October 2015 Work Planning

[Wayne Laepple]

I agree 100% with Jason with regard to keeping some sticks of the 33# rail for spares. Speaking from my own experience, I was caught short some 28 years ago when the railroad I worked for was rehabbed with state and federal funds. The majority of our line was laid with 101# DL&W rail, a rare section. Unbeknownst to me, the contractor replacing damaged rails (there were lots and lots of bolt-hole breaks in the joint bars) was taking the damaged rails for scrap and using up our stock of spare full-length rails. The end result was that not only did he run out of spare rails, but we wound up having to re-lay a half mile of track with 100-pound Reading rail in order to get enough 101DL&W rail to complete the project. Fortunately, there were no switches in that half mile of "new" track. The two rail sections mated up quite well, but the joint bars were not compatible and didn't have the same drilling. So it was a colossal pain in the you-know-what. Some time later, we were able to buy a truckload of 101DL rail from a take-up in New Jersey so we would have a stock of spares.

[Carl G. Soderstrom]

More ties to the mile will give higher axle loading - correct?
So it comes down to the cost of ties versus rail - so if 33# rail will "never"
be available again better to hang on to "some" to be able to repair critical locations "forever".

Just my 4 ha' penny.

[Mike Fox]

Can we increase to the next size up, 40#, or did we use all that too? Also, I would like to load ramp parts on a flat Saturday morning and build the north ramp. And get it done before train time. Then the south ramp can be constructed during the day. Then I plan on a little Kubota work, removing the head to make certain the trouble before I order parts. The dozer will be going north in a couple weeks for what will probably be a day of work, main line grading.

[Jason M Lamontagne]

There's only a few sticks of 40 left.

One thing we should decide is how far the woods track is going.  That'll help determine the 33 usage.

Jason

[Ken Fleming]

Will the woods track be an industrial track?  With saw mill and/or shingle mill with team track end?  If so, make it as long as we can.

[Paul Uhland]

My understanding is the woods track would parallel the parking lot's west edge, providing a level place to transfer freight or rail vehicles truck-to-track and vice-versa, could be extended max to the shoulder of Cross Road.
Options could include a high platform on one side...or an elevated track end to match flatbed height (per Cumbres and Toltec or Silverton Northern RRs).

[Mike Fox]

Actually, the woods track was planned to stop parallel with the pine stump that has yet to be removed. Brendan would like it to have a small ramp on the end, about the height of the beavertail on the museums trailer. This will not only make it easier to load and unload our trailer, but also it would be easier loading from a Landall style trailer, which is what has delivered most of our equipment.

Between the ramp and the garden shed, we have talked of flooding the track with either ballast or gravel, so a loaded truck could back in and unload rail to a rail pile. This would save labor, rather than unloading the truck either onto the ground or onto the flats, by putting it directly in storage until needed.

[Wayne Laepple]

Instead of a permanent ramp at the end of the Woods Track, how about a section of track that could be jacked up and blocked at whatever height necessary to access either our own trailer or any Landoll or other as necessary. I've seen that arrangement at several trolley museums I've visited. The trouble with buried track, whether in stone or pavement, is that you can't see the condition of the ties beneath the surface.

[James Patten]

Work done today, October 24:

* Car barn: The south wall is completely boarded over, including the eaves.  Meanwhile Fred, Leon, and others were busy ripping battens and other long dimensional lumber.
* Loco 9: Marcel was working on the running boards.  Because the old running boards are in rather hard shape, we're putting in new.  Some other work may have been happening.
* Track: Stewart did some ballasting with the tractor on the approach track for the first bay of the barn.  Dave B drilled holes on the new joint bars for the small rail.
* Ramp: Mike started assembling a ramp to get dozer and maybe other equipment onto flatcars for a trip north.
* Whitefield section house: This week we had delivery of hardwood for the floors.  It currently sits on a flatcar under cover in the car barn.
* Manual switching: Forgot to mention that Mike moved every one of the 4-wheeled work flats by hand, mainly to get at the crane car.

[Mike Fox]

[Ira Schreiber]

Looking good.

[John Kokas]

Is the plastic corrugated pipe for drainage work around Sheepscot or for the start of washout repair?

[Mike Fox]

No. Too small. It will be used in future drainage improvements

[Pete "Cosmo" Barrington]

No. Too small. It will be used in future drainage improvements

Good to know. I have an idea or two about what/how to do the washout drainage, but I'm sure it'sd nothing that anyone else hasn't thought of and/or mentioned somewhere in this forum. 

[Bill Reidy]

Work done today, October 24:

* Car barn: The south wall is completely boarded over, including the eaves.  Meanwhile Fred, Leon, and others were busy ripping battens and other long dimensional lumber.
* Loco 9: Marcel was working on the running boards.  Because the old running boards are in rather hard shape, we're putting in new.  Some other work may have been happening.
* Track: Stewart did some ballasting with the tractor on the approach track for the first bay of the barn.  Dave B drilled holes on the new joint bars for the small rail.
* Ramp: Mike started assembling a ramp to get dozer and maybe other equipment onto flatcars for a trip north.
* Whitefield section house: This week we had delivery of hardwood for the floors.  It currently sits on a flatcar under cover in the car barn.
* Manual switching: Forgot to mention that Mike moved every one of the 4-wheeled work flats by hand, mainly to get at the crane car.

The last of the brush was also cut off the elevated right-of-way at Head Tide north of the cut -- something that hadn't quite been completed in August.