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.

Pouring Babbitt in the engine house

For the past year stories and photographs on this blog have focused on the El Dorado County Historical Railroad Park. Long time readers have seen activity shift from weekly renovation reports on the Diamond and Caldor No. 4 Shay locomotive to tie replacement, speeders and train rides on the Placerville Branch rail line.

That doesn't mean work has stopped at the engine house. During this time two dedicated members of the Shay team have continued work in the shops at the El Dorado County Historical Museum.

Lead machinist Sam Thompson continues to make the weekly drive to Placerville from his Bay Area home. He has focused on rehabilitating the Shay's three engines. The second member, Mark Bruto, has divided his time between the engine house and railroad park.

The team has focused on the bearings for the eccentrics on the crankshaft. Using Babbitt donated to the railroad by the CemexUSA plan in Pleasanton, California, Sam and Mark devised a simple process to form the bearings.

The photographs show the process Sam and Mark used yesterday to form the third of six bearings:

Sam tightens the bolts after placing shims between the halves of the eccentric strap. The shims act as dams. They form two distinct halves as the bearing is molded. The round fixture at the bottom of the picture is used to form the inside diameter of the bearing.

Sam makes final adjustments as he centers the eccentric strap around the ring mold. Sam and Mark next clamped the strap to the ring mold to immobilize it.

A little after 10 a.m., Mark began melting the Babbitt. Babbitt is the soft white metal that's used to make the bearing. According to Sam, the material consists of approximately 92 percent tin. Antimony and copper make up the rest of the alloy.

Sam drops a handful of Babbitt shavings into the molten Babbitt. The shavings melted as soon as they fell into the pool. The Babbitt is heated to 460 to 470 degrees. Mark said the Babbitt it ready to pour when it takes on a straw color.

Mark pours the molten Babbitt into the mold around 11:15 a.m. Although difficult to see, Mark and Sam used duct seal, a clay-like material, to keep the molten Babbitt inside the mold. A second line of duct seal formed a gasket under the eccentric strap.

Sam said that he would cool the bearing for an hour or more before splitting it into halves. He heated the mold in an oven to 250 degrees before pouring the Babbitt. This prevented the Babbitt from prematurely solidifying as it spread in the mold.

Sam is currently machining the second bearing on the mill in the machine shop. Mark and Sam try to mold a bearing every other Saturday. Sam uses the middle Saturday between pours to machine the bearing to specifications.

1933 Ford truck at depot

Sharon and Ron Evans of Crystal Hill Ranch in Placerville stopped by the depot with their 1933 Ford truck last week. The couple recently donated a Southern Pacific baggage cart to the El Dorado County Historical Museum for use on the railroad. We'll feature the cart on the blog once it's restored.

New Fairmont A4 car

Last month the El Dorado Western Railroad acquired a second Fairmont A4 car. The car will be lettered as the El Dorado Western Railroad No. 603. The 603 will be used to expand rider capacity this summer.