THE TWO FOOTERS               

After returning from last year's Two Footers convention, the Soggy Bottom RR seems to have found its direction and initial goals.  I have decided the SBRR will be a point-to-point railroad instead of a loop.  A loop would be great for riding kids, but the SBRR will be my only opportunity to own a working railroad, so I’ve decided to run it like a working railroad.  Also after experiencing the costs and availability of materials in my area, the problems of handling and operating large-scale equipment by one's self and coming to grips with the reality that the SBRR is and probably will be a one-man operation, I’ve decided to stick with 15" gauge.  After all, I already had a locomotive and car that were built in 15" gauge, and, at the time, I had no permanent track on the ground.  I certainly hope this decision will not exclude me from continuing friendships and relation that have been made through the Two Footers and even participating in future activities related to Two Footers.

To date, I have accomplished the following.  There is 102 feet of track on the ground with another 40 feet under construction as I am writing this.  All that is left to finish the 102 ft is the final ballast spreading and tamping.  Of course, finding real railroad track of the 12# - 20# size in my area has been and still is, really rare.  This was another deciding factor in sticking with the 15" gauge.  I have elected to make my rails using 1 ½" x 1 ½ "x ¼ " steel which is readily available and not too difficult to handle by myself. The locomotive which was purchased (thanks to Mr. Hinkle) on my way home from the Two Footers convention in Bristol, Va., last summer has been tuned up and is operational although some major cosmetic improvements will probably take place later on. The 4-wheeled car that came with the locomotive is being converted to a 2-seat riding car which will carry 2 adults or 4 kids. Construction on this is about 75% complete.  Construction of a 6 ½ ft long 8-wheeled flatcar has been completed and is being used to assist track construction. At present, it is loaded with crossties, shovels and other construction equipment.

The train is presently being stored underneath a 10' x 20' canopy.  Plans have been drawn up for a 12' x 24' engine shop, and construction will hopefully begin later this summer.  The railroad also proudly displays a former ACL crossing sign just outside of the yard area.  I am seeing first hand what everyone told me, that building a railroad, even a 15" gauge railroad, is a long term commitment that takes up a lot of your time, a lot of your space and a lot of your money.  But once it’s in your blood, you’re hooked.

In Halifax, where we live, there is a long tunnel being built under the city that will be connected to all the sewers that currently run into directly into the ocean. Our wastewater management solution is to connect all the direct ocean outlets to this one massive tunnel, which will be pumped out at a new sewer treatment facility, yet to be built. The city is in the early phases and is currently working on this tunnel. Hired to carry out this work is McNally, out of Ontario. They are Canadian urban tunnel specialists. I went to the site on the weekend and could only see what is pictured and the hole in the ground where they are getting ready to start tunneling from. Notice the two white locos in front of the green container.   One has the battery box off. David was driving by one day last week and spotted a flat bed loaded with these 2 electric locos and several bundles of #40 rail panels of track on steel ties. I went by to investigate, wouldn’t you know it, 2-foot gauge! We have not been back to the site but we will probably stick our nose in and see what is going on when the workers are around. Dad asked if the rail would be left behind and the foreman said 'no' 'it all returns to Ontario yard, along with the gear until we are sent somewhere else to build the next tunnel. Interesting Gondolas, they flip them up side down to empty them, no doors and they have a pivot lug on the ends. Notice how the axles are fixed in a box, which swivels and rocks back and forth to negotiate the bumps in the track. I am always interested to see how wheels and axles are mounted on cars, this seems like it would work quite well.

Here is a picture of "Winky", my 1949 1.5T Brookville "Cranberry Special" Two Footer. I recently discovered that it could be regauged for 30". Each wheel can be moved out three inches with no problem.

We have been making slow but steady progress rebuilding the bottom end of Loco #1 from the Cargill Salt Works, but have been so busy with the other Spring Projects.   Below you see we have taken out the wheel prior to sending them in to turn out the wear groves.

Every year, the B&W crew undertakes a project of maintaining our line. This includes the inspection of rail and ties. Previous to this year, the maximum number of ties that we had to replace was 70. This year, we outdid ourselves and replace 218 ties!

We started this project at the end of May and finished on July 17. Crew size ranged from 2 members to a high of 12, which occurred on July 17. A number of other records were achieved during this process:

• A two-man crew was able to replace 15 ties in 2 hours.
• A five-man crew replaced 36 ties in 4 hours
• On July 17^th, the 12 member crew replaced 46 ties, 5 of which were switch ties

We were fortunate to obtain a large quantity of ties from several resources:

• Ties were acquired from a derailment on the NS Buffalo line in Emporium, PA
• Donation of 400 standard length ties from the Tie Yard of Omaha, who was running a salvage yard in Williamsport, PA. The ties that were donated came from Amtrak and New Jersey Transit.

In the March/April 2004 issue, Bill and Paul Krelner wrote an article of a device to remove and insert ties. The B&W created a proto-type of this device and first utilized this on our East Broad Top Tie Replacement Job. This worked so well, that we continued to use this device on our own replacement project. Plans have also been created to created an improved model. This truly emphasizes that good ideas can be found within the newsletter.

The B&W has a new project for the winter months. Nick DaMore was able to acquire for the B&W Railroad a standard gauge Tie Inserter. He purchased this item at a Railroad Contractors Auction in Pittsburgh, Pa.

The tie inserter would not start at first. We were able to get the inserter started after re-building the magneto. We are currently looking into different options of regauging the inserter for both 2- and 3-foot gauge.

Below is a photo of a museum steamer, which for a few years spent a week at Nambour hauling cane in the half-mile section of street running between sidings and the mill. Trains in the street are extremely rare in this country, and there are only 2 other locations I know of, both on sugar lines, but their total length would be less than half that of Nambour. Despite mixing with heavy road traffic, collisions between trains and cards appear to have been comparatively rate.

Stan Griffith reports that there are not too many Two-Footers in Illinois, and any rail fans are welcome at any time. Stan can be reached at:

Box 246
Ashton, Illinois 61006
(815) 453 2442

The B&W Railroaders days for 2004 are Aug 15 and September 19. All are welcome to visit.

As you can see from this issue, there are ideas and projects that anyone can undertake. I am sure that there are many ideas waiting to be written about. So let's hear about them.

The Two Footers
534 Armory Road
St. Marys, PA 15857

tpbauer@alltel.net

or

tom@thetwofooters.com

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