2019 Fall Work Weekend (October 11 - 14) Track Work Planning

[James Patten]

Some pictures from today

First rail to go on the bridge being hoisted off the flatcar on the crane:


The first car of the train on the bridge:


The engine on the bridge.  Yes, there's a little generator on it, to recharge batteries.


Everything on the north side of the bridge, under the apple tree.


The track from the south (downhill) approaching the bridge.  Apologies for the size, I wanted folks to see the undulations that made it difficult to run a heavy train up the hill.

[Bill Reidy]

Some photos from Fall Work Weekend day 2 -- Saturday, October 12th.  The day started wet but the rain ended about the time we crossed Trout Brook bridge:

8.55 a.m.:  The first west rail just touches the southern end of Trout Brook bridge.


9.03 a.m.:  The first east rail reaches onto the bridge.


9.08 a.m.:  The first full west rail is placed on the bridge.


9.11 a.m.:  An "insta-track" is applied to hold the gauge until the track is spiked.


9.19 a.m.:  Next full east rail is put down on the bridge.


9.38 a.m.:  The gantry car is now fully on the bridge.  View is looking north.


9.52 a.m.:  Ties are placed north of the bridge as progress pushed north.


9.56 a.m.:  Last west bridge rail is lowered into place.


10.06 a.m.:  Last east bridge rail is in place.


10.17 a.m.:  Rail train brakeman Dave Buczkowski and the gantry car crew look on as the rail crew works north of the train.


10.55 a.m.:  With the rail train now fully on and across the bridge, the spikers could finish up the track south of the bridge.


After lunch:  Some of the spiking crew enjoy a break on the bridge as they await the rail train to progress further north so spiking can start on the north side of the bridge.


The rail put down and spiked by end of day north of the bridge.


Beyond the rail train, a view looking south through the last curve before Route 218 toward the rail train.  Track will be built here on Sunday.


Turning 180 degrees, the view north through the rest of the curve toward Route 218.  Track will be built here on Sunday.

[ALAIN DELASSUS]

Thanks so much you both for the pics and report  that make me take part  in the enjoyment and the proudness of every volunteer that wittnessed  this hoped-for historic moment. You did a good job of work despite the poor weather conditions, by now the Road 218 is in sight. Keep on tracking !

[Steve Smith]

Great photojournalism, Bill Reidy....thank you! And thanks to all the volunteers and donors that made this happen.

[Eric Larsen]

I remember clearing in from 218 through to the bridge many years ago.  The brush was so thick you could not see ten feet in front of you as you cleared it all out.  I totally missed that curve after the culvert as the ground had been altered a bit by logging.  I went straight and suddenly there was a big hill in front of me.  Oops!    
Allan Fisher went around the next day by the brook and found the bridge sight location.  We realized the mistake and cleared the rest of the way to the bridge location the next day.

[Paul Uhland]

Got my new, confused computer back on line just in time to see pics of rails spiked across the Grand Trout Brook Bridge in the rain.
Wowsers!
Highest congrats to all you gandy dancers from a solid, "away" WW&F railfan!
The photo work is also excellent!
Gee, after the work session, and the rails say 'hiya' to Rt 218's shoulder,  what's left to do? 

Fantastic work! Well done.

[Bill Reidy]

Some photos from Fall Work Weekend day 3 -- Sunday, October 13th.  The weather was beautiful today:

By 8.44 a.m., we were well underway putting down new ties and rail.


Meanwhile, the spiking crew was busy behind the work train, between the train and the north end of Trout Brook bridge.


By 9.11, Route 218 was in sight of the north end of rail, in the far distance.


Today Eric Schade and Steve Lennox handled the gantry car, delivering tie bundles and rails to the crew north of the work train.


A tie bundle delivered.


A rail delivered.


A view of most of the work train.  Visible is the gantry on flatcar 126, an empty flatcar (205) that held rail, engine 52, caboose 320, and a yellow work car that trailed our train carrying spiking supplies.  Missing is the lead yellow work car that carries the joint bars, track bolts and "insta-track" to temporarily hold the track gauge until spiking.  View is at Top of the Mountain at 10.18, as 126 is about to be reloaded with ties bundles, and 205 is about to be swapped out for loaded flat 34.


This year our Museum has started a program to honor longtime volunteers who have made significant contributions to our success.  Following dinner last night, the honorees present were recognized:  John & Jane Robinson; John McNamara; Dwight Winkley and Roger Whitney.  Two honorees could not present last night, so they were recognized by Dave Buczkowski during lunch today:  Fred Morse and Zack Wyllie. 


A view south looking at the last of today's track put down.


Turning 180 degress, the view toward Route 218.


Late in the day, we unexpectedly needed a delivery of material.  WW&F No. 9 handled the task.  Here she is north of the bridge.  Today was the first time she had crossed Trout Brook in 86+ years.

[Bill Reidy]

Some photos from the last day of Fall Work Weekend -- Day 4, Monday, October 14th:

Our spiking crew finished up on the track laid the past three days.


But our ties & rail crew laid out more ties and rails today that will require spiking:  An additional 140 feet, bringing the weekend's total of new track to over 2,000 feet and our rail head to within 300 feet or so of Route 218.  Retired roadmaster Dana Deering (third from left) looks on.  Dana directed the spiking this weekend.


Stone ballast was also delivered to both approaches of Trout Brook bridge.   No. 9 delivers Maine Narrow Gauge flat 205 loaded with the first load of ballast south of the bridge as Jason Lamontagne directs the move along with Dave Buczkowski.


Volunteers start to shovel off ballast from 205 south of the bridge.


Later in the day, No. 9 brought both 205 and WW&F flatcar 118 loaded with ballast.  Our volunteers emptied the cars on the north approach to the bridge.


A view of No. 9 on the north side of the bridge as the ballast was unloaded.


Conductor Bill Baskerville of Virginia checks in with dispatcher Ed Lecuyer in Sheepscot 3+ miles away through the phone post just north of the bridge for orders on next train movements.  Among much unsung work that has made the Mountain Extension and Fall Work Weekend possible has been the effort to extend our magneto phone system, along with Ed serving as dispatcher the entire weekend.  Ed, restricted to his office in Sheepscot station, could not directly see the work as it happened this weekend.  John McNamara, along with Mike Fox, Joe Gilbert and others, extended the phone line so it could be available this weekend.


Before I left to return home in Massachusetts, I checked our volunteer log for the weekend.  The volunteer counts for the weekend look like records to me:
Friday:  87
Saturday:  117
Sunday:  98
Monday:  52.

Thank you all!

[Dana Deering]

I can barely believe that the FWW has come and gone.  My shoulder tells me the it has but any ache or pain is completely worth it as I think about all that was accomplished.  I want to thank each and every person who worked on the spiking crew.  We had first timers and old hands and everyone worked so hard and it was amazing to see the progress that was made each day.  We spiked down an amazing 900 feet (!) on Friday and kept up the momentum right up until the last spike was driven late on Monday morning.  Everyone worked great together rain and shine and although we worked hard we had lot of fun, too.  I was surprised and impressed by how quickly the bridge disappeared from view once we started spiking on the north side it.  Thank you all so much!

I also want to add that without the kitchen crew and those who get the lunches to the crew out on the line, none of this would be possible.

 It also great to see friends from farther away who I only get to see twice a year. 

Dana

[Paul Uhland]

May 10, 1869 at Promontory Point in far-off Utah comes to mind.

[John McNamara]

Among much unsung work that has made the Mountain Extension and Fall Work Weekend possible has been the effort to extend our magneto phone system, along with Ed serving as dispatcher the entire weekend.  Ed, restricted to his office in Sheepscot station, could not directly see the work as it happened this weekend.  John McNamara, along with Mike Fox, Joe Gilbert and others, extended the phone line so it could be available this weekend.

Thanks for the note, Bill. Other magneto phone workers included Matthew Christoforo, Edward Macon Eubank, and Allan (last name unknown). Many thanks of course to Mike Fox whose excavation made it all possible.

[Richard Cavalloro]

After reading Dana's post I figured I'd chime in.   I'v been a member for a while now and have visited the museum a few times as a "tourist".    After speaking with Steve P at Springfield a couple years ago I decided to attend a work weekend.  My friend came along.  Neither of us had ever done anything like laying track before.  The people were friendly and didn't mind showing us how to do the tasks.  The work was hard at times but it was actually fun with everyone giving moral support.  We're so glad we came up for the weekend I think we'll be up again to see what else we can learn how to do.   Thanks to everyone that made it a great first experience!!!!
    Rick C

PS  Never attended any work project where the food was restaurant quality......LOL

[Mike Fox]

Glad you made it. You have officially been hooked. There is no other feeling like it..

[Bill Reidy]

The Wiscasset Newspaper posted a very complimentary editorial about us today...

The museum that could

Kudos to the volunteers of Wiscasset, Waterville & Farmington Railway Museum for their work in recent years to rebuild locomotive No. 9, replace the bridge at Trout Brook and build more track. That was pretty impressive over the weekend, when all that work converged. And equally impressive was the good-natured manner the volunteers maintained at every turn. They were serious about it, but they were still enjoying their work.

Maybe that’s why they get so much done.

And kudos to the museum for being accessible as always for us to cover their activities in pictures, stories and video. Not every town of about 700 has a public draw like WW&F, and we have been happy to share its story every step of the way.

https://www.wiscassetnewspaper.com/article/museum-could/125705

[ALAIN DELASSUS]

Thank you so much Bill Reidy for all those pics and captions  that have made the far away members and friends enable to follow that exciting weekend as the WW&F fb page for that matter. Congratulations you all for the feat of engeneering you have achieved over those memorable four days. I joined the association in late 2017 and I'm downright  awed by what has been completed in hardly two years on the ROW and on the campus as well. According to the Ed todo list a lot of  challenges are waiting for you over the next few years and I'm sure you'll meet them easily and that'll be very rewarding  and exciting for me to follow and support you on a day to day basis.