Issue033

So far, the year 2007 has been a very busy year for the Goose Creek Railroad in Bristol, Virginia. Over the past couple of years, we have been very fortunate to acquire five pieces of Tuckahoe Valley rolling stock and restore them for use on the GCRR. Unfortunately, when Daddy and I built our railroad, we set the track gage at 24 1/8” – 24 1/4" and all of our equipment was gauged at 24”. Since we were building all of our own equipment, this did not cause us any problems whatsoever. However, when we acquired our first piece of Tuckahoe Valley rolling stock in 2003, a side dump car, we quickly discovered that most 2-foot gage rolling stock is narrow and the 23 1/2" gage of the car would not work in our crossings and switches. So, we have had to widen every TVRR car we have acquired – except one. As seen in Issue 30 of The Two Footers, we acquired Tuckahoe Valley Railroad’s #93, “the Jeep” and hauled it to Bristol from St. Marys, Pa., in September 2006. While in St. Marys, we also decided to purchase a small TVRR work car, but we had no room to haul it home. So, in October, my wife and I attended the East Broad Top RR Fall Spectacular. The B&W gang also attended the event, and Bill Bauer very graciously hauled the car to Rockhill Furnace. We transferred the car from Bill’s truck to our truck in EBT’s parking lot. Once we got the car home, we found that it worked perfectly on our railroad – it was ready to roll without having to be re-gauged. This spring, we added standard GCRR couplers to the car and my wife, Amanda, gave it a fresh coat of paint. It was finally finished when I got the car lettered in May.

First trip around GCRR’s loop, 10/11/2006	Amanda Helton painting the car, 3/31/2007
The finished product, 5/13/2007	Long train on the GCRR, 7/22/2007

Now, back to “the Jeep.” The Jeep was

built by Peter Lear of Colebrook, New Hampshire, for his Mohawk Valley Railroad. He used a 1959 Jeep engine and transmission and a dump car he obtained from the B&W in St. Marys, Pa. When Peter passed away in the fall of 1993, his whole railroad was donated to the B&W. Later that fall, a large crew of B&W folks made the trek to New Hampshire to load up the railroad. You may remember reading about this “mission” in the Two-Foot Gage Owner’s Association newsletter. The B&W really did not need the Jeep, so Todd Hunter acquired the Jeep for the Tuckahoe Valley RR near Tyrone, Pa. There it became their primary motive power along with Whitcomb #88. Unfortunately, when C.J. Moore passed away, Todd had to move the TVRR into storage at the B&W. In September 2006, GCRR purchased the locomotive and hauled it 550 miles to Bristol, Virginia. So, if you’re keeping track, the Jeep was hauled from Colebrook, New Hampshire to St. Marys, Pa. Then from St Marys to Tyrone, Pa., then back to St Marys and then finally to Bristol, Va. It sure is a well-traveled locomotive.

Once we got the Jeep home, we discovered that the engine would not turnover.
We thought that it might just be “dry stuck” from sitting for a long period of time, so we poured penetrating oil in each spark plug hole and let it sit for a few weeks. Then we tried pulling it off with our Farmall M and all that happened was the wheels scooted. We finally pulled the head off the engine and discovered that cylinder #4 was totally rusted stuck. We pulled the engine on November 18, 2006, and totally disassembled it. We took the engine to a local auto machine shop to be sleeved and bored.

In the meantime, we began working on widening the gage from 23 inches to 24 inches. This required moving each wheel 1/2" further out the axle. By doing this, the wheels lost their press fit. Now, we had to key the wheels. How you do put a keyway in a wheel this big with our small machines? You don’t very easily. So, we made hubs that are keyed to the axle and then bolted them to the inside face of the wheels. See the photo below of one of the finished wheels. Finally, by April 2^nd, the wheels were finished and the Jeep rolled on GCRR rails for the first time being pulled dead-in-tow by our #5.

Jeep wheel with keyed hub

The Jeep’s first time rolling on GCRR rails, 4/2/2007

Now that the wheels were finished, we could again focus on the engine. Daddy began putting in new pistons, rings, bearings, oil pump, fuel pump, etc. Then on April 20^th, it was time to move the Jeep to Daddy’s basement workshop to finish the project. A few weeks later it was time to reinstall the engine. Throughout the months of May and June, work continued on the Jeep doing such things as adding the air compressor, re-doing the engine mounts, etc. Around the 4^th of July, Daddy and I decided that we could get the Jeep complete enough that we might be able to pull the train for the East Tennessee Chapter, NRHS meeting at GCRR on July 10^th. Well, we worked and worked and the Jeep moved under its own power for the first time since being acquired by GCRR at 2:50 p.m., on Sunday, July 8^th. Then at 5:45 p.m., on July 9^th, it was unloaded onto GCRR rails and started up. However, due to a leaking carburetor float, we couldn’t run the Jeep for the NRHS club—it kept flooding out. Finally, after several attempts, we got the float repaired and the Jeep is running great. Later this year, we’ll finish the Jeep. Currently, it has a temporary control stand, tubing for air lines, no hood, no running boards, etc.

Moving the Jeep to the basement workshop, 4/20/2007	Ready to reinstall the engine, 5/6/2007
The engine compartment	Ready to take back to the rails, 7/9/2007
Unloading on the wye, 7/9/2007	Short test run, 7/9/2007

Here are a couple of pictures (June 28^th, 2007) of the new VMRR maintenance building progress. The contractor's crew put up the posts last Friday, the trusses and girts yesterday and the roofing today. John and I have installed about 1/2 the slab form boards and will finish them soon. We still need to grade and tamp the dirt in the building and then make two pours for the slab. There will be a 60' section of track in the floor to roll things in for work. That awaits inmate labor assistance. Then the contractor will install the walls and two pedestrian doors. A separate contractor will install the 16' wide x 10' high roll-up door in the opening where my van is parked.

Things are happening but slowly at the railroad. Monday (July 9^th2007), we poured and finished the slab in the maintenance building. We hired a company from Blountstown which turned out to be two guys. Pouring started at 8:00 am., and power troweling the finish was done by 2:00 p.m. I never thought two guys could spread, screed and finish 30 cubic yards in that time. Not only that but they did it for $0.40 a square foot. I had welded up 70' of track which was in place for the pouring. Pictures will be forthcoming about how we grooved the concrete for the wheel flanges.

Monday, the building crew is to be back on the site putting on the walls and pedestrian doors. The following Tuesday, July 24, we'll have the Overhead Door Company installing the 16' W x 10' H main door.

Next, the railroad crew will be putting in the lighting and building a mezzanine in one end to store our decorations for Halloween and Xmas. We're keeping our fingers crossed, but think we will be able to borrow a man lift from the school board to enable us to put in the ceiling lights which will be 24 4' fluorescents. We'll need lots of lighting since the building doesn't have any windows. (for vandalism prevention purposes.)

Phil Deck has taken on the job of laying out and installing the Fit-Trail donated by the county Health Department. It is quite an elaborate set-up with 20 stations around our newly paved walking trail. He will be assisted by some young men from the Liberty Wilderness Crossroads Camp. By the way, the trail is getting a lot of use, particularly in the late afternoon and evening. Gloria uses it in the early mornings.

I had a talk with the Clerk of the Court today, and he is very pessimistic about the likelihood of getting much prison inmate labor for the foreseeable future. Politics is involved, so we are going to have to use our own resources as best we can. We may have to use jail inmates on the trestle, bridge and track laying. That leaves the station/museum. If we can squeeze out enough from the budget, I'd like to be able to go out for contract on it. We'll see how everything works out.

In the meantime, this Saturday, Jul 14, is our normal run. I'll be renting a ditcher tomorrow to dig ditches for the sink drain field at the maintenance building, the power cable out to the distribution post in the west loop, which was damaged during the stump removal and for the installation of new conduit and wire between the power poles at the two switches. This cable was destroyed when the trail paving company removed the power pole at the road crossing, apparently using a front end loader to yank it, wiring and all out of the ground.

Despite the steaming heat, we have made some progress on the railroad. I have finished the mezzanine in the maintenance building and have returned to the wiring. We recently received a donation from the Miller Electric Co of JAX of 125' of very heavy duty 3 wire tray cable. My son was instrumental in getting the donation, and I have sent Miller Co. a donation receipt for their gift. Phil and I laid the cable from the new panel board in the maintenance building to the existing power panel in the west loop. I got both ends hooked up today and we now have 100-amp power again in the west loop. We also prepared the ditch and conduit from the junction point on the black tunnel to the pad for the transformer. We'll pull the 480-volt wire when the transformer is in place. We have to back fill the ditches, but most of it can be done with the tractor. Some shoveling will be needed in a few tight spots.

Phil brought up 5 scoops of ballast from our pile in the woods, and we spread it in front of the big roll-up door. He also built a line of fence posts and a flower bed where we are trying to keep vehicles off the walking trail. Phil likes to run the tractor, so he is going to bring up more dirt for the two siding leads into the aluminum storage containers and into the maintenance building. When G and I get back from Michigan, we'll have to make and install those two switches and the connecting track.

Yesterday (8/21/2007), the 24,000# load of rail arrived from Birmingham. We owe Larry Strickland of the Bristol Water Dept a big thank-you for sending down a forklift with driver and four inmates to do the hard work. I had just finished putting out three power poles to unload on and the truck arrived. Almost before he could get in position, the work gang was there and had the tie downs off. The whole thing only took 30 minutes.

Today (8/22/2007), the inmate crew on the concession building made their last concrete pour. They had quite a bit left and brought it over and poured the transformer pad. When I heard they were just going to dump it, I quickly threw together a form at the pedestrian door. I was just putting in the last nail as the concrete truck backed up to the building.

Tomorrow, I should finish installing the outside lights on the end of the building, a small fluorescent on the far end and a 500-watt quartz flood over the big door. Also hope to get the big door primed tomorrow and painted on Friday. That will only leave the center row of fluorescent fixtures to put up and installing the three runs of conduit to the right side. That is still waiting use of a man lift. Gerald tells me that the school's is still not working. If nothing happens by Monday, I think I'll just rent one in Marianna and get the job finished.

GCRR Happenings

by Matt Helton

byTom Keenan