Re: 2 WW&F Ry flatcars...

Hey Creeker,
We haven't forgotten you. As a matter of fact, we unloaded two flatcars of rail on Saturday and stacked it all up near the end of track just so you'll have something to do in October. The rail is all 50 lb. stuff and it is in good shape and I think between that load and the 50 we already have on hand we should be able to lay about 1200 feet of track this fall. We will have to do a lot of drilling to get the joint bars we have on hand to line up right, though.
The spring work weekend was very impressive. The work was synchronized so the jacking crew went ahead of the tamping crew which was followed by the lining and ballasting crew. Everyone was out of each other's way and with the shuttle system we used with the two flatcars there was very little down time for any of the crews. So not only did we complete the work from the fall that was cut short by the deluge (we had to change our name to Whirpool, Waterfall, and Freshet Railway), but we managed to lift a section of track over the new culvert at Alna Center and add a whopping 900 feet to the in service track.
The crews were great and I have to give special credit to the tamping crew. Even with the pneumatic tampers the job is brutal. We need more young guys (hint, hint) who are willing to take a turn so we can rotate the tamping crew more frequently. All in all, we outdid ourselves again. I was extremely pleased.
When are you coming in July? Hope to see you. If not it'll be October. And anyone else who is reading this please feel free to show up any Saturday. There is lots of maintenance work to be done and we aren't shy about putting you to work.
Dana