Saturday, September 1st:

Track Blitz - Cold Brook

On Saturday, September 1st, we will be working again on extending our operating section to Cold Brook station, MP 22.16, from where we stopped last week at MP 22.38. The plan will be spiking the 65 ties inserted and plated last weekend, and inserting, plating and spiking the 22 ties toed in beyond that. Also, there are several large trees that need to be cut that are too close to the track, and if anyone would like to cut these, bring your chainsaw and we will show you what to do.

We will meet at the old iron bridge at MP 22.38 at 10am. Please park near the bridge about 1/4 mile north of Cold Brook Station. I will bring the spike drill, gauge bar, spikes and mallet down from Phoenicia so we can pre-insert spikes before the work train arrives. Please bring shovels and your lunch with you as we plan to work through lunch. If you prefer to come down on the work train, please get to Phoenicia by 9:30am.

Brush Cutting - Mt. Pleasant

On Saturday, September 1st, Ernie Gehrer and George Liucci plan to install a flagpole and base at Mt. Pleasant in the morning, and by 11:30 plan to cut brush around the Mt. Pleasant station area. Anyone is welcome to join them.


Sunday, September 2nd:

Phoenicia - Track Blitz Support

On Sunday, September 2nd, George Peck will be at the yard in Phoenicia doing support work for the track blitz, and will likely be running to Cold Brook to transport ties or do other support work there. Anyone interested in joining him should show up in the Phoenicia yard between 10 and 11am.


Monday, September 3rd

Kingston - Cornell Street

Cornell Street will open at 9:30am on Monday, September 3rd. Plans are to continue working on the N5B caboose, finishing painting the 401 and planning the future fence move. Anyone who would like to help improve our ROW in Kingston should bring a heavy-duty weed wacker to remove the standing dead vegetation in the ROW west of Downs Street; Earl will instruct you where to cut.


Weather is expected to be pleasant this weekend - sunny in the 70's in Kingston and Phoenicia.



Ernie Hunt
Volunteer Coordinator
Catskill Mountain RR

Yesterday, Saturday, September 1st, the track crew extended the line another 1/10th mile for the work train, to MP 22.28. This was after replacing 13 ties at the former Iron Bridge crossing at MP 22.38.

Present were: Foreman George Peck, John Isaksen, Paul Hintz, Derek Stapleton, Dave Mason, Jason Markowitz, Ron Epstein, Bill Brosnan, Al Howes, Al Schoessow, Bob Blake, John Patane, Jr., and myself. Rob Dennis stopped by to visit and take pictures.

We spent the morning and early afternoon replacing 9 ties at the former Iron Bridge crossing, MP 22.38, and 4 more ties just east of the crossing:

http://naphotos.nerail.org/showpic/?pho ... 446240.jpg

We then spiked up the 65 ties we plated last weekend bringing us to MP 22.28:

http://naphotos.nerail.org/showpic/?pho ... 376321.jpg

http://naphotos.nerail.org/showpic/?pho ... 416278.jpg

We also inserted 22 ties east of 22.28, and dropped off about 40 more ties for next weekend.

Here is a photo of the worktrain at MP 22.3. First train here in 31 years. Several local children came out to wave at the train.

http://naphotos.nerail.org/showpic/?pho ... 436352.jpg

Plans are to bring the worktrain to Cold Brook station next weekend.


Ernie Hunt
Volunteer Coordinator
Catskill Mountain RR

From Greg Vaughn:

Monday's Kingston crew included Bob Blake, Paul Hintz, Al Schoessow, George Cook, Raphael DeMeglio, John Patane, Jeff Otto, Walt Otto, Earl Pardini, Mimi Pardini and myself. More rivet work was done on the caboose center sill, new frame supports for the brake hardware was installed, and more rust removal done on parts that we're going to keep. 401 got her lightning stripes on the short hood, leaving only the shutters on the engineer's side unstriped. Running boards and roof grating were also painted. Paint is now about 94.995% done, with lettering, some hand rails and steps, and the finishing touch-up work to do. Next week the paint should be finished except for lettering.

More paint work will be done during the week on 401 and we will work Saturday and Sunday at Cornell Street this coming weekend.

A sneak peek at the CMRR lightning stripe - Al Schoessow and George Cook work to free a long-stuck cut lever during a lull in the painting.

http://naphotos.nerail.org/showpic/?pho ... 711197.jpg

Caboose rebuild - Earl welds up a new frame brace for the brake reservoir and cylinder mounting brackets.

http://naphotos.nerail.org/showpic/?pho ... 911166.jpg

Friday, September 7th

On Friday, September 7th, Tom Healy will be running the sickle bar cutter from Phoenicia to Shokan with his track car. He could use a hand or two, especially as some trees may need to be cleared from the line. Anyone who would like to join Tom should contact him directly - you will be able to see the beautiful views from our trackage along the Ashokan reservoir. Timing is still not decided, but will probably be in the late afternoon. Contact Tom directly if you want to join him.


Saturday, September 8th:

Track Blitz - Cold Brook

On Saturday, September 8th, we will be working again on extending our operating section to Cold Brook station, MP 22.16, from where we stopped last week at MP 22.28. The plan will be plating and spiking the 22 ties inserted last weekend, and removing, inserting, plating and spiking the remaining 75 to get to the station. Be prepared to take photos of this historic occasion - the first train to Cold Brook Station in 31 years!!

Also, there are several large trees that need to be cut that are too close to the track, and if anyone would like to cut these, bring your chainsaw and we will show you what to do.

We will meet about 1/10th mile west of the station between 10 and 11am. Please park at the gravel parking area 1/10th mile north of Cold Brook Station. If you arrive before the work train, remove any tie plates and spikes from ties marked for removal (in the gravel area and in front of the station). Please bring shovels and your lunch with you as we plan to work through lunch. If you prefer to come down on the work train, please get to Phoenicia by 9:30am.


Brush Cutting - Shokan

Ernie Gehrer, George Liucci, Bill Brosnan, and Joe Marsh plan to run the GSX and sickle bar to cut along the reservoir from Shokan to the Boiceville Trestle and back. If you wish to join them let me know ahead of time as there is limited space on the GSX and sickle bar. They plan to start around 10-10:30am next to the crane at Shokan.


Shoo-Fly - Shokan

George Cook would like some volunteers to assist him for about an hour starting at 10am assembling the shoo-fly around the crane at Shokan. Plans are to move the 6 rails into position, install joint bars, and spike them onto about 10 ties. If you are driving up from Kingston be sure to stop by and assist in this project before going brush cutting on the reservoir or joining the track gang at Cold Brook.


N5B Caboose Restoration and 401 Repaint - Kingston

There may be a crew working under Earl Pardini on Saturday on the 401 repaint and the N5B Caboose restoration at the Cornell Street Yards. Please contact Earl Pardini or Greg Vaughn for confirmation if you want to participate.



Sunday, September 9th

Kingston - Cornell Street

Cornell Street will open at 9:30am on Sunday, September 9th. Plans are to continue working on the N5B caboose, finishing painting the 401 and planning the future fence move. Anyone who would like to help improve our ROW in Kingston should bring a heavy-duty weed wacker to remove the standing dead vegetation in the ROW west of Downs Street; Earl will instruct you where to cut.


Weather is expected to be warm this weekend - sunny in the low 80's in Kingston and Phoenicia.



Saturday, September 15th.

Plans for Saturday, September 15th are to continue the track blitz by replacing more ties as needed in certain sections. More details to be posted next week.



Ernie Hunt
Volunteer Coordinator
Catskill Mountain RR

Friday, September 7th

On Friday, September 7th, Tom Healy led a crew consisting of Todd Syska and necomer Gary Lowe taking the sickle bar by rail to Shokan from Phoenicia, and clearing the tracks of obstructions along the way.



On Saturday, September 8th, we had four crews working.


Shokan - Sickle Bar Cutting

Ernie Gehrer, George Liucci, Richard Wilhelm, Al Johnson, and Bill Brosnan met at 10am at Shokan, and mowed the line from Shokan, MP 16.2 to the Boiceville Trestle at MP 21.3.

http://naphotos.nerail.org/showpic/?pho ... 110774.jpg


Shokan - Shoo Fly

George Cook, Joe Marsh, Peter Fluchere, Larry Ten Hoeve and I assembled the shoo fly at Shokan. This was completed by lunchtime. After lunch the crew joined the sickle bar crew; I joined the Cold Brook Crew.

http://naphotos.nerail.org/showpic/?pho ... 810900.jpg


Cold Brook - Tie Blitz

George Peck, Al Howes, John Isaksen, Bob Blake, Erik Morehouse, Ron Epstein, and I (after lunch) continued to tie blitz at Cold Brook. Erik dug out about 50 ties, Al Howes scarified about 50 tie holes, and inserted about 45 more ties. We also plated about 20 ties. Of the 129 ties between MP 22.28 and MP 22.1 (the limit of our trackwork this year), 25 still need to be removed, 59 need to be scarified, 66 need to be inserted, 107 need to be plated, and 129 need to be spiked. Next week's project!

http://naphotos.nerail.org/showpic/?pho ... 510959.jpg


Kingston - 401 Repaint and N5B Caboose Renovation

In Kingston, Earl Pardini led a crew including Greg Vaughn and newcomer Gary Lowe, finishing the 401 repaint and continuing work on the N5B caboose restoration.


Ernie Hunt
Volunteer Coordinator
Catskill Mountain RR

From Greg Vaughn:

"Sunday's crew was Jeff Otto, Walt Otto, Ernie Klopping, Steve Kijak, Bob Blake, Gary Lowe, Chris Rittner, Earl Pardini and myself. The caboose roof was jacked and straightened (mostly), the brake reservoir rehung, more rust removed, work started on reconfiguring the east end for passenger duty, two new steel panels were installed along the bottom of the north side to replace the rotted out sections and surgery started on the northwest corner post. 401's striping is now complete and only a few small items need finish paint.

Next weekend we will again work Saturday and Sunday at Cornell Street, regular time.

Here's a couple of snap shots we took after finishing the striping, we'll take her formal portrait as soon as the lettering is done:"

http://naphotos.nerail.org/showpic/?pho ... 073347.jpg

http://naphotos.nerail.org/showpic/?pho ... 493377.jpg

Saturday, September 15th:

Track Blitz - Cold Brook

On Saturday, September 15th, we will be working again on extending our operating section to Cold Brook station, MP 22.16, from where we stopped last week at MP 22.28. The plan will be inserting the remaining ties to the station, plating and spiking them plus those inserted last week.

Also, there are several large trees that need to be cut that are too close to the track, and if anyone would like to cut these, bring your chainsaw and we will show you what to do.

We will meet at the station about 10 am (though don't park there as it is privately owned). I will be bringing tools from Phoenicia so we can pre-spike and plate ties before the work train arrives at 11 or so. If you get there before I do, please lay out tie plates near the station. Please bring shovels and your lunch with you as we plan to work through lunch.


N5B Caboose Restoration - Kingston

On Saturday, September 15th, Jeff Otto and Earl Pardini will be opening the Cornell Street yard at 8:30am to start work on the N5B Caboose restoration.


Sunday, September 16th

Kingston - Cornell Street

Cornell Street will open at 9:30am on Sunday, September 16th. Plans are to continue working on the N5B caboose, lettering the 401 and planning for upcoming track work in Kingston. Anyone who would like to help improve our ROW in Kingston should bring a heavy-duty weed wacker to remove the standing dead vegetation in the ROW west of Downs Street; Earl will instruct you where to cut.

Weather is expected to be nice this weekend - sunny in the 70's in Kingston and Phoenicia.



Ernie Hunt
Volunteer Coordinator
Catskill Mountain RR

Yesterday, we hads three crews totaling 21 volunteers working on the line:

Cold Brook

The track crew worked near Cold Brook Station, and scarified and inserted 29 more ties today. The plating crew plated 70 ties, and pre-spiked about 40.

There only remains inserting another 40 ties past the station, and spiking the 89 ties inserted and plated so far.

Today our crew consisted of Foreman George Peck, Tom Healy, Al Howes, Russ Hallock, Bob Blake, Ron Epstein, Thom Johnson, Erik Morehouse and Steve Gollow and I.

Zef Fessendon and Todd Syska also came and cut a lot of trees down along the ROW that were coming really close to the train.

http://naphotos.nerail.org/showpic/?pho ... 323418.jpg

http://naphotos.nerail.org/showpic/?pho ... 523545.jpg

Shokan

George Liucci, Ernie Gehrer, Bill Brosnan, Al Johnson and Dick Wilhelm ran the sickle bar again west of Shokan to the Boiceville Trestle and back. They cut out-of gauge, i.e., 7 feet off the rail. The ROW looks great!

http://naphotos.nerail.org/showpic/?pho ... 124143.jpg

http://naphotos.nerail.org/showpic/?pho ... 924290.jpg

http://naphotos.nerail.org/showpic/?pho ... 324360.jpg

Kingston

Jeff Otto, Earl Pardini, Al Schoessow and John Patane continued work on the N5B caboose renovation in Kingston.


Ernie Hunt
Volunteer Coordinator
Catskill Mountain RR

Saturday, September 22nd:

Track Blitz - Cold Brook

On Saturday, September 22nd, we will be working again on extending our operating section to Cold Brook station, MP 22.16, from where we stopped last week at MP 22.28. The plan will be spiking the remaining ties to the station, and inserting additional ties between MP 22.38 and 22.7.

Also, there are several large trees that need to be cut that are too close to the track, and if anyone would like to cut these, bring your chainsaw and we will show you what to do.

We will meet at the station about 9:00 am. I will also be bringing tools from Phoenicia so we can pre-spike ties. The work train is coming down Friday, so we will be able to start right away. Please bring shovels and your lunch with you as we plan to work through lunch.


N5B Caboose Restoration - Kingston

On Saturday, September 22nd, Jeff Otto and Earl Pardini will be opening the Cornell Street yard at 9:00am to continue work on the N5B Caboose restoration.


Volunteer Party - Phoenicia

Joint CMRR and ESRM Volunteer Party! Party will begin at 5pm at the Phoenicia station and a train ride for all the volunteers will run to Cold Brook Station, if the track is in good enough shape. Be sure to RSVP to me if you are coming and /or bringing your family.


Sunday, September 23rd


Phoenicia

On Sunday, September 23rd, George Peck will be doing additional work on the Cold Brook extension, depending on turnout. He will start in the Phoenicia yard between 10 and 11 am.


Kingston - Cornell Street

Cornell Street will open at 9:30am on Sunday, September 23rd. Plans are to continue working on the N5B caboose, lettering the 401 and planning for upcoming track work in Kingston. Anyone who would like to help improve our ROW in Kingston should bring a heavy-duty weed wacker to remove the standing dead vegetation in the ROW west of Downs Street; Earl will instruct you where to cut.

Weather is expected to be nice this weekend - sunny in the upper 70's in Kingston and Phoenicia.


Upcoming Schedule (subject to change):

September 29th - Wrap up of Cold Brook Extension

October 6th - Kingston track work begins!!!


Ernie Hunt
Volunteer Coordinator, Catskill Mountain RR

On Saturday, September 22nd, we had two crews working:

Cold Brook

On Saturday, September 22nd, we spiked 89 ties between MP 22.28 and MP 22.13, and brought the work train to Cold Brook station, the first train to get there in 31 years:

http://naphotos.nerail.org/showpic/?pho ... 018507.jpg

http://naphotos.nerail.org/showpic/?pho ... 368894.jpg

http://naphotos.nerail.org/showpic/?pho ... 089012.jpg

Present were foreman George Peck, Steve Gollow, Dick Wilhelm, Dave Mason, Derek Stapleton, Pete Fluchere, Ron Epstein, Thom Johnson, Rich Bause, Bob Blake, Chris Bigham, Zef Fessendon, Paul Hintz and myself.

Zef, Chris and Steve cut back more trees from the ROW. We also started work on inserting about 100 additional ties from MP 22.38 to MP 22.72.

We will be returning the next two weekends to insert 140 additional ties, cut back more trees, and ballast and tamp the track to put it into full service for the scenc train.

Kingston

In Kingston, Jeff Otto, Earl Pardini, Ernie Klopping and John Patane continued work on the N-5 caboose.

Volunteer Party

At 5pm, we had our annual volunteer party. As part of the event, we took the No. 29 and two passenger flats all the way to Cold Brook station and back. This was the first passenger train to run to Cold Brook Station in 53 years!

Ernie Hunt
Volunteer Coordinator
Catskill Mountain RR

This is some rather amazing work you have been doing the last couple of years. I have two questions. Having just returned a track to service last year that had been out of service at least 30 years I have to ask what the condition of the old ties between the ones you are replacing can be? On our line there were hardly any that could be called good. My second question is what do the neighbors think of all this activity?

Thanks in advance.

John Bohon

John,

As to your questions:

1) We are replacing the very worst ties first, and will do a second round of the next worst next. There are ties that will still hold spikes, but clearly not for long. We will have to replace these over the next few years.

2) Neighbors have been positive. We started running near this area in 2004, so they are used to the train being nearby. Most we get "what took you so long to get here?". We don't plan to make a terminal at the station, and as long as that is the case, I think the neighbors will be fine. Free passes on the RR will also help!

The owners of Cold Brook Station have also been very positive, and one joined us on the first train yesterday. They opened up the station specially for us and gave a tour.

EH

CMRR Work Report - Sunday, September 23rd:


Cold Brook

In Cold Brook, George Peck and Steve Gollow completed inserting about 30 ties between MP 22.38 and MP 22.72. Next Saturday we will get these plated and spiked.


Kingston

In Kingston, Earl Pardini, Greg Vaughn, Jeff Otto, Walt Otto, John Patane, George Cook, Al Schoessow and Bob Blake continued work on the N5B Caboose.


http://naphotos.nerail.org/showpic/?200 ... 325202.jpg

http://naphotos.nerail.org/showpic/?200 ... 625221.jpg


EH

Saturday, September 29th:

Track Blitz - Cold Brook

On Saturday, September 29th, we will be working on completing our Cold Brook extension in order to put the track into revenue service. This will include inserting about 70 more ties between MP 22.7 and 22.4. We will also be inserting and spiking some ties just east of Cold Brook Station. We really need a good turnout to wrap up this project so we can start work in Kingston.

Also, there are about 10 large trees that need to be cut that are too close to the track, and if anyone would like to cut these, bring your chainsaw and we will show you what to do.

We will meet at the old iron bridge, MP 22.38, 10:00 am. I will be bringing tools from Phoenicia so we can remove ties and plates from the remaining ties we need to replace. Please bring shovels and your lunch with you as we plan to work through lunch.


N5B Caboose Restoration - Kingston

On Saturday, September 29th, Jeff Otto and Earl Pardini will be opening the Cornell Street yard at 9:30am to continue work on the N5B Caboose restoration.


Sunday, September 30th


Phoenicia

On Sunday, September 30th, George Peck will be doing additional work on the Cold Brook extension, depending on turnout. He will start in the Phoenicia yard between 10 and 11 am.


Kingston - Brush Cutting

Steve Gollow and PJ Hintz will lead a crew on Sunday morning the 30th at 10am cleaning up the ROW in Kingston in preparation for future track work. They will meet at the Cornell Street yard at 10am. They could really use extra help, and please bring weed-wackers and brush cutters if you have them.


Kingston - Caboose Restoration

Cornell Street will open at 9:30am on Sunday, September 30th. Plans are to continue working on the N5B caboose, lettering the 401 and planning for upcoming track work in Kingston.

Weather is expected to be nice this weekend - sunny in the upper 70's in Kingston and Phoenicia.


Upcoming Schedule (subject to change):

Saturday, October 6th - Wrap up of Cold Brook Extension

Monday, October 8th - Kingston track work begins!!!


Ernie Hunt
Volunteer Coordinator
Catskill Mountain RR

Yesterday, we had two crews working:

Cold Brook

In Cold Brook, we continued tie replacements to get the track to full service. In the section from MP 22.72 to the Iron Bridge at MP 22.38, we removed and scarified 32 more ties, and plated an additional 20, and removed spikes and plates from 69. From MP 22.13 to MP 22.1, we plated the 20 ties inserted last Sunday.

We still have to dig out 37 more ties from MP 22.72 to about MP 22.5, and insert 32 more from MP 22.5 to MP 22.4. We also need to spike 89 ties in this section. We will try to wrap this up next weekend so we can move to Kingston.

Present today were foreman George Peck, Jason DiTolla, Larry Ten Hoeve, Steve Gollow, Ron Epstein, Al Johnson, Al Howes, Bob Blake, Tom Healy, and myself.

http://naphotos.nerail.org/showpic/?pho ... 118842.jpg

http://naphotos.nerail.org/showpic/?pho ... 718950.jpg

http://naphotos.nerail.org/showpic/?pho ... 519182.jpg

Kingston

In Kingston Earl Pardini, Jeff Otto and others continued work on restoring the N5B caboose.


Ernie Hunt
Volunteer Coordinator
Catskill Mountain RR