Workin' on the El Dorado site plan

For more than six months, the El Dorado Western Railway has been considering the Town of El Dorado for the site of a new county railroad park. Current plans call for reconstruction of the Southern Pacific freight and passenger depot and construction of engine house and shot buildings on the abandoned Southern Pacific right-of-way.

Even though the park is several years off, railway volunteers are working on a site plan for presentation to the Sacramento Placerville Transportation Corridor Joint Powers Authority (or SPTC). Since the right-of-way is controlled by the SPTC, we will have to secure its permission to operate on the tracks.

In the above photograph, Bill Schultz (left), Harold Kiser and Keith Berry discuss the location of track and buildings at the proposed railroad park. Bill recently retired from the Union Pacific Railroad. He brings 30 years of railroad operation experience to the El Dorado Western.

To the left, Harold, a retired engineer, moves orange cutouts as Bill and Keith discuss the feasibility of the location of each building in the park. His challenge is to site the engine house, turntable, siding and switches where they don't interfere with existing easements.

After the planning session, the team drove out to El Dorado and walked the ground. This gave Harold a chance to take measurements while Bill and Keith compared plans to historic photographs of the old depot site. They were able to locate several features that confirm the depot's probable location.