The local short line (Housatonic RR) wasn’t the only local railroad to suffer a major washout from the recent flooding rains.
At WALL, several large boulders that hide the roadbed and retain the balast washed loose and fell several feet to the ground…
I’ll dig out most of that ballast today before the next storm arrives tonight so it doesn’t end up in the back yard. Repairs will wait until spring. Slow order is in effect.
This has not been a good week for the RR. Big wind today took down a huge limb, part of which nearly flattened an old Pola building…
At this rate there might be nothing left by spring 
Oh no that is some tough damage but I’m sure you will get it patched up.
It was an “abandoned” station with no windows or doors. I have lots of Pola parts, so I can replace the broken roof. I think the wall just popped out. Haven’t inspected it closely yet.
MEK worked wonders on my recent wind storm Pola disaster
Another really nice winter day with sunny skies and temps in the 50’s. I dug out all the remaining ballast away from the roadbed and cleaned off the rock tops. I’ll wait for warmer overnight temps before attempting to replace the rocks as I rely on landscape adhesive to hold things in place. Today’s progress…
I noticed a few weeks ago that some of the styrene skin on the Indian Hill Bridge is de-laminating. I should probably pull it out tomorrow for indoor repair. That will cut off the top end of the RR until it goes back.
As of early afternoon today, the railroad East of Indian Hill Bridge is temporarily out of service, cut off by the removal of the bridge. At this location, the abyutment needs to be excavated and raised to correct a dip in the up-hill grade…
The bridge was moved by heavy lift equipment to an indoor location where it can be serviced over the remaining winter. It has been set on an old keyboard stand to provide a nice work height. It’s at an angle to drain water that has collected inside the tube…
As you can see in this picture, some of the styrene on the bottom has de-laminated from the aluminum tube, a few plate angles have disappeared and some paint has chipped away. No major work involved, just clean-up, re-glue and touch up paint.
I used two part epoxy when it was built and for a later repair. This time I’ll use my go-to favorite repair adhesive: Loctite HY-4070 which is a CA/Epoxy hybrid that bonds to almost everything…
Hope you’ve put up proper warning signs, Jon!
No signs (and I’m a sign guy) - just the timbers as protection. Orders have been issued so I don’t expect any traffic unless some unauthorized track speeders run out there. If they do, and drive into the abyss, that will be their penalty!
I made a lot of progress on the bridge repair. Seems last time I used Fuz-It construction adhesive on the styrene. Where it stuck it was a pain to break free, but I got it off. Lots of scraping with a sharp scraper and thorough sanding left the top and bottom ready to have the styrene glued back on. There are a lot of panel angles to glue back on, and some minor repairs to the ties. Being directly next to the trunk of a large tree, it gets very wet often.
This time I decided to strip off all the styrene and get the old glue off and the aluminum sanded clean. Some before and after shots…
I also cleaned up the glue side of the styrene and sanded it for better grip. Still deciding if I will just touch up those paint chips, or repaint the entire bridge. Leaning toward touch-up.
It might be nice enough tomorrow to work on fixing the grade. If so, I might get the RR back in service in record time!
Fake Spring continued for one last day today and Real Winter is scheduled to arrive tomorrow evening. I took advantage of the weather to fix the down slope abutment for Indian Hill Bridge. The roots have grown over the years and pushed the abutment up causing a vertical kink at the joint. It is quite obvious in this photo taken a week ago. Compare the horizontal line of two coaches…
So, a before shot to help me remember where the rocks go if I’m delayed putting things back…
The excavation and root trimming with a mini chain saw and some big chisels…
Hard to see in the above photo, but this is a big Maple and the sap is really running making a puddle in the excavation hole. Once I was satisfied I had removed enough root to keep the abutment at the proper height for a few more years, I cross-leveled the abutment and placed everything back…
Now once the bridge is finished and next week’s snow melts, I can get the RR back in service.
I like the use of natural products for outdoor adhesives 
I say weather the paint spots like rust. And let the natural weathering take place.
Especially when used for breakfast and you’re looking for food that will stick to your ribs.
I accidentally trimmed our 3-4cm diameter lipstick maple before the leaves came out and it dripped for weeks. Dang! That could have been my track side business! …a sap refinery!
I’ll paint the spots black with a brush first. Rust, maybe, but it weathers fast with mud as you can see. That was no more than two years since the last time it was repaired. I’m hoping this fix lasts until I’m ready to pack it all in.
You think you’re railroad is on a short remainder of life? Until you retire and move?
Exactly. I’d love to stay here, but without at least a part-time income it’s too expensive. I’m looking to retire by spring, then spend a year or two getting our house ready to sell. If the sales market stays as hot as it is I should be ale to buy something small in a less expensive area for cash. I’m looking near EBT.
Honestly I feel that the same thing will happen in 30 years when I’m ready to retire. The growth and expense in just the past 5-10 years has been explosive and I imagine when I’m ready to retire (and about the time the house is paid off) we will be ready to move. I figure at that time I’m probably selling off the large scale and going back indoors with a house that has a basement.
I can’t even find an airport code with these initials
Craig,
You meant go bigger didn’t you?
I’ve found you a house, in Oregon, with Cliffs next shed already in place.
Stay to 4min, 50sec…
That place is now a winery or cider tasting place.
