I was at our museum Saturday and Sunday and was a member of the work train crew both days. Here are a few photos I took both days. For reference, here's the map Ed Lecuyer had posted for the extension. I hope Mike will correct any incorrect locations I have referenced below.
FWW day 2 - Saturday, October 6th:
At the end of the day Friday (FWW day 1), track had reached just north of location 4 - the slide. Here's a view of the work train after it had arrived first thing Saturday, a little after 9 a.m. A crisp, clear morning, with temperature in the 30s.
A view from the south end of the work train, where the spiking crew was getting to work. The work train consisted of (north to south) yellow work car 1015, rail gantry flat car 126, flat car 118, locomotive 52, caboose 320, and yellow work car 1007. Work car 1015 had joint bars, bolts, tools and other material for bolting the rail, while 1007 had spikes, tools and other material for the trailing spiking crew.
Turning 180 degrees and looking up the west side of the work train, we see the north end past the slide.
An east rail being placed. The progression northward was placement of 14 ties (rail length was 28 feet), placement of the west rail, placement of the east rail, repeat. On Saturday, Jason Lamontagne handled the joint bars with James Patten, while Rick Sisson watched for kinks.
The spiking crew soon reached location 4 -- the slide.
Now the pinch point -- location 6, looking north. Others have commented how well the rail gantry has worked, and here is an example of how it has improved safety. No rail handling now needed by a dozen+ volunteers lifting and carrying a rail northward along a narrow right-of-way. In this view, a bundle of 14 ties has just been put down north of the train.
The 14 ties laid out, waiting for rail. A volunteer has a piece of insta-track ready to hold the rail gauge, before the spiking crew can secure the rail. Three insta-tracks were used to hold the gauge per 28-foot rail section.
A west rail being put into place.
The 10.30 a.m. passenger train brought lunch for the track crew. Here it is arriving around 11.20 a.m. Locomotive #9 backed open car 103 and coach 8 down the grade. This is the first time #9 has reached the slide.
A view of the end of track at lunchtime Saturday. I'm standing at location 8, looking southward.
After lunch, the work train returned to Sheepscot to pick up more rails and ties. Two 10-rail layers were loaded on flat car 118, while enough ties for the 280-feet of track were loaded on the rail gantry car 126. This is two-thirds capacity for both cars.
Upon return, the south end of the work train was at the pinch point.
Are we having fun yet? The work train crew enjoyed a bit of hurry up and wait as the day progressed. Jonathan St. Mary was Saturday's engineer; Bill Baskerville was Sunday's engineer.
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FWW Day 3 - Sunday, October 7th:
Over the past 17 years I been fortunate enough to volunteer at the museum, I seen many striking scenes. This one is among the tops: the south view from the work train as we approached the end of track first thing Sunday morning.
Dana Deering and Joe Fox discuss the day's plans with the spiking crew.
Turning 180 degrees to the north, a photo of the work train on the curve at location 8 to location 9. This is a sharp curve, though I am told not quite as sharp as the north end of cock-eye curve.
This view looking north toward the spikers and the work train train gives a bit better perspective of the curve.
Ties being lowered at location 9 -- the second 48" culvert site.
The last rail being placed for this fall's mountain track extension. This was around 10.35 a.m.
#9's 10.30 train again delivered lunch.
Volunteers watch as #9 and her train prepare to leave for the southbound journey back to Sheepscot.
Volunteers enjoy a well-deserved lunch break in the Maine woods.
After lunch, our work train was in the way of spikers, so we proceeded south, cleaning up the right-of-way as we progressed of rejected ties, no longer needed silt fencing, unused culvert and other material. We also dropped a few replacement ties. Here our train has stopped at the construction road entrance, near the former end of track.
We spent a good bit of time putting road fabric down underneath the first 150 feet of track that had been laid the past week as a proof-of-concept for the rail gantry. Once that was done, our train picked up a lot of material left behind from the location 1 washout repair, before proceeding up the Top of the Mountain.
Here are a few late Sunday scenes at Sheepscot.
First, not necessarily work done this weekend, but while the flat cars were in work train service, the removable benches were cleaned up and stained.
Progress on the parking lot expansion.
Progress on the Percival House front deck and future stairs.
The conduits has been placed and backfilled between the shop building, Percival House, and planned electrical distribution building.
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I hope the above gives some sense of the accomplishments so far this weekend. A couple of items worth noting:
-- We had over 100 volunteers sign in on Saturday. I believe that's a first time for our museum.
-- 1420 feet of track was built this weekend.
I know I enjoyed seeing many old and new friends this weekend, including a member of the Sandy River & Rangeley Lakes museum I hadn't seen in nearly 30 years. All in all an amazing weekend.
