so we got the switch rebuilt at the no. 9 today, all finished with the exception of the guide rail on the curved side. well we said, Lets run on it we can wait till next week to install the guide rail as it was the end of the day...... or so we thought it would be...... well, to make the story short basically what happened is we put the motor on the ground, just what we are good at! im not going to blame the driver who shall remain nameless, since i cant spell his last name we just sat there and laughed. soooo, next week we will get the guide rail installed and try again! oh, how did we get the motor back on the road you ask? well our talented motorman just drove the thing like any other red blooded american and put it in "go the other way" and ran it till it climbed back up on the rail! we got the railroad jack out but didnt need it as it rerailed itself on the switch frog, eric had the brilliant idea of that one!



me doing a bit of bolt hole burning.



the derailment crew!

_________________
Come over to the Dark Side....... We have Cookies!

HAHA I was there to witness this extravaganza!

Were you burning the hole with a torch in the old rail

_________________
Pioneering the next INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION (Preservation ! ). . . Saving equipment (1) mine site at a time.

no, in new rail, the joiners we have dont line up with 2 of the holes in the new rail. you can tell cause it actually has a head on it!

_________________
Come over to the Dark Side....... We have Cookies!

Not to be a critic but that rail will crystalize and crack using a torch to put a hole in it. . . Especially when that 10 tonner is on it. That high heat has a major impact on rail. Just bringing it up for a safety precaution. We always drill the holes. You might be ok if you were just enlarging a hole but if you were making an entire new hole & plus more than one in the same rail keep a close eye on it.

_________________
Pioneering the next INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION (Preservation ! ). . . Saving equipment (1) mine site at a time.

hasnt cracked on the ones i burned 2 years ago, and with mike a's 10 ton stress test they are working just fine, a rail drill would be nice but we dont have one. what we have here we have here. what we do have is a nice old crude cutting torch! works just dandy with a nice balance of precision and crudeness. precision operator and crude ol torch!

we are putting in 40lb rail but the hole pattern is for 60lb. the 60lb joiners obviously wont fit the rail and of course the 40 fit perfectly but the holes dont line up, so we improvise and make it work, just like everything in mining.

_________________
Come over to the Dark Side....... We have Cookies!

I know you were dropping rail sizes on top of the matter. . . it may not crack & you will be lucky but I have seen it 90% of the time crack. Just keep an eye on it.

_________________
Pioneering the next INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION (Preservation ! ). . . Saving equipment (1) mine site at a time.

yea we will, that place is going to need alot of rail work someday, its pretty band-aided together, but it works. thats why we wanted to completely rebuild the switch as its the biggest failure point. straight track can be done quick and easily a couple of sticks a day. we got a bunch of 40lb rail free from atlas powder in tamaqua when they were done with their narrow gauge stuff so thats what we are putting in. funny thing is, the original 60lb rail that was under water for 20 years is so worn out that the head lines up perfectly with 40lb rail, just need a shim under the 40 on the joint.

_________________
Come over to the Dark Side....... We have Cookies!

it's true! It's ridiculous!

_________________
This ain't longwall... this is long hole!

I Trust you told Dave about this! lmao! I'm sure he would be so proud of you all!

_________________
only do as much damage as you have to

um, no we left out this little detail

_________________
Come over to the Dark Side....... We have Cookies!

that's too funny. I agree things are better left unsaid lol! I could just hear him. "Ummm Well.. you know.. that's not....like good"

_________________
only do as much damage as you have to

BSHA S&S VIOLATIONGRAM

Accident Discription; On Sunday January 10 2009 A miner with 4 years expeience was operating a 1944 Greensburg NonPermissable battery locomotive serial# 1140 in the 100 tunnel of the #9 mine of the Panther Creek Valley Association BSHA ID # 3601763. While traversing a newley installed switch the locomotive derailed causing no damage to anything or anybody. Due to the enforcement posture of BSHA District 1 management it was determined a flagerent violation of the CBR section 75.1403-8 and section 77.1605.

Root Cause Analysis: There were two contributing factors that were determined to be the cause of the derailment operator error was not one of them but BSHA being BSHA will have to find fault with him too, give us a chance. The first cause was a missing guide rail on the turnout to the 101 tunnel. The second factor is the gauge on the locomotive is 41 inches not the BSHA approved 41.00008 and 7/16th's of an inch as explicitly spelled out in the BFR.

Final Ruling; Due to the Anthracite Tourist Mines complete and flagrently unwarrantable failure to maintain rail haulage equipment in a safe manor ALL rail haulage equipment at all mines, self powered or otherwise (including hoisted equipment) will be required to be scrapped in favor of Eimco Scoops since they have proven there worthiness in the Anthracite mines. It has been determined through extensive testing at Arlington VA. that although there is a increased likelyhood of a tourist falling out of a scoop that they must be safer since they are used in bituminous mines. If said mines do not comply they will feel the full weight and power of District 1 and her holy majestic gods gift to everybody mother agency BSHA.



Disclaimer; Although this is a parody of what many think could not ever happen to the tourist mines in NEPA if things don't change directly it's probably not far off in the future.

_________________
"We don't look for any money all we look for is a little help and the only help we get is for the government to shut us down and if you go to the gas station and buy the gas you'll see why..........................you'll see why"

oh my god that is probably the funniest thing ive ever read here on the forum mike! im seriously crying here at the computer!

_________________
Come over to the Dark Side....... We have Cookies!

The sad thing is I could really see that too...