Train fans enjoying the run day
President Bob opened the meeting at 12:38 pm
Atendees; 13 members attending - Bob S, Russ S, Bill B, Kevin H, Ken K, Ed S, Tom W, Carl H, Mike W, Bruce S, Dee M, Matt P, and - Welcome back, Ron Mason!
Treasurer’s report – Kevin
We have $11,818.83 in the bank. Accounts receivable are $200 for two members dues. Accounts payable $0.
PV & A RR has 71 members, including life members; 69 are current with their dues.
We had two new members join in the last couple of weeks. Evan Bautista and Peter Randall, who may be able to join us on Thursdays.
Railroad Maintenance expenses for the year are: $1,704.97. The Caboose Loop expansion project is on track.
Project Status Reports
Lumber Camp Route -
Switch Stands - Tom Switch stands are on hold at the moment while the Overlook South retaining wall girders are being built. The next switch stand to be installed is at the Purina Grain company. It takes about an hour to do a standard switch, longer for the remote models.
Caboose Loop Route -
Right of Way - Bruce. Grading on the ROW to the Caboose Loop is done; base rock is going down. It has to be delivered, spread, leveled and tamped. We need at least a 5 person team plus the tractor drivers.
Bob. We have scheduled the June Run weekend to be a work weekend to help speed this along, and noted it would help if we could outline the work needed on work days for other volunteers to do.
Tunnel - Bruce. Pressure Treated wood for the widening of the portals that matches the original wood has arrived, Some will be installed today. We will add a post or two to make it wider later. Dirt backfill will not be moved until the Ranch rents a tractor again; probably next year.
Track Laying - Bruce. Probably can start in July if we have adequate crews on gravel installation.
Kevin asked if we could have Bill’s tractor remove a mound of dirt in the ROW down by the Lumber Camp. (This was completed by Bill after the meeting.) New retaining wall - Bill. The right of way had 3 areas that were too narrow, we’ve addressed 2 of these, and will work on the 3rd soon. First was the mesh surface and wood faux retaining wall; second is for the South Overlook Wall. Tom is fabricating steel plates for this. The third will be addressed in a simpler fashion than the first two as it requires less structure. It is located East of the current structure being built.
Schedule - Bill, Bruce and Brandon are away at Train Mountain next week; so gravel moving will resume the first week in June.
Little Buildings - Ron. Dick Osgood is still working on the fire tower. Ron is priming another building inside and out. Gary Sorenson has one building at home. Ron will contact him to see how that is going.
FIre Extinguishers - Ron. All nineteen are charged up and ready for distribution around the RR. If there are any others, please let Ron know.
Track Fabrication. - Ed. All the straight panels with standard rail have been repaired, we are now moving to the Tom Miller rail units. Train Mountain is ready for us to come and get the new rail we have ordered through them - Bill, Bruce and Brandon will be there next week, and will pick them up then. We need more tie material before we can start to build new panels.
We have many of the current ties in stock, and these are needed for infill between panels during installation. With ~220 panels ready, we’ll need about 900 to 1,000 ties for this.
We will order a trailer load of the new I-Beam tie material, which Brandon will pick up for us. Then we’ll build 10 panels and install them to test out the new design.
Run Days - Bob. Our hosts have asked that either Bill or Bruce be in attendance for each run day. Bill will take June, and Bruce will take July. Sundays are very lightly attended.
If you bring guests, keep the numbers reasonable, continue to use good judgement to stay safe following current county guidelinesBob ended the meeting at 1:08 PM
Mike Ward, Secretary, with great notes by Matt