Volunteer

All of the organizations working to bring the Erie Turntable site to life are non-profit groups that are 100 percent staffed by volunteers. Our active volunteers come from all walks of life and have varying levels of experience, from those who have never been on a train before all the way up to active professional railroaders. There are a variety of ways to get involved, from event planning to locomotive maintenance, and our more experienced staff is happy to offer on-the-job training to new volunteers in whatever subject they’d like to get involved in.

While the historic railroad equipment at the Erie Turntable is the main focus of our preservation efforts, we also strive to preserve the skills, tools, and trades of the railroad industry. Since 2020, our volunteers have learned how to lay new railroad tracks using 1940s-era track gauges and hand tools, been trained on air brake systems that were discontinued in the 1950s, and even rebuilt a 1949-vintage refrigeration system. Still more volunteers have learned on-the-job skills like carpentry, flooring, electrical, and metalwork - new skills that have then proven invaluable to their lives outside of our railyard.

The Erie Turntable site has established a specialized set of work safety rules to protect its volunteers while working on and around railroad equipment. These rules are adopted from current railroad safety regulations to fit our preservation, restoration, and operation activities on the Erie Turntable site. All volunteers working on or around the railroad equipment in the Erie Turntable railyard must be members of TOYX, Inc. for insurance reasons, unless this requirement is specifically waived for a special event and all non-member participants sign a waiver of liability.

Work sessions are generally held on fair-weather weekends, and volunteers can often be found working on various projects during our regular open days or even our special events. Almost all of our volunteers have full-time jobs outside of their work at the Erie Turntable, and this is where they come in their free time to make a positive impact while enjoying the company of our other volunteers with whom they have forged friendships during our work sessions.

If you are interested in volunteering at the Erie Turntable, please contact us at info@erieturntable.org and let us know what experience you have and what you’d like to get involved in. We’ll put you in touch with the right project coordinator to engage your skills, interests, and abilities to provide an enjoyable and rewarding experience and keep you coming back week after week.