May 2010 Work Planning

[James Patten]

Work done on weekend of May 22:

* The "garden lady" (sorry, don't know her name yet) continued working around the house garden.  Weed whackers were gotten out and cleared out the high grass between house and museum.  The riding mower did some work too.
* Zack started to replace the defunct effluent pump for the Percival House but he was given some wrong equipment so it will continue another time
* Leon was there today and yesterday working on the railcar's driveshaft.  He did some modification to it so it could go in at the greater angle than is usual for these types of vehicles.  In the afternoon Saturday he jacked it up, hooked up the battery, and turned it over, rotating the rear wheels.  There was a small fluctuation in the driveshaft, much less than it had been.

Edit: Garden lady's name is Bridget.

[James Patten]

Anticipated work for weekend of May 29:

* This is Memorial Weekend.  We start our regular summer season this weekend, where we are open Saturday and Sunday both.  We're also open Monday too.  Steam on Sat & Sun.
* There may be work on the railcar, or on the Lindsay air compressor (or both!).
* Do we need to do any painting? Weather sounds nice.
* I'm going to plan for some track work on MONDAY starting at 7:30.  I'll be working on the mainline in Sheepscot yard, near the station.  The mainline leans to the east.

[Jason M Lamontagne]

Hello all,

To add to James' list:

We're planning the first of several riveting parties on No 9's new smokebox this weekend.  Friday will include prep- some more holes to drill and arranging stuff, while Saturday will be riveting.  Concurrent with this (and running trains), Leon will be working on the railcar if he can be spared from the riveting crew.  Should be fun!

Don't worry about missing the riveting as I suspect there'll be at least 4 or 5 days of it, spread out over the summer.  (We'll be sure to save it for the hottest and most humid Saturdays...)

As I was typing this, Ken's message popped up.  I was planning on experimenting with the coal bricks this weekend; I'll certainly report back!

Jason

[James Patten]

Work done on the weekend of May 28 - 31.

Friday
* Josh was working on wiring.
* Dana, Steve Z and Steve H went out to jack and tamp a dip near the end of the track
* I think Leon was there working on the railcar.
* Archivist Bruce was there, had bought a shelf and was "arranging" stuff on it.

Saturday
* Josh kept wiring.  Mike helped.
* Jason, Gordon, Dana, Steve, and Bob G were riveting #9's smokebox.  They got all the rivets done (60+).  It was riveting to watch.
* Leon kept working on the railcar's driveshaft.  It was still moving around after he got done but I think I heard it was decided to put it together to see what happens when it's going down the track.
* We had steam!

Sunday
* Minimal crew.  There was steam but not many people in the afternoon.  The coal bricks were burned, and I'll let Jason report on that.

Monday
* Steve Z and I jacked and tamped 60 feet on the mainline by the station.
* We ran 3 trains.
* When it was quiet I worked on separating mortar from bricks on some bricks that were donated by a co-worker of mine.

[Stewart "Start" Rhine]

A bit more on the railcar.  Testing was done by cranking the engine over and watching the rotation of the drive shaft inside the torque tube.  First, the rear spring shackles were removed which brought the back of the car down 2".  The car was cranked and the "jump" in the drive line remained the same even with the car sitting lower.  It was then discovered that some of the "jump" was created by the torque of the engine. (Anyone who has ever hand cranked a Model T will understand the engines kick).  After the springs were re-connected, a few crank tests were done with the spark plugs removed from the block.  Removing the spark plugs eliminates the compression/torque of the engine. The crank test showed that the "jump" was about 90% less.  At this point it was decided to hook a small gas tank to the car and run the engine for additional tests.   There was no auxiliary gas tank around so the next testing will take place in a week or so.   It may be that the car will operate properly when running on the rails and the next test will vet the theory.

[Mike Fox]

Joe asked me to insert these pics and his descriptions. Here goes. They are in his order, not necessarily in the order they happened.



The coal brick before being burned, and after. The entire grates were covered by the latter, forming one massive clinker. In all fairness, the bricks burned hot, according to Jason, and also performed very well. Aside from the clinker issue. One of them looked like we had made glass, due to sand.




The 10 moving through the yard, as a track worker waits in the clear, waiting to go back to work.



A couple of black smiths burn rivets for #9's smoke box over two coal forge's brought special for the day by one of the museum's regular volunteers.



The 10 is getting ready to move the box car around in the yard, as a section man waits by his hand car, ready to head up the line.

[Gordon Cook]

Some pictures of the Memorial Day weekend's riveting party:

The Mighty Transporter Zuppa and the Master Chef Monsieur Deering:


Is it done yet?:


Buckah-in-Chief Gabriel:


Rivetah General Lamontagne, holder JB, and the moment of truth:


Hot Rivet on the way! :


Tah Dahhhh!!:

[Wayne Laepple]

Congratulations to all involved in the weekend's festivities. Having helped drive several hundred rivets, I am well-aware of the challenges this antique technology presents. Welding is lots easier, but what fun would that be? Kudos to all!! Oh, yeah -- thanks for the great photos, Gordon.

[Paul Horky]

Looks like a good time was had by all,sorry I missed all the fun. Hopefully someday i'll get the chance.

[Dana Deering]

'Twas a fun time.  I think part of our success could be attributed to Gordon's sacrificing his sole to the fire gods, we were a shoe-in after that...

[Ira Schreiber]

Great  going, guys.
The entire process is riveting.