I was walking through the Park today... in the very merry month of... well January..
anyway.. I saw this...
(http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w175/mrsumner/sdc015a.jpg)
anyone know why the tracks were missing?
That's interesting. I wonder what's up?
They've been doing some re-routing to make room for the new ride I'd guess, also, train tracks and ties have to be changed out periodically, I'm sure SDC doesn't keep the kind of heavy equipment to change out the ties with, so it must be done by hand, the old fashioned way.
Maintenance work most likely?
That's about the amount of track you'd remove to install a switch. Is there room to put in a branch at that location?
Rails aren't removed to replace crossties.
(I used to work a section gang on the KCS.)
Where exactly is this at? It looks like it may be behind either the Tree House or FITH. If it's behind the tree house, maybe they've removed the track so that they can get the demo stuff in to take the tree house down, or to put in a water main for the Splash Battle.
I would guess that is at the crossing by the Pottery Shop/Flooded Mine looking back toward the Waterboggan. And yes, it's probably just routine maintenance.
I spent two winters back in the early 80's running a "gandy-dancer" (track repair) crew out there. We went around the whole circuit replacing ties and track as needed. When the track was ok but the ties needed replaced, we used a backhoe to push/pull the old one out and put the new one in. Then we had to tamp up the ties, forcing gravel under them to bring them up against the track, using a light jackhammer with a spade bit. Replacing rails was tricky too because you had to get the joints to fitting smoothly and yet leave a gap to allow for expansion. It was hard work. Driving spikes isn't fun either.
Actually, I have to agree with KB and shave. I have never seen any railroad remove that much rail to simply change some ties. Also, I have never seen them replace that many ties in a row, typically they replace every 4th or so, depending on the quality of the ties. They would remove those to install a switch as the ties would need to be much longer.
Well I stand corrected, just seemed to me that it might have been easier for a small operation like SDC's. Yeah, looks like a switch could be the answer.
I don't know much about trains so mine was just a guess.
This is located by the crossing gate by Waterboggan and Flooded Mine.. I can't see a switch going in there - No where for it to go...
I'm agreeing with Zephon.. He did the job once upon a time.. lol
I have a reliable source that tells me that's where the new inversion will be - a first steam powered loop in the industry!
I wouldn't want to be the engenieer to test that out. Maybe they'll use those super power logs from Back to the Future III?
^Yup. 'Cept our "Doc" found a way to make 'em cheaper than Marty's "Doc".
Wildfire Fuel maybe.....
If Ralphie and Alphie start serving their new "Bolen Baked Beans" to their victims, that would allow just enough time to work up a grand expulsion at about that point in the track for the extra boost.
From the looks of that picture, it appears that a lot of dirt has washed down into the gravel bed. That tends to retain water which is not good for the ties. I suspect they have cleared enough track to facilitate scooping out the old gravel bed and laying down another.
Speaking of the Bolen boys, I know that Ralphie was a real person in the area, was Alfie fictitious? I have never seen any account or info on him, I assume it would have been hard for one guy to carry on a robbery, and make jokes by himself, which is most likely why they came up with Alfie. Again, I am assuming...
Anything to do with "brothers" Ralph and Alf on Green Acres?
Hey Doc. What happened in the area of the missing track. Can you update us?
It is as I suspected. They have scraped off the old bed of gravel which had a lot of dirt mixed in with it. You can see that in the picture. I noticed yesterday that they have made a new access hole, for a cutoff valve of some type (water or maybe gas) I assume, and then they will go back with a new bed of gravel to lay new ties on. When too much dirt washes down into the gravel bed, it retains moisture longer which in turn causes the ties to rot out quicker.
Thx Zephon for the update i haven't been back to the park in a few weeks.
Happened to go by there today, the tracks are back in place with a new bed of gravel under them. Oh, and sorry fellas....no new loop.
Alfie is the real chacter, ralfie was made up to give the show a bigger cast. Alfie was one mean son-of-a-gun from Forsythe
Thanks Steam, I had wondered for some time about that, and after not finding any info on him I , as I said, assumed he was fictitious!
I did happen across this during research
http://thelibrary.springfield.missouri.org/lochist/periodicals/bittersweet/sp83b.htm (http://thelibrary.springfield.missouri.org/lochist/periodicals/bittersweet/sp83b.htm)
(http://i649.photobucket.com/albums/uu218/rubedugans/alf.jpg)