April 2013 work planning

[James Patten]

One rack was removed, the other rack remains.  The tamper heads can still move in and out.

[Mike Fox]

The upper rack appeared to have jammed against the opposite bracket and sheared off what looks like a rivet. The rack and pinion set up had allowed equal movement in and out of the tamper heads. Now it is a matter of least resistance. It does not affect the operation of the tamper, but I will be putting the rack back together by work weekend for the production work. Makes for error proof adjustment of the heads.

3 of us loaded 8 rails on the metal work flat. Ichabod made a great improvement in picking the rails from the ground. I think the tried and true way of loading rails from a rail pile is the way to go, but when one person can lift 600lb rail from the ground while two others just direct it, it does make a huge difference in crew effort and fatigue.

Also, one tie was replaced on the ladder by the Rail crew, as well as acquiring joint bars from AC and surveying points and frogs near Brook Crossing.

Brendan arrived in the afternoon to work on the tank some, with some sandblasting planned for Monday.
Cars were also positioned in the yard to facilitate Oily so he can do his quarterly journal inspections.

[James Patten]

Steve, your mention of the "rack-and-pinion drive" reminds me of the "rack-and-pinion molecule" in a Daffy Duck cartoon.  Daffy is "Duck Dodgers in the 24th-and-a-half Century".

[Mike Fox]

Also in the forgot to mention category, I used the tractor this afternoon to drain "parkinglot pond" this afternoon. The standing water has kept the parking area soupy. Hopefully this will help some of it dry up in time for the work weekend. Otherwise, that standing water would have kept the mud around for a long time.

We need a ditch badly at the upper end of the parking area to get the ground water away from the area. Hopefully when Jeff comes back, this is on his to-do list.

[Steve Smith]

Thanks for moving the cars for me. I plan to go to Sheepscot Monday.

James, I didn't know about Daffy and the rack and pinion molecule, but just now YouTube filled in that gap in my cultural education. YT seems to have page after page of Daffy Duck episodes. I'll bet Daffy's little sidekick, Space Cadet, could fix the broken rack in a jiffy.

[Stewart "Start" Rhine]

Daffy Duck could have helped us but Fred and the tractor did very well with another job.  The bay 1 front door posts were frost heaved a bit and we had a choice, reset them or pull them.  Leon arrived with a nice new steel door holding arm (like the one he made for bay 3) so we decided to pull the posts and fill the holes.  We set a pulling chain and the tractor pulled them right out.  Leon then went to work installing the new door holder.  The post removed gives us more room when working in front of bay 1 and allows the snow plow to better clear.  It also gives the front a more 1920's period look.

The tractor is a great addition to the museum's equipment.

Stewart

[James Patten]

Anticipated work for April 20:

It's the calm before the Work Weekend Storm.  A number of regulars will not be there (including myself).  Nevertheless:

* Big Joe: I think Mike has some parts and pieces to put on it before it's ready for the SWW.
* Restrooms: I'm sure Zack is up to something
* Station: more prep work by Stewart.
* #9: No Jason, but others may be working on it.

[Stewart "Start" Rhine]

Work done on Sat, April 20th:

* Restrooms - Zack did some plumbing work and installed the first stall dividers.

* Railcar - Leon greased the wheel bearings, changed the oil, installed new spark plugs and converted the oil check to a dip stick system.  The railcar was run to AC and return for testing.

* #9 - Eric cleaned the crossheads and Leon worked on the boiler jacket stand-off bands.

* Big Joe - Mike reinstalled the hydraulic (drive) motor and a new hydro brake which stops the motor.  He tested the new equipment by running the tamper in the yard.

* Track - Due to a number of wind storms lately, an inspection train was run to EoT and back.  There were a lot of broken off trees but none landed on the track.

* Chow - The kitchen crew checked food supplies for next weekend's Work Weekend.

* Gift Shop - Linda got the shop ready for the season.  The first 10 WW&F Anniversary lanterns have been sold so 3 more have been unpacked and set out.  They have red, clear and green globes.

* Depot - The SHEEPSCOT station sign was cleaned and re-painted/lettered.

[Brendan Barry]

The carpenter with his shiny new ford pickup last Monday 4/15.

[Fred Morse]

I think everyone who was at last april work weekend building the forms for the new bathrooms will be very pleased at the progress done on it and the way it's turning out. I hope people will see the new crane in operation this coming week. The painting and station repairs will really spruce up the museum. I'm really looking for a fruitful and busy weekend. Number 9 has come a long way also, and its good to see a lot of new faces working on it. Three cheers for our museum and the things accomplished in the past year. It's onward to making our museum bigger and better this coming year.

[Richard "Steam" Symmes]

The facilities (especially the bathrooms) must be constantly maintained in a state of cleanliness. I've been to some industrial museum facilities which are nice, but are lacking in details such as rubbish removal, lavatory sanitation (odors?) and various other small things. The devil is in the details and the public notices such things.

[Mike Fox]

In the forgot to mention category, Fred, myself and others stuffed inserts into the 2013 museum brochures. This is a redesigned brochure and really looks nice. The 2 sided insert has the years information on it, such as special events and activities, schedules, and fares. Over 1500 were completed by lunch.

[Stewart "Start" Rhine]

Thanks for adding that Mike.  Along with you and Fred, Gordon and Elizabeth Davis stuffed a batch of them at their home.  I think they did about 500.  Saturday was a very productive day!

[Stephen Hussar]

For those who have not yet seen the new brochure...
Many thanks to designer John Holden for all of his wonderful work!

[Stewart "Start" Rhine]

Note the use of a QR code in the new brochure.  We are also looking at having a QR code on the donation box in the gift shop.  That would allow visitors to use their iphone, etc to access paypal to make a donation.