After years of dedication by John Tuten and others, the infamous “Grandma Line” is now complete. The 250-foot project involves shifting the mainline traffic from running alongside the yard to moving through the woods. Today’s crew consisted of John, Wes, Calvin, Gene, Brandon, Kenneth, Brooke, Norm, Robby, and Scott.

This project could not have happened without the help of so many other club members through the years. Thank you to everyone involved.

The dog days of summer are certainly in full swing but working in the shade made the day productive for the crew this past Saturday. The morning started early with getting the club riding lawnmower up and running with a new battery with Robby getting things started on the west end of the railroad plowing through grass that was about two feet tall or taller in some places. Darryl took over and spent the rest of the day tackling the east end of the railroad having to cut some areas twice because things were so tall.

The rest of the day consisted of John T., Rick, “Bob Jr.”, Dave E., Robby, and Norm working on the Grandma Line. The crew got a lot done but fell 4 panels shorts of completing the project. The crew will be back out on Saturday, July 26th to finish the project and perform test runs on the new line. We invite everyone to come out for the big photo opportunity for this project as many of you know it has been a project of passion for John for several years and we want to celebrate the moment.

While we didn’t have an official workday on the schedule today, it was John’s official weekend to come out to the railroad. He spent time on the container mural, along with installing a retaining wall for the “Grandma Line”. A big thanks to John and his commitment to getting this project a step closer to being completed. Our next official workday is coming up on Saturday, May 10th, as we prepare the railroad for our May 17th public run day. Please come prepared to perform track maintenance, cut grass, and have a good time. Workday begins at 8:30 a.m.

We had a great turnout for our workday on Saturday. The crew took a divide and conquered approach by working on multiple projects at the same time. We had a track crew working on the Grandma Line installing a new switch off the mainline on the west end of the project. We had another group work on electrical throughout the property and so much more going on throughout the day.

The last official workday of 2024 is now in the books ending with more progress on the “Grandma Line” and repair of a leak with the gray container extension. The crew working on the “Grandma Line” consisted of John T., Wes, Norm, and Robby. Together they finished nearly 70 feet of track leaving a switch and nearly 100 feet of track until the long awaited “Grandma Line” is finished. The next step for the project includes installing a retaining wall and a curved switch on the mainline with the hope of finishing the project by the end of March.

The final workday of the year is this Saturday, December 14th starting at 8:30 a.m. The day will be focus on the “Grandma Line” with plans to install and set more track panels and continue working on building the final switch needed for the project.

A small work crew, which consisted of John T., Wes, Kenneth, and Norm, came out on Saturday along with a few who stopped by to say hello. The work crew started work on building out the last switch needed to connect the east end of the “Grandma Line” to the railroad.

Once this switch is complete and installed the last 80 or 90 feet of the “Grandma Line” can be connected completing another change to our mainline traffic. However, before this can be done, we will need to build a retaining wall most likely out of the cut container panels we have similar to what we did earlier this year near the Nicol bridge. With the installation of a new retaining wall, we will also need to bring in more dirt reduce the drop off on the east end of the “Grandma Line”.

As we countdown to the last public run day of the year a small crew went to the railroad on Saturday to make sure things are in good shape for our November 9th big event. The work crew consisted of Wes, Kenneth, Scott, and John and took split up and worked on east loop repair and the “Grandma Line”. Wes and Kenneth worked on the east end outer loop inner track which need some attention in several areas. Scott and John worked on the “Grandma Line” by setting forms, bringing buckets of crush and run over, and laying out several panels. John also worked Friday on the container mural by lettering several mural containers. He added Hapag Lloyd and “K” Line, Sea Land, and Maersk. John is taking recommendations for other painted containers on the mural. If you have any real or fake container companies, you would like to see let him know.

This past Saturday saw great progress on two big projects which includes the clubhouse and workshop project and the grandma line. Not a lot of pictures to show but the crew consisted of Wes, Robby, John, Rick, “Bob Jr”, David E., and new member Seth. Gene and Joan also stopped by and delivered a newly assembled box car that was donated by Thomas K. George also stopped by and visited with the crew during lunch.

John, Rick, and “Bob Jr” spent the day working on bringing in loads of dirt for the grandma line. The loads would be dropped, and John went to town on spreading and leveling each load.

The summer heat and humidity have been a little more than we’d like but that doesn’t mean things aren’t getting done around the railroad. Work on the clubhouse and workshop continues as well as the grandma line. Weather permitting, we have workdays planned for Saturday, July 27th, August 3rd, and August 10th starting at 8:30 a.m. The plan for each workday includes finishing installing insulation, plywood, and paint inside the clubhouse container along with building track panels for both the clubhouse and grandma line.

What an incredibly hot day unless you were working on the “Grandma” line in the shade. A small crew consisting of John, Brandon, and Robby spent the day working on adding 50 feet to the “Grandma” line as work continues from east to west. The crew took a divide and conquered strategy with each focusing on a certain task of the day’s work. John prepared the forms and delt with the crusher run and gravel that Brandon was bringing over from the gravel pit while Robby worked on installing the track panels. We also had two visitors stop by and joined the club. We look forward to getting to know Bryan and Brooke. Norm also stopped by for lunch and was excited about all of the progress.

We had a rare Friday workday to close out the month of May. The focus of the day was to work on the clubhouse and workshop as well as the Grandma Line. The crew arrived early and helped get Rick and “Bob Jr” setup to start moving dirt to the Grandma Line area. Bob Jr complained about the dirt pile being hard to do dig, but Rick helped him out by putting Bob’s forks on and used them to break up the dirt pile. The rest of the crew included Gene, Wes, Norm, and Robby as they worked on the clubhouse and workshop project. They finished framing the outside wall and ceiling inside container one. Bob C. also stopped by and unloaded his recently finished caboose and helped out with the clubhouse project.