Rainy day lunch and map review meeting
President Bob SIlverstein opened the meeting at 12:39 pm.
We had 14 members at the RR today.
Treasurer’s report -Kevin
We continue to have a healthy bank account even after paying for a steel order - which was delivered today by Mitchell.
We have Accounts Receivable of $300 for the below dues, and Accounts Payable of $766.76, all outstanding checks.
We have 64 members, of whom 61 are current in their dues. Board members will contact the three parties to bring them up to date.
Project Status Reports
Rabbit Flat - Kevin
The siding and spur are done. However, Rabbit flat is now wet and muddy, so further work will wait for it to dry out.Then we can layout the roundhouse and turntable which will determine all the rest of the yard and industrial sites. We need to design a culvert system for water drainage with track overpasses.
Wooden Tie replacement - Bruce
Our focus for 2024 and beyond is to replace the old wooden ties. All of the now complete expansion project was done with the new ties, so only the old, in place wooden ties remain, but that is significant; totaling about a mile of track.
We’ve been doing some experimenting with how to best do this from both a quality of product and difficulty of implementation viewpoints. Bruce, Dee, Brooke and Sierra did a 100 foot test section in Rabbit Flat. We are learning a lot as we go. Predrilling the ties and eliminating the tie plates will both save labor, and improve the product and workflow. Bill has developed a fixture that will drill 10 ties at a time with the correct angle and spacing, as well as two gauging fixtures for precise alignment in the field. Mike is making a work station in building 4 to do production drilling and pre-screwing our great stainless steel screws.
We’ll do some more test sections in the field to refine the process.
Schematic Track Documentation - Bob
Bruno, Ed Sarber, Bill, Bob, Mike and Matt are working on schematic maps for all of our trackwork, signage and industry layout. This will enhance both our maintenance capability, but also it will allow us to host what are called Operations Meets in the future that will take advantage of the very interesting layout of PV&A RR and the many sidings we have been installing for years. This includes such things as defining three “Divisions” for the railroad; Lake, Mountain and Redwood. These will be color coded on all of our maps. You can see the current version of the new schematic maps here.
We are shooting for a practice Ops Meet in the fall to test all of this out. We will do this in a limited fashion with experienced people who can help us grow and learn better how to enjoy this aspect of the hobby.
We’ll even move some of the little buildings to sidings to make industries more realistic.
Ed and Rich Croll will lead the Ops Meet effort. This is a very big effort and will provide fun and challenging activity for many more members to participate in model railroading in a new way. We could be the first club in California to host an operations meet for this gauge railroad.
Switch Stands - Bill
Switch stand part production and assembly are moving along and need to be finished up so finished goods can be safely stored awaiting future installation. We have about 40 sets of parts to be completed. About 10 of the new assemblies have already entered service in the field. This includes both local and remote switch stands.
Niles Canyon full sized RR ties - Matt
Matt was slated to go out Monday to start organizing ties. But, Hwy 84 is closed due to slides, so this may be delayed a bit. Doug Lo has volunteered to help move the ties to PV&A.
Events, Safety and Announcements
The February run was this weekend the 24th and 25th. Weather was great. See photos of the run here.
At the Santa Clara Co fairgrounds train show this weekend with Matt, Dee, Dean and Ryan showing off their Z scale trains.
Tri meet in June - with Sacramento Valley Live Steam and Golden Gate Live Steam is scheduled. It coincides with Train Mountain’s Ops Meet; thus, some folks will not be able to make our tri-meet.
Safety issues
Bill - Retaining outside wall atOverlook Ridge. Still needs some fixing, not a crisis; but can be an opportunity to straighten out the wall. It is not a structural issue.
Matt - The Silver Bridge / Rabbit Flat berm needs external RR ties. Bruce notes that we have to find the water pipes before serious digging.
Club Engines & equipment
Bruce - The new club engine brake update - Brandon will take our club engine, ‘Big Red’ home in March to install the braking system. Until then, we can only use it in a limited way, one passenger car, slow passage downhill.
Bill - We plan on making our own frogs for switches in the future rather than purchasing.
Bruce - We still have two 9’ 8” long riding cars on order with RMI awaiting powder coating and brake installation, and then figuring out transportation to PV&A.
Dee - Dee announced the 100th anniversary of the Clover Valley #4 engine. Free steam train rides are available at Niles Canyon on March 2nd, 2024.
Bob ended the meeting at 1:04 pm
Mike Ward
PV&ARR
Secretary