June 2020 Work Reports

[James Patten]

Anticipated work for Saturday June 13:

* Rock the Mountain - ballast train in the morning.
* Ditching - Mike will be working on this.
* Car barn doors?
* Board meeting at 4 in Percival House, Ed will attempt to put us online.

[Paul Uhland]

Gittin 'er done, boys...way to go!

New biggie doors should look no-nonsense classy.

[Mike Fox]

I did a little ditching today..









I was even supplied with a supervisor, if you look close enough. A deer stood and watched me for a bit.

[James Patten]

Work done on Saturday June 13:

* Rock the Mountain: We had a good crew of 15 today.  Apparently we were supposed to wait until 8:30 for depature (as mentioned in Facebook), which I didn't know about, and I hadn't set a departure time here.  So we left early and left some people behind.  Fortunately they found their way.  We didn't put out as much rock this time around, as the weekday crew had jacked what we stoned the week before.  We refilled in the jacked area, then continued on to new track.  We did only one round of 4 cars in the morning.
* Rail replacement: Dana and Joe knew about a rail that needed to be replaced on the new track built last year, so they went to investigate.  Final result was no rail replaced, but they know what they need.
* Culvert replacement: Although finished with the culvert, Mike still needed to get material to the repair site.  We brought the tipcar up and left it for him at Sheepscot Mills.  He used it to haul material to the work site to dump.  He's done with that.
* Vehicle repair: The John Deere engine is apart looking for the solution to it quitting.  Brendan and Mike started to take apart the Case loader wheels to replace the brakes (only the left side removed).
* #9 repair: Alan was working on repairing a part of 9 that broke when the pilot got caught.
* Board meeting: Started at 4, was broadcast online, ended 6:20ish.

[Ed Lecuyer]

[Moderator's Note]
I have split the discussion regarding tip cars, hopper cars, and other ideas off of this thread and combined it into the existing topic on the matter:
http://forum.wwfry.org/index.php/topic,3046.0.html

There's a lot of info there on what has been considered.

That said, we'll be ballasting again this Saturday - come on down and "Rock the Mountain":
https://www.facebook.com/events/2445493742220522/

[James Patten]

Anticipated work for Saturday, Jun 20:

* Rock the Mountain: Departure at 8:30, and if we can manage an after-lunch ballast session we should try for that (we need two morning-and-afternoon sessions between now and Picnic).  This is all dependent on crew, weather, and equipment.
* Ditching: I think Mike will continue ditching.
* Vehicle and #9 repairs.

Remember that lunch is on your own, and volunteers from ME, NH and VT are able to come to Maine without the border patrol stopping you.  Anyone else needs to follow the latest Covid-19 testing guidelines.  And, of course, if you're sick: don't come.

[Mike Fox]

Yes, I plan to ditch on Davis Grade if I can get the Kubota moved there before the 8:30 departure..so I'll be in early..

[James Patten]

Work done on Saturday June 20:

* Ballasting: we had a crew of 9, we emptied 3.5 flatcars.  It was hot and humid, although semi-comfortable on The Mountain due to the shade of the trees (big difference in comfort between there and the Top of the Mountain which is in full sun).  We ran out of inspiration before we ran out of stone.
* Ditching: Mike was ditching on Davis Grade.  He got the Kubota moved first thing.

[Bill Reidy]

I was wondering how things went today.  We were in the low 90s down here by Boston, and checking on line I saw it wasn't much if any cooler in Alna.  Kudos to everyone there today.

[Mike Fox]

I set the Kubota up on the east bank and did most of the ditching from up there, until I got to a point where I could not reach any more. I waited until the rock guys were done, then I took the 52 and tip car and finished the last little bit. 2 tip cars worth of ditching.

My truck was sitting in the sun when I started it to head back for lunch



End of the day

[Graham Buxton]

I've noticed what appears to be a "weather-beaten" tarp that seems to line the tip car in several recent photos.  But I am having difficulty  as to why that tarp is present.   I can see that one might not want the liquid muck that may be present in a ditch to leak out on top of that pristine ballast , but it seems unlikely that a beat up tarp is waterproof.  So what what is the tarp for?

[Mike Fox]

The wet clay is sticky, so I lined the tip car with an old tarp to help release the goo. I am not sure if the stuff would stick in the tip car if I had not used the tarp, but I know it does not while using it, so I continued using it..

[Paul Uhland]

That loaded tip car looks just like a loaded, homeless shopping cart.   
 Sorry. We have increasingly too many of them in far off Abq.
Hope there's none near you.

PS Are the  big car barn doors up yet?

[Ed Lecuyer]

[Moderator's Note]
I have AGAIN split the discussion regarding tip cars, hopper cars, and other ideas off of this thread and combined it into the existing topic on the matter:
http://forum.wwfry.org/index.php/topic,3046.0.html

[James Patten]

Anticipated work for Saturday June 27.

* Rock the Mountain.  Morning train departs 8:30.  Depending on crew size and weather, we can try to do two cycles of 4 cars.
* Car barn
* Ditching along Davis Grade.
* Vehicle repair.