Setting track guage at Red Hawk

The maintenance of way crew met in Shingle Springs yesterday for its monthly work day. We loaded tools and gauge bars on to two Fairmont A-cars. When the crew left the station at 8 a.m., the El Dorado Western Railroad No. 602 pushed the EDWR No. 603 up the hill to the job site.

With volunteer mechanic and motorman Jereme MacCormack at the controls, the crew soaked in the the last of the cool morning air on the 15-minute transit to the work site. The forecast called for 95- to 100-degree temperatures in the El Dorado County foothills. The track gang took advantage of the cooler morning hours to get the job done.

Once there, we dismounted and prepared to re-set the gauge of the 90-pound rail to standard gauge. Roadmaster Peter Shultze had previously marked three locations on the curve in the day lighted Tunnel No. 1 where the gauge had crept to 58 inches. Peter wanted to pull the outer rail back in to around 57 inches.

The seven-man track gang labored for the next four hours. We scraped the build-up of clay and dirt on to of the ties and dug trenches for the gauge bars. At two locations, pictured and 50 feet further inside the cut, two bars were used to hold the gauge. One bar was used at the third location. The crew will replace the ties at a later date.
 
The railroad is now calling this location Red Hawk since it is adjacent to Exit 40 (Red Hawk Parkway) on eastbound U.S. Highway 50. From our vantage point at the east terminus of the old tunnel, we watched a constant steam of traffic headed up the hill for the weekend. Red Hawk is the turn around point for Sunday train operations from Shingle Springs.

MOW work day

The El Dorado Western Railroad is preparing to reset the west turnout in El Dorado. The switch will be installed on a straight section of track before the depot curve. The railroad will use the spur to store equipment and leave the mainline clear.

The maintenance of way crew built a retaining wall in El Dorado today over an existing culvert. This will hold back fill dirt as we prepare the ground for the spur track. It also protects the oak tree, which is growing in the area of the culvert.

The series of cell phone photographs show the progress made by the crew this morning. In four hours, Brian Hogan (yellow hard hat), Bob McCormack (on backhoe), Peter Schutze (white hard hat) and Steven Karoly (not pictured) built the retaining wall from old railroad ties.

Loading ties at Blanchard

The El Dorado Western MOW crew is working on the west turnout today at the depot curve in El Dorado. We're getting ready to re-install the switch which historically serviced the siding at El Dorado. The crew won't install the turnout today, but will replace several joint ties and correct the gauge.

Volunteer track workers Larry Howe (left) and Ben Cunha load railroad ties onto the Southern Pacific push car. The Camino, Placerville and Lake Tahoe No. 4 track inspection car then towed the push car to the work site east of the Blanchard Road grade crossing. In late January, the MOW crew replaced ties and re-tamped ballast at two sites east of Blanchard.

Driving spikes

Driving spikes on the El Dorado Western Railroad has changed little over the last 100 years. Track workers used the spike maul to manually hammer spikes into solid railroad ties when this section were laid in the 1880s.

Here volunteer track worker Bill Rogers drives a spike just east of Blanchard Road. The rail jack is being used to hold the ties firmly against the rail.

Fill dirt

El Dorado Western Railroad roadmaster Peter Schultze guides backhoe operator Bob McCormack as he dumps a bucket of fill dirt onto the track. Working just east of the Blanchard Road grade crossing, the maintenance-of-way crew built up the fill over an existing culvert. The crew first constructed cribbing out of discarded ties (visible in the foreground). Bob them shuttled four or five buckets of fill dirt from Blanchard Road to the work location. Next the crew compacted the dirt under the ties.

The railroad can accomplish much with the backhoe. Peter said that it's the best tool we have for MOW work. Over the past 18 months, Bob has skillfully replaced approximately 300 ties with the backhoe.

New roadmaster

On a recent brisk Saturday morning, Peter Schulze introduced himself to the crew at the train station in El Dorado. As the newly appointed roadmaster for the El Dorado Western Railroad, he will oversee track maintenance and construction on the right-of-way.

Peter brings 35 years in the railroad business to the railroad. As an independent contractor, he inspects and supervises construction on industrial railroad leads throughout the state.

"What we really need is direction," said Ed Cunha, vice president of the El Dorado Western Railway Foundation. A diverse set of workers volunteer for the railroad. Mechanics, equipment operators, conductors, engineers and general laborers provide capable support. Peter's leadership will accomplish this goal.

Over a dozen volunteer maintenance-of-way workers attended the meeting. At 10 p.m. the crew adjourned to the Blanchard Road grade crossing, where it repaired two locations on the line.

Rail spreader

The maintenance of way crew uses a make-shift rail spreader to adjust the gauge of the rail on the El Dorado Western Railroad. For the past month the crew has been re-ballasting the curve and replacing ties at the private rail crossing in front of The Barn antique shop.

In the photo, project lead Garrett Augustus sets the gauge bar as Billy Bellas puts pressure on the rail jack. Once the track was properly gauged, Jeremy McCormack drove several spikes into the tie to hold the gauge.

Work day on the El Dorado Western

Yes, we were working on the railroad this morning. With Bob McCormack's backhoe, the crew is continuing to replace ties on the curve at the depot in the town of El Dorado. While the work is hot and dusty, we enjoy the outcome.

Come out and support your local home grown railroad. El Dorado County's own railroad has extended its operating schedule through December. Trains will operate from the El Dorado depot every Sunday, weather permiting.

Trail rides begin at noon and continue to leave the depot every half hour until 4 p.m. You may ride the rails for a $5 donation (age 9 and above).

DIRECTIONS: Take Pleasant Valley Road (west- or eastbound) to Oriental Street (across from the El Dorado Post Office). Turn onto Oriental Street and follow the signs. There is plenty of free parking at the Community Center. The ticket booth is located at the recreated train depot.

See you there ... highball!

Track work

Volunteer track workers Garrett Agustus and Jeremy McCormack excavate soil from under the rails in the El Dorado County Historical Railroad Park on Saturday, August 20. The maintenance of way crew is preparing the site of a trail crossing adjacent to The Barn.

Along the right of way with the El Dorado Western Railway

This is next installment of a periodic column that Keith Berry is writing for the Windfall, the weekly classified newspaper in El Dorado County.

Were going to the Dogs! Yep, our railroad is going to the dogs, actually several "DOGS."

Over the past several months, we have found friendship with our canine friends out on the track. We are pleased to have found them; well, they actually found us as a new source of amusement during their daily walk. Oh, they have owners attached, but it's their walk and don't you forget it! It turns out the right of way is a great place for a dog; it's long, it's natural and it's full of attractive smells and other critters, including us.

Our first such encounter, and most frequent buddy is "Halo," a good sized boy who has come to be our greeter and inspector of the works. Halo is observed each morning, always with owners in tow, along the tracks west of Blanchard Rd. Halo keeps to schedule, a few leaps and hugs and off he goes and we get back to dogging it, working track.

The obvious winner based on size is Gunnison, a great (tall) hound something who is as gentle as he is big. We expect Gunnison, when fully grown, will make quite an eye full, for now were just glad to know him and thankfully not have to feed him. Go Gunnison!

Our newest dog friends are Ginger and Bob, each special, and eager to take a walk out where they can be without cars to worry about. We appreciate their owners who bring them out to El Dorado where there is no snow or busy streets. We look forward to their visits.

The smartest dog award goes to a smaller dog, who came by one rainy day, and decided that walking in the cold rain was not fun. No slow pooch this one, it decided our track inspection car was dry, and warm, and best of all moved on its own legs (wheels). This pooch got right up on the best cushion over the warm engine compartment, and settled down for a ride back to the car. What's a railroad for if not to ride in style, eh?

Removing ties

The crew replaced railroad ties on the El Dorado Western Railway during February. After the weekday tie replacement crew installed replacement ties, the Saturday crew removed the rotten ties from along the right-of-way on February 12. In the photo, Billy Bellas and Jacob Karoly wrestle a beat-up tie onto the Southern Pacific push car.

Hauling brush

I'm not sure if the crew worked yesterday. The forecast for the El Dorado County foothills called for a blanket of snow down to the thousand-foot level Friday night and Saturday morning. Instead rain soaked the foothills Friday morning. The moisture was gone by the time the cold front arrived Friday evening.

Here's picture of the crew hauling brush along the right-of-way:

Billy Bellas loads tree trimmings onto the Southern Pacific push car while Keith Berry supervises. The El Dorado Western Railway uses the speeder and push car to move tree trimmings from trackside down to our burn piles.

Since most areas on the right-of-way can only be accessed by rail equipment, the speeder is the most efficient way for it to move brush. Contrary to reports on Facebook and other websites, the railway does not use heavy equipment on the access roads to haul brush away from the right-of-way.

Track rehab on west end of Placerville Branch

Eric Olds, vice president of the Placerville and Sacramento Valley Railroad, graciously allowed me to share this update on track work on the western end of the Placerville Branch:

Saturday, Ethan Doty, Jim Fryer, Philip Rose and I commenced track rehabilitation on the initial operating segment for the Placerville and Sacramento Valley Railroad. Ethan, P&SVRR assistant roadmaster, ably instructed us newbies on the finer points of tie replacement, and we had a grand time.

Jim and I are both Cal Poly SLO grads. We discussed how the day's activities reminded us of Cal Poly's "Learn By Doing" slogan as we discovered successful and less then successful ways to wrestle old ties from the roadbed and insert relays.

One particularly satisfying aspect of the day for me was hearing the ring of the spike maul as new spikes were driven into place. I have a new appreciation for those who went before us constructing this portion of the line in 1863-1865 with simple hand tools and hard work, Our dedicated volunteers are willing to do the same to be a part of the historic reactivation of this grand line.

Eric Olds

Ethan Doty pulls a new tie under the rail with a pair of tie tongs as Jim Fryer digs out the trench with his hand. In the background, Philip Rose prepares a trench for the next tie.

Driving spikes on the SP Placerville Branch

Donny Bellas, the youngest volunteer on the El Dorado Western Railway, drives a spike on the former SP Placerville Branch rail line. During the week, the crew removed about 14 ties between Hagen's Crossing and the Blanchard Road grade crossing. They had inserted all the replacement ties and had them spiked down by Friday except for two near Hagen's Crossing. The Saturday crew finished the job yesterday morning before moving onto other projects.

Morning briefing

El Dorado Western Railway President Keith Berry (sitting on speeder) briefs Saturday morning crew members on the day's activities. After assembling at Hagen's crossing around 9 a.m. this morning, the crew got ready to drive spikes and clear brush on the right-of-way.

The briefing is an important feature of railway workdays. In addition to safety issues, Keith informs the Saturday crew of work accomplished by weekday crews. He also informs the crew of important government meetings and decisions that impact the railway.

The three youngest volunteers of the railway are bunched together in the center of the photograph.

Training in Sacramento

The El Dorado Western Railway maintenance-of-way crew took part in safety training for track workers today. Crews from three railroads, including the Placerville and Sacramento Valley Railroad and the Sacramento Southern Railroad, participated in the training session at California State Railroad Museum in Old Sacramento.

Situational awareness is the watch-word for railroad track workers. Track workers must always be aware of on-coming rail traffic and know how to secure authorization to work on or alongside the rails. Safely takes precedence on any railroad.

Storm patrol

Water is the enemy of railroad ties. More than 20 years of maintenance inactivity on the Southern Pacific Placerville Branch line has taken a toll. Many ties have slowly rotted away due to poor drainage on the right-of-way.

One of the first tasks of the El Dorado Western Railway was to rehabilitate a major flood zone adjacent to the El Dorado Community Hall. Storm water formed a sizable pond each winter at the site of the SP station in the town of El Dorado. The seasonal pond threatened to undermine a good 100 yards of track on the curve.

A volunteer crew began work at the site in late October. The crew fill in the pond, stabilized the soil with straw and devised a drainage system. Volunteers patrol the site during each large storm to make sure water is properly flowing.

Last Saturday, my son and I mucked out the drainage ditches at the depot site. Storm water once again flows in the ditch on the north side of the rail after all obstructions were cleared. In the background, Jacob Karoly mucks the drainage ditch on the south side.

The El Dorado Western Railway No. 1, a 1952 18-ton Plymouth locomotive, waits out the rain storm in El Dorado. The water started draining once I muked out the ditch.

There is a better way to remove ties

I've previously posted pictures of the crew removing railroad ties the hard way. We often resort to prying, kicking and pounding the tie out from under the rail. While it's time consuming, our method gets the job done, especially in remote areas.

Last week El Dorado Western Railway President Keith Berry let me download these photographs from his camera. They gave me a chance to view track work on the weekdays. Since I work in Sacramento Monday through Friday, I miss the weekday projects.

This photographic series show how the crew used Bob McCormack's backhoe to remove a dozen ties on the historic Southern Pacific Placerville Branch rail line on Friday, November 5, 2010.

Ben Cuhna and Jeremy McCormack (both bent over) guide a rotten tie out from under the rail as Bob pulls it with the backhoe. While difficult to see, the crew wrapped a chain around the leading edge of the tie and attached to to the bucket.

Jeremy observes as the backhoe operator pulls a rotten tie out with the claws on the bucket.

The CP&LT No. 4 track inspection car waits at Hagen's Crossing on Oriental Road in the Town of El Dorado. The ties on the Southern Pacific push car will soon be inserted under the track.

UP tie replacement

You Tube caption: "A walk along the tracks in downtown Elmhurst while The Union Pacific Railroad replaces wooden ties. We start just West of York Rd. and go about a block West and show some of the equipment in operation. This is right at the Elmhurst, Illinois, METRA station."

Maintenance-of-way the real way

Maintenance of Way -- CPR Castlegar BC, originally uploaded by arrowlakelass.

Keith, wouldn't this be fun to operate?

Caption on flickr: "Kershaw Tie Crane at work removing old ties recently removed from the rail line in Castlegar Canadian Pacific Railway yard."