TBS Weed Whacking Crew Request

[Jason M Lamontagne]

Hello folks,

Would 1-2 of our volunteers reading this be willing to weed whack the railroad right of way from track out to each ditch between Rt 218 at TBS south to MP8?  This is an area we cannot power-spray due to proximity of the public trail system.  The volunteer who has been taking care of this for the past few years has some new health restrictions.

Please let us know here if you’re willing.  We’d like to get this done within the next 2-3 weeks if possible.

Thanks
Jason

[Bill Reidy]

I plan to be at Sheepscot this Saturday and can work on the Route 218 - MP8 weed whacking.  I understand the magneto phone line is underground in this section.

I had hoped to weed whack around Trask's crossing Saturday.  Depending how long the Trout Brook work takes, I still hope to get to Trask's.

[John McNamara]

I understand the magneto phone line is underground in this section.

No. All of the terminal posts along the West side of the ROW from the North end of the bridge to 218 are interconnect by exposed wire.
-John M

[Mike Fox]

RowMow1 would work good for this but needs some prepatory work..then some dry track time..

[Bill Reidy]

I understand the magneto phone line is underground in this section.

No. All of the terminal posts along the West side of the ROW from the North end of the bridge to 218 are interconnect by exposed wire.
-John M

Guess I was thinking of the phone line south of Trout Brook bridge, which is underground.  Thanks, John.

[John McNamara]

I understand the magneto phone line is underground in this section.

No. All of the terminal posts along the West side of the ROW from the North end of the bridge to 218 are interconnect by exposed wire.
-John M

Guess I was thinking of the phone line south of Trout Brook bridge, which is underground.  Thanks, John.

Roughly half of the Mountain Extension south of the Trout Brook Bridge is indeed underground. The southern half of the Mountain Extension is exposed on the Eastern edge, just like the rest of the magphone system. The only reason the part North of the bridge is on the West side is that the East Side is a resource protection zone.

[Bill Reidy]

Dave and I went out and weed whacked today.  A few photos can be found here.

The section between north end of track and the Trout Brook switch on both sides was completed in the morning.  After lunch, I cut about two thirds of the sides between the switch and the trail crossing.

Nothing was touched south of the trail crossing.

No magneto phone lines were injured during the making of this movie.  Sorry, John.  I'll try to do better next time.

Jason:  Please review the work and let us know if we were too aggressive or conservative on the cutting in this section.  The amount cut felt right to us.



 

[Jason M Lamontagne]

Thank you Bill and Dave.  I’ll check it out this week- though it looks appropriate in the photos.  Probably another 2-person morning will finish up from where you left off south to MP8?

Thanks!
Jason

[Bill Reidy]

Probably another 2-person morning will finish up from where you left off south to MP8?

Yes, I think that's right.  Most of the heavy brush has been cut north of the trail crossing, but some remains between the crossing and the south switch, particularly on the west side.  South of the crossing, the brush to be cut is much less dense.

[Mike Fox]

Remember, the east side a little south of the crossing is a shoreland protected area, so cut no wider than necessary, which is about 10 feet from center of track, to 75 feet south of the bridge.. The West side south of the fence to 75 feet south of the bridge is the same. There are no ditches in that area to judge by.

[Bill Reidy]

Nothing Dave and I cut yesterday was to/beyond 10 feet from center of track south of the station.  The widest tract cut was on the west side of the side track, well short of 10 feet from the center line of track.  I'll note cutting was up to but not including the west side ditch, since we were not sure exactly where the above-ground magneto phone line is located.  We knew the line crossed over from Trout Brook station on the east side to the west side just south at the turtle crossing.   We learned as the morning progressed the phone line is located on the west side of the ditch from its crossover from Trout Brook station down to just north of the south switch, where we found it jumps to the track side of the ditch for the run down to the next phone post.

[Mike Fox]

Perfect. I hope to get that wire underground sometime. Looks good.