Milling the Slip Joints

New volunteer Harold Tilton has taken over where Dave Spohr left off when he moved to the Bay Area several months ago. Harold was "recruited" during the 2007 county fair. The retired pile driver operator brings welding, machine shop and metal fabrication skills to the railway.

Here's how Keith Berry described the restoration process last year:

Dave has been working with Sam and Dale since February 2006 to restore the male driveshaft faces to specification. Over normal locomotive operation, surface-to-surface friction from turning and the constant presence of dirt kicked up from the ballast ground the driveshaft faces down.

Sam's challenge was to locate an arbitrary starting surface point to weld/build the contact surfaces and end up with a four-sided square drive shaft. Once established, Dale welds, and Dave mills the surfaces. Then Dale welds, and Dave again mills, and around it goes. Or in this case, square it becomes! Eventually, the shaft will reach finished specification and they'll start on the next shaft.

Siding on the W&CV Ry Parlor Car

Two new volunteers signed up at the El Dorado County Fair this year. The first, Pete, is a retired carpenter and wood worker. He's agreed to work at the engine house one Saturday each month. Pete is going to help the El Dorado Western renovate Westside and Cherry Valley Railway Parlor Car No. 101.

Office to Office

Each Saturday I trade my office in downtown Sacramento for one in an West Side and Cherry Valley Railway combine car. Instead of analyzing budgetary issues for the state's prison health care system, I edit and publish the newsletter for the railway.

I expect the publish the summer issue of The Dispatch in mid-August.

I returned to work last Tuesday after a 10-day vacation to chef the kitchen at children's camp. As a result, I missed three consecutive Saturday work days at the engine house of the El Dorado Western Railway.

Skip on over to my personal blog if you're interested in the process of feeding 155 campers and staff for a week.

In the photo to the right, Keith Berry (sorry, I didn't aim the camera properly!) and I discuss the identify a two-truck, Class B Shay locomotive image on the laptop.

The photograph, which was snapped at Bear Meadow, shows the locomotive pulling a consist of 10 or more skeleton log cars south from the re-load point.

Bear Meadow is located to the north of Caldor. The California Door Company operated a mill at Caldor until 1923, when a fire destroyed the mill. After the fire, the logging company used the mill site as a camp and re-load point.

A Civilian Conservation Corps camp was located at Caldor in the late 1930s.

The railway acquired the caboose and baggage car from the West Side and Cherry Valley Railroad over a decade ago.

Diamond and Caldor No. 4 Shay

Keith Berry (left in door) and Eric Stohl occupy their rightful places as fireman and engineer on the Diamond and Caldor No. 4 at the El Dorado County Historical Museum. They are the vice-president and president, respectively, of the El Dorado Historical Foundation. Bill Rogers (standing) and Steve Karoly form the remainder of the crew for Saturday's display of the locomotive at the county fair.

The engine is about 80 to 85 percent complete. The boiler refit and re-installation of the brake system are the remaining major projects. Once the boiler refit is complete, the crew will be able to reassemble all other systems and get her ready for steaming.

Friday at the County Fair

Over 90 fair goers enjoyed a visit with the Diamond and Caldor No. 4 Shay locomotive today. That's an impressive number considering that the engine house only sees about one-fourth of the museum's visitors. We're encouraged to hear that many visitors had read the recent articles about the locomotive in the Mountain Democrat.

And now this note to Richard Wright: Your sister and brother-in-law said hi! She promised snap a few pictures of the Four-Spot for you tomorrow when we pull her out of the engine house.

Finally, we should note that Harold Kiser was featured on page one of today's Mountain Democrat. The 83-year-old El Dorado Western Railway board member was a El Dorado Rose Escort and was treated to his first Ferris wheel ride in 50 years. Harold attended a special VIP/media night last Wednesday.

Thursday at the County Fair

I worked the fair this afternoon a little after noon until 7 p.m. Board member Bill Rodgers held down the morning shift. Over 40 folks , including a few who told me a thing or two about the Shay locomotive, stopped by the engine house.

Stop by tomorrow and take a look at the Diamond & Caldor No. 4 Shay. The engine house is open from 1o a.m. to 7 p.m. daily through Sunday. Bill will be there Friday morning. Keith Berry and I will be on duty tomorrow afternoon and early evening.

We have T-shirts on sale for $20, coffee mugs for $10 and train whistles for $6. Our newest T-shirt sports an image of the No. 4 number plate.

And don't forget that memberships are available for $35, $60 and $100 each (individual, family and corporate).

The fair schedule, parking and shuttle service information for the El Dorado County Fair is posted on its website. El Dorado Transit is offering free shuttle service each day from three separate parking lots to the fair entrance on Placerville Drive. Service is operated from 9:30 a.m. until midnight on Saturday. Check the schedule for Friday and Sunday. Parking is available for $5 in the fair parking lots.

Garrett Augustus (left), Dale Mace and Eric Stohl install the Sunbeam steam powered dynamo on the boiler two weeks ago.

Mounting the Oil Tank, Part 2

The oil tank has been mounted on the water tank for the first time in 13 years. The crew lifted the oil tank on Saturday, June 2, 2007 with the assistance of one of our heavy surplus forklifts. After a slow start while Doug and Garrett installed the siphoning elbow, Eric (driving forklift), Doug, Garrett, Keith, Dale, Sam and Bill were able to place the oil tank in place for the county fair.

Come see the locomotive at the El Dorado County Fair this weekend. The fair runs today through Sunday. The fair website has hours and a schedule of events. The museum is located at 104 Placerville Drive, adjacent to fairground’s Green Gate. The fair admission fee is good for the museum and engine house.

Logan's mother grabs a quick pose. Logan and his family were leaving for Disneyland right after the photograph. He had to see the locomotive before leaving for Southern California.

Eric, driving the forklift, starts the approach toward the locomotive with the oil tank.

Garrett guides Eric as he stets the oil tank on the jack stands. Initially, the oil tank rested on the jack stands so the crew could rig straps to make the final lift.

Doug worked the cab end of the oil tank. The cab, which was built to original Lima specifications, leaves little room to lower the oil tank in place. This view shows the cribbing that supports the oil tank. Keith, Eric and I measured and cut the cribbing Memorial Day weekend.

Doug and Garrett (behind forklift tower) rig the straps. The crew will then lower the oil tank into its final position.

Garrett and Keith get ready to remove the jack stands once Eric lifts the oil tank a few inches with the forklift.

This view gives you an idea of the tight quarters in the cab once the oil tank is installed.