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(09/13/00-12/15/99)


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Dec. 15 We had to go to Reedsburg today, the P.M. job last night was trying to set a box car out, when it pushed gauge and dropped one side of each truck on the ground. This car re-railed pretty easy compaired to the one in Janesville on Dec. 4th. We put our frogs on, and did some blocking. Hooked up the locomotive and pulled it right up on the rails, actual time on site was just around 2 hours.

Dec. 7 - 10 My first full week in the Car Dept. started off exciting with the derailment in Janesville. But it setled down after that, I mostly worked on our "DIMER" cars. Dimer's are old Ore cars from the DMIR (hence Dimer), that the WSOR uses for sand or gravel transport to cement plants. These cars get pretty beat up over the course of the summer from the crews at these plants during the unloading process. So now is the time they get a good going over. This week we worked on 43 cars, just changing brake shoes.
Now that sounds like a lot of time just to change shoes, but if you saw what we had to do to change them you'd think we had done the job rather quickly. These cars came originally with 2 half shoes on each wheel, that combined with the grease and dirt that builds up and you have a very hard time getting them off. You have to heat them up, and pry on the retaining key to get the old shoes off. Then if everything goes well you can put a new full shoe on (side note -- on the few cars that have been converted to full shoes it was much easier to change them).
Our next prodject is to start repairing body damage.

Dec. 6 We worked all day and finally got the hopper and the box car back up on the R.I.P. track.

Dec. 4 I was called in to the Janesville Yard today, to clean up a mishap that happend sometime last night. The traincrew was setting out a loaded hopper on the R.I.P. (Repair in place) track so the car dept. could fix the brakes. They cut the car loose without blocking the wheels - and you guessed it, the car started rolling and got away from them. It rolled approx. 200' and slammed the box car at the end of the R.I.P. track that the car dept. uses for storage.
The impact was so hard it sent the box car a full car length and a half off the end of the track, also derailing the end trucks on the hopper. They would have left the mess sit until Monday, but the box car was fouling the main. We worked for 5.5 hrs. and got the cars clear of the main, when the boss said we'd get the rest on Monday.

Dec. 1 First day in the Car shop. It's interesting learning the various parts to rolling stock. I also learned how to do the daily inspections on our locomotives.

Nov. 30 Today will be my last day on the M.O.W. crew. Tomorrow I will start working for the Mechanical Dept. in the Car shop.

Nov. 29 Today we worked in the Yard at Janesville, we fixed some wide gauge problems. The work season is rapidly comming to a close, I heard I could be transfered to the carshop in Madison as early as next week.

Nov. 24 Today was a short day (thanks to the holiday), we changed out a bad rail in Stoughton. We also changed out 2 ties in a switch in Edgerton.

Nov. 23 Was sent to Madison to work with their crew on re-doing the crossing on East Washington Ave. They are currently pulling out the Mud Rails and relaying pavement, so that it is a smoother crossing for Automobile traffic. They have the West bound lanes finished, and will start on the East bound lanes Monday.

Nov. 22 Worked with the Janesville Super Truck today, we helped ABC Signal Maint. (Maintainers Kent & Martin) put up a new pole to support a approach box. We also worked between MP132 and the West Siding Switch in Stoughton picking up the old ties that were replaced.
Also interesting note, the Waterloo job had the rear truck of a car go on the ground in Madison today. No damage, or injuries, just a little delay finishing their work is all. The carshop had the car back in service in a couple of hours.

Nov. 19 Worked 5 hours today shadowing the Hertzog detector truck. They found no more rails that needed to be changed on the Reedsburg Sub.

Nov. 18 We put more rail anchors on in 9 springs today, and we also looked for and and replaced loose or missing bolts at the joints. At 2pm we were notified that we needed to head for Baraboo, WI on the Reedsburg Sub. to change out 7 rails that were found by the detector truck. Right now we have contracted Hertzog Services to check our rails for defects. I will be working with the detector truck again tommorow.

Nov. 17 We are still working with the Tampers, we are near MP138. The liner is down on the Mark III Tamper, we may not be surfacing tommorow. If we tamp, we will be able to see the East end of the Yard as we are almost to that last curve in Madison before the Yard.

Nov. 16 We worked with the Tampers today, doing QC work. We are working near Monoa Terrace Convention Center.

Nov. 15 Today we continued to put on rail anchors in 9 springs. We put on another 1500. We also changed out a bad rail near MP136, it was 36'long & 90# rail (90# every 3'= 1080#).

Nov. 11 Today 4 of us worked out in 9 Springs (MP135) putting on Rail Anchors. We put on roughly 2500 anchors. We still need at least another 1000 to finish that stretch of track.

Nov. 10 Worked with Tamper today, we surfaced between MP136 and MP137.

Nov. 9 Worked on replacing 55 ties near MP128. The Tamper crew did 9/10ths of a mile today near South Town Drive (MP136) in Madison.

Nov. 8 QC'd with the Tamper today, we worked from the West switch of the Didion spur (MP134) to MP135.3 We did 195 rails today (195 X 33'). We had the Mark I Tamper working with us also. Part of the crew replaced switch ties in the West switch of the Didion spur.

Nov. 4 Today the Tamper worked near MP134. We tamped the switches and the spur to Didion's. Also tamped the main line between the switches. Next week the Tamper will continue to tamp towards Madison, and we will also be putting some switch ties in around McFarland.

Nov. 3 Today the Tamper made it out of McFarland. We will resume tamping at MP134 tomorrow morning. The Tie gang has finished its work on the Waterloo Sub. The equipment will now be moved to Horicon.

Nov. 2 Today we finally got the East siding switch tamped in McFarland (It took 2 days), also tamped a good portion through town. Tomorrow we should get the West siding switch done, and proceed out of town. Hopefully the Tamper will co-operate so we can finish the Madison Sub in the next 2 weeks. After that the Tamper leaves for its much needed rebuild!

Nov. 1 Worked QC with Tamper again. Like Thursday the Tamper was down for 6 hours. The machine is acting like it wants to go in for its rebuild now, not at the end of November.

Oct. 28 Worked QC with the Tamper today. Well supposed to, the Tamper was having problems and was down most of the day. We did get to tamp for a little over an hour.
Note == Tie gang finished up on the Reedsburg Sub. Now the equipment will move to Madison to do some work on the Waterloo Sub next week. When they finish on that line, the equipment will be moved to Horicon.

Oct. 27 Worked the ballast train again, we dumped 8 loads in Madison. From MP136.5 to the Johnson St. Yard. This is (Hopefully) the last ballast train on the Southern Division for 1999.

Oct. 26 Worked the ballast train again, we dumped 16 loads from MP134 to MP163.5 There might be another ballast train called for tomorrow, but it should only be for a few loads.

Oct. 25 Worked the ballast train for the first time today. It's not a bad job providing you have the gravity dump cars. Today our power was WSOR 751 (GP 7), and we had 14 loads (Cars). 12 of these cars were gravity dump, the others had a door on each end that you either swung in or out depending on where you wanted the rock dumped (gravity cars have 2 doors, one in and one out). These cars wouldn't be so bad if the rock wouldn't jamb them up. We worked for MP132.2 to MP134

Oct. 21 Tie Gang finished it's work in the Madison area today, they will move all the equipment to Baraboo (Reedsburg Sub) tomorrow. I will return to working QC with the Tamper on Monday. WSOR 751 was in charge of the ballast train again today, they dumped 13 cars of rock in and West of McFarland.

Oct. 20 Today the Tie Gang finished its work on the Madison Sub, and then started work on the portion on the Reedsburg Sub between its connection with the Madison Sub and the Johnson St. Yard in Madison. WSOR 751 worked the ballast train today, they dumped 13 cars of rock just East of McFarland.

Oct. 19 Worked QC behind the Tamper today, between MP134.5 & MP135. They put us in the hole at 10:30am because they were running a test train from Madison to McFarland. This train consisted of WSOR 10A - 4 leased Metra Bi-Level cars - and WSOR 10C. This was for more study on the proposed Commuter trains between Madison and Janesville, and also between Madison and Middleton.
We were finally asked to quit work for the day at 2pm. because they needed to get 2 trains by us. One was the WSOR ballast train, the other was the UP rock train.

Oct. 18 Worked Tie Gang today, we changed out 397 ties between MP133 & MP135. This area is between Lake Wabesa & Mud Lake, West of McFarland.

Notes:

WSOR is adding 75 box cars to the fleet to handle increase Didion Milling traffic.
WSOR is adding 130 covered hoppers for the Northern Div. to eleviate shortage for grain shipments.

FROM NEWSLETTER:

Coal moving into Oshkosh?
After 3yrs. of sitting idle, the Oshkosh Transload facility is once again receiving inbound shipments of coal. WSOR is currently negotiating a long term contract with the 5th largest coal producer in the states to supply the facility.

Badger Ammunition Plant
Badger is in the process of site clean up (contaminated earth). WSOR is working with UP and Clean Harbor Environmental, we will be moving approx. 150 containers on flats (3 cans per flat) between Badger and Janesville, WI. The final destination will be Kimball, NE where the contaminated earth will be incinerated.


Oct. 14 Worked on Tie Gang today, and yes we set another WSOR record. This time we slammed in 432 ties. Tie Gang called again on Monday. We will be working from MP133 (West side of McFarland) on out into 9 Springs (Swamp).

Oct. 13 Worked on more bridge ends with the Tamper in Madison. When we got out near the diamonds in Lake Manona, I was operating the Hy-Rail truck through the connecting track switch, and you Guessed It! I put it (derailed) on the ground. The Right front gear caught the frog wrong and started to follow the wrong rail, thus dropping the front end of the rail. It took us 1 hour to get the truck back up on the rails (This is not fun - I wish someone would have remembered to grab the camera from my lunch box).
As what has been happening a lot lately, there has been a change in plans. We got 1 of 3 truck loads of ties in, so now there is a Tie Gang called for tomorrow.

Oct. 12 Worked with the Tamper today, we had to go to 9 Springs near Madison to fix bridge ends. They should have used the Mark I Tamper instead of the Mark III, because the Mark I has a turntable and can work from the bridge out on both ends. The Mark III can only work out from the bridge on one side, so we ended up jacking the rail up by hand and manually tamping with line bars on one end of each bridge.
The ballast crew yesterday worked until 8:30pm dumping ballast. Also they have confirmed the some ties will be in tomorrow, but no Tie Gang schedueled until next week.

Oct. 11 Worked QC, we had to go back and re-work between MP127 & MP127.8 They dumped ballast on Thursday afternoon and we had to re-tamp a low spot. Ties are still not in, maybe by Wednesday. They put us in the hole at 2:30pm today to clear the way for a ballast train.
How many of you can say the owner of your company will leave the office and work with you? Today Bill Gardner owner of WSOR and Northern Railcar Corp. was the engineer on WSOR 751 (GP 7). 751 was in charge of todays ballast train, they had 12 loads that are to be dumped near Stoughton. Two members of our crew had to go with the train to help dump the cars.

Oct. 7 Worked QC, we worked from MP128 to MP129. If the Ties don't arrive by Monday the Tamper will be caught up by Tuesday afternoon.

Oct. 6 Worked QC, we worked from MP127.8 to MP128.

Oct. 5 Worked on Tie Gang today, we worked from MP130 to MP131 (Just East of McFarland). We set a new WSOR record, we slammed in 297 ties! We could have easily put in 350, but we ran out of ties. More should be in by Friday.

Oct. 4 Worked on QC today, the Tamper backed up to Stoughton where he left off on Sept. 28 at MP125. We made it to MP126.4

Oct. 1 Worked on QC today, We cleared up a slow order in the swamp area of MP130 Got put in the hole at Noon, because the Executive train was on it's way back from Madison. It was to leave the Madison Sub. and then head East on the Waukesha Sub.
Part of the crew was moved after the Noon pause. They were to work with the JMA crew dumping ballast cars. The train was working on the Madison Sub. near Milton. After dumping ballast, the JMA proceeded on to Madison.

Sept. 30 Today the Tie gang slammed 143 ties in. We would have done 200, but we ran out of ties. We worked between MP129.5 and MP131, the slow order is still up at MP 130 until we can get the Tamper here tomorrow. (The Tamper made it back from the Waterloo Sub. this afternoon)
Last night the Executive train moved up the Madison Sub. Today it went on the Waterloo Sub and returned.

Sept. 29 The Executive Train is making a tour of the system with WSOR owner Bill Garner. It came down the Waukesha Sub and arrived in Janesville at 6:10am. Later the train went on the Monroe Sub. returning to Janesville around 6pm.

Sept. 28 Will be working Tie gang all week. They moved the Mark III Tamper to the Waterloo Sub. We changed out 30 ties before having the day shortened due to weather. We made it from MP127.72 to MP128.5
Rail traffic in the Slinger area is messed up currently due to WC replacing the diamonds there.
Heard through the Grape Vine: The Madison Sub. is in line to be upgraded to Class 4 track. This will allow speeds up to 79 mph. Currently the line is Class 3 with a limit of 30 mph.

Sept. 27 Worked Tie gang again, changed out 85 ties. We worked between MP126 & 127.72 just East of McFarland (MP132)

Sept. 23 Worked on Tie gang today, changed out 70 ties. We are between MP125 & MP126, we should be working next to beautiful Lake Kegonsa just East of McFarland on Monday.
Under the OOPS! colum: Today the Watertown Job hit a car (I'll try to get more information on Monday).
Under the Major OOPS! colum: Today the Brush cutter operator was welding a part on the machine and started it on fire. It was a total loss.

Sept. 22 Worked QC on Tamper crew, we are west of Stoughton at MP124. They tell us we should reach McFarland next week. If everything goes right we'll be done on the Madison Sub. by next Friday.
Grapevine Report --- I heard today that the State of Wis. is buying up propety along the Madison Sub. in preperation for the proposed Commuter trains that will operate between Chicago,IL. and Madison.

Sept. 21 We had a 45 min. delay this morning because they held us in the hole for the Executive train. The train was led by E9 #10A (10C was on the tail end) and had the new cars on lease from Amtrak. They have been re-painted to WSOR colors, among them was the Dome Observation `Mountain Veiw'.
Today we put in 7 new switch ties at the East end of Stoughton, and also went to where the Tie gang worked on Monday to finish spiking ties.
We were also put in the hole at 2:30pm for the JMA (Janesville to Madison) West. We got Men and Equipment in the clear for a `Whopping' 4 car train.

Sept. 20 Worked QC on Tamper crew today. We finally got worked through Stoughton. We had to Tamp 3 switches in town which makes for slow going. The crew did 110 rails.

Sept. 19 --- Thunderstorm zapped the modem ---
Roger purchased new modem, but can't it to work. Hopefully we can get it fixed in 1 or 2 days. - TRS

Sept. 16 Worked QC with Tamper Crew today. Had to fix a long section of `Sun Kinked' rail. (This happens when the rail is lifted to far on a hot day and the rails are `Kicked' out of alignment) It took us most of the day, and 3 passes with the Tamper to get the track Tangent again. This kink happend last year. That Tamper operator got the track usable, but didn't spend the time needed to fix the problem.

Sept. 15 Worked on the Tie Gang today, Over a 1 and a 1/2 mile strech we replaced a Whopping 30 Ties. But we only had a 4 man crew doing everything. Two of the crew people were running the machines (Tie Crane & Tie Extractor) We worked through Stoughton today, MP122.5 thru 124. The Tamper crew did 180 rails today!

Sept. 14 No Tie Gang called for today, just more Tamping and QC work. QC work involves a Claw Bar and a Spike Hammer. You make sure the Spikes are down tight and also not under the rail (where the bar comes in) We are working between MP 121 & 122 (between Stoughton & Edgerton Wis.) Also in the MoW Dept. we measure our progress by how many rails there are between our stopping point today and yesterdays stopping point. Today we covered 155 sticks of rail. (155 x 39' = 6045')

Sept. 13 First day on the job, We're working on the Madison Sub. We are currently working near MP121 (between Stoughton & Edgerton Wis.), putting in new Ties and Tamping the line.
RUMOR MILL --- I heard today that Canadian National is eyeing Wisconson Central


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