Messages

31

General Discussion / Re: clips of 9

« on: December 11, 2023, 09:43:47 AM »

Hi Gavin,
There are a number of photographers taking great photos of #9. One of those is  WW&F member Kevin Madore, and you can find some of those linked in this thread:
https://forum.wwfry.org/index.php/topic,3848.msg48291.html#msg48291

See that thread for a link to his Flickr album, and you can send Kevin a Personal Message (PM) asking for his permission to use some of his photos for your project.

One way to send a PM is to click the "Send PM" link on the left side of a member profile, here:
https://forum.wwfry.org/index.php?action=profile;u=635

32

Museum Discussion / Re: Property/Houses for Sale Along/Including WW&F ROW

« on: November 17, 2023, 11:23:23 PM »

This house was the topic of a September 2021 thread, which is currently in the "Members Only" area so I'm not going to link it. But here is the text of Ed's post in that thread:

House for sale in Alna adjacent to Head Tide station site:
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/2155-Alna-Rd-Alna-ME-04535/304658843_zpid/

Cheap ("only" $100,000!) but apparently is unfinished. No photos of the interior posted (yet.)

Note that the link in that quote will take you to the CURRENT listing, not the 2021 listing, but as you can see from Ed's message, it was listed at $100K.

If you want find the 2021 thread, its currently on page 4 of the "Members Only" thread list, and has the same title as this current thread.

33

Sandy River & Rangeley Lakes Railroad / Re: Sandy River and Rangley Lakes Railroad work trip.

« on: November 05, 2023, 04:44:08 PM »

I don't know if anyone took pictures yesterday.

In lieu of any "after" photos, it seems that Google Maps has provided a "before" photo: 



(click image for larger version)

That certainly looks like a partially completed loading ramp to the right of the dump cart.




Map link: https://www.google.com/maps/@44.8316151,-70.339883,3a,75y,270h,90t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sywzhqfHCwJNx1gkmd2N05g!2e0!7i16384!8i8192?entry=ttu

34

Work and Events / Re: Engine House - Official Work Thread

« on: November 02, 2023, 10:32:44 AM »

Heating the Engine House in Maine winter to a comfortable temperature for workers has some challenges beyond those of a 'normal' building with a concrete slab floor.  The concrete wall 'sills' are deliberately taller than a normal wall - done to minimize open flame spread to the wall - but that means that concrete part of the wall has NO insulation.  And the concrete outside walls of the work pit magnifies the problem. Those 3 buried (roughly 4 ft) concrete walls are in direct contact with soil that is frozen/partly frozen in winter.  I did not see any foam board insulation added to the exterior of the pit walls before backfilling. So the concrete wall sills and pit walls are a serious heat sink beyond that of a normal building of that size. The heating system will have to be bigger than 'normal' to overcome those issues.


But heating the Engine House is going to have an additional challenge IF the plan is to make the smoke jacks "functional" by poking large holes in the roof. Even if some kind of operating damper is designed for those smoke jacks, its hard to see how it could more than just an uninsulated steel plate.   (Given that a locomotive seems to be currently being kept warm inside the building, is there a significant benefit to be gained from functional smoke jacks -- enough to offset the heat loss from poking holes in the roof?)


Putting a coal stove in the Engine House also requires a hole in the roof, and in order for the coal stove to work properly, "make up" air has to enter the building in sufficient volume to support combustion in the stove.  That means more holes in the structure, (or perhaps simply not closing off existing holes, say under the big doors.) Coal / wood stoves in a structure are one thing when they are operating, but volunteers are not in the Engine House 24/7. That is different from a residential structure where one can assume that there is someone to tend the stove "most" of the time.


Electric heat eliminates more holes in the building, but is not the only option.  An outdoor boiler is a possible option that doesn't involve large holes in the structure. And while most outdoor boilers are fired by wood (no shortage of potential firewood at the WW&F), there are  outdoor boilers that can burn wood or coal. For instance: https://heatmasterss.com/products/c-series/

35

Work and Events / Re: Engine House - Official Work Thread

« on: October 30, 2023, 04:43:37 PM »

Ted, my understanding is that a zoned hot water system has been installed that allows locomotives to be kept "warm" without an actual fire .

Yes, a heating system for the Engine House - with a direct connection for its occupants - is planned.

36

Work and Events / Re: WW&F No. 10 - Official Work Thread

« on: October 22, 2023, 06:08:16 PM »

Thanks for the update!

*I have no idea how to insert photos because the insert image button doesn't allow me to select a photo to insert, but I do have photos from today. So once I can figure it out or if someone can help then I will post.*

The "Insert Image" button only works for images that are already hosted somewhere [either a 3rd party host or possibly already elsewhere on the WW&F forum].


To upload an image to the forum server, click the "Additional Options" button below the bottom of compose text message window.  Then click "Attach" and "Choose File" buttons. Note there are size limitations to that method, so you may need to resize/shrink your photo to use this method.


If you don't want to go through all that then email me your images and I can deal with the details of posting them.  Send me a PM.

37

Moderator Announcements / Re: How to Post Images to the WW&F Discussion Forum

« on: October 02, 2023, 01:30:48 PM »

OK, there are a series of small steps to using Postimages.org as a photo host. Wile it can be done without opening an account, doing so makes it easier to manage uploaded images.


So open an account, and upload an image. PM me if you get stuck doing that.
The next step is to "Share" that image. Take a look at my earlier post that will be an example: https://forum.wwfry.org/index.php/topic,4130.msg52481.html#msg52481


After uploading an image to Postimages, you should see something similar to this:







For this example, click on the blue icon at the right end of the "Direct link:" line to copy the code into your system's clipboard.

Now go to the WW&F forum message that you want to insert your image into.  The Compose / Modify window looks similar to this:



There are two rows of buttons directly above the row  of smiley icons. Click the left-most button on the second line, "Insert image". Then put your cursor in the box, 'right click' and choose "Paste".


At this point, the Preview button should show your message with the photo from Postimages included.  If you are happy with how it looks then click the Post button and you are done.


There are other options, but get a couple of images posted this way to get comfortable with the process before trying out the options.  Send me a PM if you get stuck.

38

Moderator Announcements / Re: How to Post Images to the WW&F Discussion Forum

« on: October 02, 2023, 09:42:48 AM »

It's also true that changes to the forum itself might cause similar data loss. (RYPN, for one.)

Yes.


And one doesn't even need to look to RYPN for an example -- the WW&F forum itself (currently running on SMF software) used to run on "something else", and looking back at older threads (say from 2008) shows that switching/updating forum software can be a real 'pain' and sometimes not all elements survive the transition.

39

Moderator Announcements / Re: How to Post Images to the WW&F Discussion Forum

« on: September 30, 2023, 10:11:22 PM »

Thank you so much Jeff but the limit of 400 KB is really too low.

I think that 400 KB limit for image size was established many years ago, and hasn't been updated as technology evolved. That might be because various forum members have switched to using a 3rd party "photo host". Photo hosts typically allow users to seamlessly include images stored on the host servers and display those images merged with text in the thread.


For instance, this post by Bill Reidy about Boxcar 56: https://forum.wwfry.org/index.php/topic,3838.msg56910.html#msg56910
 includes photos hosted by https://imgur.com.  To demonstrate that, here is a link to just the photo: https://i.imgur.com/0qEpaHs.jpg


Its quite likely that you could do something similar, and photo hosts generally don't have rigid image size limits. Aside from Imgur, other hosts I've seen forum members use include Flickr, Postimages, and Photobucket. There have likely been other hosts used that I just haven't noted.


Some hosts offer "free" hosting, and others have various rate plans. I use Postimages,org, and they offer free photo hosting. If you'd like to explore using Postimages to post larger photos in forum threads, I can assist -- just send me a PM.

40

Volunteers / Re: August 2023 Work Reports

« on: August 09, 2023, 05:34:38 PM »

*  Representatives from the Silver Dollar City RR visiting,

I was aware of that theme park railroad, but I didn't realize that it was a 2ft gauge railroad.
More here: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frisco_Silver_Dollar_Line

41

Other Narrow Gauge / Re: Narrow Gauge Dining Cars?

« on: August 07, 2023, 09:28:01 PM »

Does anyone know of a narrow gauge line that served food?

At least some D&RGW narrow gauge trains between Alamosa CO and Durango CO, particularly those with Parlor Cars,   served food.  Here is a screenshot of a post on the NGDF forum of Railroad "Instructions" for Parlor Car attendants:





Thread link: https://ngdiscussion.net/phorum/read.php?1,454277


While that is a short thread, I have seen other threads with more documents, like a menu, regarding Parlor Car food service. I just can't locate those threads at the moment. 

42

Museum Discussion / Re: Reviews, Thank You's, and Messages of Encouragement

« on: July 31, 2023, 07:06:27 AM »

There are 4 things to do in Alna?

  Depends on how you define Alna.  Here is a screenshot of the TA page:







Page link: https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractions-g29478-Activities-Alna_Maine.html

43

Volunteers / Re: July 2023 Work Reports

« on: July 30, 2023, 01:45:04 PM »

It certainly takes patience and determination to manually maintain a signboard like that.    Its somewhat akin to old fashioned letterpress hand typesetting - with metal  type (or sometimes wood block letters).




But I can't help wondering about the "^{. . , , ,} &" at the bottom of the sign. Is that some sort of secret code?


Or just a shortage of available pockets in the letter storage case? 

44

Museum Discussion / Re: Property/Houses for Sale Along/Including WW&F ROW

« on: July 21, 2023, 06:18:08 PM »

... includes frontage of 850' of active WW&F ROW.

I'm surprised that the listing agent didn't mention that in the property features or include a photo of the track / train passing the property.  Surely the proximity of the WW&F is worth adding say, $20K to $30K to the asking price? 

45

Work and Events / Re: Coach 9 - Official Work Thread

« on: June 24, 2023, 06:31:33 PM »

Coach 9 woodwork is looking great!!!




That photo would be a good one to include in the "article" submission to Epifane for their quarterly newsletter. 
https://www.epifanes.com/newsletters