operating condition,
we’ll be announcing to the world
Wilkes-Barre was a center of in-
dustry other than coal.”
Vulcan Engine No. 4385,
which weighs over 45 tons, was
taken apart into two pieces and
lifted by crane onto two flat bed
trucks. The sections were trans-
ported to RMDI Locomotive
Services at the Coxton Railyard
in Duryea. RMDI owner Ron De-
levan paid for the crane and
transportation costs.
Spohrer says it will be easy to
restore the engine because it still
has two Cummins diesel engines
and has replaceable Westin-
ghouse generators and motors.
It’s now just a matter of raising
the money needed to do so.
“| wanted to preserve it,
at least the memory of
it, because for 105 years
Wilkes-Barre produced a
product found through-
out the world.”
George Spohrer
Restoring Vulcan diesel engine
Vulcan Pride Ltd. is the non-
profit,
formed to raise money for the en-
gine. So far, about $17,000 of the
$175,000 to $200,000 needed to
restore the engine has bee
raised. Zebra Communications)
a student-run public relations
agency at Wilkes University, has
volunteered its services to assist
with raising funds. With Zebra's ¢.
help, over $1,100 was raised in
one day last fall at a fundraiser at”
Barnes & Noble in downtown
Wilkes-Barre.
Zebra's latest effort to help
Vulcan Pride Ltd. is the upcom-
ing gala. Spohrer will attend the
gala and is willing to answer
questions about Vulcan Iron
Works but isn’t sure yet whether
he will be dressed 1940s style.
“I'd have alittle trouble getting
into my Navy uniform,” the mil-
itary veteran joked.
Spohrer is also hoping to se-
cure state or federal grant money
for the preservation.
Once enough money has been
raised, it should take about 18
months to restore the engine and
Spohrer would like to see the en-
tire project complete in two
years. He would also like to be an
engineer for the Vulcan Engine
No. 4385, as he is qualified to op-
erate it.
“The important thing is to i
troduce to your generation that
Vulcan was known worldwide,”
Spohrer said. “That’s why I want
to restore it. That's why I'm ex-
cited about this.”
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