June 2012 work planning

[James Patten]

Anticipated work for weekend of June 23:

* ROW cleanup?  See Fred
* #9 work - see Jason
* Restrooms - see Zack or Steve Z
* Car 65 - see Zack
* Grass clipping - see Fred

[Ken Fleming]

Has anyone given thought to using #52 to pull stumps?  Using a long wire rope (to reduce the angle of the pull) and a good log chain choker should do it.

[Robert Hale]

Has anyone given thought to using #52 to pull stumps?  Using a long wire rope (to reduce the angle of the pull) and a good log chain choker should do it.

I would not want to be on #52 when that cable broke. No thanks.

[Fred Morse]

We tried it this spring and had to replace a broken link in the chain we used.

All the string trimmers have been tried out and this Sat. the metal blades will be replaced with new ones on those machines. We have work for everyone now! It's all railroad work that has to be done to keep the museum looking good.

[James Patten]

Work done on June 23:

* Friday Jonathon and Steve Z retrieved a donated weed sprayer from a neighbor.  Jonathon got the spray equipment rigged up for the water tank car.

* Early in the morning Steve Z, Fred, Dwight, and Mike went north to deconstruct the work of some aquatic engineers, north/west of the trestle.  They were quickly successful.
* Mike and Dwight did some additional work on the spray equipment on the water tank car.
* Jason and team drilled holes in the smoke box to attach the outer bolts of the cylinder saddle.
* Bob C mowed at AC
* Fred, and John Rogers did some trimming on Septic Heights and below it. 
* Jason and Stewart put their heads together for Car 65 displays.

[James Patten]

Anticipated work for weekend of June 30:

* ROW clean up - see Fred
* #9 - see Jason
* Restrooms - see Zack

[Mike Fox]

I would like to run the Rowmow in the morning before train time. Just need an engineer.

[Stewart "Start" Rhine]

This week at Sheepscot -

Locomotive 9 - Jason worked on the smokebox mount to the cylinder casting saddle.  

Railcar 4 - The journal bearings and torque tube joints were greased.  A loose connection on the exhaust system down pipe was fixed.

Car 65 - As mentioned before, the display partition was installed.  Other projects included the display panels (see other post).

A diesel powered charter was run for a sorority group on Tuesday evening.

The first confirmed visitor that came because he saw the milk car arrived on Friday.  The fellow, Gene from Raliegh, N.C. is planning to build a railroad museum in N.C. that will have model trains in an exhibition hall and a 2 foot gauge railroad around the grounds.  He wanted to see the museum to get ideas on motive power, rolling stock and track construction.  He told me that he wants to build about a mile of two foot track with 40 or 50lb rail.  He added that the line would work around the grounds in a loop with a cross over in the middle.  He spoke of having a steam locomotive but admitted that the cost would be rather high.  Steve Z. sold him a membership so he's now part of the WW&F family.  Welcome aboard Gene, hope to see you again.

Stewart    

[John McNamara]

A diesel powered charter was run for a sorority group on Tuesday evening.

Speaking of charters, at what time are we expecting the Mystic Valley Railway Society on Wednesday? Any idea how many people? If over a trainload, are we going to do the "group A rides / group B tours," followed by "group A tours / group B rides" plan?

-John

[James Patten]

Work done on June 30:

* Fred, Steve Z and crew went north to clean up in and around Alna Center station (we have a wedding up there next weekend).
* A couple of kids showed up to work, so we started them on sweeping out the coaches, then moving wood from the woodpile near the oil house to the wood pile near the shop building, then removing nails from the turnstile storage.
* Later the turnstile was moved to near the big lathe at the south end of the shop.  Mike spent much of the afternoon putting nails into the turnstile and sorting them.
* Ed L, Jason, Stewart, Steve H and others spent much of the day working on the finishing touches for some displays in the car.
* Zack got #9's Johnson Bar installed.
* Steve Z built a ramp for Car 65.

[James Patten]

The Mystic Valley charter on the 4th will have them arriving at 11:30 for lunch, the train departs at 12 with 2 run-bys and returns by 1.  There's going to be about 35 people, so no need for multiple groups. 

[Mike Fox]

The sign was also delivered today for the Wedding Charter. Excellent Job. I'll take a picture of it next time, and include it after the wedding. I don't want to spoil anything, including the wording or decription.

[John McNamara]

Is there a story behind this wedding charter - how they heard of us, why they wanted to tie the knot here, local connections if any, etc? Assuming Mike is doing a picture of the sign, this sounds like a good small article for the newsletter.

-Your friendly newsletter editor (always hungry on 1/15, 4/15, 7/15, and 10/15)