W.W.&F. Discussion Forum
WW&F Railway Museum Discussion => Volunteers => Topic started by: James Patten on May 01, 2013, 06:07:07 AM
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Saturday May 4 is the Annual Meeting. The meeting starts at 2 PM and will be held in the historic Alna Meeting House on Rt 218 about 2 miles north of Cross Rd. Or you can get off the train at Alna Center station and hike about a half mile.
This being the weekend after the work weekend, I'm sure volunteer numbers will be minimal. Nevertheless:
* #9: see Jason
* Painting & spruce-up: see Stewart
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Do you need a load of ballast?
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Yes a flatcar load of ballast could be used where we tamped last weekend.
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There's about one car load remaining at AC.
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what was tamped last weekend has not been lined.
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Work done on Saturday May 4:
* Painting: The scafolding was set up, all 3 levels, in front of the highest part of the shop. Stewart painted what he couldn't reach on a ladder, then it was taken down.
* Restrooms: Zack kept working.
* Stone: Fred and Ed got a carload of stone. It's currently parked in the yard.
* #9: A number of people were working on it.
* Mike was working on Big Joe, the tractor, and the trailer.
* The annual meeting started at 2, and ended at 2:35. Everyone on the ballot were elected.
* Brigid started working in the garden.
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The things that make you stop.
Or is it the thing that binds you up.
(http://i1132.photobucket.com/albums/m573/miketrainnut/WWandF%20Ry/2013-05-04134731_zps7459d421.jpg)
This is supposed to be an adjuster to keep the brakes at the proper setting. I am guessing the spring let go, mainly because it is in two pieces, causing the adjuster to fall and bind against the brakes
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Anticipated work for the weekend of May 11:
* Friday evening is a board meeting.
* #9: No Jason, but by now there's plenty of other people who know what needs to be done.
* Track: I'm hopeful to continue tamping on Davis Grade where we left off two weeks ago (until 10:30ish). I'd like to leave before 8. Then in the afternoon, between the 12:30 and 2:30 trains, we can drop ballast on the south end of Cockeye Curve.
* Restrooms: Mainly plumber work right now.
If anyone is interested in helping out in the gift shop this summer, between Linda going out on the boat and Cindy working every other weekend we'll be in need of help. I'm specifically looking for people that either have never volunteered with us before or don't volunteer with us very often. Please show up between 10 and 3 and ask for either myself or Linda.
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I'll be coming up to Wiscasset for the next two and a half weeks starting on Saturday with my father. I'll be bringing a few small patterns for #11 that I finished up a little while ago, and a good pair of boots. We're looking forward to working with you guys!
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Work done on Saturday May 11:
* Restrooms: Zack keeps working on the electric eyes and toilets. I believe all the men's toilets are in, and half of the women's toilets.
* Track: Due to threatened rain I didn't want to jack/tamp track. Instead, we emptied the flatcar of stone on the curve south of Sutter's.
* Coal pocket: After discussion at Friday's board meeting, the decision was made to put the temporary coal pocket on the east side of the ditch between the house and the shop, because of worries over muddy conditions in the North Yard area. A large timber located at Brook Crossing was loaded onto a flatcar by the tractor, and unloaded off of track 7.
* National train day: John R and Bob C manned a table at the Brunswick train station for National Train day.
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What's the timber for James?
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Anticipated work for Saturday May 18:
* Track: I'd like to do the tamping I didn't do last weekend. Forecast indicates sun.
* Coal pocket: Need to (re)construct the coal pocket facing south, in the parking lot between the house and the shop.
* #9
This is the last Spring schedule weekend.
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This Week -
Most of the usual projects got attention:
Jason, Jonathan and Keith worked on #9
Zack worked on the restrooms, especially the auto-flush units.
The grounds got more cleaning up.
The Gift Shop was prepared for the Memorial Day weekend. One new feature is a clothes rack for shoppers to browse WW&F garments.
More painting was done on the shop building. The front looks real nice with a new sign, especially under the goose neck light at night.
The big story is the team of Alan and Harold Downey working on car 103 all week. They came up from Texas and got right into the open car's leaking/rotten roof. Alan and Harold have done a super job removing the old roof, cutting out rotten wood (which there was a lot) and making new custom cut pieces for the letter board, roof and shadow boards. The work is very important as car 103 gets a lot of use in the Summer and Fall. The next part of the job includes finishing the drip edge and applying roofing material the length of the car. Paint has been purchased so work may continue next week and the car will be ready for use on Memorial Day weekend.
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Thanks for the very kind description of what my dad and I have been up to, Stewart. We wouldn't be half as far along without all the help you and everyone at Sheepscot has given us to keep us going, and for you and Steve keeping us plied with materials. The newly opened Fred's Slightly Used Lumber Emporium has also been indispensable.
Stewart's new sign really is something special. It really makes the front of the shop look sharp.
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8271/8748367447_74d253dba8_b.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/95801104@N07/8748367447/)
On Monday, we started by pulling the aluminum roof off of the car. We had that mostly done by 10. In this picture, the roof is already off, and the brown area is just the unpainted portion of the letter boards.
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7307/8748368209_6dbb9bfa59_b.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/95801104@N07/8748368209/)
Rot had really set in along the length of the car, just below where the roofing ended. Then we assessed the condition of the underlying roofing, which also needed some help. For each of the 6 letter board sections, the top 2.5-3" were cut off. That was then replaced with fresh material which was cut and planed to match. Monday saw the first of these replacements go up. On Tuesday, we took another look at the roof- 80% of it is in fine shape. But the areas underneath the seams of the aluminum roofing were not staying dry. Oddly enough, there had been a major repair done to the southern 7 feet of the car some time before it came to the railway, but that portion was in by far the worst shape. So on Tuesday, under Steve Z's advisement, I began to replace 84 ft. of 2 inch boards for the worst sections of the roof, and that continued through the end of the day on Wednesday.
(Note, a couple pieces had already been removed by me. The rot was limited to the areas under the seams of the roofing, along the support arches)
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7293/8749491850_89b57455fe_b.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/95801104@N07/8749491850/)
Meanwhile, my dad was plugging away at the letter board sections, and got two more done on Tuesday and Wednesday. Each one had some combination of bolts, adhesive, screws, and nails, in seemingly increasing degrees of difficulty for removal. A couple of the letter boards had splits which were exacerbated by the removal, so we glued and reinforced the splits before remounting the letter boards They will also be caulked before paint goes on to prevent any moisture buildup.
Thursday saw a not so brief trip to Liberty tool, but we managed to get a 4th letter board refurbished and remounted.
Today was a flurry of activity, with the last two letter board sections being repaired and remounted on the car. Then a 1" x 2.5" shadow board was attached to the uppermost edge of the letter boards. This will accent the lines of the car, while (more importantly) keeping water further away from the passengers and wood. A drip edge has also been mostly mounted to enhance this effect. Paint scraping has also begun, and as Stewart stated- there will be a fresh coat applied where needed.
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7305/8749491798_3d79f6169a_b.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/95801104@N07/8749491798/)
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8559/8749491506_0fba35c1b8_b.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/95801104@N07/8749491506/)
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7312/8748367675_604a9dea6f_b.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/95801104@N07/8748367675/)
I put up some more pictures here (http://www.flickr.com/photos/95801104@N07/8749491478/in/photostream), in case anybody was interested in seeing a little more of how things are looking. We still have some trim work left to do as well, to replace a couple of broken pieces. But it's nice to see it coming back together, and with fewer things growing out of it. I'm looking forward to seeing it back in service for the Memorial Day weekend.
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WOW!. I look forward to seeing this tomorrow. Kind of funny how they met all the boards in one location. Kind of like it had been repaired before...
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Stewart, As Alan said your new sign is something special. Thanks again for all your hard work. Hold on to those Texas guys for a few more days and they will have 103 looking real good. Alan and Harold thanks for your work on 103 have a safe trip home. Fred L. Kuhns
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1.Thank you for the new sign, Stewart. It sure looks great.
2. Here's a motion to recommend the Downeys for Sainthood! As Mike posted........WOW!
3. "Give 'em an inch an' they ask for a mile" Department: It'd be great if somebody would add to the great work the Downeys have done and seal that part of the FLOOR of 102 that's directly over the northwest journal box of the south truck. Say a few feet in all directions from a spot directly over that box. Reason: Water is getting into that box and so instead of straight oil in there, it's a water-oil emulsion. In April, when I stuck a screwdriver into the emulsion and withdrew the screwdriver, it was nicely coated with oil, so I don't think that the presence of water has harmed the roller bearings SO FAR. But over the long term, the proportion of water is likely to increase, so it's not a good situation. Of course, fixing the roof should help reduce the amount of water getting onto the floor, but with the open sides, the roof fix obviously won't keep ALL the water off the floor. There's no problem of water getting into any other box, so the sealing job doesn't have to cover a lot of floor area.
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That is just outstanding work on the part of Alan and Harold Downey. They concentrated on the job at hand and look what they accomplished in a week! That's the kind of focus the WW&F volunteers are famous for. More power to them.
On the subject of No. 103, I'm wondering if it would be worthwhile to consider some sort of clear plastic curtains that could be rolled up to the top of the window openings on fine days and dropped down to cover the openings on damp or misty days? Actually, I'm also wondering if it would make sense to buy the car from Maine Narrow Gauge so we can upgrade it to our usual high standards without worry that it will go back to them, taking all our hard work with it.
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Shame on me for the "digital downgrade" of Excursion Car 103. After the fine work of the Downeys, if any numerical change were to be made it probably should be to 206!
Those suggestions sound good to me, Wayne. Because Maine Narrow Gauge may make the big move to Grey, I would think getting rid of 103 in exchange for some cash would be appealing to them, assuming of course a price agreeable to both parties.
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Work done on Saturday May 18:
* Restrooms: Zack kept working away at it, at one point working on getting in the handicap handbars in.
* ROW tree clearing: Fred wanted to do some chainsawing at the northern end of the line to clear blowdowns away from the track and from the mowing area. The area between Albee's Crossing and the north end was cleaned up.
* #9: Jason and Wes did some work.
* Car 103: Alan and Harold finished up the drip edges, then the rolled roofing was installed with the help of Steve Z, Marcel, and Stewart. The car got some more paint on it too.
* Railcar 4 made its public debut for the season today, running as second section for the 12:30 train.
* Coal pocket: The coal pocket was rebuilt a bit, with a heavy timber across the back, the side timbers moved a bit, and plywood put down as the floor. Coal delivery should be this week.
* Mike was touching up the paint on the crane car.
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Hansel was also quite involved with getting things cleaned up, and getting the roof on car 103. Thanks for everyone's help with that today. It was really awesome to see the roofing and paint start to go on.
After an evening talking about the history of the museum- among many other things. Stewart showed us how the new sign looks underneath the goose neck lamp, and we had some fun with the lighting in the station house.
(http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2862/8752518382_94bd5f3c5e_d.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/95801104@N07/8752518382/)
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8407/8752518254_2e20cc73b2_d.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/95801104@N07/8752518254/)
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7350/8752518006_e0a3551f0b_d.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/95801104@N07/8752518006/)
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8134/8751396495_ed6e44d053_d.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/95801104@N07/8751396495/)
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Great shots, Alan!
-John
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I hope it rains enough so that we can get a burning permit for Sat, so that we can burn the leftover Christmas wood left at Alna Center.
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I see from the depot desk photos that poor Prince Albert still is in "the can".
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Excellent photos, Alan!
The lighting is spot on--very nostalgic, but in the usual WW&F way, it's now and it's real.
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Thanks for the compliments everyone, both for the photos, and the work on 103. It's looking better by the day- as the weather allows Stewart to work his magic.
Steve, today provided a real test of the new roofing material. Stewart and I both looked at the spot which you indicated had been problematic. Of course, it's an open car- so the inside is still wet from when the wind blows the rain in. But the area above the west side of the south truck was just damp. No standing water. We suspect the improvements to the roof runoff might just have taken care of that problem. Of course, only time will tell and it's good to know that it's been a problem spot.
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(http://i1132.photobucket.com/albums/m573/miketrainnut/WWandF%20Ry/2013-05-18141413_zps1206451b.jpg)
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Anticipated work for weekend of May 25. This is the beginning of the summer season, so we're now open both Saturday and Sunday and running more trains.
* #9
* Train operations out our ears
Monday there's no trains running, but people will be working.
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Right - back on track then.
Work done on Saturday May 25:
* Coal did not arrive this week. Nevertheless, thanks to some creative firing and the purchase of some coal from Ames Hardware, we ran today on steam. Despite the crappy weather, we had a number of visitors. We skipped the 11 AM train, but ran all the others, only running one car.
* Jason, Rick, and Wes were all working on #9
* Zack was working on the restroom. He even had a test flush on one of the urinals! Only to make sure his wiring of the electric eyes were working. And the water went into the ditch outside. Looks like he's preparing for the installation of the counters.
* The ladies made a great hot goulash for lunch.
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Alan and Stewart, thanks for checking on the 103 problem spot and the report. It ought to be less of a problem now, thanks to your work on the roof. And thanks, Mike, for the picture.
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From yesterday!
Ill have to try this shot when it's not so wet! :-)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lroQurWIBlg&list=UUU0BM_sf1EUz6eNojV9C5Sw&index=2
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Good stuff Hansel. Next steam is Fathers Day weekend, June 15th and 16th. After a solid week of rain (8") we hope the sun will be out!
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Thanks Hansel. Good to see the work we put into the water bar at the crossing worked as planned. I wanted to inspect it but forgot.
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This morning, Dwighy and I cleared limbs and slash from our walking trail at Head Tide, then we went North with 52 with another person and did the same from Albee's crossing back to ALNA CEnter station and we picked up stuff in the woods behind the station and put it on the pile that has to be burned.
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Also -
More work on #9 by Alan D. and some organizing of spare shop metal. Sunday and Monday we toured visitors including people from CA and OR. Monday afternoon four of us ran an inspection trip to EoT and then hiked down past the big wash out. So nice to see sunshine!
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From Saturday. Jason showing Alan D the finer points of bit sharpening...
(http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2849/8859634791_a215825799_o.jpg)
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What is equally as interesting is that I see someone has organized the wrenches again.
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Two important delivery's for the museum today -
One is 25 tons of coal in the "new" coal pocket.
The other delivery weighs a bit less and may be announced by another party ...
Great Day in the morning!
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Now arriving on Track 1, the 6:12!
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May is done, but I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who my father and I met and worked with at the museum while we were there. It was really a great time working with, touring the lines, and getting to know everybody. While I don't think I'd ever been this worn out after a vacation- I wouldn't trade it for anything! I'm not sure when the next time I will be able to make it back up to Maine will be, but I'll be looking forward to it, and working on patterns for #11 till then.
Thanks again,
Alan
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Alan, it was a pleasure to meet you and your father. You guys found a project and tackled it. I'm glad that the narrow gauge bug bit you when you were up before. It is volunteers like yourself that make the museum what it is. Hope to see you when you make your next visit.
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Alan, I second Mike's comments (and thanks again for the great pictures).
-John