Friday, May 30, 2008

The Engine House


The Engine House, at Essex Station, from space, courtesy of Microsoft's Virtual Earth. It's almost like being there!

Friday, May 23, 2008

"New" Boom Truck Placed in Service and Other News

Our "new" (well 1986 is new for those of us who are use to machines from the 1920s') was placed in service this morning. We used it to lift coach 501's "A" end truck to facilitate the replacement of a set of wheels. "Boomer II" handled the task with ease. Its crane is a good bit more powerful than our boom truck, plus the new one has four (count them, four) outriggers for better stability when making lifts. Right now I hear the whine of 35 ton Norton air jacks, as Wayne Hebert and Bill Wolf lower the 501 back onto its truck.

Scott DiMartino has begun work on the roof of our open car "RIVERVIEW". This year, rather than receiving just another coat of "Koolpatch", the roof is getting a good scraping, needlechipping where necessary and a few patches where the clerestory meets the hip. The open car is scheduled to go back into service on June 21st, the day after the final school trip and first day of our daily (until Labor Day) service schedule.

Paul Horgan and Ken Blandina are putting the final touches on the "Trackside Cafe" prior to it opening for the season. I saw the van from "Downunder Subs" make a delivery. We sell their mini subs at the Cafe and on our riverboat "Becky Thatcher". These little subs are quite tasty (our senior management favors the Chicken Salad...) and a good bargain.

J. David