W.W.&F. Discussion Forum
WW&F Railway Museum Discussion => Volunteers => Topic started by: James Patten on February 28, 2018, 07:02:59 AM
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Anticipated work for Saturday March 3:
* Boxcar 67
* Mountain Extension ROW clearing
* #10 boiler work
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Almost certain there will be no cutting at the North end this week. Weather is expected Friday, and I may be headed to NH to pick something up.
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Work done on Saturday March 3:
* Air compressors: The Lindsey air compressor was detached and separated from the tamper. The Siemens compressor was installed. Boy that sucker is big! Mike will have to follow up with pictures and a final report. Anybody want a used Lindsey air compressor in fairly good shape (minus an interior gas tank)?
* Machine shop: Alan was machining one of the dies for the flanger machine.
* Archives: Linda was busy.
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Actually Siemens was the company that owned the compressor before. It was part of the Traffic Division based in Pennsylvania I believe. Is actually an Airman 185
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Any damage around Sheepscot from the storm Friday? Lots of trees and power lines down here in south-central Pennsylvania.
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Any damage around Sheepscot from the storm Friday? Lots of trees and power lines down here in south-central Pennsylvania.
There has been some impressive storm surge flooding along the coast from southern Maine to the Cape, growing in intensity as you travel north to south. The nor'easter parked itself southeast of the Cape, before drifting slowly southeast out to sea, so I suspect any damage was limited in the Maine mid-coast region.
Power lines got hammered in eastern Mass., with the worst damage as you head down to the South Coast (New Bedford/Fall River) and the Cape. Lots of tree damage. Power is going to be out many days for some areas south of Boston. A wind gust was measured at 93 mph in Barnstable yesterday.
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Wayne, we did not check the line today. I saw some pine branches down in my travels this morning, and was told of a local spruce top that had broken and fallen on to someones driveway.
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I drove from Camden to Woolwich and back yesterday, and I've been near Camden all day. No severe precipitation and only mildly strong winds. I suspect that the RR was not very much impacted by the nor'easter. I think most of the problems were south of us...
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Watched out my from window the last few days. High tide never really reached the flood stage that I could see. It was windy but nothing all that bad. Coast was worse than interior.
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A couple of pictures Jason took Saturday.
Here we are moving the 309 and 320 onto the Turntable Lead.
(http://i1132.photobucket.com/albums/m573/miketrainnut/IMG_8298_zpsi1whxp9k.jpg)
And we had castings made. They have arrived.
(http://i1132.photobucket.com/albums/m573/miketrainnut/IMG_8300_zpsjv3ddmdu.jpg)
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Are those freight truck castings that I spy?
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Not quite, those are for Coach 9's trucks.
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Even better ! ;D
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Anticipated work for Saturday March 10:
* Storm clean up - we're supposed to get a foot or so of snow tonight/tomorrow.
* Mountain ROW clearing
* Boxcar 67
* Board meeting at 4
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Did Boothbay get truck castings made?
Bernie
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I am hoping we have crew enough to finish tree cutting at Trout Brook Saturday. We have just a few trees, and with the fresh snow should take advantage of it.
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As an FYI, we are not planning on plowing the railroad out from this storm. There’s no immediate need, and we’re facing more than a week of temps in the 40s. Further/ this is thick, heavy snow, which would be murder on 52’s springs.
I pass this on in the event I can’t make it until meeting time tomorrow- please don’t attempt to plow. If you’ve an outstanding need to, give me a call.
Thanks,
Jason
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Work done on Saturday March 10:
* Big Joe: The hydraulic pump was disconnected from hoses and frame, and Big Joe was rolled outside the pump was pushed off the frame into the snow. The frame was then moved forward so that the controls to the Airman could be accessed. Mike and Jay primarily worked on it, with assistance from various other people. Mike's goal was to get it started. It took 3 batteries, two battery chargers, and a jumper cable to the diesel engine to get the compressor going. Mike also had to clean out a fuel filter (nasty stuff in it) and who knows what else on it.
* Machine shop: Alan was making chips, probably for something related to #10.
* House: Fred shoveled off most of the long ramp, and when he was nearly done I helped. ;D One of the unused fridges was moved downstairs. Also Cindy, Mike and Brendan helped move some infrequently used supplies out of the upstairs kitchen closet to downstairs and to the master bathroom, then moved the water/soda from the hall closet to the kitchen closet.
* Roster shots: Ed was wondering where two of the four wheeled cars were (1002 and 1004 if I recall), which I didn't really know. I unlocked the car barn and we found them there.
* Board meeting: Pretty uneventful board meeting.
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Ed also GPS'd the locations at Trout Brook, woth my help pointing out the spots, and will check his maps from his info.
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Anticipated work for Saturday March 17:
* Storm cleanup - we got at least a foot, probably more.
* Trout Brook tree clean up
* Boxcar 67
* 10 boiler work
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I am still planning on finishing cutting Saturday in the Trout Brook Preserve area, and burning the tree trash.
I would also plan on burning the following 2 weekends providing we have snow cover. One of those days will be at Sheepscot, cleaning up the tree limbs around the container.
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The railroad was plowed today- Steve L, Randy, Joe and Brendan (Steve L and I started alone yesterday). I’d have rather let it melt down, but I’m afraid it wouldn’t have done so prior to needing access to the Mountain. Also protecting the Easter event should the heavy storms keep coming.
See ya
Jason
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Any March 17th work report for Sheepscot shops?
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Sorry Dwight. James was away, so I will see what I can do.
Saturday morning, 6 of us finished cutting at Trout Brook Preserve.
We came back and found Alan working on the mud ring for #10.
After lunch, Jay got to work on the compressor. Alan continued on the mud ring, Jason and Steve P. made plans for an upcoming event.
We unloaded the pickup and put some parts inside the garage that were outside.
Most went home early.
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Thanks Mike for your post.
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Anticipated work for Saturday March 24:
* Easter Eggspress prep - Easter trains are the 31st.
* Boxcar 67
* #10 boiler work
* Mountain ROW clearing
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I am going to use the dozer Saturday to plow the Averill Rd to Alna Center, to be ready for next weekend.
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Work done on Saturday March 24:
* Archives: I spent most of the day in the archives room doing more setup work for the new laptop. Meanwhile, Linda borrowed from the Wiscasset Library the original W&Q corporate books, which she is going to have copied. I think the earliest date was in the 1830s (or maybe the 1830s were mentioned as when the idea started).
* Snow: Mike took the dozer up to Averill Road, and plowed in from 218 to Alna Center. The diesel engine was taken up and plowed the siding. The sun has nicely taken care of the mainline. Upon return, Brendan and Mike amused themselves by pushing the snowpiles back into bigger snow piles, to make room for parking for next weekend.
* Air compressor: Jay was working on it, also scavenging parts from the old hydraulic pump. Jay took the pump off of the tie inserter/back hoe and has brought it to the compressor car.
* #10: Alan was in charge of drilling some holes in the mud ring.
* Ties: Fred is hot to trot to start cutting up ties. So several stacks of them were moved by the forklift to in front of the garage, where the sun will get them and unfreeze them.
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(http://i1132.photobucket.com/albums/m573/miketrainnut/0324180955_zps7vxdml0n.jpg)
(http://i1132.photobucket.com/albums/m573/miketrainnut/0324180955a_zpsqtrdivkx.jpg)
(http://i1132.photobucket.com/albums/m573/miketrainnut/0324181036_zpsv3kz0gyz.jpg)
(http://i1132.photobucket.com/albums/m573/miketrainnut/0324181036b_zpsanzhga7j.jpg)
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Work done on Saturday March 24:
* Ties: Fred is hot to trot to start cutting up ties. So several stacks of them were moved by the forklift to in front of the garage, where the sun will get them and unfreeze them.
Does that mean the trees are safe, for now? ;D
Jeff S.
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Is there a plan for the egg hunt at AC?
It doesn't look promising that the snow will be all gone by Saturday.
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Hopefully the kids bring snow boots or snow shoes. :) Could add an all new level to searching for eggs. Maybe thats why they started coloring them years ago, because white eggs are too hard to find in the snow?
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Don't color some and call them "stealth eggs". Special prize if you find one, but not by stepping on it!
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Well atleast the chocolate won't melt..
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Work done on Saturday March 24:
* Snow: Mike took the dozer up to Averill Road, and plowed in from 218 to Alna Center. The diesel engine was taken up and plowed the siding. The sun has nicely taken care of the mainline. Upon return, Brendan and Mike amused themselves by pushing the snowpiles back into bigger snow piles, to make room for parking for next weekend.
The more I see pictures of what “Casey” accomplishes for us the more I wonder how we got along without him.
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Thanks for the plowing Mike.
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Anticipated work for Saturday March 31:
* Easter Eggspress: pretty much all efforts will be toward doing this.
* Presentation prep: Anything that needs to get finished up for our plan presentation to the townspeople on Monday will need to happen.
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Some pictures from Jason of no. 9 being tested after the annual boiler inspection and a trip to Alna Center for Easter prep.
(http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s5/bbarry74/bbarry74012/IMG_8609.jpg)
(http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s5/bbarry74/bbarry74012/IMG_8614.jpg)
(http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s5/bbarry74/bbarry74012/IMG_8626.jpg)
(http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s5/bbarry74/bbarry74012/IMG_8636.jpg)
(http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s5/bbarry74/bbarry74012/IMG_8661.jpg)
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Thanks for posting the photos, Brendan.
Jeff S.
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It was a truly gorgeous day to be out on the railroad with No. 9
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That shot of Steve is awesome. Looks like he was meant to be in a smokebox.
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Maybe he’s still in there... anybody seen him?
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Seeing the smokebox pic reminded me of a question I have, (most likely for Jason). How often do we run a tube/flue brush through #9 to clean her out? Secondly, how is the smokebox cinder blowout working?
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Looks like Steve is now the hamster that makes it all run. Really, that's how it works, the steam is just for show.
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How long did it take Steve to get into the smokebox? More importantly, how long did it take him to get out? ;D
Jeff S.
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Work done on Saturday March 31:
* Ties: Fred cut 200 ties during the week, and he wanted more ties available for him to cut, so he had Mike start up the forklift and move some other ties piles around, including getting some frozen tie piles broken up some.
* Easter: The place was mobbed, although generally more controlled than in past years thanks to the reservations. 675 reservations were taken, some additional walk-up sales were made. Things slowed down toward the end of the day.
* Presentation prep: Ed's employer MyTopo (http://www.mytopo.com/) (plug plug) printed out some maps for us that Ed had drawn up (they looked great), so I went to Staples and found something to mount them on and spray adhesive to make them stick. When I got back to Sheepscot I grabbed a new volunteer who was looking for something to do and had him help me mount them. I printed out a few more of the applications, and found our tripods.
Incidentally (or not, I'm not really sure) B&SR #7 was in steam at Maine Locomotive & Machine. I think it was a post FRA inspection steam up, for testing. They used their whistle a few times, which sounds very different (deeper and more chords) than #9's. I heard a few of them back at Sheepscot, and without realizing what was going on I didn't know what to make of it.
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Ridership 1050, plus or minus. We were at capacity, given our present resources.
It was a good day.
Jason
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Great day! The kids and families really enjoyed and appreciated the Easter egg gathering (not really a hunt). The Golden Egg was found by all sorts of different searchers. Success!
#7 was rolled out of its cocoon and steamed (apparently for the first time). There was a large crowd there as well celebrating! It's whistle could be heard up and down the Sheepscot Valley, and it's totally different from both No. 9 and No. 3
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The great WW&F volunteers outdid themselves (as usual) today!! As relay brakeman on the diesel crew I was able to observe both ends of the operation. It all worked seamlessly. Every person, adult and child, had a smile on their faces. Most thanked us and/or wished us a Happy Easter. A very big thank you to all who helped make this a success. There is a very big reason people visit us and leave smiling - it’s the WW&F Volunteers! You are the secret ingredient to the magic happening at Sheepscot.
Dave
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It's a real WOW !
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I may have cut the tie ends off but the Tues. and Wed. crew did the stacking of them. I'm sure that was the hardest job. At least they will start drying out.
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The next project for ROWMOW MFG departed Sheepscot yesterday..
(http://i1132.photobucket.com/albums/m573/miketrainnut/0331181739_zpsf17ajlhm.jpg)
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The next project for ROWMOW MFG departed Sheepscot yesterday..
(http://i1132.photobucket.com/albums/m573/miketrainnut/0331181739_zpsf17ajlhm.jpg)
The wheels and angle iron make sense, but the snow shovel handle has me confused. What will it be :o???
Jeff S.
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Must be regauging Peppersass.
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Oh this is easy. Your watching Mike get set up for the next episode of Backyard Flanger on the DIY network!
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Incidentally (or not, I'm not really sure) B&SR #7 was in steam at Maine Locomotive & Machine. I think it was a post FRA inspection steam up, for testing. They used their whistle a few times, which sounds very different (deeper and more chords) than #9's. I heard a few of them back at Sheepscot, and without realizing what was going on I didn't know what to make of it.
It wasn't originally planned to have B&SR 7 in steam while the Easter trains were happening, it just sort of worked out that way. We wanted to do the steam test 2 weeks ago but we weren't 100% ready with everything that we were wanting to test (for various reasons). As it was we were enjoying seeing the trains full of people going by while we were out there working. Helped to break up the more mundane parts of the day to take a break, see the train go by, and periodically answer back as the train was going through the crossing.
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It was a very pleasant surprise to see #7 steamed up on the first trip northbound Saturday morning. I was one of the brakemen on the steam train, and after that first trip northbound, I made a point to let passengers on open car #103 know to look out for #7, Brian Fanslau's ongoing restoration works in his shop there for Maine Narrow Gauge and other 2-foot operations, and that #7's appearance meant that she should soon be under steam in Portland at Maine Narrow Gauge. Our passengers really enjoyed the sight and sound of her under steam.
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It was an added treat for everyone. Good going!