MOW trailer

Ed Chuna prepared the wheels to the Southern Pacific maintenance-of-way trailer last Saturday for painting. The trailer is called a "push car" in railroad parlance, according to Keith Berry.

The El Dorado Western Railway will use the push car to haul MOW equipment on the old SP Placerville Branch. It will be towed behind the Camino, Placerville & Lake Tahoe No. 4 speeder, which is fully restored.

After he prepared the wheels for painting, Ed painted the frame of the push car in a color that resembled SP orange. "Does that look like SP orange?" Ed said as he sprayed the car.

In addition to painting, the crew inspected the bearings and installed a safety chain on the car. The wood deck was installed this week.

Downed tree

Keith Berry and I joined the Folsom, El Dorado and Sacramento Historical Railroad Association during a maintenance-of-way excursion on the old Southern Pacific Placerville Branch on Saturday, May 8, 2010. After putting two hi-rail trucks on the tracks near the Mother Lode Drive grade crossing, we headed east to inspect the line and note areas of excessive vegetation growth.

The crew encountered its first obstacle about one-quarter mile short of the Blanchard Drive grade crossing.

In order to cut the larger branches, Marcus Ferrill climbed inside the forest of branches. As a Naval Reserve hospital corpsman who served with the United States Marine Corps on active duty, Marcus volunteers with the FEDSHRA when he's not on reserve duty.

It took the crew about forty minutes to clear the tree from the right-of-way. From the left, Ray Retalick, Dennis Taylor, Keith Berry, Eric Olds and Marcus Ferrill raise their chainsaws in victory.

"Thanks to Marcus Ferrill, Ray Retalick, Keith Berry, Steve Karoly, and new (FEDSHRA) member Dennis Taylor for coming out on Saturday to clear brush along the line in El Dorado County," said crew leader Eric Olds in an email. "We had a full day of work ... with numerous chainsaws running at any given time ...."

Crossing Mother Lode

Keith Berry drives a hi-railer pick-up truck across Mother Lode Drive as two members of the Folsom, El Dorado and Sacramento Historical Railroad Association flag the grade crossing. The crew from the FEDSHRA cut brush on the eastern end of the Southern Pacific Placerville Branch the last two Saturdays.

Chili at the engine house

The occasional bowl of hot chili is one advantage of working at the engine house on Saturday. With a railroading chef on "staff" at El Dorado Western Railway, the crew savors a noontime meal every two or three months.

Professional chef Steve Karoly prepared a spicy bowl of chili and beans for about 10 last Saturday. The meal was accompanied by sweet Dutch oven cornbread.

Here's what one diner had to say:

"What great chili!" said Bill Rodgers. "I loved it. We gotta make it a staple in our work parties at the rail park ... it was fantastic.

"I hated to leave today. The cornbread looked terrific. You really have those Dutch ovens down to an art, for sure."

Routine maintenance

"I started (the forklift) up this morning and it had this gurgling sound," said mechanic Mark Bruto. To resolve the issue, Mark (left) and Bill Rodgers added hydraulic fluid to the Army surplus forklift.

More on vegetation management work day

Here are a few thoughts from Folson, El Dorado & Sacramento Historical Railroad Association member Eric Olds. Keith Berry and Steven Karoly recently jointed the FEDSHRA so we can assist on the vegetation management project.

Our last work day occured Saturday, April 10.

Thanks to Ethan Doty, Spencer Doty, Keith Berry, Philip Rose, and new [FEDS] member Steven Karoly for joining me out on the line this past Saturday to continue clearing the brush in El Dorado County.

We had a great day with a hard working crew ranging from age 14 to well ... let's just say older....

Though the going was slow due to new growth and downed trees from the low snow storms we experienced this last winter, the size of the crew lent itself well to two teams of workers, each working from a HyRailer in cooperation to get ground level brush and branches in the canopy fouling the right-of-way.

Volunteers young and older shared in the tasks of cutting, hauling, driving, sharpening, etc. Young Spencer was eager and willing to learn from the more experienced members and even those more seasoned men learned the importance of identifying Poison Oak!

Of special note was the opportunity to work together with Keith Berry and Steven Karoly, new FEDS members who are also members of the El Dorado Western Railway Foundation in Placerville.

Much was discussed about how our two organizations can benefit from working together to preserve this beautiful line and Keith and Steven are to be commended for taking the initiative to begin solidifying a joint effort.

Clearing brush on the Placerville Branch

On Saturday, April 10, Keith Berry and Steven Karoly joined the brush clearing team from the Folsom, El Dorado & Sacramento Historical Railroad Association on the Southern Pacific Placerville Branch. The crew cleared brush along the right-of-way from the Greenstone Rd. grade crossing east to the El Dorado Wye.

After mounting two hi-rail trucks onto the tracks at the "Y," the six-man crew drove in reverse (both trucks were pointed to the east) and started immediately cutting brush. Working in teams of three, each team consisted on a driver, overhead cutter and ground-level cutter. The hi-rail driver worked the ground, stacking brush and assisting where needed.

Keith cuts high branches on the right-of-way with an electric pole saw. He is standing on a hi-rail truck owned by the FEDSHRA. This photo was taken about one-quarter mile east of the Davidson Rd. grade crossing.

FEDSHRA member Eric Olds clears brush at ground level with an electric pole saw. Each truck had a small generator to power the saws.

The two crews divided the right-of-way into 100- to 200-yard sections. The lead truck lead truck drove ahead and worked the far section while the trailing truck worked the rear section. This seemed to be most efficient was of attacking the task at hand.

The brush cutting crew breaks for lunch on the Slate Creek trestle. The crew consists of, from left to right, Keith Berry, Steven Karoly, Philip Rose (sitting), Spencer Doty and Ethan Doty. Crew leader Eric Olds took the photograph.

The crew takes a break late-afternoon break at the cascades of Slate Creek, between the Greenstone Rd. and Davidson Dr. grade crossings. The rock retaining wall in the background (on either side of Keith's head) possibly dates back to the placer mining days of the California Gold Rush.

The FESHRA and the El Dorado Western Railway recently joined forces to control vegitation along the 28-mile branch line from Folson to Placerville. As the lead organization for vegitation management, the FEDSHRA has has been working the right-of-way for several years.

Keith joined the project last month. This was Steven's first workday. Other El Dorado Western members will join the FEDSHRA in the coming months as the allied organizations work on their respective rail projects at either end of the line.

"Of special note was the opportunity to work together with Keith Berry and Steven Karoly, new FEDS members who are also members of the El Dorado Western Railway Foundation in Placerville," said Eric Olds in a recent email.

"Much was discussed about how our two organizations can benefit from working together to preserve this beautiful line and Keith and Steven are to be commended for taking the initiative to begin solidifying a joint effort."