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 Post subject: Forrest, IL Turntable Restoration
PostPosted: Fri Jan 06, 2017 7:53 pm 
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Hi all,

Today a friend and I ventured out to the Kanakee-Watseka-Gilman area for on a railfanning trip (caught three trains). On the way, we passed through Forrest to see how the railroad park area was doing. To our surprise, the turntable had been almost fully restored except for the little wire above the bridge. The museum had painted "W-A-B-A-S-H" on at least one side of the turntable--I couldn't see the other side since we weren't stopping. Meanwhile, the depot looked pretty good just across the snowy abandoned train yard.

I have pictures but the files are too big. I'll mess with them as soon as I can to get them to a size that will be accepted.

Thomas Dyrek

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 Post subject: Re: Forrest, IL Turntable Restoration
PostPosted: Fri Jan 06, 2017 10:05 pm 

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Thomas -

Great news on the Forrest, Illinois turntable. When I first looked it over a number of years ago, there was a terrific amount of trash in the pit. Saving the table, cleaning it up and now this latest work, is a wonderful story. I am not even sure of the name of the group there in Forrest that has done all this work, including the ex-NKP caboose, the railroad hotel and of course, the Wabash/TP&W depot. They certainly deserve a pat on the back!

BTW, in case you were not aware, the Wabash had a rather large roundhouse at Forrest at one time. From the photo I have seen of it, it appears to have been built in three stages. The Wabash had a branch that ran west along (or on trackage rights on) the TP&W before it cut northwest and ended up in Streator, Illinois.

Thanks very much for the report. Much appreciated!

Les


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 Post subject: Re: Forrest, IL Turntable Restoration
PostPosted: Fri Jan 06, 2017 11:12 pm 

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"Like!"

Would love to see pics and learn more.

Rob


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 Post subject: Re: Forrest, IL Turntable Restoration
PostPosted: Fri Jan 06, 2017 11:37 pm 
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Here is the picture from today. I apologize for the low quality, but I am surprised it came out this good since I took it from the car at 40 MPH. I can't wait to see what major step happens next here with the construction of the park!

Thomas Dyrek


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unnamed.jpg [ 12.14 KiB | Viewed 8439 times ]

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 Post subject: Re: Forrest, IL Turntable Restoration
PostPosted: Sat Jan 21, 2017 8:33 pm 
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Ok everyone,

I returned to Forrest today on a mission to get the "perfect" shot of the turntable to post here. My previous one was driving me crazy because of how blurry it is. On today's visit, I got out of the car and walked to it instead of shooting at 40-50 mph several yards away. I wonder how they're going to get the rain water out from the pit...

Also today was a record breaker in temperatures throughout Illinois with a high of about 65 at least according to my thermometer. I won't FLOOD the post with my weather geek information, but I just thought I should mention that. (Got the joke?)

Thomas Dyrek

P.S. RyPN is not allowing me to send the original file because of its size so this one may appear blurry as well. However, for full quality go to the version I posted on Flickr, https://www.flickr.com/photos/148791086 ... datetaken/


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 Post subject: Re: Forrest, IL Turntable Restoration
PostPosted: Sun Jan 22, 2017 12:00 am 

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Thomas -

I don't think your photo is blurry at all.

I think a fire department pumper could make short work of the water in the pit. Maybe some drainage should be considered for the future.

Les


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 Post subject: Re: Forrest, IL Turntable Restoration
PostPosted: Sun Jan 22, 2017 3:56 am 

Joined: Sat Aug 21, 2004 10:52 pm
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Hi,

It is remarkable but seldom thought of when restoring items that little things like drainage are overlooked. With all the trash in the pit, It would have been nice if someone had thought "I wonder if the drain is a clogged up."

I do not intend to belittle anyone, but I am a civil engineer and I notice this. I do not know how to play baseball and would not notice the little things.

For the Live Steam hobby, I noticed that they make wonderfully machined works of art. However they beat the heck out of them by not knowing how to build a good subgrade, drainage, and the rest of the track support structure. It is why I wrote the book "Civil Engineering for Outdoor Railroads Volume 1."

Could we start a thread here of items to think about when restoring turntable or track or bridges or any of the many other items that may be overlooked when preserving railroad items or equipment?

Doug vV


Last edited by Dougvv on Sun Jan 22, 2017 12:21 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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 Post subject: Re: Forrest, IL Turntable Restoration
PostPosted: Sun Jan 22, 2017 12:19 pm 
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As soon as the museum opens back up again, I'm going to ask about their plans for draining the pit. If we get another snowstorm before they can drain it, the melted snow combined with the rest of the water that the pit has collected could do some serious damage if no waterproofing has been done already.

Also, is their any story with the bridge over the little creek just southeast of the turntable for the former TP&W interchange track?

TD

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 Post subject: Re: Forrest, IL Turntable Restoration
PostPosted: Sun Jan 22, 2017 12:27 pm 

Joined: Sat Aug 21, 2004 10:52 pm
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Hi,

Ice takes up more room than water does because of the crystaline structure most solids have. Long term, I'd be more worried about ice expanding and crushing the pivot point or other similar items before I'd worry about rot ALTHOUGH both items are very important.

Just my thoughts. If they are tied in with a municipality or a county, maybe the city or county engineer could look and give his thoughts. Maintaining county bridges or roads would be close to maintaining a turntable.

FWIW.

Doug vV


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 Post subject: Re: Forrest, IL Turntable Restoration
PostPosted: Sun Jan 22, 2017 5:47 pm 

Joined: Sun Aug 22, 2004 2:46 pm
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Location: St. Louis, MO
Can you tell us if both sides of it were painted the same way?

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 Post subject: Re: Forrest, IL Turntable Restoration
PostPosted: Sun Jan 22, 2017 7:14 pm 
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Ron Goldfeder wrote:
Can you tell us if both sides of it were painted the same way?


Ron,

Both sides have been painted identically. You can see them in my video here: https://youtu.be/rZtJGUeQIPM

TD

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 Post subject: Re: Forrest, IL Turntable Restoration
PostPosted: Mon Jan 23, 2017 4:49 am 

Joined: Wed Oct 22, 2008 8:18 pm
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a little battery pump, drop it in and get the get goin... take a little while...

talking to the fire department for a volunteer pump out would be a start, perhaps they can fill one of their pumpers for the next fire.


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