Bucksgahuda and Western Railroad

2002 Projects

St. Marys and Southwestern Railroad grade   Hopper Car #70   Boxcar #6506

St. Marys and Southwestern Railroad grade
The B&W is continuing its goal of putting steam back on the St. Marys and Southwestern RR. In February, we acquired 32 sticks of rail, which should provide for 400 track feet. This additional track will be used to extend the line and to create a Wye to turn the train around.
 

Construction of the Wye begins...
As the fall of 2001 came to an end, the B&W crew laid enough rail for us to start planning the next phase of the St. Marys and Southwestern project...construction of the Wye.
During the winter of 2001, construction began on the Wye. The first hurdle that we had to over come was Mother Nature herself... lots of trees. Many weeks were spent clearing trees where the Wye would be located. This picture was taken in March 2001 and shows the outline of the Wye and the number of trees that needed to be cut down.
 
By April 2002, we cleared as much of the location as possible given the equipment we had. It was now time to call in the heavy equipment/
 
May 18, 2002. This date will be remembered for a long time. We had SNOW!!! We awoke to a very white Saturday morning. By early afternoon, only a few traces remained, but it made for a very cold day working outside.
 
Work on the wye for 2002 comes to a close.

Hopper Car #70
Hopper Car #70 is done!!! On May 4, the final touches to the hopper car were completed.

Boxcar #6506
On November 15, the B&W Rail Yard received Boxcar #6506. Wellsboro & Corning boxcar 6506 was built in 1974 and undergone a rebuild in April 2002. On it's first revenue move after the rebuilt, 6506 suffered severe under frame damage. After review of the damage, it was determined that the cost of solving the problem was not worth the investment.

The B&W was fortunate to acquire the boxcar after hearing of its fate. After being made rail worthy, it left Chicago for Toronto and Buffalo via the Canadian Pacific Railroad. After arriving in Buffalo, the Buffalo & Pittsburgh railroad moved it to Johnsonburg; from there it was moved to the yard in St. Marys by the Allegheny & Eastern.

The car is 15’ 5” tall, 10’ 08”, and 68’ long and it is a double door (16’) car. It will be a static display at the B&W, but will double as a storage building.