W.W.&F. Discussion Forum
WW&F Railway Museum Discussion => Volunteers => Topic started by: James Patten on August 29, 2012, 06:11:44 AM
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Anticipated work for weekend of September 1:
* Restrooms: See Zack
* #9: See Jason
We're not officially open on Labor Day, although I'm certain people will be there working.
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Today at Sheepscot:
* Restrooms - all four walls are up! Additionally, the posts for the porch are up too.
* #9 - Jason drilled holes for shoes & wedges.
* General clean up - I started in on cleaning up the locomotive starter wood up by the stationary steam engine. A lot of it has been moved, thanks to a couple of new volunteers.
* Mowing - The area between the house and the yard was weed whacked.
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Sunday at Sheepscot -
Despite rain from morning through mid day, over 100 people rode the train. One group was a family reunion whose grand parents met on the narrow gauge. Their grand parents met when they both lived in Whitefield and rode the WW&F to school.
Steve Z. built staging off-sets on the east side rest room wall. These will be used when the roof trusses are erected.
Some cleaning was done in the machine shop.
Lunch was pulled pork and ham and cheese hot pockets. Thanks Cathy and Cindy!
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Labor Day -
Jason and Leon worked on #9.
James worked on the coal pile in the morning.
I worked on the machine shop bay door latches, improving the system so it's easier to use and will be more air tight.
About 25 visitors came to Sheepscot. One couple, Bill and Janet Burkholder from OH came to ride the railcar. They told me they chose the WW&F because they wanted to do something special for their 57th wedding anniversary. They had a fine time and said they would be back to ride behind #10.
Stewart
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Anticipated work for weekend of Sept 8:
* Restroom construction - see Zack. Are the rafters going up already?
* #9 - See Jason
* There's also mowing, basement cleaning, shop cleaning, etc.
No steam for a while.
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Restroom building -
Yes, Zack and Steve want to start putting up roof trusses Saturday. Movable staging has been set up inside and fixed staging will be along the outside of the walls. We'll need 4-5 people to raise and set the trusses. They will be attached with hurricane clips which are metal brackets that nail to the wall header and side of the truss.
Have sturdy boots, gloves and BYOH
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Restroom building -
Have sturdy boots, gloves and BYOH
BYOH? Bring your own hat??? :)
Keith
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Hammer?
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You,ve got it Dave. Bring your favorite hammer.
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Can you bring a framing gun and compressor or do we have to be period correct?
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If we were building a period-correct restroom it would have been done a long time ago (5-holer anyone?), so period correct tools are not necessary. I think Steve is planning on using a nail gun.
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Septic system would have been cheaper. ;D
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Work done on Saturday Sept 8:
* Steve Z spent the week stuffing the annual fund drive letter, and mailed it on Thursday. Thanks Steve!
* Saturday before 9 the rafters were up on the bathroom. There was a crew of about a half dozen. The crew then spent the rest of the morning putting up hurricane clips.
* Some trains were run, but not much else happened after lunch - not enough people!
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The black thumb crew wants to thank; Zack, Steve, Ed G., James, Stewart, J.B., Bill H., Dave N. and Fred for getting the roof trusses up by 9:00am! The rat run, wind braces and hurricane clips were installed afterward. The invite now goes out to everyone to show up next Saturday to have more fun helping put the roof sheathing on. (We thought about starting it today but didn't want to set plywood due to the chance of high winds/severe weather tonight)
See ya next weekend.
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Sunday, Sept. 9th -
The day, started off being cold and cloudy. Fairly quiet but the visitors that came had a good time. Noon we had a wheelchair visitor and Fred and Steve decided to set off coach 8 and car 103 and get 320 out to run as the train. The young man had a nice time and his parents enjoyed having a "private" car. Everyone else rode the railcar and enjoyed it.
In the afternoon Brendan moved Big Joe into the shop and started work on the conversion of the tamper to hydraulic operation.
Stewart
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All, but especially Massachusetts members,
Through the kindness of a local developer, a rolling gantry crane has been donated to the Museum. Of course, we have to pick it up. One of our members has generously offered the use of his truck to haul it. What we need are volunteers to help dismantle and load it on Saturday September 22, 2012 at 5:30 AM just north of Boston. If are able to assist us that morning please contact me via PM for the details.
Dave
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Anticipated work weekend of Sept 15:
* Restrooms - need lots of bodies to help put up plywood and nail them down.
* Mowing, gardening, cooking, train operations, and other stuff will be occuring.
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This week -
Jason, Leon and Keith worked on #9. The main focus was the shoes and wedges for the driving boxes, stack mount and boiler jacket underbands.
Brendan worked on Big Joe for 3 days. Much of the work was for the conversion of the tamper to hydraulic operation. Some electrical work was done as well.
Steve Smith (Little Steve) checked and filled the journal boxes on the rolling stock, stored inside and out.
Zack, Steve and Stewart installed most of the roof sheathing on the restroom building.
On Wednesday an antique door was purchased for Sheepscot Station. The door, a period correct 4 panel door is already undergoing restoration and painting. The door will be installed when the rest of the new clapboards go up during the Fall Work Weekend.
Quite a few tours were given including a group from Washington State. One of the fellows restores historic streetcar bodies.
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Work done on Saturday Sept 15:
* Restrooms: The remaining roofing plywood was put on, as well as frieze boards. Also an interior wall was put up.
* #9: Gordon C work on tram wire for one side of #9
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Anticipated work for weekend of Sept 22:
* Restrooms: more interior walls? Roofing? Come and find out!
* Massachusetts members: Don't forget Dave B needs your help in dismantling a crane. Josh R will be picking it up in the early AM and delivering it to the Museum later that day.
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* Massachusetts members: Don't forget Dave B needs your help in dismantling a crane. Josh R will be picking it up in the early AM and delivering it to the Museum later that day.
I will be coming down from Hampstead NH, and will be happy to bring anyone from the Derry/Salem area (and/or Haverhill MA area) to the site in MA. PM me if you need a ride.
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Ed,
How far "north of Boston" is the crane located? I will be in southern NH on Saturday and would like to help if possible.
Duncan
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Stoneham, MA - not far off 93.
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This Saturday may be a steam day if there is enough crew. A tour group from the UK will be coming for a train ride.
Stewart
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Thanks Ed.
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Forgot to mention -
Help is needed early. The British are coming Saturday morning for the 10:00 o'clock train. If they arrive early enough, they may have a shop tour prior to the ride. Otherwise tours may be conducted after they return to Sheepscot.
Stewart
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This week -
Jason and Keith worked on #9. Keith made new stand-offs for the bolts that hold the reverse lever quadrant.
Jonathan worked on Big Joe.
Leon checked and re-timed the railcar's engine. A stop was installed on the spark advance lever. A test run was made to AC.
Steve Z. installed the tar paper and roof shingles on the restroom building.
Stewart installed a new phone in the kitchen and answering machine in the office in the Percival house.
Tours were given to a number of people including Chris Walker from the UK. Chris works in the carriage works at Boston Lodge.
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As of just after 6:00 AM this morning the rolling gantry crane was on its way to Sheepscot in Josh's truck. A big thanks to Bill R, Ed L, Alan M, Mike M, Duncan M and his faulty GPS, my neighbor Doug, my son Adam, Gordon C and, of course, Josh R for getting up at "O dark 30" today. And a big thanks to the Gutierrez Company for the donation.
Dave
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I hope you guys went for breakfast or at least coffee after your pre-dawn work was done! :D
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Wayne;
Ed, Adam and I found a 24 hour Bickford's for breakfast. Then it was home to bed for an hour.
Dave
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Wish you would have come North with the crane. You had more help putting it into the truck then we did taking it out. But a very nice addition to the museum, and once set up will give us more lifting options.
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Work done on Saturday 22nd:
* Big Joe: Jason installed a piston which will eventually take over the in-out function of the tamper heads (inside or outside of the rail). Some other parts and pieces were worked on by Mike and others.
* Crane car: Mike took the remaining pieces home
* Gantry: Josh arrived with the gantry crane. I don't think I know where it ended up.
* Surveying: Jason and crew staked out the location of the car shop, then surveyed for height at the corners and in other places, so that when our contractor arrived he'd know what to do.
* Steam: We ran steam from 10 - 1. The British came (by land) before 10, and appeared to have a good time. The 2 PM was canceled and visitor prospects were poor so the steam engine was put away by 2:30.
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Did any of the British happen to say whether they were with steam preservation groups in the UK? I was wondering in particular whether any were from the Welsh Highland or Festiniog Railway.
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The British group was part of a UK railway preservation group but I didn't hear which one. I spoke to Christie Castillo, the manager of The Shuttle Connection from Linclon NH. She was operating the tour and told me that the group traveled all over New England in the last two weeks visiting railroads and historic locations. As James noted, the guests had a great time despite the rain. They stayed over an hour after their train ride. Some got a short railcar ride in the yard. They even asked if we would drive the AA truck outside for photos. It's probably the first time a photo line was arranged to photograph the truck.
Chris Walker from Wales came back, he was not with the tour but rode the train with them. He stayed for 3 more hours getting information for an article he is writing for a French railroad magazine.
A note of the building site survey. Jason and Mike set up the crew and we plotted and marked the loaction of the car storage building, roundhouse and turntable center. Survey stakes were set and elevation notes were taken. The survey is a primary plot for the grading contractor but it shows where everything will go. We also plotted the elevation for the roundhouse spur and decided where the switches will go for the car storage building and woods track(s). Mike came up with a good place for a woods track that allows some of the trees to remain.
Stewart
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Sunday afternoon was fairly quiet but we did have visitors from NY, MD and CO. Also, Randy Dickey stopped by for a railcar ride. He is the fellow who made the headlight for engine 9 and had not been to the railroad in 16 years. He sat up front in the railcar and commented "you've really built a lot of track" as we worked through Sutters. He said "wow" at Alna Center when I explained the events we hold there. He enjoyed the rest of the trip so much that he cranked and turned the railcar for me.
Stewart
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Actually, I decided to leave the boom at Sheepscot. I did not want to try and man handle that at home. Hopefully in a couple weeks, it will all return to the museum.
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Anticipated work on the weekend of Sept 29:
* Saturday is our Fall Festival! All hands on deck are needed for crowd/parking control, train crew, Alna Center crews, etc. Unfortunately the weather forecast doesn't look too good at this point, but maybe it will improve. Because of the festival, we probably won't be doing much on the restrooms, or #9, or other projects.
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This week -
Jason worked on #9
Fred and Leon brought a load of 2X6's (donated by Fred) to use on the restroom building or other projects.
Steve Z. installed the ridge vent on the restroom roof which completes the roof. Staging was removed and the planks taken over to the freight house for use during the Work Weekend.
A reporter from the Times Record in Brunswick visited, took photos and got information for an article on the Fall Festival.
Monday a tour bus from Saint John N.B. brought about 20 guests to the museum. The tour was a mystery tour and the people were given lunch in the Percival house prepared by Steve Z. They had a great time eating in the kitchen, touring the shop and riding the train. One fellow told me his father worked on the New Foundland narrowgauge.
Keith, a camera tech from WMTW channel 8, Portland toured the museum Thursday. He was impressed by the facilities and equipment. His station may send a crew to do some live shots for their weekend morning show. The event would most likely be Victorian Christmas.
Stewart
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I have watched their live shots. The show ends at 7 so we may have to show up extra early for a little activity in the background. And someone will need to be interviewed. Sounds like a job for none other than Santa.
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Work done on Saturday Sept 29:
* Surveying - Rick S was up, and he is our Surveyor (capital S). He and a bunch of other people surveyed the roundhouse/turntable/car shed area and stuck grading stakes everywhere. In some spots the grade will need to come down by 2 feet.
* Grading - Jeff Verney showed up with his excavator and started working on the culvert for the parking lot, and did a little other parking lot work. However he expects to be working on it in earnest toward the end of October. Meanwhile he will be grading in the area just surveyed.
* Spur - the spur rails and ties were pulled up back a ways, so that Jeff could grade.
* Fall Festival - the threat of rain kept away the ponies and the Model A hayrides, and kept away a lot of people. We did OK for the day, most trains had at least a couple of families.
* Restrooms - I think some work went on with another interior wall.
On Monday Big Joe gets some work which should have it self-propelled during work weekend.
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Keith from WMTW came back with his two boys. They rode the train to AC and then took a railcar ride to EoT, returning to AC. The kids decorated pumpkins and enjoyed the warmth of the AC coal stove. He said they had a great time and wants to work with us to get a broadcast crew up for the Saturday morning show. We will be emailing his producers about Victorian Christmas with hopes they can show some of it before the show goes off at 8 am.
Dana wigwam our track super was at Sheepscot to run #10 in the morning, then check the sawmill for dismantling. He also rode to EoT on the railcar, checking for the best place to move the rail pile from Sheepscot yard. BTW - There will be a loader on hand next weekend to load rail onto the flatcar, saving a lot of work.
Stewart
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Stewart, The Fall Festival, story of the kids decorating pumpkins by the warmth of the coal stove, and the tours give by volunteers. Thanks Fred L. Kuhns
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The pumpkin patch and kids activities were held in the field n/e of the crossing at AC. The station was the place for the crew to phone the dispatcher and have lunch. The kitchen crew sent soup which we kept on the coal stove. (Soup does taste better when warmed on a coal stove) The stove was going all day, giving us a place to warm up between trains. A few kids did come into the station with their parents including Keith's two sons.
This is the second year that rain has kept people from attending the Fall Festival - let's hope for better weather next year.
Stewart