GOVERNOR ANNOUNCES $1.2 MILLION FOR A&A TRACK REHAB

Talked with one of the fine folks at the RR on Friday July 4th regarding tie replacement and roadbed work. They have a Syracuse NY railroad contractor lined up to begin work later this week. Work to be done 3 days per week beginning with switch replacement and then tie replacement. Lots of ties painted for replacement from Arcade to near station at Curriers.

New GM Mr. Ling cooking hot dogs and hamburgers at Curriers Station on the 4th. Now that is pitching in. Approximately 150 folks on the noon excursion with less on second. No. 18 looked fantastic. I felt a new mood overall during our trip - different than recent past. Some work being done to interior of Arcade station as well.

^Thanks for the good news.

I'll be riding the train next week sometime.

I have heard that some new switches are in and ties are being replaced. There was a lot of talk on this board leading up to the work, but now that it is being done everybody is quiet. Anyways, it is good to hear that the railroad is moving along.

Where are the new switches going in?

I think one was put in in front of the enginehouse.

A new passing siding is being put in near the Reisdord Mill so that's two switches.

A switch was torn out behind the Town of Arcade highway garage. The short siding there was used to store track equipment at one time. There's also a passing siding there and those switches were torn out years ago. Will these be put back in?

I have some pics. I'll try to upload them tomorrow.

Great! Can't wait to see them. Wish I could monitor the progress every so often but will be unable at least for a few months.

Things are moving nicely with the contractor hard at work. Park Street crossing in the village was replaced, 7 new switches are being installed. The switch mentioned near the Town Barns is behind Arcade Dimensions plant (the old furniture factory, which is now being utilized by several companies). The switch will be utilized by the A&A for storage and possible future expansion. The run around that was on the other side of the tracks for the old fertilizer plant may be reinstalled at a later date for the new Empire Distributing warehouse as they continue to grow. A large quantity of ties have been installed with still more to go in, then to follow is stone and tamping. This work will go a long way to improving the solidness of the track. Just getting some areas up to dry ground will help, making future routine maintenance much easier. It is easy to see the improvements as you ride the trains.

Sounds great and I hope you have been having decent weather for the work. Is the line also being rehabbed to Arcade Jct? Any rail replacement? As always, thanks for the info.

Any updates on the work being done?

The line to Arcade Junction is being worked on.

I don't think any rail replacements are going to happen. This is all new ties, stone and tamping.

Does anyone have any pictures of the progress?

New switches I've seen are (working south to north):

Coach Storage Track Switch*
Shop/Interchange switch @ Mill Street
South End of the Arcade Runround @ Mill Street
North End of the Arcade Runround @ Main Street
Northbound trailing-point switch in the new industrial park

All new switches have the appearance of new panel switches being installed: New ties, point rails, new frogs, everything.
*With this switch in place, rebuilding of the wye is a distinct possibility. My thoughts would be to use some of the reipped out switches to restore service on the wye... at least in a temporary/emergency way.

The north end of the runaround was installed on track one, not on track two yet. This required the excursions to depart from track one (the main track). No18 would arrive on track one, tender first. After uncoupling, she backed into the enginehouse leads, while one of the diesels would couple onto the train and pull it back by the sandhouse (or the remains there-of). 18 would then double over to the main, against the excursion train and pull it back up to the station for boarding.

trackwork is proceeding, albeit not as quickly as one would think. Certain aspects are interfering with the excursions, require makeshift fixes until the upgrades are complete. The A&A crews deserve massive kudos for their efforts required to keep the trains running while the work is ongoing.

*Edit: Forgot about the coach switch

------------------------------------(Combining two posts)-----------------------------------

Nessman.. these are just for you!



Sorry about the glare from the switchstand. I hadn't expected the flash to go off.


Unfortunately, this is the only picture of this switch I have... but I think its a good shot anyways.



South end is in service, but as you can see, the north end has a bit of work remaining. What concerns me here, the divegence of track two is MUCH less than it was. With this new switch, the A&A no longer has the ability to use all six coaches in one train. Hopefully, this WILL be a problem in the future.


I included this, showing the staging of materials at the north end of this section of work.

-------------------------Edited to include another Arcade Picture:-----------------------

Wow, the trackwork (especially the brand new switches) almost look like train layouts when new switches are put in, and they are ballasted a lot less than the regular track.

Wow at the new switches.

Thanks for the new pics!

The other two switches are the ones for the new North Java passing siding, correct?

About the wye...

Only the switch on the mainline near the coach track was removed. The other switch is still in the back in the brush.

The track that paralled the coack track was removed.

Restoring the wye would give the A&A more car storage space.

I also think the B&S mainline part of the wye has a small section of track removed.

Yes, the wye is severed just to the right of this flat car in my pic at NERail:

http://naphotos.nerail.org/showpic/?pho ... ttica%20RR

Nice pictures.

Any pictures of progress on the old B&S main? Last I was there, it was pretty much all weeds all the way to the NS interchange.