Operations Support October 5th-6th, 2002
This was the fourth visit to the DS&N by Moose Valley crews, and more progress on the right of way and rolling stock. A small crew laid 90 feet of track, ballasted it with finish-grade stone, aligned and leveled. Mileposts were established with markers and placed around the entire right of way. WAG #2300 returned to service, having been fitted with an electric fuel pump. The fuel pump tests were a resounding success.
A change of seasons was evident, as the trees began to take on their fall colors. Morning and evening temperatures were quite chilly, and morning dew covered the rails and ground.
400 feet from the yard lead, at what is now labeled MP 40.0, the end of the line sits just railroad west of the house station. The line is ready to proceed down through the pine tree grove.
2 curved sections, and 3 straight were laid over the weekend to bring the train to this point. This curve turned out to be as difficult as the others, as any twist or undulation caused varying degrees of derailment behavior.
Out at the other end of the work area, at what is now MP 110.0, all remaining pieces of track left over from the September visit have been installed, and the curve toward the road is ready to commence.
This long straight away is a joy. It is a decent ride from MP 40.0 to here. Note that we have discovered we are building the railroad like many others were started, working from the ends toward the center.
Milepost 147.0 is at the other end of this stretch, and is our division post. It is 1470 feet from the yard limit. When completed, the riding circle will be 1200 feet, or two scale miles.
Here is the engineer's view looking railroad east toward MP 110, practically out of view on the horizon.
Here is our partially frozen milepost installation crew, finishing up the last post.
Milepost 0.0, at the yard limit.
A new switch stand was installed at MP 30.0
Lots more work to be done next time.