RPI Work Session at McDade, TX

A major new positive development for RPI - Capital Metro granted our request to lease the Giddings Branch and the lease has been signed and is in effect.  The lease also renews our stewardship of the Llano Branch, from Llano, TX to Scobey Spur, east of Kingsland about three miles.  Our new segment runs approximately from Butler to the junction with UP-owned or leased rail about one mile short of Giddings.  It is about 25 miles long.  This segment is out of service, except now for RPI-organized motorcar activities.  Sunday, January 27, RPI held its first work session on the line.  We gathered at McDade, on the west end, and cleared overgrown trees, shrubs and vines almost exactly 1.5 miles west, to a private crossing next to a Valero station with a restaurant.  This was an important segment because now we have access to food and fuel for future work sessions, simply by returning to that point for the mid-day break.  1.5 miles doesn't sound like much for 12 workers to get done over six hours but on the other hand the track had a lot of obstructions to clear, including several trees that had fallen across it and needed to be sawed.

Ron and Grace Pereida, Bob King and I stayed behind at lunch in McDade to watch over Fred Fabian's motorcar and Brad Nelson's trailer (full of RPI member tools).  We ate our brought-from-home lunches sitting on benches under the shade of an awning in front of a block of historic stone storefronts, one of which was a former saloon now turned into the McDade Community Museum.  UP signal maintainer Brandon Nelson stopped and asked what was going on, so we filled him in on RPI and its mission and urged him to check out our website at railroadpartners.com.

Here are the photos I took from this historic work session showing the work in progress:

This shows the former depot at McDade, moved from close to the tracks to across the street from the tracks.  A row of historic stone buildings is just to the right, out of the photo.  In photo below, RPI President Leland Stewart talks with member Lou Houck as session begins.

Jerry Light and Bob King work on a crossing at McDade.

The crew is out lopping along the track to the west of downtown McDade.

Slowly but surely branches are being cut back enough for motorcars to get by.  Further cutting back will continue to occur once the line is passable the entire length.

Lou Houck and other members uprooting vines that covered the track in several sections.

Some heavy-duty chainsaw work was required in places.

Tired but pleased crew poses at private crossing that marks west end of track cleared.

That was our Saturday work session.  Weather was perfect, about 70 degrees high, overcast but no rain.  Everyone had a great time.  It will take quite a few more work sessions to clear the line in its entirety but hopefully within a year or so it will be done and we will have another route to offer our members and guest excursion participants.  This line is particularly valuable to our members who live east of Austin since they won't have to drive as far to participate in RPI activities.

There was also, for the record, an RPI work session on the Llano Branch on Saturday, Jan. 26, but I didn't attend so can't add much.  I did hear that the mowing done by our rail-mower last season was still visible so that means the rail-mower has helped keep the line passable.  And also, we have another RPI work session at Bonham, TX, next Saturday, northeast of Dallas, so RPI is really becoming what we have envisioned, a state-wide group offering rail experiences to our members in a variety of locations.

Lots of Weed Cutting in Kingsland

Frank Glatzl and I showed up in Kingsland on Sunday, Sept. 30, for a marathon weed-cutting session between one end of Campa Pajama Lane and the other, where each crosses the Capital Metro tracks.  I had already cleaned up the west end, behind our usual lunch stop, Spyke's, on the preceding Friday.  We continued weed-whacking our way toward the east end.  Frank spent most of the day using my wheeled weed-whacker.  I used my BCS two-wheeled tractor, but it proved difficult to manage on the rough edges along the track.  Ultimately, I used my loppers and the hedge-trimmer, until the latter ran out of fuel.  I ended up literally pulling out weeds with my bare hands.  These were not little bitty weeds but sunflower stalks six and seven feet high.  They were leaning over the track, causing trouble for motorcar operators and passengers.  We cleaned up this one small section, about 700-800 feet, quite thoroughly, earning a thumbs-up from RPI President Leland Stewart as the main work group passed by on motorcars.  This area was among the weediest portions of track, and the location where the rail-mower has bogged down in the past.  Hopefully it will remain clear until at least the Oct. 27 RPI Llano branch excursion.

We had lunch with the rest of the work session participants and then returned to the work site to pack up and head out.  I assume they did a lot of trimming trees and shrubs along the way.

Don't have any photos of the cleared track but it looked a lot like the track shown in the post for Friday, Sept. 28.

Next work session is Saturday, Oct. 20.  We look forward to participating again.

Mini RPI Work Session at Kingsland

I went up to Kingsland today to get in some cleanup at the Campa Pajama Lane crossing behind Spyke's BBQ (our normal lunch stop) before the heavy rains arrive this evening.  This was unusual since normally we have insurance to cover us only one day, however, we now have "windows" of up to four days so I was covered by insurance and therefore able to work on the track.  The window also came in handy for Leland, since he decided to postpone the Saturday, 9/29, work session to the 30th, again on account of the rain.

Here's before and after photos of the crossing (the after refers to after three hours of pulling out or cutting sunflower stalks, carrying them off, cleaning up garbage and then cutting down the stumps so no one trips on them):

As you can see, I have only nibbled around the edges of the interior of the ROW side that concerns me most, as far as clearing the lines of sight.  However, there is a stump, some branches and a metal framework in there which are going to have to be cut up to be disposed of.  So that was more than I was prepared to chew on today.  At least I made more progress than in many work sessions out here.

At the end of the session I carted away a 4x8 plywood sheet (broken in half to fit my 4x6 trailer), two strips of metal and one and a half bags of trash.  The crossing is a lot safer than before.  Plus I found a piece off my two-wheeled BCS 725 mowing tractor that had fallen off the last work session over here.  So now I can put it back on the 725 and have it ready for Sunday's work session.  Frank Glatzl and I will be working a little bit further east along the line, where the sunflower stalks are thick and high.  We will see how much damage we can do to them with the 725, which has a four-foot-wide cutting bar with teeth.  I hope we will leave that crossing and the area around looking a whole lot better as well.

RPI Work Sessions in July and August

I wasn't able to attend the RPI work session at Llano on Saturday, July 28, because I was up in Colorado.  My mother fell and gashed her head so I rushed up to be with her in the hospital.  She seemed to be doing better and then died suddenly several days later.  I organized the memorial service and headed home after the session.

From what I heard, the work session was pretty normal, with brush-cutting and weed-whacking at crossings, etc.  Frank Glatzl operated the rail-mower, which was towed by the A-car.  However, the rail-mower broke down after a few miles.  Frank later diagnosed the problem as a worn groove in the governor shaft, allowing an E-ring to slip off, resulting in major damage inside the engine.  He ordered parts, fabbed a new shaft with the right size groove, and got the rail-mower engine running again.  Of course, all this involved removing and disassembling the engine and then re-installing it, this time up at Frank's place.  As so many times before, the rail-mower would have died a permanent death without Frank's attentions.  When the August 25 work session came around, he brought the rail-mower to Llano, hooked it up again to the A-car and this time it worked perfectly all the way to Scobey Spur and back.  That's not to say the group mowed all that way, just that during the periods when they did mow, the rail-mower did not break down, which what I consider a major step forward.

I had a project of my own on Aug. 25:  installing 35 feet of 25-lb rail that I donated to RPI to store the A-car and rail-mower on inside the storage container.  New members Jay and Cecil Walston helped me drive in two inch wood screws with a portable drill and portable impact driver.  They hold down mending plates, which in turn hold down the rail by pressing against the web of the rail.  We spaced them about three feet apart.  Here are some photos of the results:

In the foreground of the second photo is the connecting piece between the railroad and the rail inside the container, fabricated by Jerry Light.  It is removable so as to be able to close the doors and lock them.  The new rails provide a way to securely store the A-car.  And not putting any lumber between them enables us to move items to and from the back of the container (for example, there's a refrigerator back there now used to store herbicide that keeps the herbicide cooler than it would otherwise be inside the container).

I didn't go down the line with the motorcar operators since I wanted to finish up this project.  So I stayed behind, finished up and just then saw John Pattison, our RPI VP, arrive.  It was a major shock to see John since he can hardly ever get off from his job with Amtrak to come out for work sessions, and I was real tired what with the heat, so at first I just stared at him like he was a ghost.  Then I showed off the work and we drove down separately to Spyke's to have lunch with the group.  Before they arrived I mowed the track at the Spyke's stop with a wheeled weed-whacker to give them a clear area to dismount and, if necessary, work on their motorcars:

After lunch, the group headed off to Scobey Spur.  While they were gone, I took my BCS two-wheeled tractor off my trailer and started mowing the really tall and thick sunflower stalks.  After only a short while, I felt tired and hot, so I sat down, drank some cold water and rested in the shade for a while.  I got back up and went back to work and almost immediately felt the energy just draining out of me.  I think the body just decided the heat and humidity and exertion were too much, so it sent me a signal to call it quits for the day.  I did but I hung around another 20 minutes or so and the group returned by then, so I got some shots:

The top shot shows Lou Houck with his Northern Pacific M-9, and Marty Reimer riding with him, bottom shot shows the A-car with a whole bunch of workers.  Preceding both of them was Jerry Light in his hy-rail Gator.

That about sums it up for the Aug. 25 work session.  Next session is Saturday, Sept. 29, again at Llano.  I hope to attend but can't be sure right now since I do tax preparation for a living and the extension season is upon me.  Have to give priority to getting my customers' returns done by Oct. 17.  But if I can make it, will be there.

Highly Productive Work Session on Llano Branch June 30, 2012

RPI's June 30, 2012, work session on the Llano Branch resulted in a great deal of work getting done.  RPI member Ron Pereida brought a large tractor to Llano and graded the ROW along the north tail track of the wye, finishing up the job that a skidsteer had begun.  Other RPI members cleaned up the remaining tree stumps and limbs along the ROW, resulting in a clear view in both directions.

After working at Llano, Ron took his tractor down to Kingsland and used the box blade to scrape off the excessive gravel covering the crossing at the Antlers Inn.  Everyone in RPI greatly appreciates his work at both Llano and Kingsland during this work session.  Here's some photos of him hard at work in Kingsland:

Frank Glatzl and I deployed the rail-mower once again, having replaced the mower deck belt, which was worn away until it snapped during the last work session and fixed some of the problems that were causing the wear during a "rail-mower work session" at my place.  This time the rail-mower worked well all the way down to Scobey Spur and back into Kingsland.  Just past the Antlers it quit working because an E-ring on the governor rod vibrated off, but by then it was time to head back to Llano at full speed anyway.  The rail-mower works most effectively while proceeding at 2-3 miles per hour, which means we can never mow the entire 26-mile line perfectly in one work session anyway, so we have to pick and choose which section needs the most attention.  If we can mow at 2-3 mph and then come back through the same section with the rail-mower on, it will do a very good job indeed, as you can see from the following photo:

The tall weeds on the left were all over the tracks when we mowed in late April, making this particular spot (just west of the most eastward Campa Pajama Lane crossing) virtually impassable.  In fact, Frank and I and another RPI member had to try to push my Woodings CBI motorcar and the rail-mower through, Leland ruined a belt on his M-19 trying to push the combo from behind, and we only got through because Jerry Light came around with his hy-rail Gator and pulled us through.  This time we were able to mow through this section without much difficulty precisely because we were able to mow it in April.  (And, BTW, the reason it was almost impassable was primarily because the weeds made the track so slippery we could hardly get any traction).

We did have a little down time on the way into Kingsland, waiting for the main group to catch up with us.  Here, Frank is waiting at a crossing in the CBI with the rail-mower behind it.

One major development this work session was that the former Hill Country Railroad A-car was successfully deployed.  Jerry Light took the initiative to locate an acceptable 40 foot storage container and to organize its delivery and setup at the north end of the wye tail track.  Leland obtained an amendment to the Capital Metro RR lease allowing the location of the container on the track and Jerry obtained a Llano city building permit, just to cover all bases.  The container allows the A-car to be stored securely, safe from the weather and vandals or thieves, while awaiting its next use.  This large motorcar can be used to transport multiple RPI members, especially those without motorcars, so they can participate in work session.  New RPI members Jason Fowler and Cecil Walston, for example, rode the A-car this work session, while President Leland Stewart operated it.  Here's a photo of the A-car as it was being put to bed after the June 30 work session:

Plans are in the works to install 25-lb rail inside the container so the A-car, the rail-mower and trailers can be accommodated.  Ultimately, the A-car is the natural rail vehicle to pull the rail-mower since it, like Jerry's Gator, can power through difficult terrain conditions such as slippery rails, heavy vegetation, etc.

A lot of work has gone into making it possible to use the A-car again.  Jerry has fabricated special rails to bridge the gap between the end of the rail and the container boards or rails once the doors are opened.   Leland got the carburetor refurbished on short notice down in San Antonio and Jerry re-installed it, resulting in the engine coming back to life in time for the June 30 work session.  RPI members have donated $ 500.00 toward the cost of the container so far, helping defray the $ 2800.00 cost.  We are now poised to ensure that all RPI members can enjoy a work session experience on the Llano Branch and that is a great step forward.

Another Work Session, Another Rail-Mower Problem

The RPI work session on Saturday, May 19, went well, for the most part.  RPI gained a new member, Phil Hopper of San Antonio, who joined Leland on his MT-14K open car and helped lop off branches and brush.  Jerry Light also came with his hy-rail Gator.  He brought his chainsaw mounted on a long pole, enabling him to cut pretty thick tree trunks and limbs from a distance.  Frank Glatzl rode with me in my Woodings CBI, intending to operate the rail-mower.

The rail-mower, as previous posts have indicated, did have a few issues with the tensioner and one of the jackshafts.  We were nonetheless hoping we could get a good day's worth of mowing out of it before removing and taking apart the mower deck.  Alas, it was not to be.  After about a mile or two of mowing east of Llano a few miles, the deck stopped mowing.  When Frank went back to check on it, he found the belt had snapped in two, evidently due to severe wear provoked by the tensioner problem and maybe the driveshaft issue as well.  We found the belt is a 129" double-V belt, but it was not available at the NAPA store in Kingsland.  So the rest of the trip Frank and I stopped periodically to help cut brush and branches, which was about all we could do to help.

We are going to have our own "rail-mower work session" before the next RPI work session on June 30.  Frank is fabricating a triangular support for the tensioner so it does not cause wear on the belt.  He will also make new blade driveshafts so we have some spares in case we damage them.  Frank took the driveshaft hub off the deck and brought the whole assembly home with him to work with.

Meanwhile, the scenery was quite impressive.  There were some very heavy rains in the Llano-Kingsland region the night of May 11 (which also showed up down at my place in Dripping Springs).  As a result, virtually every significant depression along the Llano-Scobey Spur rail line was filled with water and many small washes and gulches, normally dryer than a revival preacher, had water flowing in them.  The Llano River itself was higher than I have seen it for quite a while.

We saw wildlife along the rail line, probably taking advantage of the abundant water, including a group of feral pigs, deer, and vultures.  We also saw a herd of goats, a herd of cattle, a feral hen out in the middle of nowhere and a cat that ran across the tracks.  My motorcar severed a snake that tried to slither across in front of us.

The water contributed to a lovely series of flower carpets across the meadows and fields, with golden and red flowers predominating (by now almost all the bluebonnets are gone; their peak was during the mid-March work session).  Here are the obligatory motorcar-in-flower-fields-with-passenger pictures:

The weather was perfect, cloudy in the morning, burning off by the afternoon but with a breeze developing that helped keep temps bearable.

We hope to be back on the 30th with the rail-mower raring to go.  Meanwhile I probably will invest in not one, but two, mower deck belts to be sure we are not behind the 8-ball the next time that problem develops.

21 April 2012 Llano-Kingsland Work Session

The work session from Llano to Kingsland on Saturday, April 21, was one to remember.  While we enjoyed very favorable weather, with highs in the 70s and clear skies, the weeds provided major challenges in several respects.  They had grown up tremendously since our last session on March 17.  If we had been able to use the rail-mower through the trouble spots on March 17, it would not have been so bad in late April.  But, the mower was damaged and unable to be used over virtually the entire route on the 17th.

We nonetheless got off to a good start in the morning.  Frank Glatzl joined me in my Woodings CBI towing the rail-mower to provide technical and operational support services.  My job was to keep the CBI and rail-mower moving, preferably in the same direction.  We turned the rail-mower on several miles out of Llano, after passing over the plank crossing that had caused the belt to slip off the pulleys on the 17th.  We had no more trouble with that crossing nor with the frog at the Stolz quarry siding.  The results were immediately apparent as the two photos below show.  Here's one looking east toward the uncut line:

Here's another looking the opposite way showing what we just cut:

This was an area where Frank and I had to get out of the motorcar and push it along to get it through the heavy growth of weeds.  He also had to continually adjust the throttle and choke to keep the engine from dying as the blades came close to clogging up.  But we managed to cut through nonetheless.

We were doing quite well when Frank looked back and noticed the middle blade was no longer cutting.  We stopped and went back to check on the mower deck and found that the pulley had come off the driveshaft and was missing.  Evidently the bolt that held it down had vibrated loose or sheared off.  We walked back up the line about 1000 feet and found the pulley.  Our mowing was done for the moment, however, but when the rest of the group pulled up, we asked if they had any 3/8" bolts, fine thread.  Turns out nobody had a fine thread so we would have to wait until we reached the NAPA store in Kingsland to purchase some.  Unfortunately that also meant no mowing on the way down, when we could have trimmed quite a few miles.  Here's a photo of Frank standing by the inoperative rail-mower while awaiting the group.

We bought the bolts and continued on without mowing to Spyke's BBQ because by then it was 1:30 pm and stomachs were rumbling.  After lunch, Frank and new RPI member Samuel Warren were able to remount the pulley, realign the mower deck drive belt, and get the mower operating again.  That was very fortunate because the absolute worst weeds of the trip were just ahead.

The CBI began to bog down, big-time, because it couldn't get traction with the crushed weed juice lubricating the track and the wheels.  Not to mention the weeds themselves were 2 to 2.5 feet high and impeded our progress forward.  We made progress but only by pushing the CBI + rail-mower forward.  Leland hooked up his M-19 in back of us with a tow-bar and tried to push us but we continued to bog down and the outlook for further progress darkened.

Here's a photo of CBI + rail-mower + M-19, surrounded by high weeds near the Campa Pajama Lane crossing as we try to figure out how to keep it moving forward:

 
Jerry Light saved the day.  He took his hy-rail Gator off the rails at a crossing, drove to the next crossing and re-railed, then backed up to the CBI.  We hooked up to the Gator and it pulled the CBI and rail-mower through the worst of the weeds.  Meanwhile, Frank Glatzl ensured that the engine did not die and gave direction on when to continue forward.  As a result we were able to cut through the choking weeds and clear the path for the rest of the group.  I didn't get a photo of the lashup with the Gator (sorry Jerry), but I can testify that without it, Frank and I might still be trying to push the CBI and rail-mower to the next crossing.

We continued until the County Rd 127 crossing and there we all turned around.  By then it was about 4:00 pm and time to head back to Llano.  We continued mowing on the way back and that really made the railbed look good.  But when we got to the 1431 crossing near the Antlers Hotel, Leland told us to turn it off, since we would have to make good time to get back to Llano on schedule.  So there was a lot of railbed not mowed that would have looked better with a mowing, but on the other hand, the absolute worst areas did get cleared through for the April 28 Bluebonnet run (see railroadpartners.com for details).

Here's a photo of Frank with the rail-mower, on the east side of the 1431 crossing near the Antlers Hotel, after its herculean efforts in Kingsland had ended, pointed toward home base in Llano:

And here's the rest of the line-up, waiting to cross FM 1431 in the middle of Kingsland, on the way back to Llano,with Leland Stewart and Jerry Light looking on:

 

This is not a complete account of the work session by any means, since it focuses on the rail-mower operations.  The vast majority of participants worked behind the rail-mower (which was in the front since it travels slowly when mowing) to trim and remove trees and vegetation obstructing the ROW.  So probably a lot happened of interest in their activities of which I am unaware.  Be that as it may, at least we had a great day on the rails and accomplished a lot.

The rail-mower deck will have to be removed and inspected and the blade driveshaft checked out to ensure there isn't a repeat.  At least the rail-mower is proving that when it works, it works well, so it will be worth keeping in operating condition.