Marty in training to take over the role of secretary in 2026
Chairman Bob opened the monthly meeting of the Railroad Club on Thursday at 12:30 pm, with 16 members present. We will be holding club meetings in each odd numbered month.
Treasurer’s report -- Kevin
Our bank accounts continue to be healthy, with enough to carry us through our near term commitments. No Accounts Receivable, Accounts Payable are $552. We are holding reserves for two unbilled items. We have 79 members including life members, all are current. (now 80 members)
2026 dues notices will be sent out early December. They remain at $100, payable by cash, check, credit cards, or ACH transfer. Credit cards are discouraged (due to service fees that eat our income away).
Bob reported that the board met this month on our long term budget needs, and will revisit in December.
Our major project is the Tie Replacement program. We have 3562’ of track with wood ties remaining to be upgraded to long lasting plastic ties. A large component of cost is the ballast and the transportation needed to get it to the RR. Bruce noted that there will be no further ballast deliveries until the ground hardens up next June or July. We do have about 2 loads near the gravel hopper, and one load near Rabbit Flat. Discussion followed around focusing Thursday work days on tie replacement efforts in addition to special work days. We estimate we should be able to do 200+ feet a day. Some areas are going to be harder than others. We have some pre-drilled ties in position in Rabbit Flat, but to get rolling, we’ll have to go back into production in building 4 to prepare more ties.
We will have to buy more tie material for 2027 to continue on the upgrade project and finish out Rabbit Flat, if needed.
Other ongoing major projects include finishing the Round House, continuing the Switch update program and building out Rabbit Flat trackwork to a level that will support a future Operations Meet - which is the main reason we have all of our sidings and spurs.
Project Status Reports
Round House & Turntable - Mike
Turntable. Wood decking is finished; added side trim pieces to cover the wood joist add-ons to which we screwed the decking so just the steel 2x2 joists show.
Fashioned a scale model turning pole on one end, much like the Gunnison turntable we are modeling. About 30 degree angle, 2.25” square redwood, oiled for weather protection. High enough to easily be used to turn the table. Give it a whirl next time you are at RF. (but it is not a playground toy!)
Round House. Remaining costs should be $4,500, including studs, siding, roof wood, roofing materials, paint, smoke stacks and interior track. Siding is pre grooved wood, 4” on center equal to scale 19” planks, which were possible in the late 1800’s, Bruno has done a rendering, and it looks good.
We have found some of the needed wood in stock in building 4; 4 sheets of roofing plywood, the Pressure Treated mud sills, some 2x4’s for studs, the remainder we will purchase along with composition roofing materials.
All the windows and doors are done and in storage building 4. RH Foundation is poured and cured. awaiting the building. Kevin and Bruce (and a paid concrete finisher) did a fantastic job. - Interior rails will be 1/4” high - same as the Ron Schmidt car barn.
Track - Bob
The serpentine section below the riding arena is slightly less than our standard 50’ radius and a kink exists. We will fix the kink (under the Lumber Camp Bridge) near term, but we may not ever fix the sub 50’ radius problem in the long term, Instead, we’ll just have long engines avoid that area. We need to have this route available during the summer, because we will be modifying 125’ of the direct return from Rabbit Flat to the station house this summer. This is a very complex area of our layout and fun to enjoy. We can fix the kink easier during the rainy season. It is easy to dig in the mud.
Switch Stands and Remotes - Bill
Working on fabricating a new supply of remote switch stands
Signals system - Ed
The track signals we have today are not reliable enough to serve our current needs. The new design which we are co-developing with Train Mountain, will be software controllable. The board is designed. And we need to build 3 PC boards. We will 3D print the signals. Bob has found someone who can make the boards.
Signage - Bill for Steve
We have finalized the content and layout of all the signs. We’re reworking the mile marker signs to latest version, ready for installation
Club engines - Bruce
The Blue engine is down, and in the shop for replacement of the drive coupler. The electrical problem is still being worked on, The engine still starts slowly. Don’t connect more than one riding car to the speeder. Also, please install the mouse boards in the speeder shed correctly.
Red Engine - Mike
Brandon will finish up the air brake system in January and February. The Engine will be off the property for 1-2 months.
New shop machines for repairs - Ken
Working on the 14” table saw to replace the arbor bearings.
Shop and tools - Carl
No news
News, Safety and Policies
Run days, Meets and work days
Future Operations Meet - Ed
Rabbit Flat is a big and necessary part of any OPS meet. We’re targeting to have our first one about this time next year, with the minimum viable track in RF. We will need industry names, car cards and schedules . The Train Games software loan did not work out, so we’ll use the old fashion paper method. A little harder but done just like the old days.
Train modeling lecture - Ken
Bill gave a talk at the Museum of American Heritage about Steam engine modeling. It was well attended, Luigi’s small engine and tender were on display. Bruce Anderson of GGLS video taped the event, with Bill’s voice over his slides. We will figure out how to get a link to it for your enjoyment. Bruce produced a great video and is now a member of our club.
Officer elections in Jan.
Mike is stepping down, and Marty is stepping up. Mike noted that in about 2010, Peter Moseley asked him to ‘temporarily’ take on the secretary job. Mike will continue to help with the 2026 Tri- Meet, the Round House and other woodworking projects. Thank you Mike (and Sharon).
Thanksgiving week is a holiday, there will be no workday.
There will be no guests for Thanksgiving weekend; possibly Christmas runs may be scheduled.
Our annual Tri-Meet will be in Sept again next year.
The old Car club may come at some future run day.
No night run planned for 2026.
Questions/comments
Dee: Can we reverse run on Sunday? Bob: Switches all work pretty well for running backwards. But, you must make sure that all engineers know you’re running backwards and you must keep a person at the station to instruct all later arriving engineers. A little bit of planning and coordination must be done; you can’t just make an audible call.
Jerry: Should we purchase a second speeder to take the load off the blue engine during work days?. Consensus answer: Probably not. They cost upwards of $5K, and our budget is pretty much committed or over-planned.
Bill: Closing up the RR at the end of the day. The heater was left on last week. Suggestion 1. Turn down to 50 degrees after lunch. (Kept at 50 to preserve pipes from freezing ) Suggestion 2: Have Ken re-wire the lights in building 4 so that individual work areas can be turned on. And wait until quorum arrives before turning on all the lights
Bob closed the meeting at 1:21 PM
Mike Ward
PV&ARR
Secretary
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