November 2022 Work Reports

[Bill Reidy]

Without commenting on numbering skates, I have wondered if there were someway to hang a skate on each car, near the non brake end, without compromising the historical accuracy of our fleet.  Suggestions anyone?  right now we just throw them onto flat cars, coaches, cabooses (cabeese?).  On our visitor cars they can eastly become a trip hazard.

Rather than figuring out where to locate or store a skate on each car, wouldn’t it make more sense to simply leave several skates in the areas where cars are normally parked? Maybe put a skate on each locomotive for the occasion when a car or cars may be left at some unusual location.

Thanks, Bill.  The additional skates are greatly needed.

A few thoughts from an operating crew perspective:
-- Skates are needed when cars are moved to some siding on the road where there is likely a grade.  I'm not a great judge on grades, so I am biased to using one when setting off a car.
-- I don't see the need and don't want to have a skate on board each car while in public operation.  It would be an unneccesary tripping hazard most unwelcome by me, as there's no way to stow a skate safely in most coaches.
-- For freight and maintenance-of-way cars, it might make some sense to have a skate directly assigned to some.
-- Wayne's suggestion to place skates in central location(s) at Sheepscot makes sense to me.  Perhaps at the north end of the car barn and the north end of the shop bays, and likely on each freight/MOW car.  Ben and others have done a terrific job in provisioning other train crew tools at Sheepscot Station.

"Every tool has its place" it is said.  The skates are another example, I'd say.

[Jason M Lamontagne]

I believe the skates should be centrally stored in a designated location in SS yard, with the exception of flatcars which should have a skate on board.  In fact someone (Bill B?) had created a set of hangers in the East outside wall of the garage for this purpose- which is the right idea, however that particular location is not safe as it creates a pinch point with equipment passing on that track.  I believe we should use those hangers for skate storage, relocated to a safer location.

As I told Bill B- I don’t feel it’s necessary to label the skates “skate,” however that’s more a preference than anything related to operations.  So- it’s artistic license as far as I’m concerned. 

Thanks Bill B for your work and initiative, and all here for the constructive conversation.

Jason

[Stephen Lennox]

From the track crews point of view, I'd like to see each tamper have its own skate, #52 have 1 long and 1 short handle skate and maybe stage a skate at AC and TOM inside Prebble. We can always use more trigs, we seem use them up on a regular basis and what some brakeman are using for a substitute is unacceptable or useless and dangerous.

[Joe Fox]

Maybe someone could make up some steel chocks to use instead of trigs? The wooden trigs seem to disappear very quickly, or are never easy to find when handling cars that need trigs.

[Benjamin Richards]

Maybe someone could make up some steel chocks to use instead of trigs? The wooden trigs seem to disappear very quickly, or are never easy to find when handling cars that need trigs.

I thought there was a specific reason they are wooden, and the size they are.

[Wayne Laepple]

A piece of 2x4 works great, especially if the wheel bites into the wood.

[Dave Buczkowski]

Many years ago when I was in private practice I represented an inventor (and dear friend) who had invented  a wireless (radar) in the ear hearing aid that could also be used as a voice activated cell phone. This was just a before Bluetooth was starting to become common. Anyway, for various reasons, Motorola was tangentially interested with another entity in licensing the patent. We were invited to the then headquarters in Schaumburg, IL. As part of the dance we were taken on a tour of Motorola’s private museum. Motorola got its start making car radios way back when. My eyes fell upon a radio-walky-talky device like you would see in old WWII movies. The curious thing was that it was damaged. I asked the guide why they would display a broken radio.
It seems the railroads around the Chicago area and beyond used them. Motorola noticed a very high incidence of warranty returns from the railroads that did not exist with other non-railroad customers. Motorola sent a team to follow the crews around to see if they could figure out why. It turns out the brakemen and conductors were using them as what the guide called “wheel chocks” on their freight trains. It was a “run what ya brung” sort of thing. Maybe Joe Fox has heard of this😉
Dave

[Jay Barta]

Last month I mounted a skate on the exterior wall of the garage adjacent to the ramp track.

[Ed Lecuyer]

Our now annual work day in Phillips is next Saturday, November 5, 2022.

Hunt Dowse found this video documenting the 2022 Sandy River work session and suggested it be posted:
https://youtu.be/IznCyOL2VTE

[Keith Taylor]

A piece of 2x4 works great, especially if the wheel bites into the wood.

On the Lehigh Valley RR we used a chain on either side of a wheel to secure equipment.
All around the service tracks at the round house you would find chains laying on the ground to be used as wheel chocks. They lasted a lot longer than 2 x4’s!
Keith

[Wayne Laepple]

We used chains to secure locomotives as well, but out in the field, if we needed to make sure a car wasn't going to roll away during switching operations, a 2 x 4 or a chunk of a tie would serve as a temporary chock. If we were leaving a string of cars somewhere, especially on a grade, we would put a skate under the downhill car in addition to applying an appropriate number of hand brakes.

[ALAIN DELASSUS]

On the TPT Tramway de Pithiviers à Toury they used to place a small stone between the rail and the wheeltread to anchor standing cars.  Was it really efficient ? I doubt it. On the AMTP we use plain steel skates they are efficient especially when someone forget to take it away before switching the car. It slides gently on the rail up to the nearest switch frog..... Just kidding. Well, hardly.