The Second Annual RMNE Spring Track Blitz and Barbeque was a success; great weather (arranged for by the meteorologist-on-retainer), plenty of food, and lots of willing and capable hands.
On Saturday, three projects were taking place inside the shop--- rebuilding the roof on Central Vermont 4014, a 1920s wood caboose; extensive steel & interior restoration work continued on coach 5805; and disassembly of a 16-cylinder 567C EMD diesel engine.
Outside the shop, one crew worked on building almost 200 feet of new yard track, adding 66 feet on to each of the three yard tracks built last year. And another crew used the on-track tamper to bring the 800-foot shop lead track to a smooth surface (the shop lead surfacing was finished on Saturday afternoon).
Up in Thomaston, yet another crew tore up the old "Plume" private crossing, so that the deteriorated rails and ties could be replaced. That project was complicated by the crossing being located on part of a switch, the north Thomaston passing track switch. Machines did a lot of that work, but there was plenty of shovel work, too. The crossing had been installed in 1959 and had not been opened for maintenance since then.
Saturday's lunch was grilled at two separate locations-- Thomaston Shop Yard and at the Plume crossing project.
On Sunday, the third yard track extension was finished by noontime, and the yard crew transferred to Thomaston to work on the Plume crossing and switch project. 14 new track ties and 6 long, heavy, new switch ties were inserted, and the rest of the roadbed was prepped for the last 10 switch ties to go into the track.
A long weekend for some of the participants, but a lot was accomplished. And thanks should go to the new members/participants (some of whom found RMNE on Railroad dot net) for giving this a go-- for finding out what real preservation railroading is all about!
That's it for now; pics should soon be on the
http://www.rmne.org "News of The Naugy" section.
Some of the RMNE crew (about 6 people) will be heading for Maine next weekend, to help out the WW&F track weekend.
"You can't always get what you want, but if you try sometimes, you just might find you get what you need."