The Town of Oyster Bay and the LIRR are in the last phase of creating an Oyster Bay Railroad Museum. They are currently establishing the exact footprint of the two properties in the LIRR yard at Oyster Bay that will be taken over by the town and leased to the Friends of Locomotive #35 Inc. (FL35).The three groups met at Town Hall on March 30. The FL35 didn't take the opportunity lightly, and came prepared with an extended proposal regarding their use of the property and the station.

"We're ecstatic about it," said Gary Farkash, co-chair of the group. "I'm very confident, especially after yesterday's meeting."

He said they are working out the final details. The LIRR will put in rubber matting at the entrance to Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Park so visitors to the museum can cross there and continue along a cement walkway to the Oyster Bay Railroad Museum. The FL35 will add to the path which will lead northeast to the turntable area.

Visitors will enter the museum through a gate flanked with two crossing shacks.

"The Wantagh Preservation Society has a LIRR crossing shack they are going to donate. It is currently in a member's backyard. We will purchase or build a new shack for him. The LIRR has a second crossing shack they will donate.

"There will be guards in historic railroad garb to say 'tickets please.' The souvenir tickets will be purchased at the station. Visitors can see people restoring equipment and can take photos," he said.

They will need a ramp between the cars to conform with the Americans With Disabilities Act.

There visitors will eventually see the renovated turntable with railroad equipment radiating out around it. There will be sheds overhead to protect the visitors from the weather.

The LIRR is involved in a remediation of the soil in the yard, and in the vicinity of the turntable, Mr. Farkash said they will remove about 30" or more of soil in the cleanup near the turntable. The yard has been in operation since 1902 so there are organics and volatiles in the soil. The LIRR will finish its project by putting in four to eight inches of crushed ballast into which the FL35 will place wooden ties so it looks period, said Mr. Farkash.

The group has been working on the turntable cleanup for some time and were pleased that only some concrete is damaged. The machinery is intact.

"The only problem remaining to be solved is getting the backing of the trainmen's union (the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers) allowing them to volunteer. We have someone interested in being the engineer."

If they have to pay, they are sure the union will donate the money back to the museum, he said.

The FL35 still have to decide what kind of gates should be erected and are looking to Oyster Bay Town Historian Dorothy Horton McGee to see what would be most authentic. "We need a fence with gates to keep people off the property. We are leasing it and insuring it."

Looking around the LIRR site, Mr. Farkash pointed out tracks that are no longer connected to the main line and tracks not being used.

He pointed to a track leading to the Oystermen's Dock. "It was a ferry to Connecticut. The original idea was to ferry people, in railroad cars, to Boston from New York."

Other tracks no longer in use were for cars to carry lumber to the lumberyard, now defunct. The lumberyard site now belongs to Island Properties.

Mr. Farkash was very pleased with events. "On Wednesday, March 29, LIRR President Prendergast announced he was leaving and going to work with a private firm bidding to operate the London Underground. He was the 35th president of the LIRR and he has done the most to preserve Locomotive #35. The 35th president doing work for #35."

Steve Torborg, co-chair of FL35 emailed the good news to supporters of the group.

He said, "After a brief meeting with Nick LaRocco of the LIRR two weeks ago, we determined that this was a very good idea as he would be asking the Town for a commitment regarding the property and station that we proposed to use.

"In short order, we had a meeting of the minds and doled out assignments to those who we felt had the most time and resources to fulfill the tasks at hand. In short, we had about two weeks to put together a proposal / business plan that could impress those in attendance enough to believe that we could actually fulfill our objectives of establishing a railroad museum in OB.

"For the past few weeks, and particularly in the past few days we have been extremely busy putting together the mass of information required to do this. Finally at about 2 a.m. this morning it was finished. Thank God Kinkos is open 24 hours!

"We met this morning (March 30) and to our surprise, we were greeted by a larger group than anticipated. Suffice it to say that all those affected, whether from the LIRR, Town of Oyster Bay, Oyster Bay Historical Society and our own organization. We had myself, Gary, Cathy and Ben present.

"The results were essentially that the town wanted to know where things stood with the railroad. The railroad told them and offered the property. The Town asked what our intentions were. Out came the proposal and our interpretation and plans.

"We answered every question asked, offered a few of our own, and the response from the Town Supervisor, John Venditto was 'I think we can all agree that this is a fantastic idea, and that it is extremely good for the town.'

"In essence, we are officially accepted, as are our locomotive and other equipment and we will be a significant part of the plans for the station, turntable and property. We will fall under the auspices of the Oyster Bay Historical Society and in a nutshell, we have proven our case.

"The railroad will be finished with the area of the yard we are to occupy some time around November, however we have agreed that it should be used by them for staging while they finish the rest of the yard, sometime next spring. Once completed, the railroad will supply us with materials for our display tracks and turntable repairs. A solid working relationship has been established and our museum and restoration will fly. Success!"

Steve Torborg said, "I would personally like to thank Ben Jankowski, Cathy Manning, Roger Hahn, Anne Kochendorfer, Jim Muhr, Tom Kuehhas and Ron Freitag and our friends at the Danbury Railway Museum. Without the help of these individuals we would not have been able to put together such an impressive proposal, and certainly not in such a short time.

"I would also like to thank the countless other people who have helped us out over the past few years whose good will and dedication helped to make all of this possible. It is nice to finally hear that our move to Oyster Bay is 100 percent guaranteed!

"Pack your bags folks, were a mov'in!"