April 2020 Work Reports

[James Patten]

I'm starting this topic not to necessarily report on work coming up or accomplished, but mainly to keep the continuity of topics.

With Maine's stay at home order for the month of April, it means that the only official thing occurring this month will be the board meeting on the 11th.

Stay safe and healthy, everyone!

[Fred Morse]

Nice to see many people coming by the museum and walking our tracks while their staying home. Good to get out in fresh air I guess. Were keeping an eye on the place which is good. Getting a little done anyhow.

[James Patten]

Virtual board meeting this coming Saturday the 11th, starting at 4.  Contact Ed Lecuyer if you'd like to virtually attend.

[Mike Fox]

I decided since the stay at home order is in effect, it is a good time to work on one of my home projects..hy-rail gear..intended for the Kubota..eventually..

I picked these up last year in Avon, Me. I spent a few hours this morning and brought one set in to the proper gauge.



This is the heavier set with brakes. Electric over hydraulic. Pump is there too.



Got the set I was working on all set on steel saw horses, anf figured where I wanted to cut..then cut. Here is after my torch effort..



Cut and tapered



Slid both sides together and snap clamped them to a piece of angle for alaignment. Lined up a lot easier than I had figured.



Welded and ready for some free handed fish plates..



Paint..



Finished all sides with small fish plates. The way the axle is designed, there is minimal stress where the weld is, but a little reinforcement never hurts.



Back on the other axle to get a size comparison, Sheepscot Standard gauge vs. Broad gauge..

[Bill Baskerville]

Nice Mike, are they for the Kubota so we can finally use that neat articulated underwater grass cutting arm we procured a few years ago to keep the ROW cleared?

[Jeff Schumaker]

NIce work, Mike. Will these wheels be a bolt on attachment to the Kubota?

Jeff S.

[Philip Marshall]

Really nice, Mike.

I picked these up last year in Avon, Me.

I'm surprised they weren't the correct gauge already, coming from SR&RL territory. 

[Mike Fox]

Yes, they will be for the Kubota. The idea is to make a mount that will hook to the blade. The other set will need a sub frame that will then bolt to the rear frame of the Kubota. This is made so we can remove the railgear when not needed.

[Mike Fox]

Making emergency repairs to the railroad..

Track is now out of service from Sheepscot North Yard Limit, north.



This is why. Jason was alerted to this and found it last week and immediately called me.



So I got looking and found this. It looks like the joint on the main pipe under the track has collapsed. There also appears to be a puncture when peering in from the west side.



The track sags over the pipe.



So, after helping with the roof, I shuffled some supplies to the sites (yes, there are 2 failing pipes within about 500 feet of each other)







Then hauled the Kubota up with Freds truck and started digging.



I dug for only about 20 minutes, then taped off the area to keep walkers away from the hole.



Next weekend I will replace the main pipe. I want to reuse the shorter one I uncovered, so I will try to leave it in place.

[Bill Baskerville]

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

I miss our railroad....

[Eric Larsen]

I wonder if the plastic culverts are an issue?

[Bill Reidy]

The fill looks like it has a lot of clay in Mike's 8th photo.  Not very stable in freeze/thaw cycles, I imagine.

[Mike Fox]

The clay is definately an issue. It freezes and thaws more than good draining soil, and is soft and pliable when wet.

But, we can not change it. If we put good draining soil in over the culverts, it will change the freeze of the ground in such a way that it would cause a dip in the winter. Then there is a potential for uncoupling or worse.
Packing the culvert tight with soil will help minimize the potential for settling and culvert movement. My plan is to disturb as little as necessary to get the culverts in, which helps in the settling of the pipes.

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

[Graham Buxton]

I have  36" X 20ft 'plastic' culvert that I installed in my driveway 13 years ago. It has performed well with no issues.  We do get some freeze cycles here, but the 'building code' frost depth here is only 12 inches, so freeze cycles are clearly less severe than at Sheepscot. 

My plastic culvert has 'wavy ridges' on the exterior, but the inside of the culvert is smooth. I notice in Mike's photo that in the 'inside' culvert photo that the ridges are plainly visible.  That suggests the installed culvert is a single wall version, and [hopefully] a doublewall style (with a smooth inside) is available as a replacement.

The other issue is that the photo shows the installed culvert is oval, rather than round.  If it was not manufactured in that shape, in my opinion, some of the structural strength of  a perfect circle design is lost.  Note that the failure is at the top of the flattened area.

[Bill Baskerville]

Graham,  I suspect the culverts were round when installed, as were the two just south of Alna Center that we had to change about 10 years ago.  Between the freeze thaw cycles, the clay, the weight of the locomotives, etc.  the side fill slowly moves so the pipes become oval shaped.  I know on the Alna Center pipes we spent a lot of time compacting the fill around the sides of the pipes to prevent this.  I haven't looked inside to see if they are again compressing. 

I know that life and construction techniques in Maine are vastly different than where some of us mid-Atlantic folks live.