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Mill Creek Central Railroad
2010 News
Initial 1/01//2007, last updated
07/21/2010
This "News" page was added
to provide timely activity
updates. It is patterned after a similar page on the
Canton, St Paul and
Pacific Railway website. Items are listed with the
latest at the top. The date of the last update is
indicated beside the link on the home page.
| July 21- Temp Tracks: The photo
shows a temporary yard that has been constructed south of Orchard to
accommodate some of the rolling stock expected at the Discover
Live Steam Convention. Click photo to
enlarge. |
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| July 21 - Steaming Bays:
The new
steaming bays are nearing completion thanks to the help of
diggers, plumbers, welders, electricians and hopefully painters in
the next day or so. Doesn't the area look neat?
Check out the new paint on the MOW office.
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July 21 - Whitaker:
The nightshift has be
excavating the Whitaker swamp for many months.
The swamp has now been drained with the dirt from ditches used to
make a dry flat area for a future yard.
The top photo is
taken looking south into Whitaker. The north end of a new
passing siding is just visible.
The middle photo shows the
new siding and the north end of the flat area on the right for the
new yard.
The bottom photo shows the location for the new
yard. There is room for three yard tracks.
Clock thumbnails to enlarge.
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July 8 - Steaming Bays: One of
the major construction projects in preparation for the Discover
Live Steam Convention is the addition of a turntable/lift and 12
steaming bays just north of the covered steaming bays. The diagram
shows the addition in red. (Click
thumbnails to view large photos.) Note that the track
diagram on the Track page has
been updated but is already out of date as tracks are being added
daily.
Over the past week the major effort was to dig holes
and install the posts for the steaming bays --- 12 bays at 3 posts
per bay means 36 holes, 36 posts, etc. Underground wiring
and receptacles have also be installed on most the bays.
Each post also requires a piece of angle and flat plate welded
together to form a mounting bracket. That has also been
completed ---- stacks of brackets are visible in the photos.
The turntable is 16 foot long and there will be five 12
foot bays, one 14 foot bay, four 16 foot bays and two 20 foot
bays. The major remaining task is to secure the 3" channels,
cut them to length, weld them to the brackets and secure the
brackets.
The lower photo shows the hydraulics mounted
under the first steaming bay. The system runs on low
pressure (less than 100 lbs) and must transfer about 15 gallons of
fluid to raise or lower the turntable. The two tanks hold
the ~ 20 gallons of fluid. The current time to raise or
lower the turntable is about 3 minutes. If our patience
wears thin we can replace the motor with one than runs twice as
fast to cut the time in half. |


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| June 25 - Grain Elevator: An impressive
grain elevator has been erected at Vandercarr.
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| June 18 - Storage Tracks:
The storage
tracks on the south end of Barney yard have been rearranged
so that a track could be added (three switches and tracks removed
and replaced with four switches and tracks). Brody
took the lead on this job. Nice track work!
(Click on photo to enlarge it.) |
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| June 18 - Transfer Table Ramps:
The new
transfer table can be lowered much closer to the ground than the
old transfer table so the ramps were lowered as shown in the two
photos on the right. The lower ramps make the area seems more
open because it is easy to walk over the low ramps. The upper
photo shows the west end of the transfer table track where a
second track was added to the north side leading to the passenger
siding. A third track was added to the lowered east end ramp
as shown in the lower photo. (Click on photo to enlarge it.) |

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| June 18 - New Turntable:
The turntable
shown in the photo is being added north of the east side transfer
table ramp. This turntable will provide access to about a
dozen steaming bays. That is an auto hoist hydraulic
cylinder that can be raised to the level of the steaming bays and
lowered to match up with an ground level entrance/exit rack. (Click
on photo to enlarge it.) |
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May 1-
Spring Meet: Friday was warm
and sunny but the forecast for Saturday was severe thunderstorms.
Fortunately there was no thunder and just a few sprinkles.
There is a big storm heading this way for Sunday but hopefully it
will pass to the south.
Quite a few of the old
friends and a few new friends showed up Friday and Saturday.
Many came without their equipment ---- maybe it hadn't had the
spring tune up or the threat of rain was too great. In spite
of this there was a lot of traffic.
Saturday afternoon Kevin
(on Wayne's locomotive) and Jon on his Northern teamed up to put a
~ 25 car train with a few riders up to the Mountain Division.
There are three videos of this that can be viewed s by clicking
the thumbnails on the right. |


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Apr 30: It's been a busy
week preparing for the first meet this weekend. The track,
steaming bay, etc. have been cleaned up and Dick mowed the grass for the
first time ----- bet a few moles got haircuts. The hoist and
roundhouse constructions were also essentially completed as described
below.
Hoist: The first four photos on the
right show Jon (with Brody assisting) unloading his Northern and a
couple cars onto the hoist/transfer table. Click
photos to enlarge them.
The hoist has three 20 foot
tracks which makes it easy to unload several locomotives and half
dozen cars at one time. The hoist can go much higher than
the old transfer table so it should be a snap to unload
vehicles with two or three levels of storage.
The three
tracks are easily removed so the hoist can be used to work on
autos, lawnmowers and the excavating equipment.
The
center track is open between the rails making it easy to get at
the underside of railroad equipment. The last photo shows
Dick working on the brakes of his diesel.
A concern during
the design of the base was that it might be too difficult to move
the hoist along the track. We had several ideas on how to
motorize the wheels. It turns out that it rolls very easily,
so much so that it sometimes moves when you want it steady for
loading or unloading. Brakes may be the next enhancement.
The ramp on the southwest corner of the transfer area (on the left as you drive in)
has been lowered to about 8 inch elevation which has the effect of making the
area look much larger ---- and one can walk over it instead of
around it. A ramp for two discharge tracks on the
northwest side into the passenger siding is under construction.
The ramps on the northeast end of the transfer area that lead
into Barney yard will also be lowered in the coming weeks which
should make that area easier to walk around.
Thanks to all those who helped with the construction of
the base, rails and ramps.
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Roundhouse: The doors and interior
electrical work have been finished. The roundhouse is ready for
occupancy --- and it already is about one third full. Only a
couple stalls are still available for purchase.
A few items still need completion such as spotlights, a steaming
bay on the south end and a higher power electric feed to both the
roundhouse and the lower yard.
The photos show the the
front from a couple different angles. Note the hopper car
loaded with supplies and tools in the last photo. This area
of the railroad is only accessible by rail.
Thanks to all who helped with the construction of the
roundhouse, turntable and associated tracks. |

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Apr 24: In spite of the
periods of light rain much was accomplished this weekend including a lot
of track work in the main yard and removal of most of the ramp on the west
end of the transfer table track.
| Hoist: The hoist project is nearing
completion. Bruce Werner stopped by Friday to weld up
the base and to make the three tracks for the top. Saturday
Brad Wucik burned some holes for us so we could complete the
assembly. The hoist worked great until we tried to roll it
over a high spot in the concrete between the rails. After a
bit of brain storming it was decided to make a design improvement
so the bottom wouldn't drag --- Brad lowered the wheels a couple
inches. The picture shows some of the crew on Saturday.
We're considering some additional stiffening but will probably
postpone that until we've used it for while.
Motorized propulsion is also under consideration.
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Roundhouse: The first few doors were fitted
to the roundhouse to verify the design. The remaining 10
doors can now be finished and installed ---- hopefully before next
weekend. The Michigan electrician came Saturday. If he
has time, we may have some lights and power by next weekend.
One of the challenges with a near scale building is that we
don't have scale engineers to get in the locomotive to drive it
out or to push out cars. Dan Staron solved this by making a long
handled fixture (dubbed the hooker) which hooks over a
coupler so that a car or locomotive can be pulled out. |

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Apr 17: Another busy work weekend. The shed door finally
closes properly--- several years after it was moved--- it's amazing what a
real carpenter can do. Dick's Plum Cove was repaired-much to
the delight of the very young. More track maintenance, etc,
etc.
| The frost free hydrant in the steaming bay started to leak a
few weeks ago. The valve is below the frost line. Click on the photos to enlarge them. |
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| This is how the plumber had to position himself to reach the
valve. If it was any lower the arm stretcher would have been
required. |
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| The transfer table/auto hoist arrived Friday and
has been partially assembled. The next task is to build the
base that will carry it on the pair of rails. There is room
for three tracks on this table and it can go much higher than the
old table which will ease unloading. This
use of an auto hoist was influenced by the hoist at the
S R & R L Western Railroad |
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| Apr 14: The Roundhouse
is nearing completion ---- just the doors, associated trim and a
little electrical to go. It should be completed by the end
of April. The cost per stall is $400 which includes the 2010
maintenance fee of $50. The stalls are numbered 1 at the
north end (on the right) to 12 on the south. A well known
rat deficient enterprise has placed a deposit on the suite
containing stalls 5 & 6. Another deposit has been placed on
an unspecified stall. A raccoon infested lumber
company which operates lubrication dripping geared locomotives
that belch oil laced soot has purchased the south end VIP suite
containing stalls 11 &12. Contact Dick to reserve your
stall. |
 Click to enlarge |
Apr 10:
The
first ever
Discover
Live Steam convention
will be held at Mill Creek Central July 29 - Aug 1.
Check the Discover Live Steam website for details.
| There has been much effort over the last couple
weeks cleaning up the fallen branches and broken trees from the
severe winter. Also many repairs have been made to the frost
damaged track. The toilet has been painted ---- its now so
bright one needs shades. Last week the crew put on the
roundhouse roof and this week much of the siding was installed ---
see photo. |
 Click to enlarge |
Mar 29:
It was another productive
weekend --- the gang made 25 track panels, cleaned up debris and
prepared the walls in the bathroom for painting.
The wood ties on about
40 feet of the main line out of Barney Yard heading toward Sand
Hill were replaced with plastic ties and the track raised --
this is the track next to the steps down to the creek and new
roundhouse.
The Roundhouse framing was completed, roof
sheeted, covered with felt and drip edge installed. Roof is
ready for the roofer to install the rolled roofing material.
Next tasks are to make & install the windows and doors. The
siding is on order and should be here in about 4 weeks.
With a bit of luck the roundhouse should be nearly finished
for the Spring Meet. |

 Click to enlarge |
| Mar 15 - Roundhouse: The work
party this weekend made great progress as did the old guys today
All the track panels Brody made are now installed and we need
three more to finish. The tracks between the turntable
and the roundhouse are all in and ballasted --- but the ballast
needs tamped. The next hurdle is to get the gravel in
the south half of the roundhouse ---- maybe this next weekend. |

Click to enlarge |
Mar 14 - Facebook:
Mill Creek Central is now on Facebook.
Facebook offers a place to share photos, videos and have
discussions about the railroad.
Click
here to check it out and become a fan! Thanks to Bruce
Bryan for creating the page
| Mar 8 - Work Weekend: Quite a few folks
showed up for the work weekend. Accomplishments include
hanging the big cabinet in the steaming bay and the construction
of 41 track panels ---- including sawing all the ties. Also,
Chris rebuilt a stack of couplers. Some modifications
(design improvements) were also made to the turntable in the lower
yard. We have started to do the roundhouse framing
while waiting for the gravel pile to thaw - photo at right.
The tracks are installed and ballasted in the right two stalls but
are covered with snow. A couple rafters are up on the right
stall which shows the roof line. |

Click to enlarge |
| Mar 7 -Tracks Ahead Video: The video shot by
Tracks Ahead in July of last year is now available on line.
Click the image on the right to access the Tracks Ahead website
which in turn has a link to the video. The video is well
done. (Sorry, the video is no longer posted on the Tracks
Ahead website.) |
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Feb 28 - MCC Loggers: This year the
logging locomotive meet will be held at
Eagle Point Railroad in Dunlap Tennessee. A look at the
EPRR track layout (http://www.sn3.org/eprr/track/track-plan-master-plan.gif) will
confirm that that it is ideal for our little loggers. All those with an interest in logging and short line equipment are invited
to join us. Friday September 24th is planned as the travel day
and EPRR will be available to unload equipment. We plan to run on
Saturday & Sunday September 25th & 26th. Some will probably return
Sunday afternoon/evening. Others are considering diving over
to Cass on Monday and taking the long ride to Bald Knob on Tuesday.
Anyone interested in a stopover at Cass should email
Nelson. If
there is enough interest maybe we can rent a caboose for the day and ride
up in that ---- it's really neat! Later in the year we'll need
a rough headcount of those planning to go to EPRR .
| Feb 22 - Prototype Snowplow:
Bruce Werner emailed a video of a prototype snow plow
operating in North Dakota - click the image to view the video.
The videos from Feb 6 showed that our snowplow worked but the
little switcher had insufficient traction ---- maybe we need 3 or
4 units like the prototype. Another problem we had was
the snowfall wasn't to 1.5" scale. Dicks been looking fondly
at Marianne's snow blower which could be made to look like a
rotary snow plow with little effort. That thing could handle
the out of scale snow. |
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| Feb 6 -
Snowstorm: The snow fell and
fell and fell. Then the power went out. However,
neither snow nor loss of power will deter the trains at Mill Creek
Central. The maintenance of way crews were out much of
the night clearing the tracks before the wet snow became ice as
the temperature dropped to near zero. (Click on the photos below
to enlarge.) |
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| These three links are video clips:
Snow1.avi
Snow2.avi
Snow3.avi (click to run).
The clips are highly compressed to minimize download time.
The webmaster didn't actually witness any of this stuff ---- he
was keeping warm by the home fire. However, he did
observe that the little switcher could use some help pushing the
plow. |
| Feb 1- Roundhouse:
We continue to work on
the roundhouse. We also are learning valuable lessons.
For example, today we learned that loose damp ballast is no longer
loose when the temperate is 10 degrees. Photo shows Dick
and Dan working on the roundhouse track with Clee looking on.
Since the roundhouse is going to be only about 3 ft high at the
ends, we're finishing the interior (track, gravel, power,
plumbing, CATV, etc) before doing the roof and sides.
|

click to enlarge |
| Jan 18- Roundhouse:
We took advantage of the first thaw this
winter to install the 23 4X4 posts for the roundhouse.
All the holes except one were 3 feet deep, the last 6 inches in
water. Dan managed to hit a gas line about 2 feet down
in one hole. We decided to set that post on the gas line
rather than running the pipe through a hole in the post.
More framing is next.
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 click to enlarge |
| Jan 5- Roundhouse:
The roundhouse design is essentially
complete. The location in the lower yard is shown in sketch at the
right (click to enlarge).
Dick and Nelson will probably start digging post
holes in the next few weeks (the moles seem to be able to dig in the
frozen ground so we should be able to make holes too).
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Jan 1:
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
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click to enlarge |
Vanderkarr Meat Packers: This
past fall Bob Vanderkarr installed the Vanderkarr Meats plant in the
Vanderkarr Industrial area. Others are encouraged to provide
scale buildings around the railroad. Some are
considering providing small buildings which can also serve as
storage facilities for their engines and cars. Buildings
should be close to scale like Vanderkarr Meats and easy to
maintain. One should consult Dick as to
possible location and basic design before construction is started.
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| Lower Yard Turntable: Photos
show first use of the turntable on December 30, 2009. It was
about 20 degrees when work was started after breakfast--- brrrrrrr.
Fill is required in the pit and around the wall --- now that the
turntable is operational the fill will be delivered by rail.
Construction of a 12 stall roundhouse off the turntable will start in
the next couple weeks --- weather permitting. Stalls should be
available for leasing in the spring. Contact Dick to reserve your 16
foot by 20 inch stall.
click photos to enlarge |
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