March 2025 work reports

[Carl G. Soderstrom]

I did not see Fred's chair when the guys were cutting
 ties 

Or was it behind the photographer?

[James Patten]

Work done on Saturday, March 22:

* Garage - Brian was doing more organizing.  Mike put the brush cutter on the new Kubota, and did some trimming south of Cross Road and along the north side of the parking lot.
* Vacuum brakes - Dan and Nick were working on vacuum brake parts assembly.
* Locomotive 10 - Dan and Ed worked on creating a template for the boiler.
* X-cart - Bob and I pressed some bushings into pipe fittings, then I worked to put the pipe fittings into their proper holes.  It required some filing.
* Model Train run - Cindy and Marcel took a trip to Walpole to pick up a donation of Lionel and other model trains.

[Mike Fox]

[Bill Reidy]

Wow!  I'm very impressed with the sickle bar attachment in place on the Kubota.  I can see that it, in conjunction with the X-Cart, will be a game-changer in maintenance of our active right-of-way.  Kudos to everyone involved in this work.

Thanks for the photos, Mike.

[Mike Fox]

Dave was already saying where we could use it first. I remembered how tricky it was to usd it from when I put it on the old Kubota. But the new machine is much more stable with it on. It can reach straight out 20 feet from the edge of the excavator, making it about 22 feet from center. Straight up cutting like when it did the poplar over the turntable beams is about 15 feet. It will handle brush up to 2 inches, which is about what can be cut with the blade trimmer.
This will be best to be used on a self propelled machine. A lot of damage can occur in a hurry if the operator does not have complete control.

[James Patten]

Anticipated work for Saturday March 29:

* Vacuum brake work
* Loco 10 boiler
* Engine house
* Garage spring cleaning & organizing
* Vehicle repair/grounds work

[Bill Baskerville]

Mike,
Might I suggest we find one of our new, young, railroad enthusiast and teach him how to operate the Kabota and the sickle bar. I know it is a tricky skill to learn, but you could work with that individual until they became good at it. That would relieve you of one of the many duties that you currently have.

[Mike Fox]

It is tricky. We will have to train a few people to use it. Will go good with the X-cart..

[James Patten]

Work done Saturday March 29:

Due to a snow storm and the Alna town meeting, there was only 3 of us at the Museum (at least when I left at 1)
* Nancy made a great meal.
* I was consolidating archival quarantine material into a smaller box
* Brendan may have done some enginehouse work.