Wheel Sets Removed From Arnold

I stopped by the engine house Saturday for the first time since I returned from vacation. My visit only lasted 1-1/2 hours. Keith and I were heading to Yerington, Nevada to pick up a 1941 Dodge military Power Wagon.

Over the work day of Saturday, August 5, 2006, Eric, Keith and Garrett removed the wheel sets for Arnold Z, the El Dorado Western Railway's Plymouth switch engine. Both wheel sets were placed behind the locomotive (to the left of the photograph).

Scott had "planned on getting those two journal boxes off" the wheel set Saturday. Several sick volunteers and other projects in progress left Scott with nothing to do but clean the Plymouth.

The journal box on the left. The other pair of journal boxes were removed last April. The puller sits on the ground between the wheel sets.

Diamond & Caldor Ry. Heavy Equipment Moving Car

A North West Short Line model of the Diamond & Caldor Railway's 41-foot heavy equipment flat car (NWSL part number 137-01) is up for auction on eBay.com. The model doesn't include the trucks.

You need to act quickly if you're interested. The auction ends tomorrow at 5:29 p.m. PDT. Bidding has been lively. The current bid is $45.88.

As I've said in the past, we cannot attest to the historic accuracy of the model, nor to the quality of the item on eBay.

Union Pacific's Cascade Route through Odell Lake in Oregon

A southbound UP freight hauling milled lumber products passes nearby Odell Lake Resort on the eastern shores of Odell Lake.

I'm back home after an enjoyable two-week vacation in Oregon. After visiting my wife's sister on the southern coast, we spend a week at Odell Lake, along the Cascade Route of the Union Pacific Railroad.

The route was built by the Southern Pacific in 1926. Four times daily (two trains northbound and two southbound), passenger trains stopped at Odell Station so vacationers could enjoy the six-mile long lake near Willamette Pass in Oregon's Cascade Range.

Today, the Amtrak Coast Starlight passes along the southern shore of the lake. When it's on time, Train 11 comes through late in the evening as it rambles toward Chemult, Oregon and Sacramento, California. The northbound passenger train, Train 14, passes the lake late morning on its way to Eugene and Portand, Oregon.

On Monday, July 31, I counted 13 north- and southbound trains. You can hear the train coming as the three diesel units pull the long train up the grade. Although the trains aren't that loud, you do hear their presence as they pass the lake.

Ore Fire

Keith Berry and his bride had a few tense moments yesterday afternoon when the Ore Fire in El Dorado County threatened the area around their south-county home.

At about 4 p.m., the driver of a pick-up truck, who was southbound from El Dorado on State Route 49, hit a motorcyclist near the What About Bobs convenience store. After killing the driver of the motorcycle, the pick-up driver fled the scene, south toward the Amador County line.

"According to law enforcement and fire personnel, the truck lost a tire in the accident," said the Sacramento Bee news story, "and the driver fled the scene south on Highway 49, with sparks from the metal rim igniting about 12 grass fires along both sides of the roadway."

Law enforcement authorities apprehended Tamara Wilson of El Dorado County at the El Dorado/Amador County line. Television news reports indicated that she would be charged with vehicular manslaughter.

I called Keith around 6 p.m. after learning of the incident on the NorCalFire Yahoo Group. Thankfully, Keith said that they weren't evacuated. He added that all evacuations seemed to be occurring on the east side of Highway 49.

The wind was in their favor, Keith added. The light wind was blowing from the east early in the evening. News 10 had it at 7 miles-per-hour from the northwest around 6:30 p.m.

Helicopters interrupted our conversation every five minutes as they filled their water buckets in a nearby pond.

The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection responded quickly to quench the blaze. Firefighters were able to contain the fire at approximately 40 acres.

However, two homes and two out buildings were destroyed in the fire.

E Clampus Vitus Visitors to the Engine House

Today was another slow day at the engine house. (Do you get the idea that we have a lot of these?) Sam and Bill were busy in the machine shop. And I saw Dave at one point.

Eric and Ken did a few odd jobs around the engine house. I stayed indoors and finished the summer issue of The Dispatcher, the official newsletter of the El Dorado Western Railway.

About 30 E Clampus Vitus members toured the engine house this afternoon. Eric and I passed out copies of the spring newsletter and answered questions. Several guys expressed interest in the project. They came from chapters around Northern California and Nevada.

El Dorado Western T-shirt for Sale on eBay

One of last years white Diamond & Caldor Railway t-shirts has surfaced on eBay.com. Starting bid is $3.99 with the auction ending on July 20.

The seller is geographically close to the El Dorado Western Railway engine house. The shop is located in nearby Folsom, California. I suspect it's one of the Sutter Ave. businesses.

Although I don't personally know the seller, if he's successful, I may just take a box down there and have him sell more -- for a donation, of course.

It's Been Quiet

Hi all: I've been away at a children's camp, where I'm the chef for 165 campers and adults. Stop by http://roundthechuckbox.blogspot.com/ and see what it's all about.

I'm currently working on the Summer 2006 issue of the EDWRF newsletter, The Dispatcher. It should be in the mail next week. The newsletter is a benefit of membership in the El Dorado Western Railway Foundation. To join, see this blog from last May.

Keith Berry is out of town this week, but the Sacramento team should be at the engine house Saturday working on the Plymouth. I'll stop by Saturday and get a few reports and photographs together for the blog.