W.W.&F. Discussion Forum
WW&F Railway Museum Discussion => Volunteers => Topic started by: James Patten on April 03, 2013, 06:08:37 AM
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Anticipated work for Saturday April 6:
* Restrooms: Inspecting the tile job! If done, I don't know how long it will be before Zack is ready for installation of toilets etc.
* #9
* Property clean up. There's some trees north of AC that fell across the tracks which we need to cut up.
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More Big Joe work also. I have a few more things to do to get it ready for the work weekend.
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This Week -
#9 - Among the projects, more work on the driving gear.
Restrooms - The tile contractor has the wall tile done (except for grout) in both rooms.
Sheepscot Station - Two days of warm sunny weather allowed the back and north end to be painted. A few rotten clap boards were pulled off the front to see what condition the underlayment and sills are in.
Freight House - The south end was cleaned and some of the new latex paint was tried.
Yard/Grounds - A general clean up was started. About a dozen broken plastic buckets went to the dump.
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Work done on Saturday April 6:
* Restrooms: Steve and Zack got the countertops.
* Sheepscot Station: Stewart did some more exploratory surgery on the west wall. He also painted the new door.
* Telephones: John M spent many hours trying to find the source of a phone problem north of Alna Center.
* Big Joe: Mike brought Big Joe into the machine shop (for Mike's comfort) and removed the self-drive mechanism, and attached a horn for movements.
* #9: More work on #9.
* Tractor: John R and I spent time on the new tractor, practicing back-dragging.
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* Telephones: John M spent many hours trying to find the source of a phone problem north of Alna Center.
Two problems found and fixed. A falling tree had sheered a phone terminal off its post, and a lightning strike had fried a lightning protector at Allbee's Crossing. Also, I removed the big green telephone box at the north end and am taking it home for repair. Vandals damaged the box but not the phone. Evidently they were very curious what was in the box and pried their way in. I think maybe we should leave the box unlocked and paint "WW&F Railway Telephone" on the front. ("Move along; nothing to see here.")
-John
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First, the phone line was the clearest I've ever heard it. Three cheers for John M. Second the air horn was plenty loud, it sounds like the shill whistle that is used when a crew is going to dynamite. I hope people won't think were making a new roadbed.
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Anticipated work for Saturday April 13:
* Board meeting (Friday evening)
* #9
* Big Joe test run: the plan is to jack and tamp the low spot in front of Bay 4, and depending on ambition also jacking the Bay 4/track 7 switch (when the ground is soft, the snowplow will catch the Bay 3 track, which is higher than the switch).
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The Alna VFD will have their HAM & BEAN SUPPER Saturday. The event starts at 4:30. The menu includes ham, baked beans, salads, rolls, home made pies, coffee and milk. There will be a pie auction and 50/50 raffle. $7 for adults and $5 for children 12 and under.
Stewart
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James,
I am planning to come up this weekend 4/13 so I'll be able to help out with the yard track, Big Joe, etc. I would also like to bring some rail from Albee's down to Sheepscot to have it ready to work on during the Work Weekend.
Dana
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James and Dana;
HWMNBN and I will be making an appearance on Saturday so we can help you and Dana with Big Joe and Dana's rail.
Dave
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I see once again HWMNBN is volunteered for a work assignment!
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Also someone should put an eye to the run around/bay 1 switch area. There is a low spot there that caused the trouble there this winter.
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This Week -
#9 - Jonathan lapped the seats on the back cylinder covers and he and Jason installed the studs and covers . The crosshead guides were then test mounted. One fits fairly well, the other will need work to get it back to standards.
Restrooms - The tile contractor set all the tile and grouted most of it.
Sheepscot Station - The back side and north end were cleaned and painted. The front clapboards were removed on both sides of the door, revealing much rot in the plywood and 2X6 stringer. These will be replaced on the work weekend when we install new clap boards. With the beautiful new restroom building, the other buildings look a bit tired. The station turned 20 this year so it's a good time to fix it up.
Freight House - The side door received a new (antique) latch and knob to keep the door closed without locking it. The south end was cleaned and painted and the "Tickets" metal sign holder got new anti-rust paint.
Big Joe - The rusty cover on the hydraulic power unit was cleaned and painted. This prevents rusty water from dripping down onto the gasoline tank that sits below the power unit.
Stewart
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Work done on April 13, 2013:
* We jacked and tamped first in front of Bay 4, then on the switch from Bay 4 lead and Track 7. We broke Big Joe, but breaking it actually helped make it work better on the switch (we broke one of the gear bars that help work the in-and-out).
* After lunch Dana took a crew up to bring back rail, and used the crane car to move the rail from ground to car. This was the first extended trip of the crane.
* #10 was steamed up for testing of injectors.
* The tractor removed the well house and put it on the rubbish pile (it was getting decrepit).
* The tile setting in the restrooms are done. Looks really nice (from the door anyway). Very echo-y now.
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James, I guess you are referring to one of the racks of the rack-and-pinion drive for varying the lateral spacing between the tampers, right?
Is the rack readily removable for either repair or replacement? I'm wondering what are the implications for Big Joe's availability for track weekend.
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One rack was removed, the other rack remains. The tamper heads can still move in and out.
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The upper rack appeared to have jammed against the opposite bracket and sheared off what looks like a rivet. The rack and pinion set up had allowed equal movement in and out of the tamper heads. Now it is a matter of least resistance. It does not affect the operation of the tamper, but I will be putting the rack back together by work weekend for the production work. Makes for error proof adjustment of the heads.
3 of us loaded 8 rails on the metal work flat. Ichabod made a great improvement in picking the rails from the ground. I think the tried and true way of loading rails from a rail pile is the way to go, but when one person can lift 600lb rail from the ground while two others just direct it, it does make a huge difference in crew effort and fatigue.
Also, one tie was replaced on the ladder by the Rail crew, as well as acquiring joint bars from AC and surveying points and frogs near Brook Crossing.
Brendan arrived in the afternoon to work on the tank some, with some sandblasting planned for Monday.
Cars were also positioned in the yard to facilitate Oily so he can do his quarterly journal inspections.
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Steve, your mention of the "rack-and-pinion drive" reminds me of the "rack-and-pinion molecule" in a Daffy Duck cartoon. Daffy is "Duck Dodgers in the 24th-and-a-half Century".
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Also in the forgot to mention category, I used the tractor this afternoon to drain "parkinglot pond" this afternoon. The standing water has kept the parking area soupy. Hopefully this will help some of it dry up in time for the work weekend. Otherwise, that standing water would have kept the mud around for a long time.
We need a ditch badly at the upper end of the parking area to get the ground water away from the area. Hopefully when Jeff comes back, this is on his to-do list.
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Thanks for moving the cars for me. I plan to go to Sheepscot Monday.
James, I didn't know about Daffy and the rack and pinion molecule, but just now YouTube filled in that gap in my cultural education. YT seems to have page after page of Daffy Duck episodes. I'll bet Daffy's little sidekick, Space Cadet, could fix the broken rack in a jiffy.
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Daffy Duck could have helped us but Fred and the tractor did very well with another job. The bay 1 front door posts were frost heaved a bit and we had a choice, reset them or pull them. Leon arrived with a nice new steel door holding arm (like the one he made for bay 3) so we decided to pull the posts and fill the holes. We set a pulling chain and the tractor pulled them right out. Leon then went to work installing the new door holder. The post removed gives us more room when working in front of bay 1 and allows the snow plow to better clear. It also gives the front a more 1920's period look.
The tractor is a great addition to the museum's equipment.
Stewart
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Anticipated work for April 20:
It's the calm before the Work Weekend Storm. A number of regulars will not be there (including myself). Nevertheless:
* Big Joe: I think Mike has some parts and pieces to put on it before it's ready for the SWW.
* Restrooms: I'm sure Zack is up to something
* Station: more prep work by Stewart.
* #9: No Jason, but others may be working on it.
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Work done on Sat, April 20th:
* Restrooms - Zack did some plumbing work and installed the first stall dividers.
* Railcar - Leon greased the wheel bearings, changed the oil, installed new spark plugs and converted the oil check to a dip stick system. The railcar was run to AC and return for testing.
* #9 - Eric cleaned the crossheads and Leon worked on the boiler jacket stand-off bands.
* Big Joe - Mike reinstalled the hydraulic (drive) motor and a new hydro brake which stops the motor. He tested the new equipment by running the tamper in the yard.
* Track - Due to a number of wind storms lately, an inspection train was run to EoT and back. There were a lot of broken off trees but none landed on the track.
* Chow - The kitchen crew checked food supplies for next weekend's Work Weekend.
* Gift Shop - Linda got the shop ready for the season. The first 10 WW&F Anniversary lanterns have been sold so 3 more have been unpacked and set out. They have red, clear and green globes.
* Depot - The SHEEPSCOT station sign was cleaned and re-painted/lettered.
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The carpenter with his shiny new ford pickup last Monday 4/15.
(http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s5/bbarry74/c5cf892b-2922-44e5-a665-cf6ad75949d7_zps2d7a789b.jpg)
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I think everyone who was at last april work weekend building the forms for the new bathrooms will be very pleased at the progress done on it and the way it's turning out. I hope people will see the new crane in operation this coming week. The painting and station repairs will really spruce up the museum. I'm really looking for a fruitful and busy weekend. Number 9 has come a long way also, and its good to see a lot of new faces working on it. Three cheers for our museum and the things accomplished in the past year. It's onward to making our museum bigger and better this coming year.
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The facilities (especially the bathrooms) must be constantly maintained in a state of cleanliness. I've been to some industrial museum facilities which are nice, but are lacking in details such as rubbish removal, lavatory sanitation (odors?) and various other small things. The devil is in the details and the public notices such things.
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In the forgot to mention category, Fred, myself and others stuffed inserts into the 2013 museum brochures. This is a redesigned brochure and really looks nice. The 2 sided insert has the years information on it, such as special events and activities, schedules, and fares. Over 1500 were completed by lunch.
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Thanks for adding that Mike. Along with you and Fred, Gordon and Elizabeth Davis stuffed a batch of them at their home. I think they did about 500. Saturday was a very productive day!
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For those who have not yet seen the new brochure...
Many thanks to designer John Holden for all of his wonderful work!
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8395/8671069877_71d4f591b6_b.jpg)
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8533/8671070655_94327a3e7a_b.jpg)
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Note the use of a QR code in the new brochure. We are also looking at having a QR code on the donation box in the gift shop. That would allow visitors to use their iphone, etc to access paypal to make a donation.
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That is an absolutely fantastic brochure. It represents all super talent that is part of the WW&FRR experience. Stephen's photography is super and the choice of photos was just great. It should bring in many more people to visit the railroad.
Bernie
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Anticipated work for the Spring Work Weekend!
* Track - crew run by myself (at least Friday/Saturday), working on jacking/tamping/lining between Brook and Sutter's Crossings. There probably will be ballasting too.
* Ditching - crew run by Mike (I'm assuming), working in the cut on Davis Grade.
* #9 - crew run by Jason
* Sheepscot Station - crew run by either Stewart or Steve Z, repairing the west wall, painting
* Freight shed - crew run by ?? , scraping the east wall (and painting if time)
* Yard track prep - crew run by Dana, prepping rail for switches in the yard
* Cooking - crew run by Sue, keeping us all fed
* Trailer - Brendan is hopefully bringing our new trailer, loaded with ground throws. These have be emptied off the trailer, then Fred has lumber at his house which he'd like to donate, so the trailer will get it and bring it back. Need people to load/unload the lumber.
* Restrooms - crew run by Zack, installing toilets and partitions. I doubt he'll need many. The building could use staining or painting or whatever we're going to do to protect it from the weather.
* What have I forgotten?!
Don't forget Saturday afternoon around 3 there will be a train crew rules review, and after supper we'll have an intensive training session for prospective and new brakemen (and anyone else that wants practice).
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The trailer and ground throws should be there Friday morning. I am planning on driving up Thursday night.
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James and Dana: the first pair of rails for a 33# frog will be delivered by Wayne when he arrives Thursday or Friday; the other two sets of frog rails will be delivered by me later within the next couple of months. I will then jump on the machining of the switch points, especially as Jason has promised me the fixtures used to machine some of the last switch points...
Dave Crow
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Has anyone thought about taping one of the RULES REVIEW sessions for people to watch that can't make the session.
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It's a great idea, Fred. But as someone with "some" experience doing this type of thing, the sound is critical. The audio from the person speaking needs to be loud and crystal clear, with no extraneous noise (other people talking, boots on crushed stone, wind, etc). The built-in mic in most cameras usually doesn't cut it. You need a clip on mic, and ideally since the instructor will be walking around demonstrating certain things, the mic should be wireless. That means a small transmitter (beltpack) and a receiver plugged into the audio inputs of the camera (if the camera has any). Without these things, recording it is just about pointless.
(http://static.bhphoto.com/images/images345x345/3656.jpg)
Stephen
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I'm not a big fan of a taped rules class. A good rules review should be interactive with the attendees asking questions to clarify the intent of the rules, not just the words as written.
Keith
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I'm thinking of a DVD to be used when one or two people show up that missed the big class. That would free up the instructors to do other things. New people should be at the live RULES REVIEW.
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This week (so far) -
#9 - Monday saw the regular crew working on a number of projects led by Jason. One of the more interesting items is the review of types of steel jacketing for the boiler.
Restrooms - Zack worked on more stall dividers and plumbing pieces.
Charter - Steve Z. and Fred ran a tour of the line for a group from Augusta.
Shop building - More cleaning and painting was done on the west wall of the extension, this is the wall that only had primer. The east side window frames and door were painted in WW&F custom tan.
Thursday - About two dozen members arrived for the Work Weekend, some early enough to help with projects. Dwight and Glen cleaned and painted Ichabod's counter weight. Wayne and Bernie brought a bunch of goodies including the switch frog and some antique crates to be used for photo shoots.
Stewart
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Day 1, Friday:
* Track work: We jacked and tamped about 400 feet of track on Davis Grade.
* Yard prep: Dana and crew drilled rail in prep for the yard (in the Fall).
* Station: The old door was removed and the new put in. The west wall was covered in house wrap.
* Food: Linda served lunch, several ladies were on hand for supper.
* Freight shed: The west wall was scraped and painted.
* Trailer: It arrived, and the ground throws were offloaded.
* #9: People were working!
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Another word for today ... WOW!
At one point there were 4 crews working on projects within a few feet of each other around Sheepscot station. One crew was rebuilding the front of the depot, another crew painted the entire front of the freight house, the third crew ran the tractor and re-graded the hump of stone into level ground between the shop and station while yet another crew looked over the trailer full of switch stands that was on the museum's new trailer. It's the first time the WW&F trailer has come to Sheepscot and the volunteers looked it over and made plans to unload the stands back along the spur.
About 50 people signed the book today and there were quite a few who were attending their first Work Weekend. On to Saturday!
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Congratulations to all Work Weekend volunteers! It's so encouraging, also, to note the many projects in the Maintenance category.....every bit as important as extending the line.
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Day 2, Saturday:
* Track work: we jacked & tamped another 300 or so feet of track on Davis Grade. Meanwhile, several fellows from West Chester Railroad showed up so they got put to work replacing ties. About 20 or 25 ties overall were replaced. They made quick work of it. Comments were made about how much better that section of track is.
* Yard prep: Dana and crew reconfigured the spur track, and placed switch timbers for the first switch on the spur.
* Station: The west wall was reboarded and some painting occurred.
* Freight shed: I didn't realize it, but yesterday Stewart's crew painted everything. Today they removed the scafolding, painted over where the scafolding was, and worked on the north wall, and on the west wall of the passenger shelter.
* #9: More something (I didn't catch what)
* Trailer: there was a trip to Fred's to pick up lumber from one of his building demolitions, and return to drop unload it.
* Food: more really great meals.
* Restrooms: Some electrical work occurred, more placement of stalls.
* Rules review: Lots of people attended the rules review.
* Brakeman training session: A training session was held after lunch.
* There were lots of minor jobs occurring too.
Looked like about 65 people signed the book today - not a record, but there was a good turnout today. Thanks everyone!
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Thanks for a great report on great progress!
A bit more - The staging lumber that was on the back of the frieght house was moved over to the new parking lot for another project.
One additional painting job - The entire west side wall of the shop extension is now yellow, first time the addition has been all one color since it was built.
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Day 3, Sunday
*Track work: Dana's crew worked around Sutters crossing.
*Station: Exterior and interior painting was completed. (Inside painting was needed around the new door casing).
* #9: Jason and crew worked on a number of things for setting up the rods. Brendan worked on the tank with more inside cleaning and making new interior angle braces.
*Chow: The kitchen crew did another fine job with a great lunch.
*Attendance: 42 members signed the book.
A special THANKS! goes to everyone who worked so hard on a bunch of prejects. Not only did everyone put in 100% of their effort but quite a few members bought items in the gift shop. The top sellers were the 25th anniversary brakeman's lanterns and the heritage denim shirts, in fact we sold out of large shirts. Thank you all for helping the museum preserve a rare piece of Maine railroading.
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Day 3.5, Monday -
Some Spring Work Weekend projects continued today with 7 members busy.
* #9 - Work continued on testing the fit and travel of the side rods. Leon worked on the boiler jacket bands. Brendan worked on the tank.
*Restrooms - Zack worked on the stalls and fixtures.
*Sheepscot Station - Touch up painting was done to the track side and south end. The SHEEPSCOT sign was put back up. The interior was cleaned and some touch up was done on the upper inside color.
*Grounds - Brendan built a new bridge over the ditch between the house and shop. We don't have to worry about breaking through the rotten plywood anymore, thanks Brendan!
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Thanks, goes out to each and every volunteer. The pictures and up dated where just great. Fred L. Kuhns
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Sheepscot Station finished up Monday.
(http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s5/bbarry74/DSC_0359_zpsf33be6dc.jpg)
(http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s5/bbarry74/DSC_0379_zps41cb594a.jpg)
The new foot bridge between the house and shop.
(http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s5/bbarry74/DSC_0360_zps844a6292.jpg)
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Everything looks GREAT! Thanks for the pictures!
Stephen
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This afternoon as I stopped in to get paperwork I saw Stewart painting the south wall of the shop.
The whole place got a real facelift this past weekend.