Author Topic: 2016 rail purchase  (Read 25353 times)

Joe Fox

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2016 rail purchase
« on: April 14, 2016, 06:35:17 PM »
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The Thursday night [facebook] news features photos of our first truckload of rail arriving today.  The museum purchased about 1 track mile of 60 lb rail which will be here in time for the SWW.  An additional mile of track may be available from another location and updates will be posted.

I was under the impression it was 2 miles of rail we had bought. Is the second mile of potential rail included in the price?
« Last Edit: April 16, 2016, 02:01:27 PM by Ed Lecuyer »

Ira Schreiber

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Re: 2016 rail purchase
« Reply #1 on: April 14, 2016, 08:07:04 PM »
2 miles of rail=1 mile of track.
Unless it is a monorail.
Ira

Brendan Barry

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Re: 2016 rail purchase
« Reply #2 on: April 14, 2016, 08:39:50 PM »
The museum's board was presented with the opportunity to purchase a large quantity of 60 pound rail earlier in the year. The potential amount of rail was thought to be over 200 tons. With the help of some generous members the board decided to purchase the rail. Today the first of four trucks loaded with rail arrived from Wisconsin and was unloaded. The seller has more rail at another location and will be inventorying that rail next week so the museum can order trucks to pick up rail from that location. With this purchase the museum should have enough rail on hand for the foreseeable future.





« Last Edit: April 14, 2016, 08:50:30 PM by Brendan Barry »
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Stewart "Start" Rhine

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Re: 2016 rail purchase
« Reply #3 on: April 14, 2016, 08:44:32 PM »
As the previous post stated, one track mile is about 100 tons.  The original information had two miles at the first location but it's only about a mile (+,-).  That is what is being delivered now.  There is supposed to be an additional mile of track in another location.  The BOD and our rail finders are working on getting the next batch.
« Last Edit: April 16, 2016, 06:07:49 AM by Stewart "Start" Rhine »

Jason M Lamontagne

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Re: 2016 rail purchase
« Reply #4 on: April 14, 2016, 09:00:25 PM »
A job done right has Fred nearby!
« Last Edit: April 14, 2016, 10:01:36 PM by Jason M Lamontagne »

Ed Lecuyer

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Re: 2016 rail purchase
« Reply #5 on: April 14, 2016, 09:47:01 PM »
And before anyone asks....

.8 mile from Top of Mountain north to Route 218.
1.5 miles from Top of Mountain north to Head Tide (Head Tide Road, south of station site, end of museum owned/leased property.)
.5 miles from Sheepscot south to Varney Mill Road/beaver dam. (end of easily buildable ROW.)
Ed Lecuyer
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Philip Marshall

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Re: 2016 rail purchase
« Reply #6 on: April 14, 2016, 10:13:51 PM »
So can we say the WW&F has acquired a mile of the Milwaukee Road? :)

john d Stone

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Re: 2016 rail purchase
« Reply #7 on: April 14, 2016, 10:54:18 PM »
That's fantastic news! Just hope you don't have to add "& Pacific" to the name. Too cumbersome and probably wouldn't fit on the equipment anyway.

Cliff Olson

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Re: 2016 rail purchase
« Reply #8 on: April 15, 2016, 07:11:10 AM »
Does anyone know where this rail was used as track in WI?

Rick Rowlands

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Re: 2016 rail purchase
« Reply #9 on: April 15, 2016, 07:19:33 AM »
A friend called me a few months ago asking me if I was interested in a bunch of 60 lb. rail.  I was not, as the J&L 58 would chew up and spit out such light rail.  So I sent an email to Wayne Laepple about it, ultimately resulting in this purchase.  This apparently was the mainline of  the Kettle Moraine Railroad. 

BTW,  I am looking for a few hundred feet of 85 or 90 lb. rail for the J&L Narrow Gauge, so if anyone hears of any available at a reasonable price please let me know. 
Rick Rowlands
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J&L Narrow Gauge Railroad
Youngstown, OH

Cliff Olson

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Re: 2016 rail purchase
« Reply #10 on: April 15, 2016, 08:17:30 AM »
Thanks for the information, Rick.  Thought this might have been secondary MILW track.

Wayne Laepple

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Re: 2016 rail purchase
« Reply #11 on: April 15, 2016, 12:02:04 PM »
The rail came from the Kettle Moraine Scenic RR at North Lake, Wisconsin, a far western suburb of Milwaukee. It was a portion of a former Milwaukee Road branch line that was about three miles long. It shut down in 2001 due to pressure from homeowners who built new McMansions adjacent to the line and didn't like the smoke and noise from the line's steam locomotives. The grade is now a walking and biking path. I was told the rail we bought was relaid on the line just before World War II, having been cropped down from 33-foot rails first. As Rick Rowlands mentioned above, he clued me about the rail, and I contacted the owner of the rail and made the deal to purchase up to two miles of it. Most of the track had been removed from the right-of-way and was stacked at the former terminal area. Sometime during the winter, however, someone evidently made off with as much as 70 or 80 pieces. Fortunately, they didn't take the joint bars. There is another similar amount of rail at a location in Illinois, and as soon as I am able to get a good count on it, I will arrange for trucking.

Cliff Olson

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Re: 2016 rail purchase
« Reply #12 on: April 15, 2016, 01:23:52 PM »
Thanks for additional detail, Wayne.  See you in a couple weeks.

Philip Marshall

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Re: 2016 rail purchase
« Reply #13 on: April 15, 2016, 03:32:07 PM »
Thank you Rick and Wayne and the Board of Directors for making this happen.

Mike Fox

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Re: 2016 rail purchase
« Reply #14 on: April 15, 2016, 08:11:07 PM »
Actual weight for the loads were about 80 tons, or about 3/4 of a mile. The museum is paying by weight, so what we get is what we pay for. No worries there.
Mike
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