Mountain Extension - Official Work Thread

[Mike Fox]

And I forgot.. Looking up at Clancy from the brook. Do you see it?

[Bill Reidy]

WOW!  Eleven!

We saw Mike at lunch today and he said he had four blocks set, doubling the number of two that had been set prior to the weekend.  I thought that was tremendous progress after seeing the equipment issues and roadway conditions he faced Saturday.  I know he was frustrated with Saturday's situation, all out of his immediate control, given the schedule to have the right-of-way ready for fall work weekend track construction.

And he found the boom truck had a flat tire Sunday morning.  Plus time spent to fix Casey today.

So to have eleven blocks set is a tremendous achievement!  Kudos to Mike and Start for making that happen.

[Paul Uhland]

Reading of wall progress reminds me of WWII reports of how Seabees built landing strips on wartime Pacific islands facing incredible obstacles, so our air forces could advance.

Outstanding work on both accounts.

And I see a dirty yellow square behind a tree trunk, mid-picture. Clancy?
 

[Carl G. Soderstrom]

Fantastic work Mike. & Start.

[Brendan Barry]

Retaining wall blocks being delivered to the end of the line and transferred to the boom truck.











The big steel culverts being moved to the end of track.













Retaining wall progress.

[Mike Fox]

I went to the brook to see what I could see of the wall.. Now you can really tell where the grade is.

[Jeff Schumaker]

Great shots, Brendan. You guys made a lot of progress Saturday morning.

Jeff S.

[Paul Uhland]

Absolutely swift, first-rate work!
 BTW, the first washout finish stonework looks perfect.

[ALAIN DELASSUS]

Thanks for the pics Brendan they show the good job of work you guys have done.

[Brendan Barry]

Last flatcar load of blocks was shipped up this morning.



View from the boom truck as Mike fine tunes the placement of a block with the Kubota.

[Mike Fox]

Brendan had to play Brakeman this afternoon, so I was left to my onesome..

But the blocks are in!







Then I set the pipes on the trailer (that should answer the "why is that trailer here" questions) to get them to location 9. Tucked them into the woods at the slide.






Once the big culvert is installed and backfilled, I can then start ditching. I could not before because the truck traffic pushes the grade into the ditches. The trucks are wider than the grade in places. So I will work from location 9 southward,  calling for material to build up as needed. Once I get the ditches in there will be no vehicles allowed.

[Bill Reidy]

That retaining wall is a big project done thanks to Mike and everyone who helped!  And that's just a small piece of the work that's been done to get the Mountain Extension right-of-way prepped for track-laying Columbus Day weekend.

[Ed Lecuyer]

And I thought we would never use that trailer that was tucked away at Davis/Brook crossing!

Great job Mike!

[Mike Fox]

Long days this weekend. 11 on Saturday and 10 1/2 Sunday. Less than a normal day at work, and a lot more effort. I will not be around this weekend, boss lady's orders, but will finish out September on the full weekend press getting ready for October 5th..

[John Kokas]

Mike,

I know its the camera angle but for curiosity sake, what layback angle did you use for the retaining blocks?