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Topics - Bill Reidy

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1
Well, I just had my chuckle of the day.  After reading the Wiscasset Newspaper article about plans for the Wiscasset Schoonerfest at the town's recreation pier September 21st, I turned to Google Maps to see where the pier is located (1 Water Street).  Scrolling north to the creamery pier, I was surprised to see our dairy car marked with a "65."



That's odd.  Normally Google maps uses numbers like this to mark street addresses.  So I then opened a new browser window, went to maps.google.com, and searched for "65 Main Street Wiscasset ME".  Here's the result:



Yup, Google maps thinks our TCDA car #65 is located at 65 Main Street in Wiscasset.  No, it's not.  Apparently somewhere along the line the car number was interpreted as the car's street address.

There is a 65 Main Street in Wiscasset.  It is located on the southbound side of U.S. Route 1, between Water and Middle streets.




2
General Discussion / NRHS article on the Conway Scenic Railroad
« on: September 23, 2023, 06:45:59 PM »
The latest NRHS Bulletin (Volume 86, No. 2) has a well-written and illustrated 24-page article by Brian Solomon on the Conway Scenic Railroad, focused on the people and departments who make the railroad run.  Of particular interest is the sidebar article "Bridge Inspections," featuring Wayne Duffett.  Wayne connected us with the National Society for the Preservation of Covered Bridges, which led to a restored B&M Berlin (NH) branch pony truss bridge becoming our Trout Brook bridge on the Mountain extension.

3
As a member of the Railway & Locomotive Historical Society, I receive their PDF Quarterly Newsletter.  Earlier tonight I received the Fall 2023 issue and was pleasantly surprised to see a feature article on our Railway, written by Oren B. Helbok. A very nice surprise.  Glad to have met Oren at the WW&F a few years back now.


4
Edaville and Maine Locomotive & Machine Works' have a terrific display outdoors at the Amherst Railway Society's West Springfield, MA show this weekend.  A few photos...

Edaville No. 11 was under steam, blowing the whistle from Maine Central's No. 470 now under restoration.


Planned 2023 Edaville events.


The outdoor tent's booths for Edaville and ML&M.


A sign displaying ML&M's abilities and achievements, not a surprise to us.

5
"On January 3, the owner of Carver’s Edaville theme park went before the town’s Board of Selectmen to propose developing a portion of the park’s property into housing units, including affordable housing, while making the park itself a seasonal attraction only during the Christmas season.

"'We stepped back and said look, we have to think about reinventing Edaville,' owner Jon Delli Priscoli told selectmen. 'How do we go forward and how do we make Edaville permanent? How do we make sense out of this property, and also figure a way to manage the open space and potentially do some housing, and do it all at one time?'"

Detailed story with video is posted here.

6
The WW&F leads Trains magazine's list of railroad preservation achievements in 2022.

https://www.trains.com/trn/news-reviews/news-wire/year-in-review-preservation-stories-from-coast-to-coast/

7
General Discussion / Alna Store’s New Owners Ready for Grand Opening
« on: December 23, 2022, 08:03:29 AM »
"Concluding seven months of renovations, the new owners of The Alna Store are ready for the three-day grand opening weekend, running from Thursday, Dec. 22 through Saturday, Dec. 24..."

https://lcnme.com/business/alna-stores-new-owners-ready-for-grand-opening/

8
Whimsical Weirdness and Foolery / When we reach Wiscasset...
« on: December 12, 2022, 01:23:17 PM »
...I understand we will be adopting the new technology described in this article so Amtrak's Downeaster can depart the Rockland branch at Wiscasset and terminate at Sheepscot Station.

9
Museum Discussion / Czech Czooch
« on: December 11, 2022, 06:51:24 AM »
Quote
And Czech out the visitor that is passing through on it's way to Brians....











Good to see the Czech engine light is off in these photos.

10
Alluded to elsewhere, a project is now underway to provide a firmer foundation for the Sheepscot Station buildings and rearrange platforms for better guest flow during popular events.  A few Tuesday photos.

A temporary giftshop for winter events is being set up in Sandy River & Rangeley Lakes combine No. 14.  A view from the partially disassembled station platform looking into No. 14.


Inside No. 14 Tuesday morning.


A view inside the gift shop building, with Cindy Rhine and Randy Beach discussing the project. 


The largely disassembled platform.  A temporary platform ramp has been set up on the turntable lead track in the lower yard for our winter event passengers.




11
Work and Events / J&S Truck Build/Rebuild - Official Work Thread
« on: October 22, 2022, 08:34:04 PM »
Jerry and Carlos Steinke have spent countless hours preparing the passenger truck frames for coach No. 9.  Checking shop bay 2 today, I found the passenger truck parts had recently been painted and set out to dry.



12
Work and Events / Hydration during hot weather, both crew and passengers
« on: August 07, 2022, 06:45:44 PM »
Talking with Jason earlier today about yesterday's grand opening, he suggested I start the following thread.

During yesterday's Mountain Extension Grand Opening, a concerted, somewhat quiet effort was made to ensure everyone present was hydrated throughout the day.  Like so many this summer, it was a very hot, humid day.  You might have noticed Mike Fox' post showing the crew meeting in the basement of the Percival House, the coolest place at Sheepscot for the meeting at the start of a long day.

Joseph Gilbert led the effort to supply many coolers filled with ice, water and Gatorade, most of which were stationed at the south end of Saturday's train.  As the day progressed, conductors, brakemen and train hosts ensured our 166 passengers were supplied throughout the day.  More refreshments were provide at the ceremonies at the Alna Center pavilion.

The result is we did not have any heat-related injuries reported.

One statistic:  I supplied 18 40-pack cases of bottles of water the past 9 days.  This is in addition to the water, Gatorade and other drinks Cindy and others have also provided.  At the end of day yesterday, we had 4 40-pack cases of bottles of water available.  This is a testimony to the effort of the work and train crew foremen and crew to keep everyone safe the past 9 days.

The point here is we should continue to ensure enough coolers are adequately provided based on weather conditions, filled with water and other drinks, frequently offered to our passengers. 

13
Massachusetts' Two Footers / Edaville is reopening November 10th
« on: August 02, 2022, 11:36:17 AM »
Per a Facebook announcement today (https://www.facebook.com/EdavilleFamilyThemePark/), Edaville will be reopening November 10th for the Christmas Festival of Lights.

14
Museum Discussion / WCVB Chronicle Monday, July 18th
« on: July 16, 2022, 03:41:27 AM »
It looks like the WCVB-TV Chronicle episode on Wiscasset, including our Railway, will air at 7.30 p.m. Monday, July 18th.  Hopefully the Museum segment will be posted online. 

https://www.wcvb.com/chronicle

https://www.wcvb.com/article/monday-july-18-main-streets-and-back-roads-of-wiscasset-maine/40625846

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