Wilmar (the) Tamper - Official Work Thread

[Mike Fox]

Woohoo!

[Wayne Laepple]

Yes, it's true. Wilmar was unloaded and "grounded" at 10:04 a.m. today. He'll be staying inside the terminal gates until at least Monday as the terminal is closed tomorrow and through the weekend. He still needs to be inspected by US Customs and several paperwork issues must be resolved before he can leave the terminal. When that happens, he will be drayed a mile or so, where he will be unloaded from the flat rack he traveled on, only to be reloaded on a truck to Maine when that all can be scheduled. It's been quite an adventure so far!

[John McNamara]

Has he sent any postcards from his ports of call?

[Wayne Laepple]

Since he was not carrying a passport, he was not permitted to venture outside the gates of the terminals he visited.

[Roger Cole]

At least Wilmar avoided the fate of the Susquehanna Railroad's locomotive purchase made in 1991.

https://locomotive.fandom.com/wiki/New_York,_Susquehanna_%26_Western_No._142#:~:text=142%20is%20a%20class%20SY,Valley%20Railroad%20in%20Essex%2C%20Connecticut.&text=The%20Susquehanna%20Railroad%20purchased%20an,in%20the%20Bay%20of%20Bengal.

[Russ Nelson]

Will Wilmar be riding inside the container or on a trailer?

[Dwight Winkley]

It was never in a container. It was shipped on a flat rack. Only had a tarp to keep weather away.

Tamper will be unloaded next week See Wayne's report above.

I heard tamper will be placed on a open trailer for it's highway trip north

[Wayne Laepple]

Wilmar was shipped on a flat rack because it was slightly taller and wider than the doorway on a standard 20-foot container. Picture a bulkhead flat car -- that's what a flat rack looks like. It must be "stripped" from the flat rack before it can be moved to Sheepscot since we do not want to have the added expense of sending the flat rack back to the terminal in New Jersey. To make the operation just a teensy bit more complicated, on the same trailer that will bring Wilmar to Maine, there will also be a "new" lathe for the shop coming from a used machinery dealer in Pennsylvania. Thus, I have to coordinate getting the lathe loaded and tarped, then having the truck go to the dray yard in Newark to have Wilmar loaded. Both will be unloaded at the same time at Sheepscot. I hope this will all take place sometime during the week of January 11, but no promises. Stay tuned for additional updates.

[Roger Cole]

Anything new on Wilmar?  Maybe he's having trouble locating Sheepscot.

[James Patten]

Wilmar should be en-route.  Wayne's been working tirelessly to herd the cats, arranging to release the tamper from location A to be stored at location B, while arranging for a truck to pick up both it and a lathe.

[Mike Fox]

Last report as of this afternoon, Wilmar is spending the night someplace between A and B, possibly CT area, and will arrive tomorrow in Wiscasset for storage for a week before being moved to Sheepscot.

[Wayne Laepple]

Wilmar's adventure is nearly over. He is almost, but not quite at, Sheepscot. After two weeks of often frustrating time dealing with the marine terminal, the customs broker, the drayman and the truck broker, Wilmar finally made it to Maine and was unloaded at Ken Boudin's shop, just a couple of miles from Sheepscot. on Saturday  morning The tamper and the large lathe both arrived on the same truck and will be stored at Ken's for a week or two, until everything is ready for both to be delivered to Sheepscot.

Photo by Alan Downey shows the tamper and the new lathe on the trailer.

[Dave Buczkowski]

A huge tip of the engineer’s cap must go to WW&F Logistics (a/k/a Wayne) for arranging for the donation from Wilmar Sugar and all that went into Wilmar’s cruise. I think it all turned Wayne’s hair gray. Nonetheless, Wayne stuck to it through all the nail biting moments.
Thanks to Wayne, I had the honor of being the first to sit in the operator’s seat of our first “real” tamper, lifter and liner. I think Mike may post a photo of that moment.
Though there is a box for a radio, I did not find a cup holder. I am told our shop crew will take care of this matter.
Dave

[Gordon Cook]

Echoing Dave's comments..
Many thanks and congratulations to Wayne for his tireless and patient efforts.  We are so fortunate to have such skillful and knowledgeable volunteers.
Two very important additions to our museum.

[Mike Fox]

I missed the unloading of the Lathe. Got there in time for Wilmar..

















And of course, the Presidential seat inspection. I think he approves.