W.W.&F. Discussion Forum
WW&F Railway Museum Discussion => Volunteers => Topic started by: James Patten on June 01, 2011, 06:03:01 AM
-
Anticipated work for weekend of June 4:
* Track work Saturday: We'll start where we left off on Monday, starting at 7:30 or sooner if possible. We'll work until 9:30 and then move north. I've heard Dana say several times he'd like to hit the track north of Albee's Crossing (and some of the joints there are pretty terrible) so we'll do that while trains are running. Depending on the extent of the work, we may dodge trains or not - depends if only joints need lifting, or if the track itself is severely out of level. Let me remind everyone that we need at least 3 people to make it work and 5+ to make it work well.
* #9 frame work will continue.
* Trains running both Saturday and Sunday. Sundays tend to have fewer volunteers but more visitors.
* Zack may be starting soon to work on the restrooms (I don't know).
* I suspect Fred will continue mowing.
-
One of those Saturdays I can't make it. There was also a joint or two near the field I thought was lower than the rest when I was up there last.
-
Work done on June 4:
* Track work: not enough people showed up to help, so I didn't go out. Too bad because we only ran one train today. The only track work I did was in front of Sheepscot Station, Stewart and I dug out under the tie with the metal switch plates that hadn't been put in yet, got the tie down enough so that the plate could fit underneath, then spiked them in place.
* #9: Jason worked on getting some custom machined bolts in the frame connecting casting to rear frame. Leon and I worked on setting up the center casting connector.
* Mowing: Fred mowed up at Head Tide.
* Brigid and Cindy made lunch. Yumm!
-
My apologies for not being as available for work as I originally planned. My only excuse has 3 words: Work, Wife and House - Red
-
James,
After you left coach 3 was cleaned (windows washed and floor swept) in preperation for the charter on the 10th.
Stewart
-
It was work for me. No time for play today.
-
Sat's Bath Iron Works Free day has been announced today at Bath Iron Works. I hope we get a crowd and maybe some will become volunteers in the future. Last Sat. I think we sold Two tickets.
-
Anticipated work weekend of June 11:
* Friday is the Hebron Academy charter. Teachers and staff from the Academy are coming, and will be given not only train rides, but a full tour of the facilities as well as talks on the history of the WW&F and Maine railroading. Well over 100 people are expected. Both steam and diesel will be running.
* Friday evening is the June board meeting.
* Saturday is BIW Day. Steam will be running. Hopefully we'll have a crowd. We'll need tour guides, docents, as well as train crew and gift shop crew.
* Beyond what's happening for BIW, I don't know if much else is happening. Probably there'll be #9 frame work.
* Sunday I think is a diesel day.
-
till what time will steam be running on friday?
-
Friday is a private charter. Steam scheduled until 4 I believe.
-
The Hebron group arrives at 11:00 and the first trip will be at 11:20. There will be a number of trips with 52 and 10. Engine 10 will pull a mixed train with box 309, flats 118 and 126 and coach 3 in the afternoon. J. Robertson will dispatch from SS. Z. Wyllie and D. Sanger will host hand car rides and a switching demonstration at AC, Zack will be the agent. There will be some light engine moves and the railcar will operate in Sheepscot Yard. Equipment Seminars will be conducted by S. Zuppa and J. McNamara. A talk on historic WW&F stations and operations will be presented by F. Morse. Railroad operating practices and signals will be presented by S. Rhine. D. Winkley and B. Wittemore will run 52 for train and switching ops. J. Lamontagne and J. Fox will crew engine 10. Things should wrap at 4:00.
Stewart
-
Gee, I hope someone takes some photos. A record of this (and Saturday's activities) could be valuable tool when seeking grant funds.
-
Picked up some scrap rubber today to make wipers for the tamper. Something to clean the stone from the rails. Will be similar to what is found on a speeder.
-
Work done Friday & Saturday:
* Friday was the Hebron Academy charter. About 80 people showed up. From the sounds of it, everyone enjoyed themselves. There's talk of returning in the fall with students.
* Saturday was BIW day. Trains (2 cars) were over 50% capacity for most of the day, plus the railcar went out following. Fred was busy greeting and showing people around.
* Phil shoveled sand in front of the doghouse, putting in partial ties in the ground.
* Phil and Brigid worked on the garden.
* Mike put the rail wipers on the tamper wheels.
* Jason, Leon, Dwight, and myself worked on #9's frame. Marcel worked on the cab.
-
The Hebron Academy group of about 60 arrived right on time. Steve Z. welcomed them as he stood on the south end of coach 8. After some brief statements the group was divided into 2 smaller groups. The first group boarded the steam train for a trip to AC with historic perspectives given by the train crew. The second group remained at Sheepscot and was divided into 3 smaller groups of about 10 each. Steve Z., John M. and Stewart R. gave tours and instructive seminars to each group in a specific area of the yard/shop. After about 15 minutes the groups switched to a different instructor and learned about other aspects of the museum and the history of two-foot gauge railroads in Maine. Subjects covered were rolling stock (design and use) railroad structures (how they support railroad operations) and track and yard design and it's function. Model T railcar rides were given through the yard and up to the Yard Limit.
When the first train came back to SS, the planned lunch break started on schedule. The visitors gathered for pizza on the covered station platform and around the picnic tables near the house. When lunch was complete the two groups changed places with the second group taking the steam powered train to AC and the first group having the seminars at Sheepscot. The steam train's passengers detrained at AC and gathered in the field west of the siding. Note: Handcar #2 was at AC for visitors to try while they waited. Engine 10's train returned to SS. The rest of the visitors at Sheepscot were then taken to AC by a diesel powered train which dropped it's passengers so they could gather in the field with the first group. All our guests were then arranged in a photo line in the field so they could film #10 arriving at AC with a mixed train of 118, 126, 309 and coach 3. The guests were thrilled to see the train storm up the grade and there were many positive comments from the crowd. The next part of the program featured switching moves at AC that left the cut of freight cars on the siding and all the passenger cars on #10's train. The museum's Model A truck was driven to AC by Stewart who parked it on the Averill Rd as a photo prop. Stewart stood on the hand car (off the rails) during the switching demonstration and gave a description of the moves and why switching was important to railroad operations.
With switching complete, the 4 car steam train gave everyone a ride to Eot with extra train crew on board to speak with the visitors about the museum. The steam train returned everyone to Sheepscot and things wrapped on time with many The Hebron folks telling the crew they had a great day and would come back.
It was a good day for educators learning about the WW&F and how it served the Sheepscot Valley.
Special thanks to Brad Whittemore for arranging the event.
-
B I W Day was success with over 150 passengers. Some took a railcar trip after riding the steam train. Gift shop sales were brisk and the donation box did not go hungry.
Stewart
-
Here is a shot of the wiper or sweep or what ever you call it. I call it done. ;D Sorry for the poor quality. No camera today, just my phone.
(http://i1132.photobucket.com/albums/m573/miketrainnut/sweep.jpg)
-
Saturday there was a special treat at lunch. The kitchen crew and the Fox family had deli style sandwiches and a large cake to celebrate Joe's 21st birthday (which was earlier in the week). The cake featured a photo of Joe when he was 3 years old. Everyone signed a card for Joe who didn't have much time to be in the house as he was the engineman on #10.
Happy Birthday Joe!
-
Stewart, The first real weekend of June looks to be a great sucess. Hebron Academy program is just what the museum is all about, is the school near the railroad? Happy Birthday to Joe and thanks for your volunteering. Fred L. Kuhns
-
Fred, Hebron Academy is a private school located abut 60 miles from the museum. From what I have heard, they are interested and plan to return with students in the fall. The museum is a great educational tool of how things used to get from here to there. In todays world of internet, instant messaging and cell phones, it is hard for youngsters to imagine how it used to be. Even if they read about it, it is still easier to grasp after seeing it in person.
-
I have visited Hebron Academy. It is a private boarding school and appears to be a first class operation.
It has a beautiful campus.
Ira Schreiber
-
Anticipated work for weekend of June 18:
* This is a steam weekend (both days) because of Father's Day
* I don't believe Jason will be around to spearhead #9 work. However this is the 3rd Saturday of the month, typically a #9 day, so likely somebody will be doing something on #9.
* Brigid will probably be gardening.
* Fred may be mowing grass on the ROW
-
Actually at this point I am planning on being there Saturday to lead a riveting party on NO 9, though this isnt' guarunteed. I am trying to honor the 3rd Sat of the month pattern.
Jason
-
..riveting party...
And it just so happens that our very own rivet gun arrived yesterday at my house. I'm dropping it off tonight. We can now build everything in metal!
-
As rivetting as it would be to attend, the boss has other ideas. Working all weekend.
-
As rivetting as it would be to attend...
You have been working too closely with Fred.
-
Big day for the WW&F. All the hot rivets have been installed, connecting the new smokebox to number 9's boiler. A crew consisting of Jason, Dana, Brendan, Dave Crow (from Maryland), Leon, Stewart, Steve Z., Bryce, Steve H., Zack and others began early setting up for a day of riveting. Dana set up two forges in front of Bay 1 and the air car was brought into Bay 2 to power the rivet gun. Another air compressor was set up to power the rivet "bucking" unit. Holes were measured and rivets were custom cut to fit the smokebox holes. The saddle plate at the bottom required longer rivets so they were done last. Steve H. took many photos and video of the procedure which started with rivets being heated red-hot in the forge. When the rivets were ready they were pulled out by Dana, handed to Steve Z. who placed them in the holes, the stem was grabbed by Leon and the buck placed by Dave. Special tools were used to handle the hot rivets. When the "bucker" was set Dave would shout "GO!" and Jason would start the rivet gun. The process was repeated for each rivet. The gun was used outside intil the bottom rivets when the gun was moved inside and the bucker was placed underneath the boiler. The whole operation took about 5 hours. Jason can better explain the process and how things went. Steve H. will post photos from today.
Engine 9's smokebox and boiler are now one complete unit. The last time a new two-foot gauge locomotive boiler and smokebox were riveted together in the State of Maine was when B&SR #5 was built by the Portland Company in 1906, 105 years ago.
Stewart
-
Other progress from Saturday, 6/18/11. Ed L's family (Mrs and daughter) did a great job cleaning Sheepscot Station. New files were created for conductor's reports and a lot of paperwork was organized. It was nice to see Emily again, she has gotten so tall! Ed worked on the train all day. Jonathan Conducted and Rick and Roger ran #10.
Stewart
-
Ed L's family (Mrs and daughter) did a great job cleaning Sheepscot Station.
Did they find the missing General Orders? ::) (which were theorized to be somewhere in the station)
-
Did they find the missing General Orders?
After explaining to Mrs. L. (Michelle) what a "General Order" was, she recalls that they are probably mixed in with either the Conductor's Reports or Dispatcher Reports that are in green hanging file folders. These folders are in a pile in the Percival House office - next to the filing cabinet.
There are other "archives" in that pile - in a white crate. The important stuff (old conductors/dispatchers reports) are on top, sorted (I think) by year. The exception to this are the 2011 conductor's reports (to date.) These are with me to try to create a data-entry/reporting system for. (Which I will email effected parties separately about.)
On the table of the Percival House is a collection of older and recent magazines/newsletters. Any member should fill free to help themselves. Leftovers can either be discarded, or placed in the "free" bin in the gift shop.
-
Ok, I cannot remember if I asked before, but why are there different shaped rivets on locomotives or even structures? I have seen from visiting different museums that there are many different shaped rivets. I have seen the standard round head, but also I have seen the cone shaped, tapered style and even the type that had the center punched in thus expanding the rivet end. Are these different shapes dependent on the use and duty they will preform?
Rob
-looking forward to the pics BTW.
-
I should add Jonathan St Mary's contribution where, on Friday, he began the machining and assembly of our new buck- home-made mostly from McMaster-Carr items. Jonathan got a great head start; Saturday morning Brendan, Dave and I completed the device- at least sufficiently for the day. Over the course of the day a few design improvement possibilites made themselves quite obvious.
We drove about 14 rivets per hour, with no rejects (no rejects for this application, anyway). There are a number of important features to getting a good rivet. First is temperature- white hot, just short of sparkling (burning), out of the forge to provide the greatest length of time to drive prior to being too cool to drive. White hot is around 1900 deg F; the rivet can be driven down to about 1250 deg F. Next the transit time from the forge to "Go!" must be minimized, for the same reason. Starting the driving at 1400 deg. F doesn't work- not enough time to swell the shank and form the head. The buck must be firm on the back side- this is somewhat obvious I suppose. The last important item is the riveter having as much body mass behind the gun as possible (or an incredible amount of upper body strength)-- so all energy from the gun goes into driving the rivet and not bouncing the rivet gun, and operator, all over the place. It's a lot of fun when it all goes right.
No 9's frame is coming along quite well- with nearly all holes attaching the important rear frame members, including the casting, prepared for fitted bolts. The next step will be to flip the rear frame assembly over to fit the truck center casting, rear beam, and straps that form a gusset between these components. We'll begin work on the forward frame shortly as well.
This year's progress on No 9 has felt great so far. We'll have to keep up the momentum.
Be patient with Stephen H on getting pics up-- I believe he's facing a major business trip in the next few days.
Jason
-
To Robert's rivet shape question- I've never heard conclusive reasons, though there may be some. Our experience has given us a hint- some rivet styles are easier to caulk (for sealing purposes) than others. Both styles of conical heads (full cone, and with flat-topped head) are easier to caulk than button heads. I believe button heads are considered better looking and are used where caulking may not be required. Flush heads are obviously used in restricted-clearance circumstances.
This information is entirely disputable!
see ya
Jason
-
Thanks to all for the hard work of riveting on No. 9. Having heated, bucked or driven maybe a thousand or so (at least it seems that way) over the past 20 years, I can say it is one of the most satisfying facets of steam locomotive restoration, at least in my opinion. I wish I'd been there with you all on Saturday.
-
It was also Steve Z's birthday earlier that same week. My birthday was the 8th, and his was the 9th. So there were two cakes there that day, and unfortunately I grabbed a small piece, inhaled it, and went out the door to go back to the engine. The new ash pan is nice though because it gives the engine crew a chance to have a little lunch without inhaling all of our meal between the 11 and 12 trip. The BIW day had a lot of first time WW&F riders, as well as people who never even knew we existed. I'd say the day was a huge success. Some of the riders from BIW said they would love to come up a few more times, and maybe some day volunteer.
-
We had people who had never been on a train before that day, and the WW&F ride was there first! I heard many a remarks about how wonderful the ride was from those people and how they might look more into train travel instead of driving or flying everywhere.
-
Sat. and Sun. being Fathers day weekend there was quite a few members there. As I was cutting grass up North at Head Tide I did not see all the activitys going on. I did see Ed L., his wife and Emily cleaning uo Sheepscot Station and quite a crew riviting on the smoke box of #9. Some people ask, Why are you working on a foot trail at Head Tide. When we were given the easement from Head Tide church North we agreed to cut the brush and trees from the fill by Rt 194 and put walking bridges over places where steel culverts were removed years ago. A few winters ago our crew cleared the fill at 194 south to the center of the deep cut by Head Tide Church. Last year Dwight W. Eric L. and I cut the grass about 3/4 of a mile between Rt 194 and Rt 218 to the South. Eric L. over the years had put in a few small Bridges and this year we hope to finish the last Two. One has already been build and we hope to build the second one on or before the fall work weekend. This will make a great walking path along the roadbed for our members and the people of Alna until such time as we want to lay rail there.
-
Here's some information about the yearly right of way grass cutting. You can see all the row that is mowed each year where the main line rails are in place. But the rest of the row is mowed with gas string trimmers (sometimes with steel bush blades) from the end of track just south of Top of the Mountain down the grade headed north to just past Head Tide Church. All the land owners have agreed that we may cut the grass on there land to open a walking trail. The main cutting program starts in July (July 11th this year). Whan you cut sooner you may have to be cut a second time. During Nov. we only cut the row on Sundays (no Hunting on Sundays in Maine). Most years the first snow put a stop to the cutting. I have gone out early in the Spring to cut the brush that grew on the row the year before.
Last year in Dec. the line sight clearence was improved at Albee's Crossing. This year Rose Wood Crossing is being improved.
dwight
-
Anticipated work for weekend of June 25:
* Fred is in charge of grass cutting.
* #9 frame activity
* Brigid is working on the garden
* Trains are diesel-pulled this weekend. Regular Steam starts next weekend.
With this weekend sandwiched between a heavy weekend and a holiday weekend, I suspect volunteer attendance will be light. But the more that show up, the more we can do.
-
Work done on June 25:
* #9 frame work is continuing. The forward frame pieces were brought out, lined up, and welded together (with spacers separating them) so that Jason can eventually mill them.
* Jason was also making bolts for the frame casting/rear frame.
* Stewart and Steve H tightened down the numberplate on 9, and installed the rear plate cover to the smokebox door.
* Jason and Stewart investigated a problem with the railcar's engine. More bugs to work out.
Thunderstorms and heavy rain in the morning kept the visitor count down, although we ran nearly every train.
This past week, the Maine DOT dropped off some scrapings from beside Rt 218, which will be used as fill in the low spots for the approaches to the roundhouse. Some nice dirt but I can't believe how much blue clay is in it. Alna would be a rich town if it could figure out how to market it.
-
Next weekend, due to having all the parts for the next 30 ft walking path bridge on the AA truck ready to go North. We plan on unloading it Sat. morning early. If we can get a lot of people for a half hour we can get everything to the location to build it. They need the truck for the forth of July parade. Soon we'll have a great path between Rt. 194 and 218. Please all pitch in a few minutes of your time.
-
A bit more on #9's smokebox. We got a group of matching bolts to set in the forward ring. These will become the permanent stud bolts that the smokebox front affixes to. With the bolts in place the front cover was set and bolted with the holes that lined up. About half the holes had to be hand reamed to fit the bolt placement. When the cover was done, the rest of the bolts were installed. A box of old fashioned square nuts was brought out and the nuts threads were chased to correctly fit the new bolts. With most of the nuts in place, the four inch bolts for the grab iron were installed and the grab iron bolted on. The guard plate on the back of the smokebox door was installed by re-taping the bolt holes in the casting and installing new bolts.
The smokebox front will be removed again to assemble everything inside but the front now has the look that it will have when in service.
Stewart
-
Last Sunday went well at the railroad. We had about 50 Passengers and the weather was good. One couple from PA spent some time looking things over and taking a train ride. They both had a turn riding in the cab with Steve Z. They were so impressed with the museum that the fellow signed up for a life membership.
Monday we ran a charter for a 50th High School reunion. The guests came from a number of places including some Western states. The group toured the shop and rode to EoT behind #52. They left thanking us, saying they had a great time.
Stewart
-
Pictures from the Head Tide footbridge project...
(http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2003-8/342468/FredMorse1stbridgeHeadTideJuly2011.jpg)
(http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2003-8/342468/FredMorse2ndbridgesm.jpg)
-
hope to get walking bridge #2 done next Sat.
-
These look so nice that we will not want to take them down when we get up there!