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Leo Mollica Came out of the Rehoboth Post office and got into a 2008 Cadillac XLR Roadster. This is a two seat sports car with a removable hard top that goes for over $80,000 dollars. For a lot of old time new Englanders the Cadillac is a status symbol.
I Followed Leo north on Route 1 for about a mile when he pulled into the WSFS Bank parking lot and went inside. On top of the bank was a billboard with some guy holding a Grotto Pizza box that says “We Switched For Service”. The Banks sign said WSFSBank.com so I looked it up on the lap top and saw that the name was “We Stand For Service”. I thought It must be hard to answer the phone in this place.
Next stop for Leo was Happy Harry’s Discount Drugs. This place had a smiling caricature of the guys face on the sign; this was a quick stop then on to the Food Lion, a supermarket. Both of these places were right off Route 1. Then I followed Leo south on Route One. We passed a lot of outlet malls and hotels and restaurants. There was one restaurant called “Crabby Dicks” which made me wonder who would eat in a place with that name. Traffic was very heavy down this four lane divided roadway with Traffic lights every ¼ mile. I was beginning to think if it’s this bad on a Friday morning it would be miserable on a weekend. I also noticed Leo was the typical Massachusetts driver, never using his directional at all. We got off route one and I followed Leo through some farm country and then past some housing developments, each one getting nicer and the homes getting larger. Then he turned into the last street. The homes were larger and there was more land between them. It also ended in a cul-de-sac so I couldn’t follow him without standing out. I thought it might be tough following him with Mass Plates on the car, but in this resort town there were so many different license plates I didn’t stand out.
Leo pulled into 2 E. Elanor Lee Lane as I watched through binoculars. The house was very big and had a 3 car detached garage. The house was on the water on Corkran Canal. Behind the house was a dock with a Wellcraft Coastal 360 fishing boat. A quick search on line shows this to be the top of the line for Wellcraft. Looking at photos I could see Leo had bought all the accessories. His boat was worth over $175K. I watched as the automatic garage door opened and he drove inside the middle of the 3 doors. I could see cars in the other stalls, but couldn’t make out what they were. Leo came out the side door and went into the house.
I looked at the neighboring houses and noticed #6 had a for sale sign from Coldwell Banker that said ask for Beth. I remembered seeing a Coldwell Banker Real Estate office on Route One so I thought I’d check out the cost on the house. An Online search showed
Beth Dormen was the top selling agent at the Coldwell Banker Real Estate office on 20184 Coastal Highway, Rehoboth Beach. 6 E. Elanor Lee Lane, was a four bedroom house with 3 ½ baths, with a detached three car garage and a boat dock on the canal.
The selling price of the house was $1,649,500.00. Now unless Leo had a very rich relative or had won the lottery, there was no way he could afford all this on his railroad pension and the sale of his cape in Lowell.
I sent a quick email to the office asking them to check on a few things. I also decided to drive back instead of taking the ferry. Leo wasn’t going any where and he must know about Chuck Spencer.
After a stop at the WAWA gas station filling up on Gas at $4.03/gallon, I headed north up Route One towards I-95, The Delaware Memorial Bridge and the New Jersey Turnpike. My EZ Pass was about to get some work. After about 3 hours I pulled off the turnpike into the Joyce Kilmer Service Area for a refuel and a break. I checked my laptop and since I had internet service I looked at my emails.
Seems Large Scale on Line is having problem with there photo part of the site and Jon is away on one of his many trips so posting photos will be a problem. My office got back to me and like I thought records show no mortgage liens on 2 E. Elanor Lee Lane. Also the DMV shows no liens on the titles for the three cars. So you can bet the Boat is owned free and clear also.
I got back on the NJP and at Exit 11 I went north on the Garden State Parkway. After another hour I stopped at the Montvale Service Plaza to top off the tank to get though NY and CT without stopping.
I put a call into Gary Freeman, the VP from Pan Am Railroad, to tell him what I found out and ask him how he wanted to proceed from here. Gary said he would talk things over with his boss and get back to me. My guess is that they had to decide how to handle this. Do you do it quietly to protect the railroad’s reputation with its customers or do you handle it openly and prosecute to the fullest to send a message. Glad it’s not my decision. I’m sure I’ll have more to report after I get back to my office.
As I write this part of my report I find myself on the Delmarva Peninsula on the Delaware seashore in the town of Rehoboth Beach. This is a seaside community like most that swell in size of population for the summer.
I left Amesbury on Thursday morning, I took one of the unmarked Taurus cruisers. This one has 220,000 miles of service on it. Our fleet mechanics take really good care of all our Police vehicles. This one rides really nice and I’ll do better on gas with a V6 than one of the super charged V8’s on this trip. I also don’t want to advertise who I am when I get there.
I followed I-495 south to I-290 west through Worcester and then got on the Mass Pike I-90 west for one exit. I got off in Sturbridge and took I-84 South down through Hartford, CT and once I got west of the capital I was starting to see more NY Yankee stickers on cars (Yes I’m a Life Long Red Sox fan). After 3 hours I hit the NY line. The faded sign read welcome to the empire state. I took I-684 south and always find it funny when you run through the ½ mile of CT again and they spend money to welcome you to CT and then tell you that you’re leaving CT with signs. I took I-287 west and was slowed by a bit of road construction. I think this section of I-287 has been under construction for at least 10 years. (This guess is based on going to the ECLSTS every year) I crossed the Tappan Zee Bridge and looked down at the CSX Hudson River line but saw no trains. I took exit 14A to head towards the Garden State Parkway. I like going this way rather than the George Washington Bridge for a number of reasons. Mainly the traffic is lighter, the drivers seem less full of road rage and New Jersey looks more like a garden state than when you enter on I-95.
When I got to the second service area I pulled in for a Pit Stop. I filled up at LukOil for $3.99 a gallon which is what we are paying in NH and MA. I did notice gas in CT was $4.48 and even though I have a company credit card I still try and make it through CT and NY without stopping for gas. After a quick bathroom stop and passing up the temptation of hot frosted cinnamon buns that I don’t need, I was back on the road.
I passed the exit for I-78 which would take me towards York, PA. Normally I’d Get on the NJ Turnpike and head south to Delaware, but it was really nice weather so I stayed on the GSP and headed for Cape May and the ferry to Lewis, Delaware, the town right next to Rehoboth. It isn’t a shorter way time wise, but it makes for a really enjoyable trip. I figure the gas and tolls saved balances off the cost of the ferry. Delaware may be the smallest state in the country, but they take the most from you in toll money.
My trips south have got a lot better now that all the states have EZ pass. I also like the High Speed EZ pass lanes they are putting in now.
I pulled into a Service area near Barnegat and grabbed a brochure on the Ferry. I used to work with a guy back when I was on St. Mike’s Rescue that had worked for the Barnegat Light Rescue Squad. It’s funny how things trigger memories. I called and made a reservation on the 8pm boat, last one out. I was supposed to be there to check in an hour before, but it looked like I’d get there with only 30 minutes to spare. I could have called the office and had the dispatcher do this for me, but I figured they wouldn’t be that crowded on a Thursday night. I took the time to top off the tank again for the $3.99 a gallon. I know gas in Delaware is a bit higher. After a nice drive through the last 60 miles of the GSP, I got to the Ferry Terminal and checked in at the booth with my confirmation number. The woman in the booth said she didn’t want to try and pronounce the Company name on the card and butcher it. I said it’s easy – Just like “Sue Less Ski”, since she never heard of it I figured she wasn’t a rail fan. I showed her my badge and asked if there was anything special I had to do since I was carrying a firearm. She said hunters bring guns in their truck racks all the time during hunting season, so she didn’t think a pistol would be a problem as long as it stayed in the vehicle. Wow what a difference from airline travel. She was very pleasant, even with her accent, for someone in a toll booth.
I didn’t have to wait long for the Ferry. It pulled up 10 minuets after I got there and discharge its hoard of foot passengers and cars pulling pop-up campers and trailers for a weekend on the Jersey shore. There was also a group of bikers that looked to be out for a more than days ride with motorcycle trailers in tow.
The Terminal Security directed all the cars on to the ferry. Since they weren’t chocking the wheels of every car I guessed it would be a smooth trip. I went up to the second deck and took a seat inside the bow and watched the sunset off to my right as we took the 80 minute ride across the channel. As I sit relaxing I thought its funny how my trips are always so uneventful compared to every time I hear about one of Scott’s. His travels are more like adventures.
The Twin Capes Ferry docked and everyone was directed off smoothly. I headed up Route 9 and then turned south on Route 1 for the four miles to Rehoboth Beach.
As I sit here writing this now I realize I probably should have told you why I’m in Delaware. After checking out the inventory in the Spencer’s garage/warehouse it turned out that all the property was listed as stolen. Most of it was reported lost in shipping while in the railroads charge. The Pan Am VP was not happy when I reported this to him. They had some problems with theft and were working to stop it. They had caught some kids once, but never assumed most of their problems were internal. This theft of cargo had been going on back longer than Chuck Spencer was the yard foreman.
I was in Delaware to check on a Leo Mollica who was the Lowell yard foreman before Chuck Spencer. He had retired to Rehoboth Beach after 26 years of service. 5 of his last as the Lowell yard foreman. I got his address, a PO Box, from the Human Resources department at Pan Am. Since there was no street address on record I had no way to check up on him through town tax values on his house. Also when someone is under suspicion its better not to call and warn them. The fact that he wasn’t using direct deposit was also a flag to me.
So on this beautiful Friday morning after enjoying a breakfast at IHOP I was sitting outside the Rehoboth Post Office waiting for it to open. I also knew that checks were mailed and Leo would be getting his today. I had a photo of him from 8 years ago from the railroad. I hoped he wasn’t one of those people that changed a lot in appearance. Usually retires get into a set schedule, getting up and meeting a group of buddies for coffee might be a set Saturday thing, weekdays it might be getting out of the house to run errands and pick up the mail early before the summer beach traffic.
This morning I got lucky as Leo was right there when they unlocked the doors to the Post Office.
I’ll have to sign off the laptop now and be ready to follow him when he comes out. I’ll add more later.
I got a call from the Pan Am Railroad Offices asking for some assistance with a case of theirs. They had an internal problem and wanted me to look into it to make sure no one from their Police department was involved.
It all started when Chuck Spencer, Pan Am’s yard supervisor in Lowell, passed away from a heart attack while out fishing. Since he was a long time employee many people from the railroad were at the funeral services. While the VP of Pan Am Rail was expressing the railroads condolences to Mrs. Spencer she asked if the railroad would be coming to get its property from her garage. “Not that you have to, I’ll still keep leasing you the space", said Mrs. Spencer. Not knowing what she was talking about the VP said they would have someone get in touch with her later in the week.
This is why I found myself parked outside the small white cape on Jewett Lane. I had called Mrs. Spencer and set up this appointment. When I got to the top of the steps the door opened directly before I could ring the bell.
I said, “Hi Mrs. Spencer?, I’m Steve Ross.” I didn’t wonder why she opened the door, I figured she saw the cruiser and guessed who I was.
“Please call me Helen and please come in", replied Mrs. Spencer.
She showed me into a well kept living room and asked me to have a seat. “Can I get you any coffee or Tea?” she asked.
“I’m fine thanks, I don’t want to take up your time, and I just have a few questions to ask.”
Mrs. Spencer sat down and said, “How can I help you?”
I asked Helen to tell me about her husband’s arrangement with the railroad. She told me that he was leasing garage space to them so they could store extra boxes. The extra money it brought in helped a lot. She told me they were able to go on vacations and help their two kids out with down payments on their houses. “My husband took care of all the finances so I’m not sure of the exact arrangements. I just know they would bring boxes to put in the garage and then come and get some. There were always vans coming and going. It was nice of them to send plain white vans though so we wouldn’t get into trouble.”
“What do you mean by get in trouble?” I asked
“Well my husband said the railroad would use their plain white vans so the city wouldn’t catch us running a storage business out of our residence. It had something to do with zoning he said. I know it wasn’t legal, but we weren’t hurting anyone.”
“I’m not here to judge Helen, nor am I here for the city so you don’t have to worry", I said reassuringly. “You told the Pan Am VP that there were still boxes in storage?”
“Yes the garage is still pretty full, I thought that they might come take it all away since my husband no longer works for them,” said Helen. “I’m fine with them still leasing the space, can you tell them that?”
I could see her eyes watering when she referred to her husband. “Can I have a look out in the garage?” I asked. “If it’s OK with you I’ll just go out and look by myself.”
“That’s fine", Helen said, “Here are the keys.”
“I may be a while as I have to check the inventory for the railroad", I said to give myself time as I went out side. The railroad had no idea what was in the garage. She assured me everything was there.
When I got around back of the house I found myself looking at a detached two car garage that looked like it was much newer than the house. The key fit a side door and I went in and turned on the lights. The double garage was about three quarters full of boxes. Stacked in areas of like sizes were boxes of flat screen TV’s, Computers, DVD Players, Nike Sneakers, Makita Battery drills, and much more. It was a true warehouse. Something wasn’t right here, but I didn’t want to break it to Helen. If this was the railroads property they were going to be surprised. I began to take an inventory with serial numbers; it was going to be a long afternoon.
I’ll post more on how this progresses after I get this inventory done and search where it all came from.
Suleski Transportation passenger excursion service ran its extra to celebrate independence day this 4th of July.
The train was pulled by ST #14 the 2-6-0 mogul seen here coming up to the newly rebuilt Rocky Ledge Station.
All the passengers were inside taking advantage of the new air conditioned station waiting room.
As ST #14 pulls up to Rocky Ledge Station the Train is announced over the new Moose head speaker.
Looking up into the Cab of ST#14 from the platform
K.C. Johnson is one of Suleski Transportation’s three certified engineers allowed to run the old 2-6-0 mogul. He is also the youngest steam engineer in the county. He grew the beard to look older than his 29 years. Jack Blaney, his Irish fireman, is seen loading wood into the firebox. Not many can understand Blaney’s brogue, which is probably a good thing due to his plentiful use of colorful adjectives.
Here is a view of the cramped cab from the tenders’ wood pile. OSHA has tried to make the crew wear safety harnesses, but the Railroad doesn’t fall under their authority. It would take a ruling from the FRA to make that happen. We feel that the crew needs to be able to move around unrestricted in the cab to do the work right. There may also be a time when the have to jump clear of the cab, but we hope that is never necessary.
Each of the cars on the Passenger Excursion train are named after the four grandfathers of the founder of Suleski Transportation.
Car # 2003 is a combine that has a baggage compartment in the front and passenger seating in the back. This car is named after Frank J. Sulesky, the first American born Suleski. The Original spelling was Sulewzski and has been changed twice since immigration. Frank or FJ as he was called was a wood worker by trade. At 16 he took a job for a furniture maker in the mills of Lynn, MA. First he started sweeping the floors and being a gopher, but soon it was apparent he had a gift with wood. FJ could work from looking at photos or completed samples and wasn’t able to read blueprints. He would look over a chair made by another worker and then make three more to match exactly. Co-Workers used to joke about not leaving a blemish, because FJ would copy it 3 more times. When this was brought to the attention of the company owner he showed FJ photos of antique Louis the XIV dinning room sets and asked if FJ could make these. FJ said he could, but it would take over a winter to get them to look right. The mill owner asked what he meant and FJ explained he needed the winter to weather the wood to make it look old like in the photo.
“What do you mean by old”, asked the Mill owner.
“Don’t you want it to look exactly like the photos?”, asked FJ
“Why, yes I do, can you make it look just like these photos?” asked the mill owner.
“If you can give me the time I can”, replied FJ.
So FJ was given a special project at nights and over the winter he made several dinning room sets. The extra money helped his family as he was one of 10 brothers and 2 sisters.
They were stored up on the flat roof of the mill to weather in the New England winter. Rocks, a carving knife and even an old bicycle chain were used by FJ to work his magic. When he felt they were ready he brought them down to the basement and set them up and gave them finishing touches. The owner and his co-workers were amazed at the quality of the dining room sets. There was 1 full size table with 20 chairs and 12 smaller sets. All were made of hand carved oak and no nails or screws were used, just like the photos FJ was show. The owners eyes bulged out and he couldn’t keep from smiling.
The next day the sales flyer read “Just off the boat from France – Antique Louis XIV Dinning Room sets.”
FJ went on to start his own family sign business in 1929 with his wife Pauline.
Once in the summer of ’92 when I was walking around Bearskin Neck in Rockport, MA with FJ, he stopped and took special note of an antique chair that was out front of one of the shops
The shop owner came out when he saw FJ’s interest.
“That’s an original chair from Louis XIV dining room set from France.
FJ asked, “Just out of curiosity, what does something like this go for?”
The shop owner replied, “One in this good of condition that has been cared for and not restored is close to priceless, would you care to make an offer?”
“Well I wouldn’t want to insult you, what would be a fair offer?” asked FJ
“Well I can see you are a seasoned Antique collector, so I won’t beat around the bush, I couldn’t let this chair go for less than $4000.00.” said the shop owner.
FJ Laughed and said,” I didn’t even make that working for the whole year when I made those chairs.”
The shop owner looked puzzled, but caught himself and said “Sir I can assure you this chair has been authenticated by many other antique experts other than me.”
FJ said, “Oh it’s an antique alright, since I made it over 50 years ago. If you’ll turn the chair over and look you’ll see my furniture mark, a connected FJ by the back right leg, I made that in Lynn, MA in 1924.”
FJ and I walked away down Bearskin Neck leaving the shop owner staring at the bottom of the chair.
FJ smiled at me and said, “He’ll never tell that story to anyone.”
Naming a Combine after FJ is something he would have liked. It was a car that was useful in many ways
Car #2001 is named after Gustave Peterson
Gus was the paternal grandfather of my wife Noreen (Peterson) Suleski. If you had met Gus you would have said he was a cantankerous old Swede, at least he played the part to those who weren’t close to him. Gus retired as a commercial painter. The company he worked for painted Hospitals and State Buildings throughout Connecticut. He painted the capital building and He even said he painted New Britain General every time it was ever painted over 40 years. Gus would be proud that our cars are always freshly painted.
Car # 2002 is named after George Kelly
George was the maternal grandfather of Scott Suleski. He went off to fight in France during WWI, and while he never spoke of his service years He was a very talkative guy. He always had stories to tell of the good old days. George was a forman at the GE plant in Lynn and when Telephones first came to Lynn, GE made sure he had the first one in his neighborhood in case they had to reach him. Whenever relatives of neighbors called operators would route the calls to the nearest telephone. George’s daughter (my mother)would be sent to get people to come to the phone. Back then most people only phoned with bad news, like a death in the family. Soon people were not happy to see my mother coming up their front steps. George was described by his friends as having the ability to talk a hound off a meat wagon. George also like to watch John Wayne westerns and Gunsmoke. He’d be happy that the car with his name on it is an older style passenger car.
Car # 2004 is named after Edward Sheehey
Edward is the Irish paternal Grandfather of Noreen (Peterson) Suleski. He had an irish brogue and was an avid Red Sox fan. He would listen to the games on the radio before there was TV. Edward would be glad that his name is on an older car, because they don’t make things like they used to…
The “Edward Sheehey” was reserved for this trip by a young couple celebrating their wedding today.
Now the Engineer of a train is not like a captian of a ship, they can’t marry anyone, but this couple was married earlier in the day and they and their guests were using the train ride to go to the reception.
Heading out of the station the passenger excursion train heads north.
At the Mass/NH boarder, MOW crews have cleared vegetation away from a granite outcropping that actually looks like the sate of NH. This marks the boarder on Suleski Transportations right of way as we cross into South Hampton, NH. While it’s not as impressive as the Old Man of the Mountain once was, it is our own unique bit of NH folklore.
The Excursion train waited in Hampton til after 9pm so the passengers could enjoy the Fireworks. A lot of people like to say they saw the fireworks from the train. Then they get to ride home to Rocky Ledge Station avoiding the beach traffic.
All of us at Suleski Transportation hope you enjoyed your 4th of July in a special way.
(AP)- Amesbury, MA
Suleski Transportation takes a giant step towards the future by being the first railroad in the county to start converting its Diesel Engines to Hydrogen/Natural Gas (HCNG) Fuel.
Natural gas can be blended with hydrogen to make HCNG. Vehicles fueled with hydrogen/natural gas blends (HCNG) are an initial step toward the hydrogen-based transportation of the future. HCNG vehicles offer the potential for immediate emissions benefits, such as a reduction in nitrogen oxides (NOx)
Kate Christie, VP of Marketing for Suleski Transportation announced:
The Situation in today’s market favors the use of alternative fuels for companies to survive. Increasing energy costs are of great concern to a Transportation company, We can never be sure how long government fuel assistance grants will be available. With this new technology we are now able to apply for additional grants because we will be cutting out excessive air pollution and meeting newer strict emission regulations.
Suleski Transportation looked into bio diesel fuel, but didn’t want its track side neighbors complaining about the “French fry smell”. HCNG or what we are now calling “Hydro-Gas” will allow us to keep pricing competitive for our customers and help the environment at the same time.
We will be placing this decal on all of our units as they are converted.
The first Hydro-Fuel converted unit is ST #21
ST # 21 started life as an ex Conrail U-25 B and through numerous rebuilds has been converted to a U-36B. This newest conversion to “Hydro-fuel” will allow the unit to work longer between refueling without compromising on its power. The key to the technology is a sophisticated electronic control unit (ECU) which senses engine parameters in real time and instantly adjusts to deliver the correct amount of fuel and the correct ignition timing. The system results in optimal engine performance to the power plant, while always operating at the lowest emissions.
While many will miss seeing the smoke belching out of the diesel exhaust while it labors under load, this new colorless and orderless exhaust will be much better for the environment.
Once the conversion is complete Suleski Transportation will still maintain one diesel storage tank for visiting engines. On longer trips over trackage rights a HCNG tank car can be added to the train to extend its range until other railroads see the benefits and start converting.
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