Catskill Mountain Railroad (CMRR) Discussion - 2012

Friday, September 7th

Earl Pardini and Al Schoessow plan to move the Scarifier from Phoenicia to Kingston.


Saturday, September 8th

George Peck, Mark Glaser and John Patane plan to load materials for the Longyear Siding extension starting at 9am. They will initially meet at Mt. Tremper then move from there to the loading site. They will leave a note for latecomers.

Cornell Street will be closed Saturday.


Sunday, September 9th

George Peck plans to unload materials for the Longyear Switch. He will start at Mt. Tremper at 9am and likely move to the switch location afterwards.

Earl Pardini plans to work on bridge C9. He will open Cornell Street at 9:30am. Mark Glaser plans to lead a crew running the sickle bar in Kingston and doing trackwork afterwards.



Ernie Hunt
Volunteer Coordinator
CMRR

Ah, got it, so it was "key person missing". That's perfectly understandable.

I was a bit worried it was "key equipment missing", which is equally likely on a volunteer railroad!

neroden wrote:Ah, got it, so it was "key person missing". That's perfectly understandable.

Volunteers. We even try doubling their pay, but to no avail!

-otto-

Question, Is there any chance of the railroad going west from phonicia ?

September 7, 2012

On Friday, Earl Pardini and Al Schoessow moved the scarifier to Kingston.


September 8, 2012

Crew was John Watson, engineer, Ray Farrell, conductor, Neil Isabelle, brakeman, and Bruce Devorkin, ticket agent. George Peck and George Bain assisted.

In Kingston, Al Schoessow and Dick Wilhelm worked on the scarifier.


Sunday, September 9th.

Crew was Walt Otto, engineer, John Watson, conductor, Tony Bocchino, brakeman, and Frank Maione, trainee. Ticket agent was Russ Hallock.

In Kingston, the yard crew completed fitting and bolting the metal roof in place on the W110 B tamper, as well as correcting a starter motor circuit problem on the scarifier. Additional work on the sickle bar engine and MOW pickup was also performed. The stone cart was loaded in Phonecia and delivered to Cornell St.,where it was lifted and placed on the storage track. Later in the day a mowing crew cut in-gage from ONeil St. (MP 3.13) to west of the Holiday Inn (MP 4.46). Participating today were; Earl Pardini, Al Schoessow, Dick Wilhelm, John Prestopino, Bob Blake, and Mark Glaser. George Peck stopped by and assisted with a test run of the tamper.

http://photos.greatrails.net/s/?p=203294


Ernie Hunt
Volunteer Coordinator
CMRR

jmarino wrote:Question, Is there any chance of the railroad going west from phonicia ?

From what I understand, when Ulster County, the owner of the property, decides that they want to invest in the rebuilding of the railroad west from Phoenicia, the Catskill Mountain Railroad stands ready to work with them. The CMRR continues to cut brush and make periodic inspections of the railroad from Phoenicia west to the county line at Highmount. There has been some talk of having the DURR expand its operation to run east over connecting CMRR tracks from Highmount to possibly Pine Hill; but they have yet to resume operations to Highmount since their washout in Arkville a few years back.

-or-

Yes. How many millions will you be sending us?

-otto-

jmariono and otto,

The major impediment to expanding west is the rebuilding of the Woodland Valley bridge (C34) at MP 28.8. It was damaged in 1987:

http://photos.greatrails.net/s/?p=107008

The bridge was removed by the County in 1999 and cut up. Here is the view today:

http://photos.greatrails.net/s/?p=63953

There are two washouts to repair between here and Bridge Street in Phoenicia, and five between here and Shandaken. Estimates to repair all of these start at $10m.

It is beyond the CMRR's resources to make these repairs on its own.

If rail service is needed west of Phoenicia, the state and county will need to work together to raise the funds to restore the ROW. That is not currently their priority.

The CMRR's focus is the 25 miles from Kingston to Phoenicia.

EH

eehiv wrote:jmariono and otto,

The major impediment to expanding west is the rebuilding of the Woodland Valley bridge (C34) at MP 28.8. It was damaged in 1987:

Is that bridge right next to the Herdman Road bridge? And the ROW follows Herdman for some time, right?

alewifebp:

Yes and yes.

EH

Saturday, September 15th

John Patane, George Bain and I plan to load materials for the Longyear Siding extension starting at 10am. We will initially meet at Mt. Tremper then move from there to the loading site. We will leave a note for latecomers.

Earl Pardini plans to work on bridge C9. He will open Cornell Street at 9:00am. If there are sufficient volunteers, a track crew will lay out ties in Kingston.



Sunday, September 16th

George Peck plans to unload materials for the Longyear Switch. He will start at Mt. Tremper at 9am and likely move to the switch location afterwards.

Earl Pardini plans to work on bridge C9. He will open Cornell Street at 9:30am. If there are sufficient volunteers, a track crew will lay out ties in Kingston.



Ernie Hunt
Volunteer Coordinator
CMRR

Otto Vondrak wrote:

jmarino wrote:Question, Is there any chance of the railroad going west from phonicia ?

From what I understand, when Ulster County, the owner of the property, decides that they want to invest in the rebuilding of the railroad west from Phoenicia, the Catskill Mountain Railroad stands ready to work with them. The CMRR continues to cut brush and make periodic inspections of the railroad from Phoenicia west to the county line at Highmount. There has been some talk of having the DURR expand its operation to run east over connecting CMRR tracks from Highmount to possibly Pine Hill; but they have yet to resume operations to Highmount since their washout in Arkville a few years back.

-or-

Yes. How many millions will you be sending us?

If had some millions I would help out would like to see the D&U and the Catskill mtn railroad connected someday , about the only thing i may be able to offer somday is some free time to help you all out unless I hit the lottery. You folks are doing great very interesting , I will be out for a fall ride for sure i have been following railroad on line for some time , talk soon

Saturday, September 15th

Saturday at Mt. Tremper the engineer was Al Schoessow. Conductor was Ray Farrell and George Truetle trainee. Ticket agent was Bruce DeVorkin.

In Phoenicia, John Patane, George Bain, Harry Jameson and I loaded materials for the Longyear siding.

In Kingston, Earl Pardini and Bob Blake worked on the following: replaced fuel pump on car mover, welded lifting hooks to sickle bar and at C-9, drilled both hook and pedestal mounting bolt holes.


Sunday, September 16th

On Sunday, the Engineer was John Prestopino. Walt Otto was conductor and Tony Bocchino the brakeman. Frank Maione was trainee. Ticket agent was Peter Fluchere.

Earl Pardini and George Peck moved the materials loaded Saturday to the Longyear siding site.

At Cornell Street, a yard crew including Earl Pardini, Al Schoessow, Ernie Klopping and Mark Glaser worked on the following projects: W110B Tamper- Installed of new seat, fabricated and installed rear safety cover on engine, changed out rail grabber set, trouble shot misc. hydraulic controls, test ran on yard track. (The tamper was officially placed in service by Al Schoessow). Sickle bar- Lube;axles.bar, pulleys. MOW pickup- refilled rear axle. John Prestopino weed whacked the yard later in the day.


Ernie Hunt
Volunteer Coordinator
CMRR

Saturday, September 22nd

George Peck will lead a crew to complete the Longyear Siding extension. He will start at Mt. Tremper at 9am and move to Longyears's shortly thereafter.

Earl Pardini plans to work on bridge C9. He will open Cornell Street at 9:00am.


Sunday, September 23rd

George Peck will again lead a crew to complete the Longyear Siding extension. He will start at Mt. Tremper at 9am and move to Longyears's shortly thereafter.

Earl Pardini plans to continue work on bridge C9. He will open Cornell Street at 9:30am. If there are sufficient volunteers, a track crew will lay out ties in Kingston.



Ernie Hunt
Volunteer Coordinator
CMRR

Otto Vondrak wrote:Volunteers. We even try doubling their pay, but to no avail!

Hehe. I used a small sample size once, and it worked great!

Reminder that Fall Foliage Specials start on September 28! All trains depart Mt. Tremper.

http://catskillmtrailroad.com/fallfoliage.php

Halloween Train Rides start on October 20! All trains depart Westbrook Sta. in Kingston.

http://catskillmtrailroad.com/ki_schedules.php

We need your support! Every ticket you buy helps fund our repairs and expansion. You have a direct affect on our success, and we thank you for your support.

-otto-