THE TWO FOOTERS         

The completion of the branch line to Boys Teepee Town not only made it easier to get there, no more ¼ mile walk, but is also means all Haluwasa’s camp sites are located conveniently close to the railroad making the operation more efficient.  This is probably the last major extension project for a while as we now need to turn attention to the maintenance of other parts of the system.  The Railroad Crew has learned a great deal during the construction phase of this project and it also gave them a chance to fine tune their track building skills.

Track construction began December 26, 2004 and was officially completed April 1, 2006 (and we’re not fooling!).  The entire roadbed was cut and filled at a pace to stay ahead of the track crew.  The line is about ¼ mile climbing a steep grade through the woods from the lakeside to the highest point in the camp.  The line joins the rest of the system by way of the Girl’s Teepee Town Branch, the location of one of two wyes on the system.  It is single tracked and runs to a reverse loop at the Boys Teepee Town Station.  There is also a short siding located here to allow bad order cars and/or maintenance of way equipment to be stored temporarily. 

After several false starts in attempts to purchase rail we ended up getting some from a friend in Pennsylvania who generously provided it at the shipping cost.  Little work was accomplished on the line over the summer of 2005 as we needed about 400 feet of rail.  It arrived at 5:30 one October morning and was unloaded promptly by lifting the whole pile off the truck trailer.  When the sun came up we looked at the mangled pile of rail and decided that we should make sure our rail bender was in working order.  A lot of the rail shows signs of having been removed by a bulldozer or backhoe, probably in a hurry.  As it turned out we used our rail bender quite a bit before it had to go out for repair which contributed to the length of time it took to get the line completed.

The bender, along with the skill of the Railroad Crew, was able to make most of the rail straight or curved as necessary but it was time consuming and challenging to get out all the kinks.  A large portion of the rail was #14 (an assumption on our part it was greater than #12 but less than #16) which we had never seen before and had holes for joint bars spaced differently than the other rail we have used.  To make for a smoother ride, many of the rail joints were welded rather than bolted together as is usually done which solved this problem.

The line was started at the wye and preceded up the hill and halfway around the loop before we ran out of rail.  After receiving the rail, the crew completed the wye and then the remainder of the loop.  The last task was to install the siding at the loop.  The track is now finished and the throw assembly for the switch will probably have been installed by the time you read this.  Using a c-clamp to hold the switch points in place, we ran a test train on the siding to check everything out. 

Now that the line is complete the next project on the horizon is realignment of about 150 feet of track and repair of a grade crossing.  This should be done by late spring so the summer project, renewal (ties, ballast, alignment) of a section of track on one of the dams can begin.  This project will require a lot of work as some of the roadbed is eroding into the lake itself.  I guess the fun never ends but we have a good crew and I’m sure we’ll get it all done safely and on time.

Around the time last article in Issue 20 - June 2005, we had received our permits and were ready to go on our big expansion if our grant came through.  Well, we're still waiting but the time is getting shorter.  The Florida legislature is hashing out the budget and it goes to the governor in two weeks.  He has three weeks to veto any line item.  We have pretty good information from a club member who is a lawyer/lobbyist, that our grant looks good right now.

Our other hang-up that I'm trying to get changed is the design of the wetlands trestle.  The county's contract engineering firm had their geo-tech team do soil borings to determine the piling requirements.  They determined we needed to use 8" small end piles, jetted down 10' and then driven another four feet.  They determined we would have a pile loading capacity of 7 tons per pile.  With 4 pile bents, we would have a safety factor of almost 10 times our 3 ton load.  I've been trying to point out to them that our current 10' trestles only use two piles at each end augured in four feet.  They have not moved an inch in four years.  It is sure a bitch having to deal with government employees.

We did construct two new riding cars this year.  They are basically steel framed, wood floored flat cars with five park benches mounted on each car.  The front of the car is made from pieces salvaged from the remains of two Crown riding car that came with our purchase of the locomotive.  The trucks are home-made arch bars using wheel, axle and bearing sets from brick yard cars. At some point in the future, we plan to install roofs to protect the riders from cinders and sparks when we get the Crown in operation. Two pix are attached. One under construction and one completed.

We also acquired a derelict 1961 Mack pumper fire truck.  We finally got it running and partially equipped in time for our county Christmas parade.  We loaded the Crown on a trailer and towed it with the fire truck in the parade.  I've enclosed a picture of that also

In my last year's report, I said we were building an automated crossing gate. The gate got built and it worked but not automatically.  Finally, this week, I completed the insulated detection blocks and both the road crossing flasher and the gate do what they are supposed to without help from the engineer and conductor.

One other minor project was the building of a water tower next to the station to service the Crown.  We are now a "jerk water" town.  It was made around a free 110 gallon propane tank.  We would have liked a bigger tank but free is better. The picture was taken before I installed the spout.

In October, we ran our second annual "Spooktacular Express". It was a great success with over 800 riders on two week-ends.  During the late summer, we made a major expansion to the electrical and plumbing systems around the track.  We added nine power poles each with four outlets and a water faucet so that no point on the railroad is now more than 150' from power and water. This was really needed since we increased our Christmas display this year from 15,000 lights in 2004 to 30,000. Unfortunately, it was all in vain.  We had scheduled our "WinterWonderland Express" for three nights the week before Christmas.  The first night, it was miserably cold and the wind was blowing a gale. We didn't even have one train load of riders. On the second night, the weather had cleared and it was beautiful and we couldn't get the locomotive to start.  The next morning, the crew jumped on the problem and found ignition problems that were quickly repaired with several new parts.  Then it started to rain and poured all that day and evening.  So we bombed out on our second major fund-raising event in December.  We had tried a poinsettia sale in early December but it seemed every civic, school and church group had the same idea.  We ended up losing a bunch of money and donated most of them to nursing homes.

I thought you might like to see one of Dave Waldren's pictures.  He was up in Gogledd Cymru (North Wales) over Easter. Did I tell you that while we - i.e. Welsh Highland Railway (Caernarfon) - are building down from the north there is another outfit building up from the south?  This is our former rival and bitter enemy organization "Welsh Highland Railway (Porthmadog)".

They were mortified when the Minister of Transport gave us and not them the go-ahead and the grants but now we are pals.  We have involved them by giving them a contract to build north as far as the first major bridge. They are all volunteers (we also use contractors) but not all amateurs; some of them are qualified engineers.  They are doing OK, as the picture shows.

Their track finishes (at the moment) at the gate in mid-distance. It is pointing at the nearest mountain on the left, which is Moel Hebog (The Bare Mountain of the Hawk).  Look right of Hebog into the far distance and you see another (bigger) mountain with its summit in the clouds.  That is Yr Wyddfa (The Monument - but we English call it Snowdon).  Our present terminus is at the foot of Snowdon.  We have to fill the gap before the money stops flowing in 2009.

We will soon be starting the planning for the 2007 Convention Trip to Maine.  We have only heard back from a few of the members regarding the trip and would like to hear from more of the membership. Also we have 8 pages in this issue, please send what is happing with your railroad. 

The Two Footers
534 Armory Road
St. Marys, PA  15857

tpbauer@alltel.net
or
tom@thetwofooters.com

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