I'll try to play a little catch up. Things have gotten busy in my part of the world as if yours wasn't. We did make it out for Easter and the small crew moved all the fill dirt we could find that weekend with two trains working the hill, a crew loading buckets and a dump and grade guy at the top. 300 buckets on Saturday, on top of almost that many on Friday too.

The grade has been adjusted from the upper trestle on up to help us gain elevation for our trip up the hill. So we had to fill in the siding area about nine inches throughout the length of it, and it's width too. Those buckets of fill just kept disappearing the more they brought up. By the end of Saturday the fill pile was gone and one could move around up on the Pauline siding a lot easier with a flat grade.

Bill Shepherd had moved a lot of rock and created a wall clear to our end of grading cone, the marker from where we start in the trestle district again. We have two big boulders that John Griffin is whittling away on. He has been at it as much as he can get out too. The watering of what is green takes a bit of time and it is appreciated.
 The wind we had in April finished off the stack for the fire barrel at the picnic shelter. It has been around a few years and we are looking for a replacement.
  This Sunday past we had a get together at the Air Museum in Palm Springs and afterward we made a trip up to check the place out. Knowing that the summer locals had been doing some work it is always good for the moral to grade the grading. Jerry McPheeters refilled our fill dirt pile and John has been moving it up the hill. A pleasant surprise on the progress since we last saw it back in April.
  With some cool weather this fall we could well be measuring for trestle bents by Christmas. I'm sure the spirits that watch over our progress on railroad construction out here have been smiling.

Summer is fast descending on the High Desert and most of us stay in cooler climes, but the locals are clicking along during the cooler times of day. A couple of off site events coming up in the next few months for the runners. I'm sure we'll be around to at least a few of them, enjoy your summer. Brian