Topics

1

Maine Narrow Gauge RR Co. & Museum / Barn Raising Saturday, October 23

« on: October 21, 2010, 05:26:25 AM »

Please join us this Saturday as we raise the walls and roof of our engine house. We are going to rebuild the portion of the engine house that was burned in the fire last spring. Everything has been salvaged and cleared out. We will be ready with new wood to put up a new structure. We could really use your help to help get us 'back on track'. Bring tools and ladders. We will provide the food.

Thanks, Hans

2

Bridgton & Saco River Railway / SOCONY Tank Car to Bridgton

« on: May 13, 2009, 11:46:49 AM »

The MNGRR board voted last night to approve leasing the tank car to Bridgton. Lease and schedule to be worked out in the very near future. This should spark up Bridgton to finish the platform and get their tools ready.

Stay tuned.

3

Whimsical Weirdness and Foolery / The Ghost of Big Joe Tampiere

« on: May 02, 2009, 06:31:13 PM »

Twas the night before track weekend when all through the house,
Not a volunteer was stirring not even a mouse.

Many are coming, from far and near,
To work with the one and only, Big Joe Tampiere.

Big Joe sat quiet, arms at the ready,
To the Top of the Mountain, tomorrow, slow and steady.

Though Joe sleeps by day, next to railcars in sight,
Rumor has it, he patrols the main line at night.

With moon up and full, he glides up the grade,
Past Maine Locomotive and Machine Co by the sawmill in the shade

He slips silently through the woods, his compressor quiet.
Looking for his cup holder or someone to buy it.

The night goes on, the moon now aglow,
But daylight is not far off, so its time to go.

Back down grade, back to the barn,
Back to sleep, without any alarm.

Never will there be a witness for him to appear,
For this is the ghost of Big Joe Tampiere.

4

Work and Events / Ties

« on: September 06, 2008, 04:55:10 AM »

Hey Guys,

What is your source for new railroad ties? Do you buy new or relay? We are replacing ties and are installing new 5 footers (following your practice). I have started making phone calls but have not had too many responses. Most people have a hard time when you tell them you want 5 footers. We don't want to use 4'-3"s, even though we have some out there, as 5s offer more stability.

Are you guys going to be buying any in the near future?

Thanks for any advice.

Hans
MNGR

5

Maine Narrow Gauge RR Co. & Museum / Track work

« on: September 05, 2008, 05:39:50 AM »

Thanks to having use of a backhoe, we have started our safe ending project. New ties are going in about every 8 feet. The backhoe makes a great tie inserter/extractor. A new tie is butted up against an old one. Then the hoe is used to push the new one in place of the old one by reaching out and 'pulling' the new one into place. The old ties are put into the loader end and taken to a pile where at some point they will be picked up for recycling.

Occasionally, the old tie is so bad that the end is not solid so it can not be pushed out by the new one. At that point, we can take the hoe and jam it down into the tie at a different point on the ties and get it out as the hoe has teeth on it.

I will try to take some pictures for all to see but it is hard to hold the camera and operate the controls at the same time!

6

Maine Narrow Gauge RR Co. & Museum / B&SR 7

« on: September 05, 2008, 05:31:56 AM »

An update on #7: We continue to work on tube end removal and smokebox disconnection. Our plan is to send just the boiler to Boothbay. This will allow them to work on the boiler in their shop and solve the transportation issue that we had with trying to move the whole locomotive. Our goal is to get the boiler up there before the end of 2008.

BTW...MRR 3 is now at Boothbay.