Annual Meeting - Bill providing an update on the Caboose Route
January 25th 2020 Annual Meeting and Operations Council Meeting Minutes
Bob opened the meeting at 12:50 pm after our Annual Meeting BBQ which was attended and enjoyed by over 31 people.
David Littlefield joined us for the opening part of the meeting, and Bill Boller gave us all a brief update, as follows.
The PV&A RR club has a great relationship with family - communications, support and enthusiasm. We have their support and budget to finish the Caboose Loop connecting the Alpine Crossover, through the new tunnel to the Loop around the Caboose and over the Redwood Trestle. This is to be completed within 3-1/2 years from now and it is incumbent on us to get it done in this time frame. This will include the rental of some heavy equipment, and we have agreed to provide the Ranch some help on their projects with this same equipment. We believe this is all do-able on time and on budget. When we finish the Caboose Loop we will be done with our major projects, and can turn our focus onto RR maintenance, such as the tie replacement process, and others.
We all give our thanks to the family for their support, patience and friendship.
David replied that the project looks amazing; and got a laugh when he said he’s glad we’re doing all the work!
Finance Report - Kevin: We have $3,662.62 in the bank, with Accounts Receivable of $4,671.98 including $1,400 uncollected membership dues and bills to the family for project materials of $3,271.98.
We have 63 Total members including lifetime members. 49 are current. Note that the number of members are already paid up, which is better than usual for this time of year.
Project Status Reports:
Lumber Camp Return Loop
Bridge Welding - Bill: All bridge sections complete, last section is painted and waiting for the foundation before installation..
Foundations - Bruce: Last hole completed (with a slight detour to repair water pipe); may be finished pouring cement on Sunday, Rebar cages are needed
Right-of-Way Grading & Track laying - Kevin: No new grading. Surveying the exit off the new steel bridge showed that the grade is greater than desired to connect the North Spur directly to the Caboose Loop return track, but still allows a siding, and perhaps a “Y” track for reversing. We’re building the crossing for the LC loop. Carl doing the cutting, Tom the welding and it will look great. Working on switches for the future, re-doing old wood switches with plastic long life ties. We did put in a gutter beneath the retaining wall for runoff that is working.
Small Redwood Trestle at Lumber Camp Bridge - Mike: Three foundations are in for the trestle. We’re going to widen the trestle for a future switch to a future siding, so will need one or two more foundations to support the structure. Additional large dimension redwood will need to be purchased to make the wide bents. We also will put in an 18” high abutment at the end of the track on the ground.
Bridge Installation - Bill: We will need many volunteers to lend a hand for the move in February. Also, we would like to weld down the bridge foundations soon, which will not impinge on the wood trestle effort.
Redwood Trestle - Ken: No new progress
Caboose Loop: ROW, Tunnel, Bridge and Circle
Bruce: We have ordered 3,300 feet of rail, Brandon will drive to RMI to pick up (saves us $1,000 in shipping costs) Thanks! With this purchase, we can build track panels during the winter.
We’re going to automate the fire sprinklers with a wifi controller so we can run with adequate pressure and start early enough to get done by run time. This requires wire, conduit, wifi controller and trenches. We will get an excavator to dig trench and put in wiring and water pipes. After that, we can put in the tunnel. We’ll need drain boards on the high side with drain pipe. Lots of planning being done, need to coordinate projects to optimize equipment and volunteer labor.
Carl asked; Since we will be doing some work on ranch maintenance, will we be able to work on days other than Thursday? Bob: yes we can usually get PTR permission.
Little Buildings - Ron: - Steady progress on small buildings
Annual Election. Officers standing for election for 2020 are Bob, Kev, Bill, Mike, Bruce. Voted in unanimously by the 21 members present.
Event planning for 2020-2021
April 2020. Run weekend will be converted to a work weekend (like last year) which helps attack maintenance chores (not tie replacement) and building new track panels. We can invite our sister clubs to join in too. If needed, we could convert other run days to work days.
June 2020. Will be our annual joint run with Golden Gate and Sacramento Live Steamers. We will also invite Bitter Creek folks. But no campovers are permitted.
Later. Richard Croll committed to plan and run a basic operations meet for beginners in the fall.
Bob opened the floor for Q & A
Ed Holland: What are Saturday work possibilities? Bruce & Bill: They would be viewed favorably by the family to help speed our projects along. Would need to coordinate the work that needs to be done and how to do it with the Thursday teams. A quorum of 3-5 people needed. We could do Track building, water pipe laying, ballast tamping, wire pulling, fastening wood on the tunnel, etc. Ed will pursue this.
Jerry. Any need for 110 VAC at Rabbit Flat? Bruce. It is possible, but not particularly needed now that we do have an easy to tote and run generator that we haul around all the time to run equipment.
Jack will donate some big (12 gage) electrical cords - Jack, Dick, and Kevin W. went and got them.
Rene: Do we need new signals for the LC bridge? Bob, No, we’re going to use Token Control to manage traffic, which will be another fun thing for us to learn.
Meeting ended at 1:20 pm