A look back at 2021 highlighted by the completion of the passenger line.
As we take a moment to look back on all that we accomplished in 2021 none of it would have happened without the dedication of each of our members. The countless volunteer hours put in by everyone including “Bob”, “Bob2”, and a special appears by “Bob Jr” made this past year unbelievable. This year like 2020 saw nearly 40 workdays which is equivalent to about 5 years of work if you look at how many workdays on average, we’ve normally done before 2020. While we may not be able to maintain this pace into 2022, we certainly made these interesting times work for our group and the railroad. Take a moment and check out some of the things we did each month in 2021.
January
The year started off with our annual New Year’s Day Club Fun Day. This day paved the way for exciting times around the railroad including construction of lots of track panels and a few switches for both the passenger line and the next member container throughout the month.
February
As things began to pick up in 2021 the crew sorted and cut more ties and built a lot more track panels for the passenger line project.
March
The theme of the year is taking shape as March brought more track construction, site prep for member container, and a chance to poke a little fun at each other along the way.
April
With all of the track panels built and the weather continuing to be favorable for us the grade crossing big dig began paving the way for a 60-foot crossing at the main entrance to the property. This also signaled the start of the big push to complete the passenger line.
April wasn’t all work and no play. Our annual spring awakening club fun day took place as we got a chance to dust the cobwebs off of our equipment and enjoy the day and the railroad.
May
This month marked one of the busiest months we’ve had at the railroad in years. From digging and installing a 60-foot concrete grade crossing, installing a 30-foot pedestrian crossing, and digging a path to complete the passenger line project.
June
After the concrete was poured last month, it was time to clean up around the crossing for our first official vehicle crossing with a focus on connecting the new grade crossing with the pedestrian crossing.
July
Things slowed a little because of the summer heat but that didn’t stop the crew from connecting the passenger line to the bypass giving us the ability to travel across the new passenger line connecting the east and west ends of the railroad together.
August
With the passenger line connected on both ends, minus the station track, our first official locomotive across the new passenger line was the club steamer with Bob Cummings at the controls. The crew worked on putting decking material on the pedestrian crossing and started work on the station track.
September
As we moved into September, we can see the light at the end of the tunnel as the passenger line is completed. We also took advantage of the completion to take care of a few other items around the property including adding a much needed drain the driveway to divert some of the water out to the east field. The finishing touches are being completed just in time for the railroad to reopen for our first public run day in nearly two years.
October
The first public run day in two years took place and with the completion of the passenger line really improved the dynamic on how well our railroad operated.
November
Things are shifting towards our next set of projects which includes the installation of the shop containers, member container, and work has begun to restore a full-scale signal head and pole.
We also had a chance to squeeze in our second run day of the year with a great turnout which produced a lot of smiles. Although a few of our diesel locomotives did feel like they were being left out because a lot of people wanted to ride on a steam engine.
December
As we closed out 2021 we worked the next member container by installing the form for the bridge and running electricity into the container.
Thank you
We thank each of you for your individual contributions and look forward to 2022. If you’ve been unable to come out to the railroad recently, we look forward to seeing you soon. We are working on a “Welcome to the railroad” social event on February 5th more details to follow. This will be away for each of us to reconnect with each other and get a chance to meet some of our new members going into the near year.
