B&M Operators

M&MC Construction Update

The track crew has been hard at work in the Portland, ME area. The East end of Rigby yard is starting to take shape.

Track spacing being tested.

The East end yard ladder is complete.

Does anyone know a good electrician????

Access to install servos and associated wiring will be much easier with the hinged ladder area.

JMRI PanelPro has been successfully installed and is up and running. I also was able to use my cell phone as a throttle. (Much cheaper than another NCE Cab 06R).

More to come. Stay tuned.

Mike

M&MC Roadbed Crew Encounters Obstacle

The M&MC roadbed construction crew encountered a small obstacle last night when attempting to excavate and install the roadbed for the east end yard lead track for Rigby yard. An outcropping of ledge was discovered that was blocking the path of the yard lead, (See picture below).

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Even though this was not in the original budget, the blasting crew was called in, (large hammer & chisel). After several explosions and waking up the neighbors, the problem was resolved, although the debris field was quite extensive, (See picture below).

The roadbed construction crew was able to continue once the debris was cleaned up and removed. This is one of the last remaining task for the roadbed crew to complete the east end of Rigby yard. The track crew is waiting in the wings ready to begin. They have been feverishly working offsite building turnouts by the dozens and are now ready to begin as soon as the roadbed is complete. Once the track crew does their work, mechanical (turnout linkage) and electrical are ready to go.

Looking forward to electrons flowing through rails.

Mike Costello

A GIFT FOR THE NEWEST MEMBER OF THE B&M OPERATORS

Dedication to the hobby

Hello All, On my business trip to luxurious Ft. Wayne, IN.  Knew I would have some spare time so I packed everything I needed to build more turnouts in the hotel room. Needless to say, my bag was searched at the airport. About to fire up the soldering iron, hoping it won’t set off the hotel smoke detector. Obviously, Ft. Wayne, IN to Methuen, MA is a long commute for an operating session so just a reminder Don that I won’t be participating tomorrow night on the Dividing Creek. Bob Adams, don’t wait for me to pick you up. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel with my first op session on my layout. Stay tuned. Regards, Mike

WHIMSEY AND SOME HISTORY

One of the things I enjoy about the B&M Operators is the humor we find during our operating sessions.

At times, at various railroads, it has been necessary for an operator, as one job is finished, to go on to another job. As an example, one of us finished taking a freight from East Lakeside to Essex, and the next job might be at Fort Fungus. So, Harvey might say “Take a taxi over to Fungus”.

A couple of times on Dividing Creek, I added, “No, don’t take a taxi, take the autogiro”.

Wouldn’t it be cool if I had a real (model) autogiro? Looking around, I found that Williams Brothers offered an HO scale Pitcairn Autogiro kit. My local hobby shop sort of indicated that they were really hard to find and/or Williams was no longer in business.

That’s too bad, I thought, Williams made some really nice HO vehicles, as well.

To the Internet! Williams Brother is still very much in business, so I ordered two Autogiros and some stake body truck kits from them.

I built one Autogiro decorated for Champion Spark Plugs and the other for Navy (what else would I paint it?). The Navy actually did have some they were looking at for us as observation craft, (XOP-1) X for experimental, O for observation and P for Pitcairn.

As you can see, the autogiro was an early form of helicopter. The rotor was essentially free-spinning to provide lift, although it was could be powered by the main motor to get it spinning before take-off. The rotor was supplemented by stubby, low-set wings for stability. The autogiro flew well at low altitudes, land and take-off from restricted spaces, as well as semi-hover.

There were only about 20 built.

So now, when a Dividing Creek crew has to go from Catherine St. yard to, say, Bennington, they can take the autogiro.

“OFF WE GO…”

Don Howd