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Saturday, July 17, 2010

Saturday work day and run day rolled into one

Rich got here as usual and we went directly to the track. We went over what he wanted to do today and Jack showed up a little later. We got out a pair of work trains so we could check the inch line rapidly as we need both main lines to be working tomorrow as we have a large group coming. Don, Dan and Stewart were already at the track when we had arrived. Don and Dan were clearing brush from the inch line and between cutting small saplings and removing vines they were well into the work day. It was expected to get into the high 90s today so we all wanted to get our work done in the morning hours before the heat of the day.

During our checking the inch line we saw Dan suddenly fall backwards and hit the stone wall and cut a gash in his forearm. Rich went over to help and took Dan to the Hudson ER to get it looked at and if he needed stitches he wanted him to be able to get them. They gave him a tetanus shot and bandaged him up.

Jack and I worked on the signals that we found malfunctioning and got them repaired by noon. We decided to break for lunch and Rich and Dan came back while we were going up to get our lunches. After lunch we measured out where a new block was going to be created in the track by the roundhouse in an area we call Glacier (because it is where the ice melts last in the Spring each year). We got the measuring tape out and measured to the center of the existing block and prepared the site for the new hardware. Jack and I removed the splice plate from a track joint and Rich brought the Saws-All so we could remove a section of the rail to create a gap at that location for the signal system. Jack did the honors and we then used the fibre-glass track splice plates to reconnect the track mechanically again. Rich then said he was told that we needed to get the track ready as some folks from the ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineers) were coming to ride and view the facilities this afternoon. I had forgotten about it myself so we were caught unawares. I offered to get out our club diesel "4180" and Rich went to get our club F7s some riding cars. Tom got his new locos out so we had three trains ready to go in about 20 minutes. It appeared that five adults and four kids came totally, so we were readily able to handle the group.

I was able to take them on both lines so they got the full experience of the two different routes It was quite a good time as I got to pull in on the inch and a half line and transition over to the inch line and take a trip up to Summit with the same people. I narrated the trip as we went along and the kids seemed to get a real kick out of it.

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