W.W.&F. Discussion Forum
WW&F Railway Museum Discussion => Museum Discussion => Topic started by: Fred Morse on May 08, 2012, 09:04:23 AM
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It was brought up in "Dreaming of going South", that maintaining the ROW as we build more tracks North or South that we will have a problem keeping the grass cut. As one of the very few members that cut the grass for 2 and 3/4 miles on both sides of the ROW I see it every year. Some of our ROW have had the trees cut off the full 66 Ft. wide, most of it 50 Ft. wide and some 40 Ft. wide as per the former owners. Starting in July it takes until Nov. to complete it. We did not get it finished last year mostly due to rain. It also takes us away from doing other important things. We now have the Row-Mow 4 Ft. mower which should take care of cutting the ditches. Here are a few ideas.
1. Cut the grass on 1/2 of the ROW one year and the rest the next year.
2. Cut less width, maybe 15 or 20 Ft. each side of the center line and let the rest grow up.
3 When we do go North or South cut less width on ROW.
Any more ideas?
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We've recently had this discussion for the Long Range Plan.
How much of the ROW is mowable using a mowing machine of some kind? If we did some landscaping in judicious places, how much more is mowable? There will always be spots that can only be done with humans (the steep embankments by the stream beds) but if we could do 70% of it with a machine that would be a huge help.
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Any chance that prisoners could be utilized? They do all sorts of work down here in Mass. They are supervised by police at all times.
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I talked to the person who runs the twin county jail in wiscasset, When I told him we had a telephone line along the right of way he thought we might not want them around there.
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I talked to the person who runs the twin county jail in wiscasset, When I told him we had a telephone line along the right of way he thought we might not want them around there.
Is the problem that they might use the telephone line to order drugs or that they might rip it up and sell the copper?
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The wire might walk off.
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I can't believe the work couldn't be supervised well enough to prevent theft of the phone wire. Enough wire to make it worth taking would be hard to hide when leaving the property, I would think.
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I know of one museum which was the victim of a substantial burglary perpetrated by a former work-release inmate. The guy apparently "cased the place" while working and knew exactly where the items he wanted to take were located. As for the telephone line along our track, I don't believe there is enough copper there for even the most desperate meth-head to undertake the work necessary to steal it.
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That's what we were talking about, caseing the joint. Most of the wire used is electical underground wire lying on the ground. It's very expensive to replace. I know a 1000 Ft. reel of the wire is very heavy. We have 2 and 3/4 miles of it out there.
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Sheep
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I know a 1000 Ft. reel of the wire is very heavy.
...and costs about $300. Therefore 2 and 3/4 miles is about $4,356.
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Sheep. "Cheep"
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As scrap, the wire would probably net less than $100. To be recycled, the insulation would have to be removed, and that's more work than removing it. At least around here, the thieves are more interested in copper pipe and downspouts than they are in wire. And a few of them have sustained serious injuries by trying to steal LIVE wires carrying substantial voltage -- upwards of 3,000 volts. ZAP!
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Sheep
Not baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad!
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Many ski resorts use sheep as a low intensity method of brush mitigation.
Thieves will take ANY copper they can get. When dealing with wire they will either scrap it as is with the insulation, toss it in a fire to try and melt the insulation off, or some have bench-top cranks that the wire can be fed into and will split the insulation right off, the price of copper makes every little bit count and when they are working in a location that is unattended they will take meticulously take everything they can get.
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Sheep could graze the ROW all week long...and our younger vistors will love to see (and feed them) in their pen on the weekends :)
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My recollection is that the yurt residents had some that used to trim the grass at Sheepscot Mills.
-John
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The sheep would just atract more lions. ;D
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Not Sheep.
Cows.
They are natural Lawn Mooers.
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Sheep to cut the grass, not a baaaaaaad idea. Well, it would put the sheep back in Sheepscot.
Who ever brought it up ... thank ewe.
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Enough, already!
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Many ski resorts use sheep as a low intensity method of brush mitigation.
Thieves will take ANY copper they can get. When dealing with wire they will either scrap it as is with the insulation, toss it in a fire to try and melt the insulation off, or some have bench-top cranks that the wire can be fed into and will split the insulation right off, the price of copper makes every little bit count and when they are working in a location that is unattended they will take meticulously take everything they can get.
Paul, Just across the river in Benton, the company I work for had some electrical cable stored on a trailer. It was in the process of being moved to a new location. Over one weekend, someone cut the lock on the gate, hooked onto the trailer and made off with it.
Luck was not on their side however. When they burned the casing off the wires that same day, someone called them in for illegal burning. Cops showed up, noticed the company trailer with all the markings still on it. I do believe they went for a ride.
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Maybe we should not cut the grass at all and just cut the small bushes and trees every Four or Five years. Would there be a fire hazard doing that using the steam engine?
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I guess we can use the North section of Davis Grade as an experiment. It was never cut last year. I think in the spring we could take a metal bladed trimmer and cut the bushes from the year before
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Fred, I was viewing your new sign on the row very interesting really like the construction. BOD, could take James idea of landscaping, then buy a tractor with bushhog and front end loader (mid size) would provide not only row cutting, but other uses as well. Thanks for all your time and effort. Fred L. Kuhns
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Steam, the first thing I thought when I saw this thread was, "Don't they have a chain gang in Maine?" Jailhouse guests here in Georgia get lots of outdoor exercise under the close supervision of a guy wearing sunglasses and carrying a 12 gauge shotgun. One would think that as a non profit the WW&F would qualify for a crew of trusties from a nearby state prison. Goats are good at getting rid of undergrowth. I wouldn't use cows. A couple of weeks ago I was taking some parts off a donor car for my project car when a herd of cattle ran over to see what was going on. A couple of them stuck their heads in the driver's side window. One slobbered all over my seat then grabbed my keys off the seat and took off. I found them in the high grass after chasing the wrong cow. Then, one cow crapped in front of the wheel I was taking off and I repeatedly kicked my pull handle (I couldn't get in front of the tire, obviously) off center and sent it into the pasture pie.
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The ROW is now mowed from 218 to Trout Brook. The low spots need filling with gravel as they are worse than before. Is there any chance of doing this and also putung a culvert in just near the curve as we head toward the brook?