Texas State Railroad Work-Weekend

[Jason Rose]

In preparation for the annual photo specials and the Friends of the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad visit on May 11, those of you that are interested are invited to participate in two work sessions to clear and prepare new photo run-by locations along the railroad.

These locations will be east bound at Milepost 12, the cut west of Mewshaw Siding, and west bound at Fairchild crossing, Milepost 5. If sufficient volunteers are available, we can do both locations in a single Saturday, otherwise, we will do them in two separate Saturdays.

The first Saturday is scheduled for April 13. This works session is planned to clear the area at the top of the cut at MP 12 on the north side of the RR, all the way back to the ROW fence of pine needles, undergrowth and small trees, as well as the line of sight along the RR for better photos. The other project in this area is to create a platform area for de-training passengers at the bottom of the trail. Earl (GM) will have Curtis (MoW) drop off two dozen old ties, and they will be bedded into the ballast and then used to bridge the drainage to the base of the trail for the safety of the photographers departing and loading the train.

The second Saturday (scheduled for April 20, with April 27 as weather alternate) will be to clear the westbound line of sight on the south side of the RR in the area immediately east of the Fairchild crossing which will allow good photography of the westbound trains climbing Fairchild hill.

Because the railroad will be running trains those Saturdays, each session will begin with a safety meeting to be held at the Palestine depot at 9 AM. Attendance at the safety meeting is mandatory for all who wish to participate. All participants must wear boots (no tennis shoes or cowboy boots) and appropriate outdoor attire. Participants who have a hard hat or safety vest are encouraged wear those items also.

Participants are also encouraged to bring rakes, shovels, pruning saws, nippers and a chain saw if you have one. TSRR cannot supply tools, so we must bring our own. Please let me know if you plan to bring a chain saw, as we will need at least two for each project.

Please inform John Price at [e-mail] (Texas State Railroad Society) or Everett Lueck at [e-mail] if you plan on attending. If we have sufficient numbers for the April 13 session, we can probably do both projects at that time.

This is an opportunity not only to help out the RR and your fellow photographers, but also to catch all 4 trains on the TSRR at unique locations.