Thursday mornings northeaster left a lot of downed trees and power outages across new England. unfortunately I was not spared.

this tree I would have never thought a candidate to come down, apparently got cault in some strong winds from a direction it have not seen before. result below.

this is actually the worst of the damage. the ladder system is broken and the rail is bent to hell. anyone got a couple of code 250 alum sticks available?

I will probably have to take up a couple from Rico yard, and piece in with short scraps including those I can straighten.

the scene from bridge 45a looked encouraging as it appeared only deck ties and rail got damaged.

the scene of the worst damage after the tree was gone.

the approach to bridge 44a was also damaged, but limited to ties and rail that can be straightened.

I have plenty of ties on hand, in part due to the late Bob Hyman sending me a bunch over a year ago.

and finally a close up of the bridge damage. I got very luck here as this was indeed confined to the deck ties and rail, guard timbers.

one of the water barrel setouts is missing some of its parts as well that I have yet to find.

so all in all it is very fixable, will just need good weather and time to fix, which is unfortunate in that I had a Stock rush scheduled for Sunday which is now canceled. depending on how quick I can effect repairs may try again in another week.

AL P.

Wow Al, not good but it looks like it could have been a lot worse. Hope you have not further issues.

I agree, boy that tree had a very tiny root system, must have been getting so much surface water it did not need roots of any substance.

Greg

Al

So sorry you suffered damage and had to cancel Sunday. We had a lot of small branches but no damage.

I have a couple of short sections of aluminum rail you can have.

Stan

Wow … that hurts. Now more work on the R.R. We feel for ya as it has happen here to. But it is nice to have some shad round and gets planted in wrong places…

Geez, Al, that sucks.

I have plenty of Code 250 aluminum track sticks…you tell me what you need and I’ll send you however much as you can use. I think what I have are all four-foot lengths.

Just let me know.

Darn, that sucks, but at least 45a survived. Loosing 45a might have doomed the whole railroad. Glad you can fix it.

Al,

Sorry to hear of your damage. (https://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-cry.gif)The pictures surely bring it home!

Ouch!

but as others mentioned, it could have been worse.

Sorry to see the damage, Al… But, as folks said, it could have been worse…

Good luck with the repairs… (http://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-cool.gif)

I feel for you man.

My repairs are done.

It’s worth it, if you have doubts.(https://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-yell.gif)

I echo all the sympathy Al, must have a been a real heartbreak to see that. Could happen to any of us.

I’m glad to see though how the tree kinda propped itself over your trestle, instead of taking it out.

Soldier on, and please post on your overcoming of this disaster.

Well Al, looks like you got a new project to work on. Hope all goes well. I’m wondering about trunk rot near the base as that tree was very close to the garage/barn foundation. As you said, very strange wind angle for that tree to fall that direction. Best of luck getting the repairs completed.

Thanks for all the positive comments guys. I was able to fix 45A and the section just before 44A yesterday. off to Stans to get some operations in today and collect some rail sections for further repairs on Sunday. the actual bent sections under the tree trunk only turned out to be about 6 inches long, but I will replace the section with a pair of full length pieces and put the shorter sections in one of the yards.

unfortunately this w/e appears to be the end of the potential good weather for operations. next w/e will be a rain out, and I am not one for operations in freezing weather.

AL P.

Glad that the damage was limited. Best of luck with repairs!

Final update,

thanks to all who offered help and rail. Rail was donated by Stan Ames and Ron Bart.

I was able to start repairs on Friday and got the bridge ties reinstalled and rail straightened there and reinstalled, the next section was just flex track so that was a relatively easy fix.

after the operating day at Stan’s on Saturday, Sunday started out bright and warm. I finished up the guard timber on the bridge, followed by a thorough inspection of both bridges (lots of loose spikes)

This section was the last repaired as the ladder system was compromised, including pushing one of the support posts about 4" further into the ground.

I used up most of what I had for ladder material, as this was built with the recycled milk jug plastic material when I first started.

Joe Brodbine came over on Sunday and helped with the rail swap in the yard as well. one of the challenges with code 250 rail is the width of the rail base.

pretty much every ones is different. Llagas is the narrowest, Sunset Valley the widest. Micro Engineering in the middle, which is what I use.

(https://www.largescalecentral.com/FileSharing/user_2560/disaster%20strikes%20RGSNH/DSC_4219r.jpg)

this was the easiest area to fix.

(https://www.largescalecentral.com/FileSharing/user_2560/disaster%20strikes%20RGSNH/DSC_4220r.jpg)

repaired bridge section. the barrel platform remains have not been found but will be dealt with in the spring.

(https://www.largescalecentral.com/FileSharing/user_2560/disaster%20strikes%20RGSNH/DSC_4222r.jpg)

On Monday I got out the garden tractor (a cub Cadet) and cleaned up the remaining tree debris. I had tried on Sunday to get this old girl running (Farmall F-20),

but had to stop when the float stuck in the carb. with that repaired it made quick work of the stump and some of its roots. others had to be hacked out with an axe.

(https://www.largescalecentral.com/FileSharing/user_2560/disaster%20strikes%20RGSNH/DSC_4223r.jpg)

Glad to see you have it back up! It’s on my list for next year’s TrainOps - it just looks TOO good!