tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-39697541324956160642012-02-16T04:33:49.039-05:00Stories and Photos of a Miniature Railroad in Ohio. We have been building this 2 foot gauge railroad sincce 2002.Mary Wilsonhttps://profiles.google.com/112673545457181820480noreply@blogger.comBlogger401100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969754132495616064.post-22298276352720278592012-01-01T06:00:00.000-05:002012-01-01T10:16:19.280-05:00

Back when we were building the railroad, after the track was down, we decided that we needed signal lights and crossing gates.  Bases cast, lights and gates installed all that was left was running the wire to power and control them.  (For those of you that want to know HOW, I have left myself a note to write a useful article for you, will get it done, promise.) Regardless, how took some figuring,

Mary Wilsonhttps://profiles.google.com/112673545457181820480noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969754132495616064.post-5523897233997990762011-12-29T17:47:00.000-05:002012-01-01T10:08:04.409-05:00

B&O Caboose C3008 exterior in winter There are lawn ornaments, and then there are YARD ornaments.  This particular ornament is now a static display on standard gauge track. It used to be an actual working caboose, specifically B&O Caboose C3008.  Retired almost complete it was preserved with some of the paperwork still inside. For those of you who have not actually walked inside this (or any

Mary Wilsonhttps://profiles.google.com/112673545457181820480noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969754132495616064.post-14979204332393781632011-12-05T21:02:00.001-05:002011-12-05T21:56:14.692-05:00

A tree fell across the tracks sometime last week, in one of the seeming never ending storms that we have had here.  Track maintenance is called for (as soon as it stops raining, which may be sometime next year).  Time to fire up the speeder and a chainsaw. I have neglected this blog badly and it also needs maintenance.  A chainsaw may or may not be involved. Meanwhile  a photo: Ginormous

Mary Wilsonhttps://profiles.google.com/112673545457181820480noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969754132495616064.post-36771677536948695212011-12-04T10:27:00.001-05:002011-12-04T10:36:39.816-05:00

Support the little railroad and the folk that put it together - buy inexpensive hand crafted yard art from Mary (yes, the run the train, work on the track Mary)  Click this link. Of course this is just a photo that I snapped the other day.  Between recent snow, rain, and high winds, the track needs to be cleared.  Remind me to put the chainsaw and a spud bar on the speeder and get to it.  

Mary Wilsonhttps://profiles.google.com/112673545457181820480noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969754132495616064.post-24393806955354353112009-10-30T19:00:00.002-04:002009-10-30T19:00:02.920-04:00

Mary Wilsonhttps://profiles.google.com/112673545457181820480noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969754132495616064.post-10361683269326487202009-01-03T03:56:00.002-05:002009-01-03T04:17:15.323-05:00

Did I ever introduce myself? My name is Mary. How am I connected to the Alvada Two-Footer Railroad? Way back when, when the railroad mostly wasn't, I; Marked the route, cut trees and excavated dirt. Hauled and spread stone for the rail bed. Marked the arcs that were used to bend the rail to go around curves, then moved the rail into position so that the rail bender could do it's job.

Mary Wilsonhttps://profiles.google.com/112673545457181820480noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969754132495616064.post-10070922372804182272008-12-07T20:39:00.002-05:002008-12-07T20:45:27.267-05:00

This is going to be short, and ... well, short. The Alvada Two-Footer Railroad is featured in an article ~and~ on the Cover of Issue 55 of Short and Narrow Rails.

Mary Wilsonhttps://profiles.google.com/112673545457181820480noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969754132495616064.post-59024446845379291302008-06-02T06:00:00.000-04:002008-06-02T06:00:03.620-04:00

Sunday last, after the ouchy part of installing the frog for the switch for the new siding was done, Mark (left) and Richard (right) seated themselves at the back of the passenger car waiting for me to stop taking photos and run the train around the tracks already! This is an aside, I just now noticed in the middle in thebackground, you can see the end of our B&O caboose. Remind me to take

Mary Wilsonhttps://profiles.google.com/112673545457181820480noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969754132495616064.post-44582254945323112032008-06-01T16:37:00.003-04:002008-06-01T16:46:48.107-04:00

Engineer John (a neighbor) takes the "little engine" around the track pretty much any time that he wants to. Most of the time he brings a bunch with him to ride. This works out for everyone, as the TGT runs more often that it would if I had to take it out and John is an excellent careful engineer who takes the local kids for train rides. After the train ride - the boys try out the hand car.

Mary Wilsonhttps://profiles.google.com/112673545457181820480noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969754132495616064.post-79116533575332973942008-05-31T06:00:00.000-04:002008-05-31T22:23:14.235-04:00

We almost have enough siding to move our freight train to the siding. Except Richard is now saying that putting a cross in would be neat ... Will catch you up in a few days, I took photos as we laid the rail, I am just being draggy about uploading and writing ...

Mary Wilsonhttps://profiles.google.com/112673545457181820480noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969754132495616064.post-90259856426670453012008-05-29T06:00:00.000-04:002008-05-29T06:00:05.203-04:00

After the guard rail was installed and the connctions checked, we took the TGT around the track to ensure that the locomotives would run smoothly through the frog. It did.

Mary Wilsonhttps://profiles.google.com/112673545457181820480noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969754132495616064.post-47144490420941323162008-05-28T06:00:00.002-04:002011-12-04T10:37:58.538-05:00

Support the little railroad and the folk that put it together - buy inexpensive hand crafted yard art from Mary (yes, the run the train, work on the track Mary)  Click this link. Test installing the spacers Spacer Detail Notching the guard rail (around the spike holding the mainline rail).

Mary Wilsonhttps://profiles.google.com/112673545457181820480noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969754132495616064.post-5997230888415150782008-05-27T06:00:00.000-04:002008-05-27T06:00:04.782-04:00

Spiking in the frog Checking the points

Mary Wilsonhttps://profiles.google.com/112673545457181820480noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969754132495616064.post-71865466285379734402008-05-26T06:00:00.000-04:002008-05-25T23:42:48.696-04:00

After bending the rail, we replaced the frog in position. Added a tie to accomodate the rail for the switch. Mark and Richard check gauge before spiking or bolting. Richard bolts a point to the end of the frog.

Mary Wilsonhttps://profiles.google.com/112673545457181820480noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969754132495616064.post-12213009959597694202008-05-26T05:00:00.000-04:002008-05-26T09:07:03.977-04:00

Mary Wilsonhttps://profiles.google.com/112673545457181820480noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969754132495616064.post-1171787133732480282008-05-25T23:00:00.000-04:002008-05-25T23:00:01.204-04:00

It has stopped raining finally here in Ohio. We have a long weekend. As did almost no one else in the country on this holiday weekend, we decided to start adding a switch off of the mainline to lead to an eventual siding. The siding will start as extra parking for our Freight Train and is planned to eventually lead to a turntable. The turntable is in the future, starting the siding was today.

Mary Wilsonhttps://profiles.google.com/112673545457181820480noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969754132495616064.post-87014466471882371032008-05-25T22:59:00.000-04:002008-05-25T22:59:00.729-04:00

Hooking up the Rail Bender in preparation for forming the bends in the new switch. Mark guides Richard (In The Bobcat) to the spot where the rail needs to be bent.

Mary Wilsonhttps://profiles.google.com/112673545457181820480noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969754132495616064.post-79267141817792139222008-05-25T22:58:00.000-04:002008-05-25T22:58:01.148-04:00

Part of the process of installing a switch to add a siding off of the mainline, requires bending rail. In a previous post, I mentioned how Richard developed an entirely new way to bend our 40 pound rail. Here you can see a short clip of the bender in action. What we are doing here is more than a simple bend. To accomodate the switch point, the rail needs a sharp bend. That sharp bend is why

Mary Wilsonhttps://profiles.google.com/112673545457181820480noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969754132495616064.post-52786716934112331642008-05-24T08:00:00.000-04:002008-05-24T08:40:07.439-04:00

In Colorado, we found a two-foot gauge wooden box car that was part of the former Baraboo, Wisconsin Ammunition Depot rail system. The frame was solid and we hoped that the wood was recoverable. Regardless, it was a box car, it was for sale, it was going to Ohio. After the trip cross country, and a switch to two foot gauge, the boxcar was put on the track at The Alvada Two-Footer Railroad,

Mary Wilsonhttps://profiles.google.com/112673545457181820480noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969754132495616064.post-71440574665031606122008-05-15T06:00:00.002-04:002008-05-15T06:00:02.998-04:00

Railroad season is on the way...

Mary Wilsonhttps://profiles.google.com/112673545457181820480noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969754132495616064.post-84207024891774198922008-05-13T06:00:00.000-04:002008-05-13T06:00:02.692-04:00

What does a railroad do with an Ore Car? Options being tossed around at the moment are put seats into it, or turn it into a rolling hot tub. For now it is just an Ore Car without the Ore.

Mary Wilsonhttps://profiles.google.com/112673545457181820480noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969754132495616064.post-11136549299778172482008-05-12T06:00:00.000-04:002008-05-12T06:00:03.607-04:00

Side Dump Ore Car - from the Idarado Mine via the Cripple Creek Railroad. Yes, we painted it bright yellow. It WAS a gold ore car.

Mary Wilsonhttps://profiles.google.com/112673545457181820480noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969754132495616064.post-59769410287399314052008-05-11T22:35:00.002-04:002008-05-11T22:37:08.351-04:00

File this under - how to get a locomotive somewhere that the tracks don't go ...

Mary Wilsonhttps://profiles.google.com/112673545457181820480noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969754132495616064.post-46346728935382205982008-03-09T19:03:00.004-04:002008-03-09T19:28:20.152-04:00

More Photos anyway. First Mark waves Hello! Mark is the guy that makes the lathe run. Ok that is not entirely accurate, Richard made and makes the lathe run -- Mark is the one that knows how to OPERATE the lathe to make smooth precision cuts, it is a team thing.

Mary Wilsonhttps://profiles.google.com/112673545457181820480noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969754132495616064.post-51216500645286918092008-03-09T14:43:00.000-04:002008-03-09T14:46:09.037-04:00

Speeder? What Speeder? Oh. The one that we are going to have completed this year, THAT Speeder. The famous sleeping wood chuck may say one thing, the calendar another, but a sure fire dead certain sign of impending Spring is when railroad work begins again for the year. Above is a photo of the lathe turning axles, preparing the wheel set to go into the wheel press to correct the gauge in

Mary Wilsonhttps://profiles.google.com/112673545457181820480noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969754132495616064.post-44122574613709287572008-02-13T23:21:00.002-05:002008-02-13T23:26:53.127-05:00

The tank car was our 2007 summer project. Designed and built at our shop, it is an actual working tank car that will be used for weed control in the future.

Mary Wilsonhttps://profiles.google.com/112673545457181820480noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969754132495616064.post-64446134494772425512008-02-13T23:14:00.002-05:002008-02-13T23:21:05.872-05:00

Before I go much further, I have to mention Mark. Machinist, mechanic and all around great friend, the Alvada Two Footer Railroad would not be what it is without his help, work, friendship and encouragement. Rick met Mark when we were driving out of a small town on an even smaller road and Rick spotted another 2 ft. guage Brookville Locomotive in a static display in the yard of a shop. Of

Mary Wilsonhttps://profiles.google.com/112673545457181820480noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969754132495616064.post-32913535462610699372008-02-12T20:30:00.000-05:002008-02-12T20:51:26.324-05:00

Photos and quick explanation. Details to follow. Wye at the bridge, (looking away from the bridge) rail bed soil prep done. Same location on the route looking towards the bridge. Stone down. Wye at the bridge with ties and rail. (And the Brookville.) Work Train, flat car with rail, DDT, Cart 1 with air compressor (used to operate the pneumatic spike hammer (on ties in front), Cart 2

Mary Wilsonhttps://profiles.google.com/112673545457181820480noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969754132495616064.post-88112390415226478232008-02-11T20:23:00.000-05:002011-12-04T10:38:51.042-05:00

Support the little railroad and the folk that put it together - buy inexpensive hand crafted yard art from Mary (yes, the run the train, work on the track Mary)  Click this link. Once you buy a locomotive, get it running and restored, somehow -- just looking at that locomotive on static display track isn't enough. Before the Plymouths arrived, we laid 120 track foot (more or less) on a

Mary Wilsonhttps://profiles.google.com/112673545457181820480noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969754132495616064.post-17739490047511122372008-02-10T20:28:00.000-05:002008-02-10T20:43:06.097-05:00

Actually, two of them. It involves 5 people and a crane. After the Brookville and the flat cars we put down the first 30 foot of track. Then we picked-up the above 2 Plymouth DDTs (you will see why in the next entry -- oh and I will actually be telling the story of the first curve, the rail bender and putting down 2/3 of a mile track feet in less than a month.) For today, flying DDTs

Mary Wilsonhttps://profiles.google.com/112673545457181820480noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969754132495616064.post-50301052418756635092008-02-09T22:56:00.000-05:002008-02-09T23:01:43.097-05:00

Brookville Locomotive from an angle that I bet you have never seen.

Mary Wilsonhttps://profiles.google.com/112673545457181820480noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969754132495616064.post-65692584865656539692008-02-09T21:12:00.000-05:002008-02-09T21:16:12.682-05:00

Mary Wilsonhttps://profiles.google.com/112673545457181820480noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969754132495616064.post-81837895811846300862007-12-16T14:10:00.000-05:002007-12-16T14:19:02.157-05:00

Snowstorm today. The little TGT could and has run in the snow before (just for fun) but because she doesn't have anywhere to go, sitting still is just fine too. More snow photos from around the tracks.

Mary Wilsonhttps://profiles.google.com/112673545457181820480noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969754132495616064.post-11764705038004349212007-11-15T18:37:00.000-05:002011-12-04T10:40:33.294-05:00

Support the little railroad and the folk that put it together - buy inexpensive hand crafted yard art from Mary (yes, the run the train, work on the track Mary)  Click this link. Snopes thinks that; "Why standard gauge is "standard" at 4 ft 8.5 in. isnt all that interesting a topic to most people." Well, they did say that. Here: Snopes on the mostly true Urban Legend about railroad

Mary Wilsonhttps://profiles.google.com/112673545457181820480noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969754132495616064.post-57684051338712756302007-11-13T21:20:00.000-05:002007-11-13T21:27:45.695-05:00

Bear with me here folks, these first entries are just to get the timeline of the story down. Edits and technical information will follow. Promise. Regardless. After the stone car, we realized that we would need cars to move rail, ties and tools along as we built the track. We lucked into 2 pair of trucks so we put together two flat cars to join the stone car.

Mary Wilsonhttps://profiles.google.com/112673545457181820480noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969754132495616064.post-43931067331376216302007-11-12T21:50:00.000-05:002008-02-12T21:08:36.997-05:00

Why would we move a newly restored (and painted) Locomotive outside, across a field, through the woods and into the cold? Because we needed the shop to build the stone car, of course. Track work had to wait for spring, but building the necessary equipment could start in the shop. This is Errit, who did most of the welding for us, on the stone car. Jumping ahead a bit. But this is

Mary Wilsonhttps://profiles.google.com/112673545457181820480noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969754132495616064.post-27459361931235407752007-11-11T16:20:00.000-05:002007-11-11T18:40:35.169-05:00

We acquired our Brookville BCA from the two foot gauge collection of the New Jersey Museum of Transportation. Originally, the locomotive was made for and ran at U.S. Metals. (photo courtesy of a vacationer to the New Jersey Museum of Transportation - they posted it to their personal web homepage and I have completely forgotten where I swiped it from. Appoligies and Thanks to the photographer!)

Mary Wilsonhttps://profiles.google.com/112673545457181820480noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969754132495616064.post-72717747771766396092007-11-11T09:47:00.000-05:002011-12-04T10:41:21.807-05:00

Support the little railroad and the folk that put it together - buy inexpensive hand crafted yard art from Mary (yes, the run the train, work on the track Mary)  Click this link. Recent Photo of out "Freight Locomotive", a 10-Ton Plymouth DDT. This critter usually pulls our freight cars around the track. When everything is hooked up, in order is the loco, a coal car, a box car, a flat car, a

Mary Wilsonhttps://profiles.google.com/112673545457181820480noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969754132495616064.post-8556543314300485762007-11-09T21:28:00.000-05:002007-11-13T21:00:11.837-05:00

This is a photo of The Alvada Two-Footer's First Locomotive, a Brookville Locomotive Works BCA. In 2002, this Brookville BCA was acquired from The New Jersey Museum of Transportation when they were dissolving their 2 foot gauge collection.

Mary Wilsonhttps://profiles.google.com/112673545457181820480noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969754132495616064.post-2143438193982434672007-11-09T21:26:00.000-05:002007-11-13T20:55:00.811-05:00

This is a recent photo of The Alvada Two-Footer Railroad's Plymouth TGT - a 3.5 ton Industrial Switcher Locomotive. This TGT is one of only three manufactured, and one of only two known to still exist.

Mary Wilsonhttps://profiles.google.com/112673545457181820480noreply@blogger.com0