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Messages - Rick Knight

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Volunteers / Re: 2019 offsite volunteer hours
« on: January 03, 2020, 11:19:03 AM »
James, OH,OH, Not knowing the protocol i had recorded my off site work (homework) in the log book! Rick

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Work and Events / Re: Work Weekends and volunteer labor
« on: October 23, 2019, 10:26:26 AM »
I am going to stick my neck out here as I am  not aware of what are the priorities for the Maintenance work, track work, construction work mentioned by Dana and Fred but I do think something the volunteers for FWW could sink there teeth into and provide great benefits is the engine house/roundhouse construction for the growing fleet of locomotives.

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General Discussion / Re: Hi, there! Long time, no see
« on: September 03, 2019, 11:48:40 PM »
Hi John, I have not been to Switzerland but I have ridden in the engine room of the Virginia 5. Bill Pettitjean and I had a very nice time on the Virginia 5. Glad to see she is still percolating. Rick.

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Work and Events / Re: Eames Train Brakes - Official Work Thread
« on: June 28, 2019, 01:57:37 PM »
Truly amazing work.

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Work and Events / Re: Coach 9 - Official Work Thread
« on: June 22, 2019, 11:53:20 PM »
When Old Edaville quit there was a pallet In the Agway building where the big lathe was of new wheels and axles. I think I remember 8-10 new wheels and five new axles. That pallet made it to the MNG and I had is stored in the museum. Where is that pallet now, I don't know, but someone should ask around. Rick.

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Volunteers / Re: May 2019 Work Reports
« on: May 11, 2019, 11:24:53 AM »
Is Jason's list published anywhere ??? I would certainly like to help on #10 seeing that Paul and I woke it up from a very long slumber some years ago. We had a heck of a test trip at Edaville late at night. Rick.

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Maine Narrow Gauge RR Co. & Museum / Re: Grant from town of Gray fails
« on: November 10, 2016, 11:57:29 AM »
One of my real major concerns is that the collection, what remains of it, will be used as collateral for a note that potentially can not be paid. A lot of us worked very hard to pay off the original mortgage with the intent that more money could then be invested in the collection for preservation and operation and a location we could call our own. Some of us felt that moving to a location with NO connection to the Two footers and expecting other folks to pay for the move, construction of buildings, trackage, etc. just did not make sense. I am not casting apersions on the MNG. These are real issues IMHO.Using the WW&F as an example there was another way forward. Rick.

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Maine Narrow Gauge RR Co. & Museum / Re: Grant from town of Gray fails
« on: November 09, 2016, 09:59:00 AM »
The vote as of this morning 2757 against, 2078 for. Two comments. Too bad there has never been any real meaningful discussion about the MNG in this forum. IMHO Gray has always been a poor choice. Thankfully the good folks of Gray have shown some common sense.

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Maine Narrow Gauge RR Co. & Museum / Re: B&SR 7
« on: November 21, 2012, 08:43:02 PM »
To answer Terry's question. To keep the budget affordable I was making every effort to focus on the boiler which we had farmed out to Jason and Brian. The Boiler work had been progressing steadily as they had time and we had funds. And then we had the fire which was a terrible set back. Now we had no work space and a locomotive that had been burned. The fire was the hottest just beside the firemans side of the tank. Basically everything from the floor up was damaged from the fire. As emotionally hard as it was we managed to pick through the remains of the end of the engine house saving what we could and clearing the mess. Basically the steam team took a deep breathe and dug in and rebuilt the end of the engine house into a workable space. Back to # 7. Luckily we had insurance that covered the loss of our hand tools and the tender/tank replacement. After getting the enginehouse usable we dug in on # 7 replacing all the steel from the frame up. We were in the process of duplicating the cab even to the point of test fitting the original roof. We were pushing that project forward virtually every weekend with a core group of the steam team. The boiler needs some finish welding, all the staybolts installed, and all the tubes installed. All the plumbing will need to be new. The cab needs to be finished. The new smoke box needs to be finished. I would say about a year and a halfs work with a core group of experienced steam team volunteers.  I also want to mention that the chassis/running gear of #7 is in very servicable shape. I learned on that engine at Edaville, was one of the last people to run it at Edaville and ran it at Portland, it is the "mercedes" of existing two foot engines. take my word !!!                      Rick.

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Maine Narrow Gauge RR Co. & Museum / Re: B&SR 7
« on: November 19, 2012, 06:44:19 PM »
I will make a few more comments that will hopefully shine some light on what has happened at the MNG and what created the situation I find myself in.

In my experience,  one person has decided the fate of the MNG. For whatever the reason this person has forced his/her will on the organization with very little push back from the newer members and the uninformed. I could clearly see what was happening and did have the backbone to stand up for what is right. You can see where it got me!

In addition, comments made to me, "that it does not matter what is on the front of the train, you could put a horse there and people would still ride the train", "what you do in the enginehouse is no more important than the person who cleans the toilets" and to top it off "you have never done anything of value for the MNG" are disgusting at the least.

It is clear now that our weekly work sessions in the enginehouse pushing # 7 toward a 2013 operating date were not appreciated. We had the required skills, the manpower, and even worked within our budget. Even though the rebuilding of # 7 was an approved project with dedicated (restricted funds) someone had decided we should not put the effort and money into rebuilding # 7.

In my opinion, the MNG has lost it way and seems to have no connection to the dreams of the volunteers that brought the equipment to Portland and built it into what it is today. With One strong willed board member, a president with no backbone, and an inexperienced executive director this is the mess you get.

Mike fox mentions the shortage of volunteers: it should not be to difficult to figure out why, they treat volunteers like crap, especially ones who have more knowledge, experience and different ideas.

What Hansel heard was called spin, there are many other words that describe that better.

To Ed Delory: the MNG has become a "closed" group with very little "official" information getting out. In fact the volunteers can't even get in the museum because it is locked!

I was told today that the president can't understand why I am still upset. I think the above incidents lay my position out pretty well.

~Rick.

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Maine Narrow Gauge RR Co. & Museum / Re: B&SR 7
« on: November 12, 2012, 10:27:09 PM »
To Answer Matthew Gustafson's question of August 31, 2012. NOTHING.

A whole years worth of work has been lost on #7. To my knowledge, no recent work has been done whatsoever on #7 at the MNG. As far as I know there has been no progress on the boiler.

To all the good folks that donated to the restricted fund for #7 I say thank you and apologize for the work stoppage. There was no doubt in my mind # 7 would have been completed and running by the end of 2013. We were working well within our budget at the time, but also realized further fund raising may be necessary to finish the job primarily due to the boiler work.

Unfortunately, I can not say here what has transpired. The things that the WW&F seems to do so well, attracted volunteers, raise funding, focus on restoration, preservation appears to be temporarily absent at the MNG. In the meanwhile, I suggest that anyone considering volunteering and or donating money seriously consider the WW&F, Boothbay Railway Village, or the SR&RL group in Phillips.

For those that have donated money to the RESTRICTED fund for #7 I would certainly would want to know what has been raised, what has been spent, and what remains of the funds.

If you want to question what I have said feel free. I was a volunteer at the old Edaville, mentored by Fred Richardson at Edaville. Learned to run on #7, MNG volunteer from day one, Steam ops manager, CMO, and former board member. I have been self employed for most of my working life in the automotive machinist/restoration business.

Thanks, Rick.

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