It was time to get out of the damp cold Southern California lowlands and dry out. It might have been cold at night , but the days were enjoyable. Thursday evening Shelli and I made the run out. Allan and Lynn hadn't been there too long and the Industrious Bill Shepherd was back in town on top of that. A nice time around the fire and off to dreamland.
Friday dawned beautiful and clear, with just a few high Cirrus, Horsetails telling us that the breeze might just be blowing elsewhere, but it was okay here.
Everybody seemed to have a project in mind and started into it early. Bill was exercising with his shovel at the loading area, the South wall is going in for the yard tracks; an erosion, aesthetics, accessibility, capacity project.
Enabling another track to be completed at the loading yard, a completed walkway to the raised area of the loading yard and a start to the two, close, steaming bays for short term visiting steamers. Allan was tackling a shrubbery issue that was soon to be gone, and continued the rearrangement of the wood pile. I hauled track panels up to the high line for installation over the weekend. Soon Bob Whitt arrived and the morning project evolved into the mid day projects, the area was cleared and leveled for the site of the new Conley Mansion; a building being erected between the south side of the station museum building and the 7 1/2" loop below the Car Barn to house the exhibits of Gary's HO scale railroad empire that was in his house in town.
A fitting tribute to the mini modeler, craftsman and tinkerer that he was. The dirt excavated was placed east of the station for easy removal by rail to any point on the 7 1/2" that needs good quality aggregate products. Another shipping point on our busy pike. A thirty bucket shipment to the end of the high line was squeezed into operations over the weekend for use in the last of the retaining wall that Bill is creating for us. Rumor has it that much of it will be used to complete the wall on the station curve too, a John Griffin project.
There was time to run a railroad too, we unloaded Allan's trusty GE 47 tonner and train, the 4-4-0 was hauled to the steaming bays by the Davenport #7 as well as a string of utilitarian Westside 24' flats. A few circuits of railroading throughout the day to make the weekend as enjoyable as possible. Greg and Becky rolled in Friday night and that ended up to be the extent of faraway arrivals for the weekend.
Sixty feet of track panels were assembled and we are within 15 feet or so of the trestle abutment, it made for an easier route for that shipment of fill for the retaining wall/trestle abutment area.
The days got a little warmer all weekend as this time of year the days are mild if the breeze is low or non existent. The survey crew did a bit of trampling through the canyon above the trestle area, getting ideas and dreams aligned for the ascent of the mountain. Nothing is impossible, it promises to be interesting. A link for the pictures is here:
https://goo.gl/photos/nej4AbwKrZJt3jdz9
All in all a very nice and productive weekend. Next month is the Standard Gauge Meet. February 12-14. Bring that sweetheart of an engine out too.
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