Saturday, July 21st:

On Saturday, July 21st, the Brush Crew and the Phoenicia Track Crew will be working together at MP 22.7 at the end of track near Cold Brook. The purpose will be removing spikes and tie plates from the ties marked for replacement in anticipation of tie replacements which will start the following Saturday. We will work from MP 22.7 east towards Cold Brook Station.

We will meet at MP 22.7 at 10am. Please park at the northern end of Cold Brook Road at the lot where we have been parking the last two weekends and walk down to 22.7 (the red stop sign) which is about 500 feet south (railroad east). Please bring shovels and anything that will help remove spikes and tie plates. We will be having lunch at Russ's at about 1pm. After lunch we will either return to 22.7 or do additional brush cutting west of Hummingbird Lane along Herdman Road at about MP 30. Bring chainsaws and loppers in case we do some cutting late in the day.

The Phoenicia Track Crew plan to meet at 9am in Phoenicia, and will bring either the work train or just the tie handler down to MP 22.7, planning to meet us there at 10am.

There will be no work in Kingston on Saturday.

Sunday, July 22nd:

On Cornell Street in Kingston, Earl Pardini will be leading a crew continuing restoration work on the dump truck (almost finished), the N5B caboose and the Davenport 0-4-0. They will begin work at 9:30am.


Saturday, July 28th.

The tentative plans for Saturday, July 28th are to begin tie replacements at MP 22.7 towards Cold Brook. More will be posted next week.


Ernie Hunt
Volunteer Coordinator, Catskill Mountain RR

On July 21, we started out track blitz to Cold Brook by removing tie plates and spkes from about 200 ties between the old bridge at MP 22.38 and the current end of track at MP 22.72. Photos:

http://naphotos.nerail.org/showpic/?pho ... 715065.jpg

http://naphotos.nerail.org/showpic/?pho ... 515116.jpg

http://naphotos.nerail.org/showpic/?pho ... 515462.jpg

http://naphotos.nerail.org/showpic/?pho ... 415492.jpg

After lunch, part of the crew started tie removals from MP 22.5 to 22.72. About 75 ties were removed. Some photos:

http://naphotos.nerail.org/showpic/?pho ... 015540.jpg

http://naphotos.nerail.org/showpic/?pho ... 415567.jpg

http://naphotos.nerail.org/showpic/?pho ... 715610.jpg

Today's crew conisted of George Peck, John Isaksen, Derek Stapleton, Jason Markowitz, Bill Brosnan, Ron Epstein, Bob Blake, Tom Healy, Erik Morehouse, newcomer Larry Ten Hoeve, and myself.

Next week we will return to insert and spike ties.

EH

Saturday, July 28th:

On Saturday, July 28th, we will be holding a kick-off meeting in Phoenicia for the 702 restoration, and will be continuing our track blitz to extend our operable track towards Cold Brook Station.

Coach 702 Restoration - Phoenicia

702 Foreman George Liucci, and assistant 702 foreman Al Johnson, will be meeting at the 702 in the Phoenicia yard on Saturday at 10am to discuss the timeline and schedule for this project.

George and Al would like to identify volunteers who are interested in working on this project, which will need additional volunteers at upcoming critical stages. The next phase of the project is expected to be pouring the concrete floor and completing all interior painting.

If you are interested in working on this project, even on an intermittent basis, please stop by the yard to discuss it with George and Al. Even if you are planning to join the track crew at Cold Brook Saturday, but would like to work on the 702 at a later date, you are encouraged to stop by just after 10am to indicate your interest and availability for this project before going down to Cold Brook.

Track Blitz - Cold Brook

On Saturday, July 28th, the Brush Crew and the Phoenicia Track Crew will be working together at MP 22.7 at the end of track near Cold Brook. The purpose will be inserting, tamping and spiking ties to replace the onces removed last week. The CMRR will be bringing its tie handler and scarifier to assist with this work. We will work from MP 22.7 east towards Cold Brook Station.

We will meet at MP 22.7 between 9:30 and 10am. Please park at the northern end of Cold Brook Road at the lot where we have been parking the last few weekends and walk down to 22.7 (the red stop sign) which is about 500 feet south (railroad east). Please bring shovels to assist in the tamping. Please bring your lunch with you as we plan to work through lunch.

There will be no work in Kingston on Saturday.

Sunday, July 29th:

Cornell Street Yard will be closed in Kingston on Sunday.

George Peck will be leading a crew in Phoenicia on Sunday to do additional work on the tie blitz, depending on the size of the crew. If you wish to join him, please meet him in the Phoenicia yard between 9:30 and 10am Sunday.

Saturday, August 4th.

Plans for Saturday, August 4th are to continue tie replacements towards Cold Brook. More will be posted next week.


Ernie Hunt
Volunteer Coordinator
Catskill Mountain RR

On Saturday, July 28th, we had two crews working.

In Phoenicia, George Liucci and Al Johnson started work on the coach 702 restoration project. Al will be working on the floor of the 702 this fall, as well as finishing the interior and exterior painting. George will be focusing on the remaining steelwork on each end of the car.

Some photos:

http://naphotos.nerail.org/showpic/?pho ... 616182.jpg

http://naphotos.nerail.org/showpic/?pho ... 016228.jpg

At Cold Brook, we inserted 70 ties from MP 22.72 to MP 22.55, and removed 97 ties from MP 22.55 to MP 22.4. We had a ten man crew - Dick Wilhelm on the scarifier, Tom Healy on the tie inserter, Derek Stapleton on the gradall, George Peck, foreman and George Cook, Jason DiTolla, Russ Hallock, Bob Blake, Larry Ten Hoeve and myself.

Some Photos:

http://naphotos.nerail.org/showpic/?pho ... 626236.jpg

http://naphotos.nerail.org/showpic/?pho ... 026287.jpg

http://naphotos.nerail.org/showpic/?pho ... 226362.jpg

Next week we plan to tamp and spike the ties we inserted and continue removing ties to Cold Brook station.

Ernie Hunt
Volunteer Coordinator
Catskill Mountain RR

Saturday, August 4th:

Mount Pleasant - Mowing/Weedwacking

George Liucci will be leading a crew at Mt. Pleasant Station Saturday to mow and weedwack the station area. He plans to have lunch at Russ's at about 1pm, and either paint and scrape the Mt. Pleasant caboose or work on the 702 in Phoenicia in the afternoon. Those who would like to work on the 702 Saturday should stop by Mt. Pleasant to get instructions from George. He will be starting at the Mt. Pleasant station at 10am.

Track Blitz - Cold Brook

On Saturday, August 4th, the Brush Crew and the Phoenicia Track Crew will be working together again at MP 22.7 at the end of track near Cold Brook. The purpose will be inserting more ties from MP 22.55 to the bridge at MP 22.38. The CMRR will be bringing its tie handler and scarifier to assist with this work.

We will meet at MP 22.7 at 10am. Please park at the northern end of Cold Brook Road at the lot where we have been parking the last few weekends and walk down to 22.7 (the red stop sign) which is about 500 feet south (railroad east). Please bring shovels to assist in the tamping and digging out ties. Please bring your lunch with you as we plan to work through lunch.

There will be no work in Kingston on Saturday.

Sunday, August 5th:

On Cornell Street in Kingston, Earl Pardini will be leading a crew continuing restoration work on the dump truck (almost finished), the N5B caboose and the Davenport 0-4-0. They will begin work at 9:30am.


Saturday, August 11th.

Plans for Saturday, August 11th are to spike all the ties from MP 22.72 to the bridge at MP 22.38 and starting the second round of tie replacement. Work may start on completely reconstructing the former crossing for the bridge at MP 22.38 before continuing tie replacements to Cold Brook Station. More will be posted next week.


Ernie Hunt
Volunteer Coordinator
Catskill Mountain RR

Yesterday we inserted 98 ties from MP 22.55 to MP 22.4 with the Tie Handler and the Scarifier/Inserter. We are within 30 ties of the abandoned auto bridge over the Esopus at MP 22.38.

The crew consisted of Foreman George Peck, Dick Wilhelm on the Scarifier, Tom Healy on the Tie Inserter, and Al Schoessow, Al Howes, Bill Brosnan, Peter Fluchere, Bob Blake, Larry Ten Hoeve, and myself.

Next week we plan to insert the remaining 30 ties to the bridge, and tamp and spike the 168 ties we have inserted so far (and hopefully also the extra 30 we will put in next week). This should allow us to bring the worktrain to the bridge at MP 22.38, only .22 miles north of the station.

Photos from yesterday:

http://naphotos.nerail.org/showpic/?pho ... 320052.jpg

http://naphotos.nerail.org/showpic/?pho ... 820238.jpg

http://naphotos.nerail.org/showpic/?pho ... 220323.jpg

http://naphotos.nerail.org/showpic/?pho ... 020363.jpg

http://naphotos.nerail.org/showpic/?pho ... 120836.jpg

EH

Saturday, August 11th:

Mount Pleasant - Caboose Repaint

George Liucci most likely will be leading a crew at Mt. Pleasant Station Saturday to continue repainting the caboose there or work on the 702 in Phoenicia in the afternoon. George will be starting at Mt. Pleasant at 10:15am.


Track Blitz - Cold Brook

On Saturday, August 11th, the Brush Crew and the Phoenicia Track Crew will be working together again at MP 22.7 at the end of track near Cold Brook. The purpose will be inserting 30 more ties from MP 22.38 to 22.4, and tamping and spiking track from MP 22.72 to MP 22.38.

We will meet at MP 22.7 at 10am. Please park at the northern end of Cold Brook Road at the lot where we have been parking the last few weekends and walk down to 22.7 (the red stop sign) which is about 500 feet south (railroad east). Please bring shovels to assist in the tamping. Please bring your lunch with you as we plan to work through lunch.

There will be no work in Kingston on Saturday.


Sunday, August 12th:

Cornell Street will open at 9:30am on Sunday. Still working on the N5B caboose and the Davenport.


Saturday, August 18th.

Plans for Saturday, August 18th are to spike all the remaining ties from MP 22.72 to the bridge at MP 22.38 and starting the second round of tie replacement. Work may start on completely reconstructing the former crossing for the bridge at MP 22.38 before continuing tie replacements to Cold Brook Station. More will be posted next week.


Ernie Hunt
Volunteer Coordinator, Catskill Mountain RR

On Saturday, we had two crews working, one on the 702 and the other on the Cold Brook Extension.

Coach 702 Restoration

Al Johnson worked on floor, prepping for concrete pour. He also installed corrugated sheetmetal and patches in trough around the edge of the floor.


Cold Book Extension

On Saturday, we spiked 99 ties between MP 22.72 and MP 22.5. We also scarified 36 more ties, preparing the holes for tie insertion next week.

We had a big crew of 18, which consisted of foreman George Peck, Earl Pardini, engineer Paul Hintz, conductor John Isaksen, Al Howes, Al Schoessow, Bob Blake, Gregory Peck, Larry Ten Hoeve, Dick Wilhelm on the scarifier, Tom Healy on the tie handler, Derek Stapleton on the gradall, George Cook, Ron Epstein, Peter Fluchere, Bill Brosnan, Russ Hallock, and myself. Equipment consisted of the gradall, scarifier, tie handler, and the worktrain.

So far, of the 204 ties marked so far between MP 22.72, the end of track, and MP 22.38, the abandoned bridge, 99 are inserted, spiked and complete, 69 are inserted and not spiked, and 36 need tie insertion. Next week we plan to insert the remaining 36 ties, and spike and plate the 105 needed to get to MP 22.38. We hope to complete all of this next weekend.

We also brought the work train to MP 22.5, and hope to get it down to 22.38 next weekend. The track is now in service for the work train to MP 22.5.

Photos:

http://naphotos.nerail.org/showpic/?pho ... 515854.jpg

http://naphotos.nerail.org/showpic/?pho ... 115922.jpg

http://naphotos.nerail.org/showpic/?pho ... 315997.jpg

http://naphotos.nerail.org/showpic/?pho ... 616179.jpg

http://naphotos.nerail.org/showpic/?pho ... 316308.jpg


EH

Friday, August 17th

Coach 702 Restoration - Phoenicia

Al Johnson will be going up to work on coach 702 on both Friday and Saturday this week. He will be installing concrete in the troughs along the walls. He will probably get up there about 8:30 to 9:00 AM each day and leave in the afternoon, probably at 3:30 or 4:00 PM. Anyone who would like to help out on this project is welcome.


Saturday, August 18th:

Coach 702 Restoration - Phoenicia

As mentioned above, Al Johnson will be working on the 702 in Phoenicia Saturday from 8:30/9:00 to 3:30/4:00. Anyone wishing to help him on this project will be greatly appreciated.

Track Blitz - Cold Brook

On Saturday, August 18th, we will be working again on extending our operating section to Cold Brook station from where we stopped last week at MP 22.5. The plan will be inserting 36 more ties from MP 22.38 to 22.4, and spiking about 100 ties from MP 22.72 to MP 22.38.

We will meet at the old auto bridge at MP 22.38 at 10am. Please park near the bridge about 1/4 mile north of Cold Brook Station. Those who get there before the equipment arrives from Phoenicia should start pulling out tie plates and spikes between Cold Brook station and the closed bridge at MP 22.38 (the ties to be removed are now marked). Please bring shovels and pry bars to assist in the tamping and removing tie plates. Please bring your lunch with you as we plan to work through lunch.


Sunday, August 19th:

Cornell Street will open at 9:30am on Sunday. Plans are to continue working on the N5B caboose and the Davenport, and planning the future fence move. Earl plans to take the 401 out on the line towards Albany Avenue in the morning to pick up debris on the ROW, so don't miss this photo opportunity to see the 401 in her new (almost finished) paint scheme!


Weather is expected to be unusually pleasant this weekend - sunny with a high of 75 on both days.


Saturday, August 25th.

Plans for Saturday, August 25th are to continue the track blitz towards Cold Brook Station. More details to be posted next week.



Ernie Hunt
Volunteer Coordinator, Catskill Mountain RR

Saturday, August 18th - Cold Brook Extension

Saturday we had a great turnout of 15, and got a lot accomplished. We split into 5 different crews and spreadout along the line.

Erik Morehouse, Steve Kijak, Bill Brosnan and I took out tie plates and spikes for 162 ties between the iron bridge at MP 22.38 and MP 22.1, just past the station.

http://naphotos.nerail.org/showpic/?pho ... 919537.jpg

Derek Stapleton ran the grandall, and took out about 90 ties towards Cold Brook Station, leaving about 72 for next time.

http://naphotos.nerail.org/showpic/?pho ... 420342.jpg

Behind them were Al Howes and Al Schoessow, who inserted the remaining 31 ties to the bridge with the scarifier, and scarified 67 more tie holes towards Cold Brook (95 are left).

http://naphotos.nerail.org/showpic/?pho ... 820451.jpg

The spiking crew, which consisted of George Peck, John Isaksen, Steve Gollow, and Paul Hintz, spiked 103 ties today. Helping them were Larry Ten Hoeve, Bob Blake, Tom Healy and Russ Hallock, who inserted tie plates, gauged the track, drilled spike holes, and pre-inserted spikes.

http://naphotos.nerail.org/showpic/?pho ... 420785.jpg

http://naphotos.nerail.org/showpic/?pho ... 720876.jpg

Finally, we spiked the last tie to the iron bridge, last of about 100 spiked today, and brought down the worktrain and caboose to the iron bridge at MP 22.38, where we too these group photos:

http://naphotos.nerail.org/showpic/?pho ... 721165.jpg

http://naphotos.nerail.org/showpic/?pho ... 621214.jpg


All in all it was a great day - we got far more than we expected accomplished - inserted 36 ties, spiked 103, got the work train to the iron bridge at MP 22.38, the first train there in 31 years.

Besides this, we removed all spikes and tie plates for 162 ties to MP 22.1, past Cold Brook Station, removed about 90 of these ties, and scarified 67 of them.


Ernie Hunt
Volunteer Coordinator
Catskill Mountain RR

A Gradall tie extractor. I have never seen that before. I would think removing ties would place a lot of stress on the boom much like an extension boom on a backhoe. Otherwise it should work well.

If you spiked 103 ties by hand with 4 volunteers that is certainly a lot of spiking.

Good work.

John Bohon

They did have a hand held spiker that ran on compressed air, but still had to hand spike about 15-20.

As for the gradall, we use a small bucket, which seems to work well. I think that the softness of these ties also takes some stress off the machine. It really speeds things up from using a backhoe, and being rail mounted we don't have to worry about having enough space on the sides of the ROW.

EH

Cold Brook Extension

On Sunday 8/19, George Peck and Tom Healy took two loads of ties to Cold Brook. Tom inserted 62 ties into the tie holes scarified on 8/18 between MP 22.38 and MP 22.28. These will be fully inserted with the scarifier next Saturday, and spiked. This will get us to within .12 miles of Cold Brook Station at MP 22.16, and just under 1 mile from west end of the Boiceville Trestle at MP 21.32.


Kingston - 401 Repaint

On Sunday, work progressed on the repaint of 401 in Kingston:

http://naphotos.nerail.org/showpic/?pho ... 568859.jpg


EH

Saturday, August 25th:

Track Blitz - Cold Brook

On Saturday, August 25th, 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 inserting and spiking the 62 ties toed in by Tom Healy last Sunday, and hopefully inserting and spiking enough more ties to get us pretty close to the station. We also have to get a kink out of the track, as well as a small dip, just east of the iron bridge.

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. Those who get there before the equipment arrives from Phoenicia should start digging out the dirt on top of the ties near the culvert just east of the iron bridge - at least three ties on each side. Please bring shovels to assist in the digging and tamping. Please also bring 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.


Sunday, August 26th:

Phoenicia - Brush Cutting

At 10am on Sunday, August 26th, Tom Healy and Steve Gollow will lead a crew clearing vegetation hitting the train starting at the station in Phoenicia and working east towards Mt. Pleasant. They will start on foot, but may drive to other sections as the day progresses. They could use additional help, and volunteers should bring loppers, chain saws, and brush cutters if they have them.

Kingston - Cornell Street

Cornell Street will open at 9:30am on Sunday. Plans are to continue working on the N5B caboose (priming the bottom structure in preparation for floor installation), finishing painting the 401 and planning the future fence move. Earl plans to take the 401 out on the line late in the day as part of our efforts to assert our presence in Kingston. The new paint scheme on the 401 is about 80% done and is looking great!


Weather is expected to be warm this weekend - sunny with a high of 82 in Phoenicia on Saturday, and 85 in Kingston on Sunday. Bring water!

Ernie Hunt
Volunteer Coordinator
Catskill Mountain RR

Friday August 24th:

On Friday, August 24th, Al Johnson and Bill Kaba continued work on the 702 restoration. Al Johnson writes:

"Bill Kaba and I went up yesterday (8/24) and completed filling the trough around the edge and filled 2 out of 3 holes in the floor. The Assistant Foreman under estimated the amount of 5000# concrete mix required, so we will fill the last hole next time (need 1 more bag of mix)."

Saturday August 25th:

On Saturday, August 25th, we continued the track blitz towards Cold Brook. Present were Foreman George Peck, Dave Mason, Al Howes, Al Schoessow, Bill Brosnan, Peter Fluchere, Ron Epstein, Tom Healy, Paul Hintz, Greg Peck, and myself. The weather was pretty harsh - high humidity and temperatures in the mid-eighties.

We inserted 65 ties laid out by Tom Healy with the scarifier:

http://naphotos.nerail.org/showpic/?pho ... 224947.jpg

and scarified 22 more tie holes before the scarifier quit due to mechanical difficulties. Bill Brosnan and Tom Healy worked the tie handler, and toed in 22 more ties towards Cold Brook Station:

http://naphotos.nerail.org/showpic/?pho ... 224979.jpg

We plated the 65 ties inserted with the scarifier, so these are ready for spiking next weekend.

After lunch, we worked on the former crossing in front of the iron bridge at MP 22.38:

Before:

http://naphotos.nerail.org/showpic/?pho ... 125030.jpg

During:

http://naphotos.nerail.org/showpic/?pho ... 125191.jpg

After:

http://naphotos.nerail.org/showpic/?pho ... 325307.jpg

We inserted 4 and spiked four new ties in this section as part of the repair. We can now bring the work train over this section.

Next week we will spike the 65 ties we plated yesterday, and hopefully the additional 22 toed in yesterday, getting us very close to Cold Brook Station.

Ernie Hunt
Volunteer Coordinator
Catskill Mountain RR