1988 Into the Early 1990s

The interior of the caboose

Before

     With the almost mile long loop of track and the maintenance on it completed, the Bucksgahuda and Western Railroad crew moved on to other projects that needed done.  In the year 1988, the crew overhauled the interior of the Pittsburgh Shawmut and Northern caboose #186.  The caboose had been sitting around outside since it was moved to the railroad in 1979.  The overhaul on the interior of the caboose included the woodwork being rebuilt or restored and stripping away layers of old paint.  When that was completed, it was time for a fresh coat of paint to be applied in order to finish the project. 
     After the interior got an overhaul, the B&W crew moved on to rebuilding the outside of the Pittsburgh Shawmut and Northern caboose in 1989.  The outside of the caboose needed a new roof and woodwork done on its side.  When this time consuming job was finished, a new coat of paint was applied and the Pittsburgh Shawmut and Northern caboose #186 looked brand new.

After

    



Bending the rail for the turntable

     The early 1990s brought about the construction of a turntable, new cars and a water tower.  In 1991, an Armstrong turntable was constructed from scratch on the Bucksgahuda and Western Railroad property.  To begin with, the circle of rail for the table to ride on was bent into shape by figuring the circumference out, cutting the rail to length and then bending it.  The frame to hold the engines and cars was an old kiln top and the wheels used to rotate the frame came off of a car from the Teldyne Corporation in Pittsburgh.  The turntable made access to the engine house easier and allowed for the equipment to be turned.



Turntable frame with wheels on the rail

End Result

     In addition to building the turntable in 1991, the Vulcan (Norman #3) was taken for a test run and it was discovered that the engine needed to be rebuilt.  Although it may have been disappointing that Norman had to be taken out of service, it was exciting in 1992 that car #80 was able to came into service.  Car #80 is classified as a "Boxcar-Dynamite Car Wagon" which would be put to use on the open house days as a passenger car. 



Norman in for engine rebuild

Car #80

  

     To finish out the year 1992, the Bucksgahuda and Western Railroad crew built a water tower.  This was constructed from the ground up and was installed for the purpose of filling Otto's water tank.  Before the water tower, Otto's water tank was filled up by a garden hose which took a lot of time.  With the installation of the water tower, Otto is able to be filled with water in a matter of minutes.  

     



Water tower tank

Water tower base

 

 

 

All above pictures provided by William Bauer

Cleaning Up

     Saturday 11/22/14 made out to be a wet, cold but successful day.  During the warm months, the Bucksgahuda and Western Railroad has picnic tables that sit out for several of the picnics that the crew has at the railroad.  Yesterday the crew ended up putting the tables onto the flatcar which will be inside.  This will keep the picnic tables dry and out of the weather for the winter.  After putting the picnic tables away, the crew went inside to warm up and clean up the shop.  The workbench that is in the shop tends to collect a lot of random objects which are part of different projects that are going on.  Sometimes it becomes so cluttered that it just needs a nice clean up so you are able to see the actual workbench for about a week.  Both of these projects may have been important and were considered successful but they were not considered the best part of the day.  The greatest part about yesterday (11/22/14), was the fact that the new engine for the backhoe came in.  It was installed yesterday and it runs excellently.  The whole Bucksgahuda and Western Railroad crew is glad that it is all back together again.  

Picture taken by Scott Bauer