1980-1981

The B&W Crew in 1980

     In 1980, the Bucksgahuda and Western Railroad received a large donation from Teldyne Corporation in Pittsburgh, PA.  The donation included several sticks of 60 pound rail and some ingot cars.  The ingot cars were used in the steal mill to haul hot steal from one part of the mill to the other.  Because the ingot cars were way to big and of no use to the railroad, they were scrapped in Pittsburgh for some much needed cash.  The Bucksgahuda and Western Railroad uses 40 pound rail so they obviously did not use the 60 pound rail.  Some of the sticks of the 60 pound rail was donated to the Teaberry and Southern and the rest of it was scrapped for more cash.  When someone said the weight of the rail they are explaining that for example, the 40 pound rail weighs 40 pounds per a yard of rail.  Speaking of rail, in 1980, the B&W crew put in about 400 more feet of main line track.

2420 the new work and passenger car

     In 1981, a new car was constructed at the Teaberry and Southern for the Bucksgahuda and Western Railroad.  The car is numbered 2420 and is the railroad's first big car to be used as a work and passenger car.  In the spring, the railroad received another large donation from Joyce National Powder of Elderd, PA.  This donation included three fourths miles of track, four Brookville locomotives, and five cars.  It took the B&W crew eleven weekends to tear up and haul it all home.  When they got everything home, they kept one Brookville which became engine number four named Joe and two of the cars.  The other Brookvilles were used for spare parts and the other three cars went to the Teaberry and Southern. 

Two of the Brookvilles from Elderd



A Brookville and two of the cars from Elderd

All of the above pictures were provided by William Bauer

Trestle Replacement

The trestle with the guard rails still in place.

     Part of the track that the Bucksgahuda and Western Railroad runs on includes a trestle which is a bridge for trains.  This trestle was put in by the Bucksgahuda and Western Railroad crew in 1985 making it very close to being thirty years old.  The ties are starting to deteriorate but luckily the support beams are holding up well and will not need replaced.  Before the tracks running on the trestle are considered unsafe, the crew has decided that it is time for the ties to be replaced.
     Yesterday (10/25/14), the beginning steps of replacing the ties on the trestle took place.  The guard rails were removed and every other spike out of each tie was pulled.  Guard rails are rails that are placed parallel in between the tracks that the trains actually run on.  Guard rails are typically found along areas of restrictive clearance, such as a trestle or a tunnel and sharp curves.  These are in place to keep the wheels of cars and engines in alignment with the regular rails in case of a derailment.  This also helps to minimize damage to the trestle or tunnel and allow for easier post-accident cleanup.  Because the trestle replacement has just barely begun, the trestle is still able to be run over but come next weekend, this may no longer be the case.  

The removal of the guard rails and some spikes marks the start of the trestle replacement.

Pictures taken by Scott Bauer

Pittsburgh Shawmut and Northern Caboose

Getting ready to be loaded onto the truck.

     The year 1979 provided the Bucksgahuda and Western Railroad with the opportunity to acquire two Pittsburgh Shawmut and Northern cabooses.  The cabooses were built by the Russel Snowplow Company located in Ridgway, Pennsylvania .  One of the cabooses went to the B&W while the other one went to the Teaberry & Southern Railroad.  (The Teaberry and Southern Railroad is another two foot gauge railroad on the other side of town in St. Marys, Pennsylvania.)  The caboose was transported to the Bucksgahuda and Western Railroad by a flat bed truck.  The B&W crew then spent countless hours working to restore to the caboose to how it would have looked like when it was in active service on the Pittsburgh Shawmut and Northern Railroad.  



Making it's way to the B&W

Being placed at it's new permanent home.











Before the new paint job in 2007

     The repairs held nicely but the paint began to appear really faded in 2007.  Around this time, a crew member was working on her Gold Award for Girl Scouts and decided to take on the task of repainting the caboose.  After scraping all the old paint off, a new coat was applied and the letters and numbers on the caboose were adjusted to be more historically accurate.  In order to preserve the caboose better for many years to come, a roof was built over top of the caboose for some protection from the weather. 

All the old paint scraped off.

             


Brand new coat of paint.

The end result.

First three pictures provided by William Bauer, last four pictures taken by Fred Bauer

10/18/14 Motorcars and Shay

The newly purchased M19 motorcar

   The crew that showed up on 10/18/14 were very productive.  Their main project for the day included moving a newly purchased Farimont M19 Motorcar into the main shop to be rebuilt and made runnable again.  The motorcar is going to need new roller bearings, a few other  replacements and a new coat of paint.  "Roller bearings are a machine element that constrains relative motion and reduces friction between moving parts to only the desired motion" (from Wikipedia).  Roller bearings are similar to ball bearings except they use small cylindrical rollers instead of balls.  All this work needed on the Farimont M19 Motorcar will sure keep the crew busy for a while. 

The M9 motorcar waiting for a head gasket replacement

   If your remember from last Sunday (10/12/14) when the Bucksgahuda and Western Railroad went on a motorcar ride, one of the motorcars did not work.  In addition to that, the Fairmont M9 Motorcar failed to start for the part of the return trip after a short break on the ride.  The crew figured out that it malfunctioned because of a blown head gasket.  In order to prepare to replace the blown head gasket, the crew removed the gasket yesterday (10/18/14) to make for an easy replacement when the new gasket comes in.  

An example of what the flues look like on a shay

    
    
   Finally, the crew finished off the day by cleaning out the flues of the Shay that the Bucksgahuda and Western Railroad owns.  A flue is a long pipe for smoke and waste gases produced by a steam engine or shay.  There are several flues in a steam engine or shay that need to be cleaned out because excess ash accumulates in them.  Cleaning out the flues is one of the major steps of getting the Shay ready for winter.   

 

First two pictures taken by Scott Bauer, last one is from Google

  

1974-1978

Picture taken from Wikipedia      The years 1974-1978 saw a continuation of laying more track and the growing number of collected artifacts and equipment.  Most of the artifacts were from the Pittsburgh, Shawmut and Northern Railroad or P.S.&N.  The P.S.&N used to run from Brockway, Pennsylvania to Wayland, New York passing through St. Marys and Kersey on the way which explains why the Bucksgahuda and Western Railroad has such a strong desire for P.S.&N. artifacts.    Picture taken by William Bauer      In 1977, the B&W received a particularly large donation of locomotives, cars, and track from a Sherwin Williams paint factory in Kansas.  This donation included four Whitcomb locomotives (Whitcomb is a particular company that makes locomotives), twenty-four bottom dump hoppers, a tank car, and 40-pound rail.  The addition of the new rail enabled the crew to expand the main railroad line and use all their practice of track laying to relay parts of the track that was originally roughly placed down.  Picture taken by William Bauer      Because the crew put all of their track laying practice to good use, it was soon time to do some grade work if they wanted to extend the line further.  Grade in this context is obviously not referring to a grade you get on a test or a crossing grade where the trains and cars meet.  This type of grade deals with compensating for changes in elevation.  In North America, the grade is expressed in terms of feet of rise per 100 feet of horizontal distance.  So for example, if the track raises one foot over a distance of 100 feet, the grade is said to be one percent.  On main line railroads, the grades are typically one percent or less whereas at the B&W, they have much steeper grades.       In 1978, the railroad was fortune enough to have a plant being built right next to their property so they were able to use the spare dirt to get a large amount of grading done.  Also during 1978, the crew was continuing to think about future expansions and decided to relay the first curve on the main line to account for such expansions.         Picture taken by William Bauer

Motorcars

     Despite the fact that very few crew members showed up yesterday (10/11/14), there was still activity happening at the Bucksgahuda and Western Railroad.  The crew that was present yesterday spent time working on the three standard gauge motorcars that the railroad owns.  Now the question in probably most peoples mind is; what is standard gauge and what is a motorcar?  Well, standard gauge, also known as Stephenson gauge, International gauge or normal gauge, is used by about 60% of the railway lines in the world.  The gauge or distance between the rails is four feet, eight and a half-inches.  The Bucksgahuda and Western Railroad runs on two foot gauge which is obviously smaller than standard gauge which explains why the B&W is considered a narrow gauge railroad.
     So, if the Bucksgahuda and Western Railroad is a narrow gauge railroad then why do they own these three motorcars which are standard gauge?  Motorcars, that are better known as speeders, were used on the railroad for track inspection and maintenance before the invention of the high-railer (a vehicle that has railroad wheels attached to the frame to allow it to travel on the rails when the wheels are lowered).  Like everything else at the Bucksgahuda and Western Railroad, the motorcars are owned for the sole purpose of entertainment.  Although the railroad does not have a place on their property for a motorcar to run on, the crew sometimes receives permission to run their motorcars on a railroad line with standard gauge track.
     The crew was working on the motorcars yesterday because today (10/12/14), they were able to run them on about 100 yards of track.  Even though they spent so much time preparing for the trip, one of the motorcars did not start but that was possibly due to the freezing weather that was encountered this morning.  Other than that, the ride that the crew took today was considered a huge success.

One of the Bucksgahuda and Western Railroad's motorcars:

Picture taken by Scott Bauer

Where the Geese Wear Pants

     Since the Bucksgahuda and Western Railroad crew works on improving the railroad on Saturdays, there is not much time for me to update my posts on Saturday nights.  Because of this, I am now going to post updates of the current events of the railroad on Sundays.  To finish off the second post for this week though, I am going to give a bit of history on the name of the railroad. 
        
     When ever the crew of the Bucksgahuda and Western Railroad talk about where they work, they typically say "the Bucksgahuda and Western Railroad Where the Geese Wear Pants." 

    

Picture taken by Andrew Ottinger    

     So, why is this the place where the geese wear pants and where does Bucksgahuda come from?  "In Germany, where both the founding Bauer family and Otto came from, parents told their children a fairy tale of “Bucksgahuda”. If the children didn’t mind their flock of geese and do their chores, the story goes, a giant gander would swoop down and cart them off to another place. In this place, the gander would turn the children into baby geese, still wearing their little boy knickers, who never grow up. Our Bucksgahuda is the place where the little trains never grow up."

Story told by William Bauer

 

     Along with the trains, the crew working at the Bucksgahuda and Western Railroad have never really grown up either.  They just got bigger toys.   

 

Picture by Mitchell Smithbauer

 



1973---The Vulcan

     Before moving on to talking about the Bucksgahuda and Western Railroad's acquisition of three Vulcan locomotives in 1973, I think it is important to conclude Otto's restoration story with some final background information.  Otto is a steam locomotive with a 0-4-0 wheel arrangement which means that the engine does not have any leading wheels, has four driving wheels and no trailing wheels.  Otto was built by Henschel of Kassel, Germany in 1939.  During the overseas journey here, the crew on the American Merchant decided that the locomotive deserved a proper Bavarian name and chalked "Otto" on the cab and the name has stuck every since.  Otto weighs about 10 tons dry or 12 tons with coal and water added, and takes about three hours to build up enough steam to go to work, so the engine is only run a few days each year.  Because Otto was the Bucksgahuda and Western Railroad's first locomotive, the engine obviously received the number one.  The number two slot was then reserved for another potential steam locomotive which explains why the B&W numbered the Vulcan number three. 

     When a glue factory in Gowanda NY closed down in 1973, The Bucksgahuda and Western Railroad actually received three Vulcan locomotives from the company.  After keeping the first one, the second one went to friends across town, and the third went to a friend in Pittsburgh.  The Vulcan at the Bucksgahuda and Western Railroad quickly received the nickname of Norman for its sometimes cranky behavior.

The Vulcan in Gowanda, NY

Picture provided William Bauer

 

Norman in 2012

Picture taken by Ryan Brennen

 

     The year 1973 quickly came to a close after October 7th which marked the B&W's second annual open house.

Current Activities

      Although the history of the Bucksgahuda and Western Railroad is interesting, the railroad is still an up and running place that is being worked on every weekend.  Before mentioning what the crew did this Saturday (10/4/14), I think it is important to realize that the railroad just had their open house.  Because of this, Otto was operated recently which also happened to be for the last time this year.  Since it was the last run until next year, the crew spent the day preparing Otto for winter.  The main part of this involves removing the coal and draining all the water out of the saddle tanks and the boiler.  If the water remained in Otto over winter, there is potential for the water to freeze and expand which could crack parts of the engine.  The water can also cause rust which would lead up to deterioration of the inside of Otto.  For both of these reasons, the water is drained for the winter and a fan is run constantly to keep the inside of Otto dry.  With all of the preparation for winter completed on Otto, it was considered a rather successful day at the Bucksgahuda and Western Railroad.   
     

 

Picture taken by Scott Bauer

 

Finishing Otto's Repairs

      Once there was a dry space for Otto to be worked on, it was time for the restoration to begin.  Repairs for Otto took place between the years of 1966 till 1971.  In 1971 when Otto was once again in operating condition, the Bucksgahuda and Western Railroad had about 200 feet of track laid which Otto ran on several times back and forth.

Although none of the gas locomotives were there in 1971, this is still a picture of Otto after her restoration.

     After all the hundreds of hours spent successfully restoring Otto, it was time to focus on laying track in order to enjoy their great accomplishment.  In the year 1972, 1,200 feet of track was laid before the end of fall.  Because the Bucksgahuda and Western Railroad crew enjoyed their hobby so much, they wanted to show it off to family and friends by having a day of running Otto for the sole purpose of entertaining other people.  This first open house occurred in October of 1972 with Otto giving rides to all the guests for the whole day.  The open house received such positive feedback that the Bucksgahuda and Western Railroad now has two open houses a year.

Above photo taken by William Bauer