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.

What's with Bending Over?

No matter how hard we try to make railroading easy, some things never change. Les Wilmunder has done a lot to modernize the 60 feet of light rail that he uses to demonstrate his Sheffield Motor Car speeder. He uses bolts instead of spikes, four-by-fours in place of ties and a power drill replaces the spike maul.

But there's one thing Les can't change is the need to bend over. It pains me just to watch.

Les Wilmunder uses a bolt and washer system to replace the spike.

Les drills the bolt into four-by-four ties with a power drill.

Scott Romine bends over as he sets bolts and washers in place.

Keith Berry's posture puzzles me. Bending at the waist seems to be his most comfortable posture.

There's always one sensible worker on the MOW gang. Bill Rogers kneels to join the rail sections together. (The other sensible guy is the photographer -- he walks around snapping pictures instead on bending at the waist.)

Saturday at the Fair

By the time I left the engine house late yesterday afternoon, around 90 fairgoers had stopped by to check progress on the Shay locomotive. Keith Berry said another 50 stopped by Saturday evening.

Little work got done yesterday, although we had planned a regular work day. Ken and Scott Romine -- along with their wives -- came by to talk to visitors at the engine house and to enjoy the fair. I suspect that Sam Thompson and Bill, two of our machinists, were the only ones working. Keith and I rounded out the crew.

Railway president Eric Stohl and board member Kathy Brown arrived around 3 p.m. to take the evening watch. Bill Rodgers was going to man the booth today.

Les Wilmunder's Sheffield Motor Car speeder was the hit of the day. Les' father Hal Wilmunder rescued the speeded, along with the Railbus No. 10 and other equipment, from the scrapper's torch in 1953. Les and the crew set up 60 feet on mobile track. He gave demonstrations all day.


According to Les, The speeder was manufactured in 1914 and was operated by the Diamond & Caldor Railway until the line closed operations in 1953.

"As far as we know," said Keith, "that's the only operating piece of Diamond and Caldor equipment."

"Wow" and "Dad, come look at this" seemed to be the most common expressions of the day. Many boys and girls enjoyed taking a peak at a 99-year old locomotive. Adults and children alike enjoyed hearing the history of the four-spot.

Some folks stopped to check the progress of restoration. Others were just curious.

But locating men and women who're willing to contribute to the El Dorado Western Railway may be our biggest accomplishment of the 2006 El Dorado County Fair.

Two women -- one with fund raising skills and the other a graphic artist -- expressed a willingness to possibly work with the railway.

Two men with critical trades stopped by the engine house on Friday and Saturday. The railway may have located a carpenter who can finish important finish work on the West Side & Cherry Valley parlor car and combine car.

A certified welder who can repair the boiler stopped by after being referred to the railway by a mutual friend. He can provide valuable assistance as we gear up to certify the Shay's 180-pound boiler for operation.

From my vantage point (this was my first fair with the railway), the 2006 El Dorado County Fair was successful. Although we have few new members, about 200 newsletters made it into the hands of county residents and visitors. We like to think that 200 more folks have a newly acquired appreciation for an important piece of El Dorado County history.

See you next year.

Friday at the Fair

Just a quick note before I head over to the engine house ...

"He just loves trains."

That's how Brandon's mother summed her son's fascination with trains. When he's not watching train videos with his sisters, she takes the him to the Union Pacific tracks outside their Auburn, California home to watch the trains go by.

Brandon was not alone during my watch last night. Three other four-year old boys got excited when their mothers and fathers brought them by the engine house.

Stay in touch, Brandon. We're going to need an engineer in about 15 years!