2015 El Dorado Western Railroad timetable

Here's the 2015 spring and summer timetable for train rides offered on the El Dorado Western Railroad. The railway is completely operated with volunteer labor, men and women who give their time as a public service to citizens and visitors to El Dorado County. The line runs on the historic Southern Pacific Placerville Branch between Shingle Springs and Diamond Springs. We'll see you on the train!

2014-2015 El Dorado Western Railroad timetable

Here's the 2014-2015 fall, winter and spring timetable for train rides offered on the El Dorado Western Railroad. The railway is completely operated with volunteer labor, men and women who give their time as a public service to citizens and visitors to El Dorado County. The line runs on the historic Southern Pacific Placerville Branch between Shingle Springs and Diamond Springs. We'll see you on the train!

2014 El Dorado Western Railroad timetable

Here's the 2014 spring, summer and fall timetable for train rides offered on the El Dorado Western Railroad. The railway is completely operated with volunteer labor, men and women who give their time as a public service to citizens and visitors to El Dorado County. The line runs on the historic Southern Pacific Placerville Branch between Shingle Springs and Diamond Springs. We'll see you on the train!

http://museum.edcgov.us/railroad-schedule

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Progress on the CPLT caboose rebuild

These images show the progress on the standard gauge Camino, Placerville and Lake Tahoe Caboose No. 2. El Dorado County's only home-built and operated caboose, is now being re-constructed at the Freight Station in Shingle Springs.


The caboose is being reconstructed at Shingle Springs. It's El Dorado County's only caboose (to our knowledge), having been built in 1930s from parts of an earlier boxcar caboose. The project is going very well. The car is being built over the track to allow for setting on wheel trucks when ready.

The wood working crew on the El Dorado Western Railroad. These are the type of guy's that worked in the car shop for Mich-Cal Lumber Company at Camino and the California Door Company at Diamond Springs. The kind of guy's who converted a boxcar into a passenger/freight car for the CP&LT around 1900, and then took it apart and built it into a proper caboose that ran until the 1950s.

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.

'This is a railroad; it's not a toy'

"This is a railroad; it's not a toy," emphasised retired train conductor Bill Schultz as he opened the segment on chapter one of the General Code of Operating Rules (or GCOR). "It's about safety and situational awareness."


Museum administrator Mary Cory, roadmaster Peter Shultze, road foreman of engines Dale Fowlar and Shultz presented the inaugural lesson to 23 volunteers of the El Dorado Western Railroad on Saturday, May 19. The recreated train station in the town of El Dorado served as the backdrop.

The two-hour training session laid the groundwork for more intense formal training to begin soon. Each volunteer employee received a binder with three important railroad documents.

Cory briefed volunteers on the museum volunteer handbook. "You are part of about 95 museum volunteers," said Cory. Volunteers donate their free time to the railroad, including some that give "almost full time hours."

The handbook gives the volunteer an overview of each function within the operation of the El Dorado County Historical Museum. The El Dorado Western Railroad falls under the museum. It's the museums major living history program.

Shutlze's presentation of the railroad track worker safety plan followed. "Whether you're a volunteer or paid staff, it all comes out the same," said Shultze. Volunteers bring "lots of energy and drive" to the railroad.

As a professional track inspector, he emphasised the need for all railway workers to learn how to safety work in an environment with heavy moving equipment.

The GCOR lays the foundation for railroad operations in the United States, said Schultz. As a retired Southern Pacific/Union Pacific train conductor, he used the GCOR daily. EDWR's GCOR is patterned after the one used by the Union Pacific and the Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroads.

All raiload volunteer will become familiar with the GCOR, including shop and office workers. "Most of the same safety rules apply to everyone on the property," explained Schultz.

Fowlar closed the session with an overview of the locomotive engineer training program. As a retired Southern Pacific/Union Pacific locomotive engineer, Fowlar will direct the program for selected volunteers.

Trains of the El Dorado Western Railroad run every Sunday through December. The timetable calls for 1st, 3rd & 5th Sundays from El Dorado Station. We run from Shingle Springs Freight Shed on the 2nd & 4th Sundays each month. Updates to the timetable are posted on our Facebook page each Thursday and Friday.

Suggested donation is $5 for adults (age 8 and up); $3 for ages 3 to 7; and 2 and under ride free. Donations help keep the living history program of the El Dorado County Historical Railroad Park and EDWR alive.

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.

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.

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.

Horses at the depot

The train runs today from noon to 4 p.m. in historic El Dorado. Come to the depot and support the El Dorado County Historical Railroad Park. Trains leave the depot on the hour and half-hour. Rides are $5 for adults, $3 for children 3 to 8 and free under 2.

Last Sunday the railroad crew spotted three young ladies riding their horses along the El Dorado Trail. As they rode east toward home, the riders guided Harley (from the left), Sassy and Skippy down to the tracks, where they enjoyed attention from visitors.

Harley enjoys attention from railroad volunteer Larry Howe.

Flagging the Mother Lode Drive grade crossing

Three El Dorado Western Railroad volunteers flag the grade crossing at Mother Lode Drive. In the foreground, Jeremy McCormack stops eastbound traffic. Larry Howe flags westbound traffic under the signal tower while Dwight Ridge gives the highball to the approaching train. Train crewmen volunteer for the El Dorado County Historical Museum .

Davey "Doc" Wiser's railroad story

Conductor Davey "Doc" Wise tells his story as he operates the El Dorado Western Railroad No. 602 Fairmont gang car. Davey recently retired from the Union Pacific Railroad after 40 years service with the Southern Pacific and Union Pacific railroads. He currently volunteers with the El Dorado Western Railroad.

The railroad gave train rides to the public on Sunday, June 17, 2011, on the Southern Pacific Placerville Branch rail line. For this run, crews hitched the railroad's Kalamazoo Model 57 speeder to the Fairmont.

Join us for train rides each Sunday

You are invited to join the El Dorado Western each Sunday this summer through September 18, 2011. The train leaves the depot in the historic town of El Dorado, California on the hour and on the half-hour. The first run departs the depot at noon, with the last run at 4 p.m. Join the El Dorado Western as we re-create an important piece of El Dorado County history.

Three hands

Saturday morning, El Dorado Western Railway President Keith Berry instructed volunteer Cal Jessiman to give me a refresher course on the operation of the CP and LT No. 4 speeder. I last ran the track inection car two years ago at an open house on the site of the then proposed railway park in the Town of El Dorado.

Keith wanted my son Jacob and me to make several training runs between the El Dorado and Blanchard crossings while he picked up additional equipment at the county museum.

I followed as Cal detailed the protocol to start the speeder. "This is going to take three hands," explained Cal. I soon leaned what he meant.

To operate the Kalamzoo speeder, grip the clutch lever with your right hand and grab the brake lever with your left hand, said Cal. Then somehow, use your "free hand" to control the throttle.

As Cal explained the process, I rehearsed the emergency braking procedure in my hand and with my hands. Better to simulate disengaging the clutch and engaging the brake now than to fumble through it when a worker walks onto the tracks in front of the moving speeder.

To start the engine, set the brake and place the transmission in neutral, instructed Cal. Turn the key, while gently nudging the throttle forward until the engine catches. Next came the tricky part -- throwing the transmission into gear and proceeding without stalling the engine.

Cal continued. Disengage the clutch with your right hand, shift the transmission into low range and slowly let the clutch out. This is wear the three handed operation comes into play.

I slowly guided the clutch until the transmission was firmly engaged. At the same time I had to be ready to give the engine gasoline to keep it from cutting out. With my left hand on the brake, I slipped the clutch, slowly reduced pressure on the brake and gave the engine one-third throttle -- it worked!

The speeder only jerked once or twice. Two longs on the horn and we were off for the El Dorado Road crossing. (Two long toots on the horn tells railroad workers that you've released the brakes and are proceeding forward.)

Once we were rolling westward on the Placerville Branch, I asked Cal about the origin of his three hands tag. "You know, that sounds a lot like something Keith would say."

"That's exactly what Keith was telling me (yesterday)," said Cal. "You need three hands to do this." Cal operated the speeder for the first time Thursday.

Twenty-three minutes later the run ended. We arrived at Hagen's Crossing, a dirt driveway that crosses the tracks about one-quarter mile east of the railroad depot site. It was time to pass the throttle to the next operator.

Jacob jumped into the operator's seat. A bit apprehensive about the process, he motioned with his hands as I walked him through it.

"Wear gloves," I said as I guided him through the process. "The engine throws off a lot of heat. Keep your left hand on the brake and your right on the clutch and your eye on the road."

It was up to Jacob to figure out how to manage the throttle!

Drivin' spikes

Drivin' spikes, originally uploaded by SeabeeCook.

When the El Dorado Western Railway drives spikes, it does so the old fashion way. Maul in hand, railway volunteer Ben Cunha takes his turn at driving a railroad spike on the Southern Pacific Placerville Branch last Saturday.

Railway crews are currently replacing missing spikes by manually driving them into the tie with a sledge hammer. Once the crew becomes proficient in the use of a sledgehammer, it will graduate to the traditional spike maul, a large double-sided sledge hammer with long, thin heads.

Why do we do this?

Several weeks ago I began a short series that explorers why the volunteers of the El Dorado Western Railway do what we do. Railway President Keith Berry's originally wrote the series for the summer newsletter.

Each week 16 or more volunteers gather at the engine house to work on various projects. While most volunteers contribute mechanical skills to the railway, a shall team of "office" workers handle administrative tasks.

Unlike past years when most work was accomplished on Saturday, our volunteer pool has developed into a diverse group of weekday (mostly Wednesday and Friday) and Saturday workers. The weekday team largely consists of retirees and those available mid-week. Those still working a 40-hour week help out of projects on Saturdays.

Here's the second installment of Keith' assessment:

REASON #2: We all have some inherent train gene in us, attracting us to train things rather than old clothes, furniture or farm equipment, which we refer to as real rust. Trains reach out to us; trains are special, uniquely attractive without reason through our lives. Trains talk to us; they come alive much as the trains once under the Christmas tree came alive in our hands. It's sentimental to work on these trains, they all are unique, come with a personality and deserve their place by being refurbished. So, we await work day's to once again meet and "play with trains."

REASON #3: We enjoy the challenge. Refurbishing this stuff is not easy. It's really a lot of hard work and periodic frustration. Train parts are heavy, sometimes hot and always hard to handle. Regardless of the technical challenge, or the logistical problems, we enjoy finishing something. Years ago, we adopted the motto "One piece at a time, she goes back together again." We needed this motto given the fourteen years of effort just on Diamond and Caldor No. 4. You have to be patient, and find success in every part or you go nuts looking for the nuts (or the bolts, or the pipes, etc.).

Why do we do this?

President Keith Berry wrote this piece last month as we geared up for the summer issue of The Dispatch, the official newsletter of the El Dorado Western Railway Foundation. Since I didn't have room for the article in the newsletter, I'll share Keith's thoughts on volunteerism over the next several weeks here.

The El Dorado Western Railway engine house and machine shops are located in Placerville, on the grounds of the El Dorado County History Museum. Several locomotives, a railbus and various other railroad cars are scattered about, all creating the look of an over sized model railroad. All of us are museum volunteers, our objective being to interpret and explain the work going on toward operating restoration of these community artifacts.

Frequently, we are asked, "Why do you choose to do this work, especially as a volunteer?"

Well, that is a good question, one which we ponder deeply, search for the best explanation and then get right back to the work. Being volunteers, we take breaks, called "standing around," and discuss just why we do volunteer for this work, donating time and expense to keep the work progressing toward a distant conclusion. Usually, we all reach the same answer, we don’t quite know! However, here are the most frequent opinions.

REASON #1: We are attracted to rusting junk! Now, seriously, we don’t like rust. It only serves to entice us to look beneath it for the original pieces and parts which offer recovery to their original beauty. Getting to the item through decades of rust is the attraction to find, save and restore to operational level something 100 years old. We are on a treasure hunt -- a hunt for old trains, steam trains, logging trains, trains of long ago.

To be continued ...

Trackmobile wiring issues

Mark Littlejohn of Newport Richey, Florida, chases wiring issues in the 3TM Whiting Trackmobile. As an appliance repair technician, he is the perfect fit for the job.

Mark joined the El Dorado Western Railway this week while on a two-month vacation in the Placerville area. He will work with the railway on various projects through the Labor Day holiday. He then returns home to run his used appliance store.

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.

Recycling program

Bill Rodgers sorts plastic bottles and aluminum cans for EDWRF's recycling program. We've found that recycling give us significant source of funds.

Members bring recyclables to the engine house each week. Bill sorts the cans and bottle and redeems the weekly haul at the recycling outlet in the Placerville Raley's parking lot.

Bill has managed the program since its inception in 2007. While the program yields less than $1,000 per year, it pays for tools, material for artifact renovation and welding gasses.

More youthful energy

Keith Berry explains the renovation process to Daniel, 14 of Placerville. Daniel, a middle school student, joined the project this weekend.

"You start with a picture," said Keith. He used a vintage photograph of the Diamond and Caldor Flatcar No. 10 to make his point.

Volunteer often begin a project with nothing more than a photograph, said Keith. For many projects, drawings and original parts don't exhist.

He then pointed to the flatcar and explained how machinist Alberto Weiss fabricated a new handbrake staff and chain roller for the flatcar.

Daniel spent Saturday morning learning how to work safely.