Catskill Mountain Railroad (CMRR) Discussion - 2015

I would imagine Cornell St is a bit crowded.

Otto Vondrak wrote:

lvrr325 wrote:I see on Facebook CMR has another new coach, another former LIRR car.

According to my records, CMRR owns former LIRR 2940, 2949, 2962, and now 2911. Nice to have a standardized fleet, makes maintenance and repairs a little easier.

Norfolk & Western No. 1727 was acquired from Ontario Northland earlier in the year to be converted into a premium service car.

-otto-

When they replace the windows, are they installing windows that open? That's important on a tourist train, IMO

I went to the end of Herdman road Sunday morning and cleared 1/4 mile of loose brush. No cutting tools, so everything I couldn't pull out by the roots remains. There has been some dumping there, with two rocks in the gauge, the daddy (probably 500 pounds) and one "baby" (probably 150 pounds). The grandfather rock is further west, and is probably two tons if it's an ounce. I was able to lever the smaller rock up by about a foot, enough so I could pull it up a bit by hand. I could probably flip it over if someone else was able to shim it with other rocks as I went.

For the dumping, it probably calls for several signs up on the road saying "NO DUMPING, Catskill Mountain Railroad". There's probably one garbage bag (which I didn't have) worth of refuse scattered about.

For the daddy rock, I would get two 12' sections of rail. Lay them crosswise to the tracks, and lever the rock up onto them. Then use a come-long to drag it along the "shoo-fly". Otherwise, you risk tearing the rails right out of the ties. As it is, that whole section's gauge looks kinda dodgy, with the rocks sitting on it.

For the grandpa rock, I would get somebody in to blow it up.

greenwichlirr wrote:Aren't these the same guys who ripped up the line down the hill to Rondout?

Yes. Last time I was there (spring), they still hadn't removed the ties (worthless) but they did pull the rails ($$$).

Iron Horse "Preservation" Society is a non-profit in name only, and a railroad "preservation" society in name only. They seem to be despicable, based on their performances that I've heard of.

"Iron Horse chief operations officer Joseph Hattrup has said some failed business deals meant Iron Horse could no longer afford to dispose of the rails. The projects were derailed largely because of the negative publicity Iron Horse received through its dealings with Salem and the railroad ties, he said. "

Haha. Losers.

BandA wrote:When they replace the windows, are they installing windows that open? That's important on a tourist train, IMO

Not as far as I know. These are all sealed-window coaches with full functional climate controls.

-otto-

Friday, October 23rd

In Mt. Tremper, Dave Hilliard was engineer, Neil Isabelle was conductor, Dan Howard and Kathy Isabelle were brakemen, Bruce Devorkin was ticket agent.

Walt Otto and Al Johnson continued work on coach 2949.


Saturday October 24th


Greg Vaughn worked on the 832.

Jeff Otto, and Vince worked near the body shop crossing.

http://photos.greatrails.net/s/?p=226637" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


In Mt. Tremper, Dave Heick was engineer, Earl Pardini was conductor, Tom Whyte was brakeman, Gary Lowe was ticket agent.

In Kingston, Al Schoessow was engineer, Tony Bocchino was conductor, John Marino and Dave Hilliard were brakemen and flaggers. Kailey was ticket agent. Pat Smalley and nephew ran the pumpkin painting activity tent. Gladys Gilbert also helped in the gift shop and Matt Gillis helped all around as well as Alex Sorenson.

Neil Remsen worked on the 2911.



Sunday, October 25th

In Mt. Tremper, George Peck was engineer, Tony Bocchino was conductor, Harry Jameson was car attendant and ticket agent was Gary Lowe.

In Kingston on Sun. 10/25/15, Engineer was Al Schoessow. Conductor was John Prestopino. Brakeman was Tom Whyte. Flaggers were John Marino and Karl Wick. Pat Smalley was ticket agent. Also helping out was Thom Johnson. Of course much help from Matt Gillis and Neil Remsen.

Walt Otto and Al Johnson worked on Coach 2949.

Jeff Otto, Martin Elbrecht, Ernie Klopping and Vince completed reconstruction of the body shop crossing, which is now open to rail traffic:

http://photos.greatrails.net/s/?p=226637" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;



Monday, October 26th

Jeff Otto, Bryan Wade and Ray Perrone spiked ties east of the Body Shop crossing.

Tom Whyte and I worked on coach 2911.




Ernie Hunt
Volunteer Coordinator
CMRR

Friday, October 30th

In Mt. Tremper, Tom Whyte was engineer, Neil Isabelle was conductor, Dan Howard was brakemen, Bruce Devorkin was ticket agent.

Jeff Otto and Vince continued work near the Body Shop crossing.

Greg Vaughn worked on the 832.



Saturday October 31st


Greg Vaughn worked on the 832. George Bain and Hunter Downie worked on the 2911.

Jeff Otto, and Vince worked near the body shop crossing.

In Mt. Tremper, Dave Heick was engineer, Ray Farrell was conductor, Bill Kaba was brakeman, and Peter Fluchere was ticket agent.

Neil Remsen worked on the 2962 and 832.

Walt Otto and Al Johnson continued work on coach 2949.


Sunday, November 1st

In Mt. Tremper, George Peck was engineer, Tony Bocchino was conductor, John Marino was brakeman and ticket agent was Peter Fluchere.

Walt Otto and Al Johnson worked on Coach 2949.

Jeff Otto, Joe Wolff, Ernie Klopping and Vince continued work near the Body Shop crossing.

Neil Remsen worked on the 2962 and 832.


Monday, November 2nd

Jeff Otto, Bryan Wade, Ray Perrone, Vince and Al Sp. completed tie insertion west of the Body Shop crossing and spiked one full rail for all 140 ties.

Neil Remsen worked on the 2962 and 832 and Greg Vaughn worked on the 832.

We ended the last weekend of the season with a record of 436 passengers.


Ernie Hunt
Volunteer Coordinator
CMRR

Good luck tonight in the voting. Wish I could help vote him out.

Not looking good... Hein is leading 19 k to 15 k with 4 more left yet to be reported...

Unfortunately Hein won.
http://www.kingstonx.com/2015/11/03/hei ... executive/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

eehiv wrote:...
Monday, November 2nd

Jeff Otto, Bryan Wade, Ray Perrone, Vince and Al Sp. completed tie insertion west of the Body Shop crossing and spiked one full rail for all 140 ties....

How far does 140 ties take you? Do you use a sledgehammer or power equipment to spike? Do the old ties you are not replacing still have spikes? I assume, having never worked on a railroad, that the rail is straightened & gauged during the inserting process, then one rail is spiked, then the gauge is re-confirmed before spiking the other rail? Is the limiting factor on how fast volunteers can insert/spike, or the supply of ties? Always great to read these progress reports.

Just curious, what is the current end-of-track milepost number? And since the weather appears to be holding out, might you guys keep rebuilding west until the ground freezes over?

Presumably each tie is itself about 12 inches with the distance between ties about 12 inches, so 140 ties would get you nearly 300 feet.

lvrr325 wrote:Presumably each tie is itself about 12 inches with the distance between ties about 12 inches, so 140 ties would get you nearly 300 feet.

For FRA Class 1 track to allow use for revenue passengers at slow speed (15 mph) every 5th tie must be sound. So multiply by 5 for good for about 1,500 feet.

airman00 wrote:Just curious, what is the current end-of-track milepost number? And since the weather appears to be holding out, might you guys keep rebuilding west until the ground freezes over?

Which end? In Kingston, they go from MP1 to MP6.5, or at least will after this weekend. Ryan is clearing brush and rocks in the isolated section of track at MP30. They operate in Phoenicia to the Boiceville bridge, I think.