July 2019 Work Planning

[Joe Fox]

We made a valid attempt at many things today. In short it was too hot to do much of anything today. I will be at the museum again this coming Saturday and would like to attempt another tamping day on 7/13. Ideally this could be a crew size of 2-4 to tamp the middles and raise one low spot at the moment.

Due to my work schedule I am unsure of my availability on the Stone the Mountain weekend but will have specific instructions in the event of my absence.

[James Patten]

It was too hot to do much of anything except run trains.  Steam trains.  In the heat and humidity.  For ice cream.  It seemed to work - we had over 100 ticket buyers today, good gift shop intake.

We also had a board meeting.

Joe and crew attempted tamping but the hydraulic motor gave out.

Mike did some grading at ToM for a road from the Lyon's farm, next door to our property.

[Mike Fox]

I did some grading also at Sutters forst thing this morning. Contractors for the power company replaced some poles late last fall, and left a trench that filled with water, causing some of that water to create a frost heave. Hoping this helps it.

So then to Top of the Mountain. Last weekend I ditched along the main and piled the ditchings up. I leveled them with the dozer today, filling in a low spot in the field.



Then, to cross the tracks took some effort...



Joe and Bill attempted to weed whack after lunch, but the heat was just too much. This photo does not show all they did.



And as James mentioned, I spent some time creating a road the last few days. It will be for the Lyons to transport patrons to and from the railroad to their farm. Nothing ventured, nothing gained they say. So all we have in this now is my investment of time, and a little fuel. I did it quick and dirty, so there is brush and stump piles in the woods, mostly out of sight of the trains.

Looking North. I moved some of the material that I had placed there when we fixed the grade through here, to a low spot to level off the road.



Looking from the tracks



I stepped into the woods, looking back at the train. Trees were here yesterday. They are now behind me..



Turned to look north, towards the original woods/camp road.



Standing on the Woods/Camp road, the previous photo was taken from the other end of the road on the left.



Looking a little right toward the tracks..



I also touched up the woods/camp road.. Hopefully it dries out.

[Jeff Schumaker]

Looks like you accomplished quite a bit, Mike.

Jeff S.

[Mike Fox]

Stocking the shelves today at ROWMOW Mfg..

[Fred Morse]

Nice cool Sunday morning, cut another stack of ties, had Three helpers. only 4 stacks left to do.

[Bill Baskerville]

Stocking the shelves today at ROWMOW Mfg..

  MIke, do I see a high-rail kit?  So are you going to put them on the back hoe?  Or perhaps Casey?  Or, use the parts to make the next piece of MOW rolling stock?

[John Kokas]

Do we need to worry?  Is Mike going "Broad-Gauge" on us?  Yikes !!!

[Mike Fox]

A bargain is a bargain.. The guy wasn't sure how much he wanted, I wasn't sure how much to pay so I offered just over my estimated scrap value. He was hoping for more, and we decided a price before I left my house. To be fair, looking things over, I got one heck of a deal. These were also included..



My initial thought was hi-railing the Kubota. This may prove a challenge, but I like challenges. I tried ditching from the unnamed equipment car ("Rider" the Ramp Car? Or "Elsie" the Equipment Car?) and felt that I could be jarring things more than I care for, plus visibility close to the car is not good.
But, I have them. Now I can look things over, plan things out, and make something..eventually.

[Bill Baskerville]

... My initial thought was hi-railing the Kubota. ...

Hi-railing the Kubota makes the most sense it would seem.  You are always using it along the track for ditching.  And let's not forget that we have that giant articulated underwater weed eater that could be attached to the end of the bucket arm.  That would solve a lot of sapling and grass cutting issues. 

Of course we would then have to throw out red meat to keep the ticks fed since our grounds troopers wouldn't be going out regularly to feed them.

[John Kokas]

Agree that hi-railing the Kubota makes sense.  My only concern is stability issues both travelling and working.  One can add hydraulic stabilizer arms similar to a backhoe, but I don't know how you would handle that in a travel mode.  I will assume that el presidente of ROWMOW probably has already figured that out.   

[Paul Uhland]

There're four rail wheels, framing parts?, hydraulic stuff...hmmmm.
Can't wait for ROWMOW's next blockbuster, labor-saving invention.
Adding retractable stability arms and direct rail mobility to the Kubota, along with use of the tie puller, should make drudge-work ROW maintenance a lot more tolerable.

Also, is there a way to make Big Joe more reliable, as it is key to keeping tracks safe?

Hope Fred doesn't run out of work. 

[Mike Fox]

Stability is always on my mind. The APU for the cutter head, if mounted on the back of the machine, will help to counter balance the weight of the cutter head. The beauty of hydraulic cylinders would be if stability is an issue, you could always raise the rail wheels and lower the machine down so if it started to tip the wheels would touch the ties or something. Little improvements..

[Fred Morse]

Another bundle of ties cut today. 3 left!

[Jeff Schumaker]

At this rate, Fred, you should be done by Wednesday.

Jeff S.