Western Pacific F-unit moved over UP tracks and onto a transfer table for repairs.

great video, thanks for posting,  I was a bit disappointed though that the men on the track gang were using clumsy sledgehammers rather than a spike maul.

Lot to like in the video. The loco(have a Lionel model), How they moved it. A transfer table in operation. The horn - blat!

wb47 posted:

 I was a bit disappointed though that the men on the track gang were using clumsy sledgehammers rather than a spike maul.

Probably because they were NOT driving any spikes. The bigger sledgehammers work much better when installing and seating those rail retaining "clips" into the tinplate/brackets already mounted on the ties.

A world class museum that is - just a beautiful facility. Compared to some other museums, there isn't a ton of rolling stock on display (all indoors) but there is still a lot to see and the museum and displays are just stunning. 

I had the great pleasure to visit here this past summer. Their Southern Pacific E unit, as well as the Western Pacific were both outside and switching and riding the turntable, an extra unexpected treat! 

Enjoyed watching - thanks 

Very nicely done, Don, as always.

SJC, the real treasures are in the back shops. It's to bad the public can't tour that area. I had two days there and it was amazing. Don

sorry Hot Water,  the spike maul actually works much better because of the concentration of power in the smaller head, of course it takes some skill to use the spike maul for that purpose. Maybe that is a lost art.

Nice photos Don.  The museum is really something.  May I add these photos of some real railroad men?  Very nicely done. 

Why was it going to the backshop? It must be still used for excursions and was going in for maintenance? Are all the others we see there in the restoration process?

Looks neat.

Matt

I'm surprised they didn't have a prefabricated track panel to drop in there. Seems to me it would've been much quicker than laying it all out like they did.

Matt Kirsch posted:

I'm surprised they didn't have a prefabricated track panel to drop in there. Seems to me it would've been much quicker than laying it all out like they did.

Such a panel would have broken the main line welded rails and CTC signal circuit.  What wasn't really explained in the video is that the used to be a diamond crossing at that location, for access to the branch line that heads south along the Sacramento River. Also, to the immediate west (left) of that location, is the draw/swing bridge over the Sacramento River, for the main line to Oakland. After the California State Railroad Museum was opened in May of 1981, that diamond crossing became more and more of a major maintenance item for the SP, and subsequently the UP after the merger. Thus, the diamond crossing was finally removed, and the UP designed and built that very unique "jump over the main line track" fixture, with the agreement that they, the UP, would provide continued access to the museum and their branch line upon plenty of advanced notice for scheduling, by the CSRM.

My favorite museum.  I send them a few $ every year.  I was there at the grand opening.

Hot Water posted:

Such a panel would have broken the main line welded rails and CTC signal circuit.

How so? They had no problem bridging over the main line rails.

Why couldn't they have had a prefabricated panel ready that achieved the same result?

I'm not talking about a generic prefabricated panel. I'm talking about a purpose-built panel with ties spaced to bridge over the rails.

Seems like dropping a prefabricated panel across the rails would have taken a lot less time than building a bridge from scratch.

Matt Kirsch posted:

Hot Water posted:

Such a panel would have broken the main line welded rails and CTC signal circuit.

How so? They had no problem bridging over the main line rails.

Why couldn't they have had a prefabricated panel ready that achieved the same result?

I'm not talking about a generic prefabricated panel. I'm talking about a purpose-built panel with ties spaced to bridge over the rails.

Seems like dropping a prefabricated panel across the rails would have taken a lot less time than building a bridge from scratch.

They didn't "build that bridge from scratch" for that move. That "bridging arrangement" was constructed specifically for that purpose & location, quite some years ago. It gets used a few times a year.

Hot Water posted:

Matt Kirsch posted:

I'm surprised they didn't have a prefabricated track panel to drop in there. Seems to me it would've been much quicker than laying it all out like they did.

Such a panel would have broken the main line welded rails and CTC signal circuit.  What wasn't really explained in the video is that the used to be a diamond crossing at that location, for access to the branch line that heads south along the Sacramento River. Also, to the immediate west (left) of that location, is the draw/swing bridge over the Sacramento River, for the main line to Oakland. After the California State Railroad Museum was opened in May of 1981, that diamond crossing became more and more of a major maintenance item for the SP, and subsequently the UP after the merger. Thus, the diamond crossing was finally removed, and the UP designed and built that very unique "jump over the main line track" fixture, with the agreement that they, the UP, would provide continued access to the museum and their branch line upon plenty of advanced notice for scheduling, by the CSRM.

If I'm not mistaken, but based on look at Google Earth as well as my visit earlier this year, a diamond crossover was permanently installed eliminating a need to the "bridge".

That was cool!

This video was posted in 2011.  Since then, as SJC noted, a diamond has been installed that works like a jump frog or a flange bearing frog on a switch. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flange_bearing_frog

Greg

Aha, that's why it looks like the mainline tracks are uninterrupted in the satellite imagery... It's because ARE uninterrupted!

Matt Kirsch posted:

Aha, that's why it looks like the mainline tracks are uninterrupted in the satellite imagery... It's because ARE uninterrupted!

To be clear, the main line tracks were never "interrupted", i.e. there previously was a standard RR crossing in place. When that original crossing was removed, the "fly-over" system, as shown in the posted video, was used. Subsequently, 2013?, a new style "jump frog" crossing has been installed so that the MOW gang no longer has to install & remove that cumbersome "fly-over" rig, which was used for the 1999 Rail Fair event.

Nice video. I'm going to visit there. Always wanted to see it in person.

I have only been to CSRM once (went to Jamestown to see their roundhouse there, the next day) but I was very  impressed with my first visit there. Such a good balance of "showing neat stuff" and "Telling a story", more so than most RR museums I've been to around the world.

That said, I'm worried about the plans I'm seeing at this link that seem to suggest something other than museum use is coming for the old Sacramento Shops...

Hot Water posted:

Matt Kirsch posted:

Aha, that's why it looks like the mainline tracks are uninterrupted in the satellite imagery... It's because ARE uninterrupted!

To be clear, the main line tracks were never "interrupted", i.e. there previously was a standard RR crossing in place. When that original crossing was removed, the "fly-over" system, as shown in the posted video, was used. Subsequently, 2013?, a new style "jump frog" crossing has been installed so that the MOW gang no longer has to install & remove that cumbersome "fly-over" rig, which was used for the 1999 Rail Fair event.

That was perfectly clear to me. Apparently I stumbled on to another railroad term that has to be taken literally or people die.

By "uninterrupted" I was referring to the gaps in the rails that you normally see in a diamond. The satellite photos do not show any evidence of gaps in the rails on the mainline. That had me scratching my head. I was not aware of this relatively new type of diamond, which seems perfect for this application.