Lunch and train talk
President Bob opened the meeting at 12:27 pm with 14 members present.
Treasurer’s report -- Kevin
Kevin reports that we have a healthy bank account, with no Accounts Receivable, and $273.91 in Accounts Payable which are outstanding checks. The club has 64 members, all of whom are current. We are counting family memberships as 1 .
Project Status
Lumber Camp Wye. Kevin
We have installed the second of three switches for the Wye, and the tracks have been extended off the wood trestle onto the dirt. Grading of the ROW is good so we can have 25 feet of tail track for reversing. Our goal is to dig along the hillside so that we get another 30 feet or so. Ed will install the kick switch on the trestle side today.
Rabbit Flat. Kevin
We have general plans for Rabbit Flat, but not yet detailed. We will need about 18” of fill dirt in many areas to raise the track to yard level. We will also bury the white drain pipe before that time.
Riding Arena Repair. Bruce
The family has let us know there needs to be a large culvert repair under the riding arena. We’ve removed several sections of track so heavy equipment can work in the area over the next several weeks. Work will start after our run weekend. While this is down, Bob and Ed took the opportunity to replace the points on switches along the Caboose route to the new style. The Caboose route is closed for a while until the repairs are complete. Cones mark the tracks not to be taken.
Little Buildings. Bob
Carl spoke with Ron Mason. He is in good spirits, but not yet able to return.
Redwood Canyon Footbridge. Mike
Reports that last week the team of Dee, Matt, Randy, Kevin W. Bill and Mike used the trailerable air compressor to drive in eight steel pipes for foundations to a depth of 4’ into the soil. Pipes were used in lieu of concrete foundations for speed, and to minimize the impact on the setting. The bridge will be supported on two 6”x12” redwood beams 20’ long resting on a steel C channel supported by the pipes. Today Randy Kevin and Mike got one C channel bolted to two of the pipes for the north end. Slow process, but making progress.
Club Speeder. Bruce
Installed a new rheostat in the controller and that fixed the problem!
Air compressor Lines. Bruce
As fixed as it will be for a while. Later, we’ll take out the existing lines and replace them with PEX. There are still a few leaks that need fixing.
Big Red, the new club engine. Bruce
Reports that the remainder of the brake parts have arrived, and Brandon can install them next time he’s here. We do have an additional problem in ‘flat wheels’ on some of the cars.
Track Refurbishment Program. Bob
Says the first section we will start on goes from the North Yard to Cranna’s corner. This will give us the opportunity to develop our work and material flow in a place where we have an alternative way to traverse that section of ROW.
Meet and Event Planning
July
Run Saturday has been converted to a work weekend due to the culvert repair project. We will focus on the Wye and track refurbishment. We can also work on a bypass track in Rabbit Flat, as one of the switches is already in. So, do show up and lend a hand.
August
No special plans
September & October
Both September and October run days will feature model railroad enthusiasts who bid for the opportunity to join us at two different charity auctions. A nice donation to our operations has been made.
We may also plan a night run in October. If so, Mike will help Bob with food planning
Ops meet
Mike suggested that we put a stake in the ground so we can have some future Ops Meets. This of course will require learning, labeling, planning and lots of help from Ed Sarber and Rich Croll. Discussion led to the idea of trying a practice Ops Meet next spring, say May, and a more serious date in the fall, like October 2024.
Safety and announcements
We will be putting out new heavy duty water hoses with new ball valves. These will be placed along the ground for easy deployment. We will not be making any more green fire boxes, but we’ll keep what we have, as many of them also support sprinkler pipes. We’ll also put out the fire extinguishers as before.
Trash removal. After lunch, the last person from the station is to take the trash bag up to the Building 4 dumpster. This is a must do task every week to prevent rodent activity in the building
Driving Big Red. Dee will be developing a training and certification process so members can safely start, drive and put away the engine. It is different than our other club engine
Bob ended the meeting at 12:58 pm
Mike Ward
PV&ARR
Secretary