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