April 2020 Work Reports

[Graham Buxton]

If the clay backfill is the issue behind the culvert getting flattened, then perhaps the backfill should be a more stable material, like quarry rock, compacted with a rental plate compactor, or a 'jump' style compactor. Yes it costs more, but how many times do we want to fix the same culvert?

ADS is a manufacturer of various sizes of HDPE pipes.  You may be familiar with their 4" black flex drain that is typically available at the various 'big box' home improvement stores, but they also manufacture bigger culverts up to 60" in diameter.  I note that they offer various documents for download, but I thought the Installation Guide titled "Trench_Installation_Railway_4in_to_60in_HDPE_Pipe_(Detail_107A_01-16)-Model" may be interesting reading.

Its too big to directly post here, but this is the host page:
https://www.ads-pipe.com/markets/timber/culverts
Scroll down to the desired document name.  The "ASTM D2321 Class 1" backfill referenced therein is crushed rock, but there are also alternative backfills listed.

[Bill Reidy]

If we switch to steel, they only last about 25 years, so not as long as a plastic (is supposed to) lasts.

This culvert dates back at least 20 years, as the track here, coming out of Cockeye Curve to Sheepscot Mills crossing, was built in early April 2001.  It was my first work weekend.  My first job was to shovel leftover snow from the right-of-way (Dana might remember the story).  The culvert site wasn't bad, but it was deep mud in the area between the whistle post and the crossing.  Lots and lots of clay.  My first introduction, as I grew up near the sandy soil of Cape Cod.

What a shame that in the middle of the SWW the rail heads at the Sheepscot yard limits are rusty. 

I miss our railroad....

That was my first thought when I saw Mike's photos, Bill.  I went out and burned brush yesterday to commiserate.  Unlike many past years, I didn't get to do that this past winter in Alna.

[Mike Fox]

When the culverts were installed, everything was loose. Now all that ground has settled and compacted. Since I relieved the pressure on the top of the pipe, I can now stretch it like I did the 4' pipes down the mountain, packing more material around the sides. We will see what Saturday brings. I may have to pull that short piece anyway, and if I do I'll just turn it.

[John L Dobson]

Would encasing the plastic pipe in a lean concrete mix help reduce the crushing forces?

[Mike Fox]

It would, but that brings another problem or 2. How to get the cement in there. Then it would be difficult to repair if there was another issue.

[Graham Buxton]

Mike, this wouldn't be particularly helpful transporting concrete, but what do you think about adding a 'dump bed' capability to the Museum's pickup?   It seems like the pickup (with rock / dirt) could transported on the rail wheel equipment trailer that gets used to move the dozer etc.   I don't know how long the sloped end of the trailer compares to the distance of the pickup wheels to the end of the pickup bed (where the dump hinge would be), so that would need to be evaluated, or perhaps just back pickup off the trailer to dump where the roadbed permits. 

Here is an example product: https://www.piercearrowinc.com/product-category/dump-kits/
I'm not promoting a specific product / vendor, the link is just for discussion.

If you thought adding that capability to the Museum's pickup would be useful (and used), we could likely find a way to pay for it.  I would not expect that the pickup would be used to haul rock from a quarry, just used to move material around the WW&F property. And yes, I understand that a dump bed on that pickup isn't going to be functional in time to use it to fix this particular culvert.

[John McNamara]

I noticed that the website that Graham cited was www.piercearrow.com. I thought that name was familiar, so I did a Google search. How about modifying a Pierce-Arrow car with a dump body?

[James Patten]

The Musuem's white truck (formerly Copeland Lumber) has a dump body.

[Mike Fox]

A dump body has been discussed for the pick up before, and would be very handy at times (hauling wood, debris, even unloading material from the lumber yard) around the museum.

[Graham Buxton]

From the perspective of getting rock to a 'rail only' location, (and not having a bunch of shovel-wielding minions available  to unload it) is the combination of the rail trailer and the white truck dump body suitable for the task, or would a dump bed on a pickup be more suitable?

Also I'm curious to know if the white truck has 'air brakes'? (If it does, then as I understand it, an 'air brake endorsement' on a driver's license would be required for anyone driving that truck on a public road.  While that may not matter for fixing culverts, it does tend to limit the pool of potential drivers for other, more mundane tasks.)

[Mike Fox]

Only CDL license holders are allowed to drive the white truck on the road, and they have to be approved by me and put on our insurance plan. The pick up also has a set list of road drivers, because our insurance only allows so many drivers. Above the set amount, 8 if I remember correctly, the premium price increases.

[Pete "Cosmo" Barrington]

With all this more modern equipment around, perhaps we should adopt a more modern (ok, ok, quit groaning until I finish please!) style logo ala the EDAville logo combining text with, say, a locomotive silhouette or some such.
Just a thought.... (and here's your shoe back!)