Mountain Extension - Official Work Thread

[ALAIN DELASSUS]

Thank you for the walk,Mike,and for keeping posted the far away onlooker that I' am. Ive been following the tremendous amount of work, you and your crew have been doing on the mountain since I found about that endearing two-footer on fb a year back. BTW, today those pics belong already  to the past with the current FWW track laying.

[John Scott]

Like Alain, and from even further away, I am watching every inch of the on-site progress and rejoicing in the knowledge of what you all are achieving up there, in the Maine woods.

[Bill Baskerville]

Hopefully someone who had a camera today or perhaps tomorrow could take and post the same walk photographically that Mike did with all the track down.  That new 1420 feet is a beautiful set of two foot curves through a stunning set of Maine mountain Woods.

[Richard Johnson]

track looks naked without ballast. when will ballast be put down?

[Jeff Schumaker]

Ballast will be put down in the spring.

Jeff S.

[Mike Fox]

Bill, I was going to do that next weekend if it does not get done before. I would like to do a kind of a before and after..

[Paul Uhland]

Mike...for a minute there I thought you were going to start ballasting next weekend, to satisfy your latest non-member  "fan". 

[ALAIN DELASSUS]

Mike It would be great I do like before and after pics.

[Richard Johnson]

Are there any more culverts to install between eot and bridge?

[Mike Fox]

We just need to finish one that was installed so our contractor could have access to the south side of the bridge. It will need some fill.

[Mike Fox]

We are taking advantage of the early snow this weekend, and starting our tree cutting Saturday. We will be just south of the bridge, clearing the grade. The Bulldozer is not going up until January sometime, after repairs are made to it. So we will likely focus on small bushes and trees, unless the tree can fall out of the way to be moved later with the dozer.

[Fred Morse]

Had a great time cutting wood Sat. Mike did his best to drop them across the  roadbed where I and others cut them into lengths to be piled to the side. Were cleaning off the East side so that when we can work with trucks in there again,probably July, we can put stone in the ditch to stop the erosion. I think most of that will be done by the contractor. We have about 900 Ft. to be cleared of trees and I think we have about 300 Ft. done. Next Sat. we should get a lot done if lots of people show up. Lets hope.

[Bill Reidy]

Saturday, January 12th was a balmy day that started with temperatures in the low single digits.  The day warmed into the teens, but the wind picked up as the day progressed.

First, Ed Lecuyer's November 2017 Mountain Extension map for reference.  Tree cutting was along the central and northern portions of section 5.


The end of track built during the 2018 Fall Work Weekend in October reached the vicinity of location 10.  For next Saturday's (January 19th) "Steam and Saws" work day, I understand locomotive #52 will depart Sheepscot with volunteers between 8 a.m. and 8.30 a.m., and the rest of the day will shuttle volunteers between Top of Mountain (meeting the steam train) and end of track.

Some photos from yesterday, to add to what Mike posted last night...

This was the view from Trout Brook bridge looking south a little before 9 a.m.  Mike Fox and others had already arrived and had started two bonfires to burn the slash, as seen in the distance.


A view of the north bonfire, looking north toward the bridge.  Ship Capt. J.B. Smith and Fred Morse warm by the fire as they discuss the day's proceedings.


A view of the south bonfire, looking south.  Zack Wyllie cuts up a fallen tree, as Mike Fox, Ed Lecuyer and James Patten drag the slash to the fire.


The crew makes short work of a fallen fir tree.  Mike, who spent a good portion down in the east ditch, works on the stump, while Fred and Zack cut up the tree.  J.b (back to us) is picking up slash for the north fire.  In the background, James, Ed and Stewart Rhine put slash on the south fire.  Much of this coming summer's right-of-way preparation work will focus on repair of the east ditch.


Fred's new Mountain chair -- although I saw a few others using it!


Ed and Stewart tend the north fire.  This view gives a better perspective on size/depth of the east ditch.


A photo of some of the folks working on the tree crew yesterday:  Fred; Steve Zuppa; Mike; Ed; J.B.; and James.  Not in the photo:  Zack; Stewart; and me.


Mike takes one last look around 3 p.m. before we called it a day.  It was getting mighty cold with the wind at this point.  Ribbons placed on the tress by Mike (an example is on the right) marks the boundaries for cutting along the ROW.


A cold winter's view of the bridge and Trout Brook, looking north.  So far it has not been a very snowy winter along the coast.

[Mike Fox]

Bill, thank you for documenting the progress. Always great to work with everyone. A little hard work a lot of great conversation.

A side note about the ditch repair. I had thought we needed a permit for this, and have the permit ready for submission. I started second guessing why we need a permit so I contacted our DEP rep. He confirmed that we indeed do not need a permit to repair the ditch as long as we are not installing culverts or getting close to the brook, both of which are covered on seperate permits.

So, we are clear to go to 218!

[Bill Baskerville]

Mike,

It is good that you have such a great working relationship with our regulators.  I know, from past experience it helps a lot when they trust that we will always strive to do the right thing.