November 2025 Work Reports

[James Patten]

Anticipated work for Saturday November 1:

* Tie and Dine
* Engine house tweaking
* Machine shop
* Archives

This is the beginning of deer hunting season - be sure to wear orange!

[James Patten]

Work done on Saturday Nov 1:

* Tie & Dine: Work was around MP 7, jacking, tamping, and lining.  The ML&M tamper was used.
* Loco 11: Earl was working on a piece attached to the valve gear and johnson bar. 
* Archives: Linda and Bruce were at work.

[Bill Reidy]

Some work train photos from yesterday, Saturday, November 1st.  The crew's focus was lifting, levelling and tamping track from south of milepost 7 to Rosewood crossing.





Lifting low spots along the west rail.



And levelling up the east rail.



Unloading Maine Locomotive & Machine's tamper.  The tamper was loaded upon work car 1014.  "Ichabod" crane car 1010 was used to unload the tamper.





Tamping.







Loading the tamper back onto 1014 toward the end of the day.



Last task of the day:  Picking up the used ties south of Humason Brook, left over from Fall Work Weekend.  This clean up will allow ditching through the work zone, finishing up the project.

[John Kokas]

In lieu of a tamper with line/level capability, has anyone thought of a lazer sighting system for the tangents with a movable target.  Would make sighting a whole lot easier.

[Earl Leavitt]

Nice to see that the WW&F track crew is keeping traditional railroading skills alive. Having worked track when I was much younger, it does my heart good to see the gage & level in place and the section foreman down on the rail sighting in the run of the track. A job well done on a cool November day.

[James Patten]

Anticipated work for Saturday Nov 8:

* Machine shop/Loco 11
* Engine house tweaking
* Archives
* Grounds work
* Board meeting at 2 PM (not the usual 4)

[James Patten]

Work done on Saturday Nov 8:

* ML&M Loco 11: The loco was given an extensive clean-up and clean-out, from the smokebox to the tender tank.
* Loco 11: Earl was working on some valve gear stuff.
* Board meeting: Started at 2, ended about 4 (with over an hour and half in executive session).

[Bill Reidy]

Some photos taken yesterday, Saturday, November 8th.

Taken after lunch, the cleanout of Maine Locomotive & Machine No. 11's tank was underway.


Nick Simoneau and Roger Whitney checking No. 11's tank drain.  Nick Anderson was inside 11's tank, finishing up the cleanout.


Jason Lamontagne and Earl Leavitt at work in the shop.  Jason was working on the vacuum brake system, while Earl was working on WW&F locomotive No. 11.


Marcel Levesque cleaning out WW&F No. 9's coal bunker.  I understand the bunker will get a repainting.  Marcel will also perform some minor window frame repairs to No. 9.


A warm day with little wind, the public signboard outside the restroom building was updated, now listing some of our 2026 events.  Much easier to do this now than in the cold!  Public event planners Ed Lecuyer and Steve Piwowarski have been busy thinking about next year.


Only a portion of the volunteer work yesterday.

[Ed Lecuyer]

[Moderator's Note]
A discussion about followers in the UK being unable to view images has been split off to: https://forum.wwfry.org/index.php/topic,4819.msg60505.html

[James Patten]

Anticipated work for Saturday Nov 15:

* Machine shop/Loco 11
* Engine house fitting
* Archives

[ALAIN DELASSUS]

Hi there. It's pretty much the same made in China tamper we use in Pithiviers.

[James Patten]

Work done on Saturday Nov 15:

* Vacuum brake work - one of the Nicks was working on a vacuum pot, and Jason and Dante were trying to track a leak in the train brake system in 9.
* Loco 11 - Earl and Jason discussed a drawing and Earl got to work on making the drawing a reality.
* Office organizing - We had some spare storage racks that had no poles, so I ordered poles last week and assembled the rack in the closet in the office, and moved some Marketing materials, paper, and other materials to it.  This freed up floor space in the office and closet.
* Alna Center - Bryce and Nick S. worked on shingling the roof.
* Archives - Linda was at work.
* Ticketing/Web - Ed was slaving over his laptop updating the website for 2026.

[Mike Fox]

A detachment was in Bridgton today at to Bridgton &Saco River Railroad Museums property, helping them for the 2nd weekend. There was some brush cutting and rail/tie organizing.