ISLAND CENTRAL NEWS July 4, 2009
BIGGEST DEVELOPMENT IN YEARS UNDERWAY!
YOU CAN'T MISS IT AS YOU ARRIVE IN McADAM ... thirteen feet of new linear sky blue and finished fascia framing the construction area, and then another thirteen linear feet of staging track in front of the sky blue window blinds. Management has been looking at this prime real estate for years, wanting to get it right when the day of construction came. And it looks like it's right!
The Shogomoc Subdivision mainline leaves the east end of McAdam and curves northward just as it should. (No more Shogomoc staging in Vanceboro, Maine.) To the east of the Shogomoc main is the new ten tracked main ICR shop complex and then trees, just like the prototype. And there will be no more blocking of the St Stephen branch or overflowing onto the turntable when loco consists are using the new fueling pad. There's plenty of room for four locos now. And after fueling the consist can be hauled ahead into the shop's running service bay for scheduled inspection and attention as needed. Or a loco with more serious needs can enter the loco back shop bay. Rail cars get the same treatment with their own running repair bay and a back shop. If a new paint job is in order, a unit can be moved to the paint shop. (With all the new facilities the current McAdam crew should find it much easier to carry out their duties without the need for additional shop crews.) And there's another track for cars eagerly waiting to get shop attention, and another for "ready" loco four unit consists where they won't be in the way. North of all this, like in the prototype, there are trees and more trees (on the back drop).
To the west of the Shogomoc main a thirteen car runaround track and the four tracked new North Yard are located. This thirty two car yard is not for sorting but for storage. Cars that are hoping to see the economy pick up and those that maybe someday might again be useful can be found here. Chip, ballast, bulk end and center beam lumber cars, auto racks, and buried deep, a row of snowplows and old vans may be found.
And further along to the west of the Shogomoc main is the three tracked maintenance yard, headquarters for Bridge & Building and Maintenance of Way activity. Cranes, the Jordan spreader and misc. maintenance rolling stock will soon find a home here. And one track is reserved for the "wrecker," with the big hook, wheel, rail and tie cars, and misc. others ready to go.
After passing the maintenance yard the Shogomoc main veers to the left and leaves the scene. It then re emerges enters the Shogomoc staging area where a twenty-two car staging track is in place and a second is under construction.
Almost all track in this project is now in place and much of it is powered. Extension of the DCC power bus and new track power drops should be completed soon. Details such as ballast, more detail on the backdrops and replacement of the shop building mock ups are expected to proceed at a more relaxed pace. McAdam will
never be the same again now about that station???
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