http://theglutengal.com/gluten-free-recipes/soup-chili/caribbean-vegan-chili The APRHF board meeting was scheduled to be March 28th at 2pm. Of course it got cancelled. We just made up an email with the basic information and did a few replies off of that. It worked to cover the pertinent information. We will try for a physical meeting later this year after things calm down.

Financially the APRHF is still doing fine. The APRHFstore is doing its job of paying the bills. That is what it was designed to do. It continues to grow s in customer base and sales have remained pretty much the same over the last few months. We were going to try to get it out on the road a little more this year. Sadly all the train shows have been cancelled that we were going to attend. Thankfully the shows were good and sent us our money back.

The main fundraiser via go fund me has stalled out as of this writing. More than likely due to this time of stay at home and the economy being off. We hope it springs back soon. The Go Fund Me Page on shows only a part of what has been raised for the Lookout Point Park Project. There have been private donations as well along with some fundraisers of model train sales. We have the money to get the cars moved this year. Step#2 is next up and that includes painting of the cars and electrical brought to them. Stay tuned to our “Go Fund Me” event for updates on where the project is.

Did I mention electrical? It seems the best laid plans get interrupted more than once. Along with the virus deal. The electrical is another hurry up and wait project. MODOT is installing a new bridge over the BNSF line this year. That is going to be a good thing. The electric lines that run on the side of the road over the bridge have to be re-routed. That re-route will be right to the north of the Lookout Point Park Property. In the end, this is a good thing. That means all the power will be ran behind the project buildings etc. This will provide a much cleaner look. We just have to wait for that to be done. Hopefully this project will be completed by May. Good things come to those that wait.

The lookout area got some more trees trimmed and will be set up soon with a temporary fence. This fence will be there for the protection of the open ditch area. We want to keep things safe and keep trespassing to a minimum while the project continues and more detail work is done. We also have trimmed up the trees at the Amtrak station as part of our ongoing work to keep things looking nice there.

We also shared two pending projects for Lookout Point Park with the board.

The first project is located in Lewistown. It is an ex-CB&Q station that was moved to its present location after the railroad left town. It was originally built in 1872 and moved in 1977. There was a historical society that had plans for it. Sadly nothing happened and now all of the members are passed on. The station sits in limbo now. Amy has always liked this building. We usually will stop by to see it when travels take us that way. Amy has written and sent a letter of request to check on the potential of a donation of the building. Sadly that letter came back. She is now trying to get in contact with the city of Lewistown to see what the options are. In the meantime here are some photos. This station building will make a good LPP office, Bath and shower area for campers and have room for retail space.

Here is sits unused near an apartment complex.

The other opportunity that crossed the desk was at the MORPAC meeting that we attend in Jeff City each quarter. MORPAC is a group that allows Amtrak caretakers and volunteers to come and meet with MODOT officials, city and railroad officials. The city of Independence rep spoke of the Mo-Pac caboose that the city may be wanting to get rid of. Our secretary Chris Mains went over and got some photographs of it.

The caboose is in decent shape. There is no interior to speak of. Once we expressed interest to at least talk to them about this opportunity. They were not for sure what they really wanted to do. So for now this is tabled. At least we are on their contact list.

Good things are happening. They are just slow. Stay with us as we continue to work through this tough time with the virus restrictions. Once all is said and done there will be a day where we will need volunteers to help with moving and setting up track. After that there will be another day where help will be needed to empty out the Amtrak cars for moves. If you are not a follower of our Facebook page. Please do so to keep up with those volunteer days.

We hope everyone stays safe out there.