The railroad will hold its August Work Weekend on the 7th, 8th, and 9th, Friday through Sunday as usual.
Expecting hot, sunny days, we are going to work in the shade in the cut between Owrig Summit and MP5, where there is a long stretch of loose rail that is hindering motorcar and maintenance traffic through there. We will put a bundle of ties in where needed and strengthen that stretch of track.
Depending on the weather, if it is hot we will install ties in the shade between Iron Bridge and the Iron Bridge Road crossing on the Class I track. We need about 40 ties there. If it is cool and nice, we will probably finish up the stretch from Waltemyer School Road #1 crossing and work toward the #2 crossing. There are 22 ties needed there, and we will keep working our way down the hill toward Tolna as we can.
As you can see, we are working on getting Coach 1341 fixed up and in better shape for the busy fall season. The coach crew can always use help.
Considerable work was done to Locomotive #10 in July, but more is needed. The Caterpillar diesel engine has three bad head gaskets that need replaced, some traction motor ducts need repaired, and the fan belts need changed (now that we know what belt fits properly). The mechanical crew can use help too, on #10, and there are tasks to do on #12 as well as we wait for the wheels in the truck to get turned to the proper profile and returned to us.
We are waiting on a fan belt for the Kershaw ballast regulator and are planning to get that machine into service. If turned around with the ballast plow facing west, it will also be our snowplow for the coming winter. It can plow up to 20 inches of snow!!!
The railroad is also purchasing a nice Nordberg Model A hydraulic spike driver. It is in good condition and ready for use. It is smaller and simpler than the B model we currently have and will be easier to use and maintain.
This will help make our tie replacement work easier and faster. Our tie work is now almost entirely mechanized except for spike pulling. That is generally not a problem on our railroad, as spikes in old ties are generally very loose or missing!!!!
We need your help to continue with our important work!! Through July, we were at 172 ties installed. With another load of ties coming in early September, we’ll have the material to get over 400 ties installed this year if the weather holds and we have robust crews. It is up to you!!
We have been trying hard to improve tie conditions on the west end to keep our motorcar runs going strong and safe. There are several more spots out there that need heavy work, and we have been trying to take care of one bad spot every month! But west end work takes more travel time to get there, leaving less work time on site each day!
And we need to keep up with maintenance and improvements on the Class I track, plus work to extend the Class I, so there are really three big track areas to work on!
We are making steady progress. We need you to help!