Last weekend we had temps in the mid 60’s and lots of sunshine. On Sunday the MOW train went out with a hopper full of ballast to attack some of the problem areas identified earlier in the week. Many of you know that my track laid is on numerous foundations depending on location. As the MOW train exits the indoor division it traverses a 90 degree bend and a long straight, all elevated on PT (pressure treated) lumber. At “WALL” the track transitions to a fill built upon a stone wall with concrete scraps, gravel and stone dust ballast. This area, also known as Coal Dump Curve is directly under the drip line of a huge Maple. It has been a challenge to keep the fill in place. This section requires some type of maintenance at least twice per year. So the first stop for the MOW crew was at WALL where they cut down ballast, leveled track, upgraded some of the concrete retaining system, then re-ballasted the track to the bridge leading to Indian Hill. Here are a few vintage photos of Wall and Coal Dump Curve… [url=photo.cvsry.com/Wall3-1024.jpg]
[/url][color=blue]FF: Click to Enlarge - IE: Right Click Photo and select Open Link in New Window to Enlarge[/color] [url=photo.cvsry.com/Wall4-1024.jpg]
[/url][color=blue]FF: Click to Enlarge - IE: Right Click Photo and select Open Link in New Window to Enlarge[/color] I don’t have any pictures yet of the latest incarnation of this area. Today I took advantage of a warm evening and the extra light to start attacking a serious vertical curve at Walk Crossing on the West leg of my Wye. I started by pulling the entire West leg track. It came up easily in one piece. The Split Jaw clamps at each end opened rather easily 3 years after being installed. Once the track was up I removed the first inch of so of stone dust ballast. Due to several floods in this area the ballast was well mixed with top soil. That and the addition of ballast on top over the years had raised the track quite a bit. The problem came where the track is encased in concrete while crossing a walkway. The ballasted area rose over time, but the concrete encased track stayed put resulting in a vertical curve. Here are a couple of vintage photos of the West leg and Walk Crossing taken just after the track was finished… [url=photo.cvsry.com/Walk1-1024.jpg]
[/url][color=blue]FF: Click to Enlarge - IE: Right Click Photo and select Open Link in New Window to Enlarge[/color] [url=photo.cvsry.com/Walk2-1024.jpg]
[/url][color=blue]FF: Click to Enlarge - IE: Right Click Photo and select Open Link in New Window to Enlarge[/color] Next time the weather cooperates I’ll tamp and level the ballast that remains, replace the track and finish ballast. I had considered replacing one or both of these areas with ladder roadbed. As it turns out, the amount of work to repair each of these areas was significantly less than trenching and installing ladder. I will be using ladder on future expansions.
