Track availability

[Mike Fox]

I will second Ira's guess. It would make good yard trackage though.

[Wayne Laepple]

But Oregon's a long way off. Trucking would be a killer.

[John Kokas]

It would probably be cheaper to buy new 60# rail from Poland and ship it to Portland.....

Does anyone know how much 60# rail is still available from Kovalchik?  I also seem to recall that there was a pile of it somewhere down in Florida ?

[Wayne Laepple]

There are several rail brokers other than Kovalchick who have 60-pound rail in substantial quantities. One I spoke with last year had 24 miles(!) on hand. The problem is coming up with the cash to buy and transport it. A truckload delivered to Sheepscot runs about $24,000 right now, while two years ago, we could get the same truckload for $16,000. A truckload yields 11-1200 feet of new track, so we'll need about 5 loads to reach Route 218, or at least $125,000. This year's entire track budget is $25,000. And getting rail as a donation is a diminished possibility, what with the current economic climate and scrap prices running around $550 per ton.

[John Kokas]

24 miles?  hope this isn't a typo.......... whom is it, if that can be disclosed?  We all know this won't last forever......... Just sent my check for the "rail fund".

[Wayne Laepple]

A&K Railroad materials, Inc. They are one of the largest brokers of rail materials in the country. If I recall correctly, the rail was from Mexico. That quantity, was just what they had "on the yard" in Birmingham, Ala.  They had more in various locations out west.

[Mike Fox]

It would be nice to be able to get some one like Norfolk Southern to Donate transport for a few carloads of rail. If we could get it in state, this opens up a whole new strategy for transportation. I might be able to get trucking donated. The closer it is, the easier it will be.

[John Kokas]

I know someone who has contacts with a scrapper who has 100 ton gon's.  I'll broach the subject and see if we could get one for a round trip to Wiscasset.  Also, I agree the M&E contacts should be sounded out.  I believe that they also have 1-2 MOW gons of their own.

[Ira Schreiber]

I just got an update quote on a truckload(20 tons) this past week from Birmingham Rail Supply....over $24,000!! PLUS shipping.
We passed.

[Dave Link]

Hello, this is first post.   Just a note that steel rail is a very cyclical commodity and subject to wide fluctuations.   Steel has been very high and I'm involved in the industry enough to tell you that things are due for a steep correction, which may lead to some discounts and opportunities ahead.    I know from cofounding the Adirondack Scenic RR  ( another back from extinction operation, although the track was still in place ) that volunteers are few and far between, as well difficult to keep interested and not burn them out.     I don't know if you know, but there might be some 65 and 80 lb rail surplus on the Lowville & Beaver River RR in northern New York.   I used to run trains for them and the line has ben out of service so a number of years.    Keep up the great work!   I as a kid remember crossing the bay at Wiscasset going to my grandparents at Boothbay and vividly remember the pilings of the WW & F sticking out of the mud flats at low tide.

[jockellis]

I need some help here. I noticed in the last newsletter that the GE Foundation had matched a member's donation to the museum. Since I work for GE, I'd like to get my track fund donation matched. If the GE employee is on the forum, I'd appreciate it if you'd contact me via pm.
Jock Ellis

[Allan Fisher]

We have 4 friends and members already getting their gifts matched by GE Foundation. Justy google GE Foundation, and fill in the employee/retiree data. or go to gefoundation.com.

[Mike the Choochoo Nix]

Hi.
I don't know if any of you have heard but scrap prices have crashed in the last few weeks.  Scrap steel that here in the midwest last spring was bringing $265 per ton is now down to $20 a ton. YES Twenty dollars a ton. It may soon be a good time to buy a lot of rail, or maybe to get a donation of "unsuitable" rail to trade for good rail. Just throwing that out for what it's worth.

Mike Nix

[Matthew Martin]

Why not trade the 70 pound rail we have for the 60 pound rail Kovalchick has?

[Stephen Hussar]

See this thread: http://forum.wwfry.org/index.php?topic=50.0