Tumble dry and impregnate with Water Displacer 40. Air dry and soak in journal oil. Might save some that are still in good condition.

dave

Contact Hooper Industries in Baltimore, I know they make pads ranging from 3x7 to at least 5x9 and probably larger.

2121 Druid Park Dr
Baltimore, MD , 21211-1430
Phone: 410-462-4400
FAX: 410-669-1256

Here is a situation where you are better off having friction bearing equipment than rollers. If they were rollers, you would be removing each wheelsets, and replacing/inspecting bearings. I believe there is a good chance you will only be removing wheelset on the loco(s). (because of traction motors). You can disassemble the frictions in place.

When Ivan came through NC a few years back, the water came up the bottom of the rollers on the Tuck River consist during the night. A few inches higher and we would have had to condemn 3-4 cars until they could be jacked and bearings changed.

Sometimes old technology is just better. All the flexiblity hasn't been engineered out of it yet.

Good luck to the folks at Mid Continent!!

Ryan

This is an e-mail I have received from the museum. Sounds like their worst fears have been realized. Please help them out with a donation if you can.

Steve


Dear Mid-Continent Friends and Members,

As many of you know, major flooding in Sauk county has dealt a severe blow
to Mid-Continent Railway Museum. Early Monday morning, June 9th, the
Baraboo River, which runs adjacent to our property, rose out of its banks
after a weekend of very heavy rain. This was no typical spring flood
though. The waters rose all day Monday and much of the day Tuesday. The
river crested late Tuesday at over 28 feet as measured upstream at Rock
Springs, which is more than seven feet higher that the highest stage on
record and more than 20 feet above normal.

There is major damage to our museum property. The depot building is
flooded several feet above the main floor and the passenger platform has
washed away in places. The engine house, car shop, freight house and other
small buildings all have several feet of water. The Coach Shed has several
inches of water. All diesel locomotives have flooded traction motors.
Nearly all the coaches have water above the journal boxes. The GBW 49 and
Soo 2645 steam locomotives on the display track have water above the
couplers. Copper Range 29 has been spared so far, with water still below
the axles. The office building has several inches of water in the
basement. There is no word yet on track or bridge conditions.

Obviously, all train operations are suspended until further notice and
most likely for the season.

It is too early to tell the entire scope of the damage we have received or
how we will go about recovering. For now, we will leave you with some
sobering pictures from the museum. Click the links to several photo
galleries on the webcam page, including a time-lapse movie from our
webcams here:

http://www.midcontinent.org/netcam/


Following is the official News Release that has been sent to media outlets
around the Midwest by General Manager, Don Meyer. Please feel free to pass
the word along to anybody you know who may be interested and able to help
in our recovery efforts.


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Mid-Continent Railway Museum
P.O. Box 358
North Freedom, WI
Contact person: Don Meyer, General Manager
Office: 608-522-4261
dmeyer@midcontinent.org
http://www.midcontinent.org

We’ve Met Our Match

For the first time in its 46 years of operations at North Freedom, the
Mid-Continent Railway Museum has had to cancel its train rides.

“This is a point of pride for us,” says Don Meyer the museum’s general
manager. “We have always told our guests that the train runs, rain or
shine.” Even last February’s blizzard did not prevent the museum from
holding its celebrated Snow Train event. But in this year’s flooding Meyer
admits the museum has finally met its match.

“The extent of the flood damage is so excessive,” he reports, “that it
looks like it will be a severe challenge for us to even stage our Autumn
Color and Pumpkin Special events in October.”

By the time the water crested Tuesday night every building except for the
office, the highest point of the property, was inundated with water. The
worst hit was the museum’s 1894 Chicago & North Western depot.

“This is probably the most recognizable building on our property,” Meyer
says. “Every visitor walks through its doors to purchase their tickets for
the ride. It’s where your journey always begins.” Now this historic icon
has standing water in each of its rooms several inches deep.

Also hard hit is the museum’s equipment. “We will literally be stuck in
the mud once the water recedes,” he admits. “We will likely need to truck
our diesel engines to another site for clean-up and repair. The work will
simply be too big for us to do ourselves.”

The damage from the mud and water will also affect the coaches people ride
in. “Nothing will move,” Meyer promises, “until each car has its wheels
and bearings cleaned and lubricated.” So the work will have to take place
outside right where the vintage equipment is currently standing for fear
of doing further damage.

What is totally unknown at this time is the extent of the damage done to
the museum’s track. This includes the two bridges that are part of its
four-mile route. In the final analysis, the rebuild of the bridges may
confront the museum with its most costly repairs. It will depend on what a
physical inspection reveals once the water level has gone down far enough
for an informed assessment to be made.

All the main roads leading to the museum have been closed due to the high
water. Still there have been a few venturesome people who have found a way
to get there by locating the back roads that have not been affected by the
flooding.

Everyone who makes it has camera in hand. The site of steam locomotives
and railroad cars waist deep in the muddy current is just too amazing not
to record. Meyer’s weekly web log message ruefully refers to the museum’s
facility as Lake Mid-Continent.

Ironically something else that has been inundated is the museum’s web
site. Their service provider has asked Mid-Continent’s webmasters to
remove the link to its two web cams located on the property. Visits to the
site were just too numerous for the provider to handle. As an alternative,
a gallery of still images is being archived so people can view the water’s
invasion of the once active rail yard. Follow the links on our home page
to view the pictures of the damage.

The museum is operated by the Mid-Continent Railway Historic Society, a
Wisconsin not-for-profit corporation founded in 1959. It’s collection of
wooden cars is purported to be the largest in the country, many of them
one-of-a-kind pieces that have been saved from destruction by the
dedication of the society’s members. Now that same task is confronting
them again.

“We’ll survive,” Meyer says. “It’s that point of pride we have about what
has been accomplished here since we first moved our collection to North
Freedom in 1963.” The commitment of the society’s members can be summed up
in just four words, “The trains must run.” And given time they will again.

Donations to aid with the clean-up and repair of the facility are
tax-deductible and can be sent to the Mid-Continent Railway Museum’s
mailing address at PO Box 358, North Freedom, WI 53951. Donations can also
be made via credit card through our website, www.midcontinent.org. All
gifts are gratefully appreciated and will be properly receipted.

END

I have recently let my subscription to Trainorders lapse, If anyone here posts on that board, ( or any other board for that matter), please repost their plight and the need for donations of both time and money to help them through this time.

Thanks!
Steve

The images of Mid-Continent under water are truly sickening.

I was there once, in 1993, and was extremely impressed by the place-- the car display building with its incredible collection of wood rolling stock, the well-laid-out station building and grounds, etc. From the pictures and articles I've seen in the last 15 years, MCRM has gotten even better since then, certainly one of the premier railway museums in the US.

And now this.

RMNE operates along a river, and our two main yards and station area are all adjacent to the river. This region has had serious flooding many years ago. The flood control dam that our mainline crosses is the result of the last "big one" in 1955. Thoughts of "what to do in case of flood" have been in our minds, although if Thomaston Dam lets go, well, it's probably "game over".

I'm going to ask a question, and I mean no disrespect to anyone of the MCRM people, but it keeps coming to mind after looking at the photos...

Why, with some hours' awareness that the river was rising, was there not a concerted effort to pull as much rolling stock to higher ground and get it out of harm's way? I recall that the MCRM mainline climbs as the line runs west (?) from the station. At least have run the diesel locos and as many active coaches as they could haul, up the hill.

This shows us all that we need to have a real disaster plan in place, and that when it happens, mobilize quickly.

Your press release was excellent, and I hope it gets wide coverage in the media. This is going to be a tough one to recover from, but preservation railroaders are a pretty resilient bunch. MCRM will come back from this.

Good luck guys, our thoughts are with you.

Howard P.

MP 6, along the Naugatuck River

While I would not presume to speak for the fine people at Mid-Continent, there's a couple of things that come fairly quickly to mind to answer the question of why equipment wasn't moved (as much as possible) to higher ground.

My guess would be that first you're dealing with a semi remote area, if you a member in the area, likely you're taking care of home and family first, if you're living someways distantly away, just getting to the museum might be problematic. Next you have reports here about heavy heavy rains during the week, times when most museum campuses aren't heavily popluated by workers/volunteers. By the time the weekend came around and more volunteers would likely have been available, you're still dealing with the access problems, and now there's a concerted effort to save inventories in the depot, etc. Plus by that time they were now dealing with a very dangerous situation in terms of the amount of water and water flow.

Just a sad situation all around. I think one thing that everyone can/should take from this is the lesson about how we leave things after a typical "weekend at the shop". As most volunteer efforts range over weekends, I think there's something of a natural thought that what you left behind last Sunday night, will be in the same place, come next Saturday morning. While an extreme example, here's a worst case example of what can happen.

I was planning my personal yearly pilgrimmage to Mid-Continent for next week, to coincide with the Milw 261 trips in the Wisc Dells area. I think the money I was planning on spending I'll simply send in a check to Mid-Continent, they're going to need a lot of financial support from all of us. I encourage everyone to do the same.

Good thing you're not planning on going to chase 261: CN just suspended the trips. According to their website, they'll be rescheduled for the end of August:
http://www.261.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=22

Here's the reason why the cars and equipment couldn't be moved quickly enough to "higher ground." A quote from Mid-Continents member board.

The Baraboo River began running over the road leading to the Museum on Sunday evening June 8th. At 05:00 Monday, it was up to the edge of the river road leading to the engine house and camp car area. At 05:20 Monday, the South Engineering area was flooded and the Southern most camp cars had water up to the journal boxes. At 06:00 Monday the decision was made to move the train consist away from the depot in case the water got that high. The cars were moved at 06:30 and the water was moving West as fast as the cars were being pulled. Soon there was the need to pull track 1 [coach ready] to save the business cars, the water then was only up to the bottom of the ballast. While checking blocking, making air, and checking hand brakes, the water was to the bottom of the ties. It was rising so fast that the consist was pulled over the blocks and hand brakes dragged. The consist of 1256, all Lacks, C-74, and Business cars were pulled to "high track" West of the Diamond Hill Road crossing. The 1256 was stopped just short of the camp car crossing and the 440 was just off the crossing circuit by the water tower [to keep the driveways and road open]. It was noticed that we were now trapped, water was three feet over the rail South of the Car Shop. At 07:30 a train order was written annulling all first class trains originating [still doing things by the book]. At 08:00 the 4 & 7 were pulled to the highest track possible [where they are sitting now]. At 08:30, the 1256 was cut off and spotted on the camp car crossing, the highest point on the rails. The rest is history. The train order and delay report for Monday may become a collectors item.

The river crested last night at 28.47 ft. A record. By noon Thursday 27.91 ft., noon Fri. 26.47 ft., noon Sat. 24.73 ft., noon Sun. 23 ft. When it gets down to 22 ft., water will have receeded enough to get to the depot and camp cars. A week from now, on Wed. the predicted water level is 12 ft. One foot below flood stage.

Not to pick out Dave or any others, but the talk of saving the pads is premature. The talk and suggestions should be to put a list or action plan of ideas or known practices others have used to help the cars and locomotives just after the water levels drop. Other museums have had cars under water at one time or another and should be able to share their experience to help mid continent. I am sure these guys are over whelmed at this point.

My own experience with cars and flooding would have me do the following.

1) Pull the waste and pads immediately. Don't worry about repacking at this point. Get the boxes dry and oil the journal surface. These cars probably won't be moving down the line for passenger trips for a while so they do not need packing for a while.

2) Get the inspection plates off the traction motors on the diesels. Look for mud and such and flush out with clean water if required. The motors are wet, so a bit more water won't hurt anything at this point. replace the inspection covers. At a minimum place a couple lit light bulbs into each traction motor. The warmth from the bulbs will warm up the inside of the motor case and start to dry them out. If possible get some portable hot air heaters and direct the hose into the traction motors. Make sure to meg the motors out after flushing out and periodically to know where they stand. With luck they will be able to dry the motors out without a complete tear down.

These are just a few ideas and suggestions. I am sure others have experience and can offer other ideas.

Thanks for that 261 update,, I was sort of wondering/half-expecting such an announcement, especially after Lake Delton basically disappearing early this week. The whole area is simply devastated.

Last night's rains only added to the swollen rivers. Here in the Chicago area, the northern suburbs are on alert, especially along the Fox River. Personally I'm hoping this doesn't travel too far south, while the bulk of the Fox River Trolley Museum in South Elgin is elevated enough in the majority of it's property to avoid all but the most cataclysmic flooding problems, there is one particular spot under the bridge at Coleman where the river has historically overflowed the banks and come dangerously close to the tracks several times.

Not picked on at all Christopher - but let me add a recommendation that the journals for the traction motor bearings also be unpacked and drained, and all wet stuff in and around the motors that are bearingish be liberally treated with WD and then the entire motor cleaned and dried with gentle heat and air flow. If they meggar out when dry, repack, lube and go.

dave

There have been some emails within the organization from members who have wanted to try and organize a journal clean up detail for when the waters recede. I felt it was a step in the right direction. While I do think some journal pads could be cleaned, dried and reused, I too feel that we should pull the existing packing/journal pads, clean and lube journals then set the axles back down and move on to the next truck or car. We can go back and repack, re pad and lube later. This would allow for a much greater amount of work to be done without spending too much time on a few cars. Like the one writer said none of these cars are going to be used real quick anyway. I sent an email suggesting this to one of the car shop heads to think about. I think waiting for the insurance companies or FEMA to come to our aid will be way to late. The need to quell as much damage as possible is needed. Some damage is done and irriversiable, but a lot of damage can be avoided by using our heads and going after these journal as soon as possible. If we have to go too Walmart and buy a stove or dryer for drying out the pads so be it. There are numerous ways to do these things, it will help to think out of the box so we can get this done.

I am personally grateful for everybodies concern. It is heart breaking to see the equipment under water. The potential for bridge damage or loss, steam locomotive parts washed away off the riverbank, structural damage to the buildings is overwhelming. We will do what surviviors do all over the world when disaster strikes, we will pick up the pieces and do what we can. But waiting for someone to come and help bail you out is not a very proactive approach. The nuts and bolts stuff like journals and traction engines will take time and bodies willing to get dirty and get some work done. With some enginuity and a couple of barrels of diesil fuel, journal oil, rubber gloves, lots of rags we can get this done. Let us not forget journal jacks.

The people who waited for help in New Orleans waited a long time. People who helped themselves got help much quicker. No disrespect meant towards anybody, anywhere by this statement. Just trying to make a point that nothing is impossible, but you must be willing to help yourself and be willing to except help where ever you can get it. Think it out, be patient and we will get through this. Cheers, John.

John,

As a long time (13 year) volunteer at the B&O Museum, I know the heartbreak that all of you feel at Mid-Continent. I have heard nothing but wonderful things about your museum, and regret having never been there.
I only wish my 59 year old body was up to heavy physical labor, so I could come out for a work party. Unfortunately that is not possible. But I will try to send a donation later this month.

With all your institution has accomplished over the last 45 years, I'm confident that Mid-Continent will bounce back and move forward.

Okay, guys--car-pool time.

I can't afford the gas out there, but I'll go out if someone gives me a lift, and will find a way to meet up with someone else, provided I can get the time off.

Anyone else? Sleeping bags and a place to unroll them a necessity, as will be food (Hey, I can be the cook......).