Walter B. Sheffeld

Walter B. Sheffeld of North Road, East Windsor passed away on Monday, August 20, 2007, at home after a period of failing health.

Born in East Orange, N.J. on September 1, 1940, he was the son of the late William Mack and Rosalie Bertram Sheffeld. After graduating from high school in Canandaiqua, N.Y., he attended the Rochester Institute of Technology. During the early '60s Walter worked for his uncle doing system test trials and inspections on Bertram International Yachts at R.H. Bertram & Co. He developed a taste for warmer climates and later served under Captain Sid Hartshorne as Ships Electrician on the 150-foot Catamaran sailing ship "Tropic Rover" in the Bahamas.

Walter returned to his family's roots in the Connecticut Valley where his great-great-grandfather (Samuel L. Hill) had settled in Florence, Mass., in the early days of the silk industry and helped to found the "Northampton Association for Education and Industry."

After settling in East Windsor in the mid-1960s and joining the Connecticut Trolley Museum, Walter lead the design and installation of the Museum's signal, communication, and traction power systems that are still an integral part of their historic trolley operations. In 1967, he also began working for the New Haven Railroad as a signal designer and later for the Penn Central Railroad as a signal maintainer.

Walter mentored many young museum volunteers who subsequently became railroad signal professionals. In 1970, Walter was elected to the museum's board of directors, holding that post for more than 35 years until his death. He designed and built the first Winter Fest "tunnel of lights" that stretched almost 1.5 miles along the museum's trolley line. Winter Fest soon became the museum's primary fundraiser held during November and December and continues to be held each year after more than 20 years.

Walter purchased and donated several electric trolley cars and a locomotive to the museum's permanent collection and was instrumental in the design and construction of the museum's visitor's center complex. From 1980 through 2006, he worked as a signal engineer for several leading engineering firms involved with designing signal system improvements for transit agencies and railroads throughout the U.S.

In later years his taste for a warmer climate drove him south, moving first to Winter Park, Fla., and later to Davie, Fla, but he always returned to volunteer at the museum during the summer and fall.

He is survived by his brother, William; sister-in-law, Kathleen; ten Bertram cousins, and many close friends throughout the railway industry.

A gathering in his memory will be held at the Connecticut Trolley Museum on September 15, 2007, beginning at 10 a.m.

The family requests that donations in Walter's memory be made to the Connecticut Trolley Museum, P.O. Box 360, East Windsor, CT 06088-0360.