Ready set go
Chairman Bob opened the meeting at 12:32 pm.
We had 9 members at the RR today (not including Mike, notes by Matt)
Treasurer’s report - Kevin
We have 71 members, all current.
Our bank account continues to be very healthy, no accounts payable or receivable.
The invoices for our two new cars are still outstanding.
Project Status Reports
New switches - Kevin
Bruno and Kevin are working on 3 switches for Rabbit Flat. We’re waiting for the turntable and roundhouse to be set, then we can begin grading and installing track. We need 900 feet of track built, so 1800 feet of rail.
Rail - Bob
Bruno and Bob did inventory of all of our rail and determined that we don't have enough panels and rail to complete Rabbit Flat. They did find a big pile of aluminum rail he didn't know about which we can use for non-weight-bearing rails like guard rails.
More rail might be needed which we would have to purchase. Current price is $22 per 10 foot stick and freight is significant. Matt notes accucraft steel rail is on sale for $19.50 and will check on the profile to see if it is compatible and bring us a sample for evaluation from GGLS. We could weld some shorter pieces of rail together to only use in straight sections.
Turntable - Bill
Put the turntable in place with jacks and made initial adjustments. It is working very nicely and, although it does not appear necessary, it will receive a final precision tweaking after the wall is completed.. This means the pit can be graded for water flow and the block wall put in, after which we will fill the bottom with ballast.
Roundhouse - Bill
The size and position are decided on, with stakes at the corners of each bay. The apron tracks from the turntable to the doors are 17’ long so engines can stick out of the building about 9’ to where the pilots just touch. The C-16 bays will be 12’ deep, and the K-36 bay will be 16’ deep. Peter Moseley’s beautiful custom made metal doors are 12” (*2 = 24” wide, so we will set them in frames to make them fill the 33” wide openings. The K-36 bay will have 40” wide wooden doors. Bruno has made a 3-D draft model in Fusion-360 and sent it to Mike for review.
Mike has decided to take on a consulting role for the roundhouse rather than leading it. He’ll get the design solid with Bill, Bruno, Bruce, and Ed first.
Switch Stands and Remotes - Ed & Marty
We’re putting in the remote for switch S112 at the end of the north yard. Many stands are complete and available to install wherever they are needed. If you have nominations, please let Bob know. John and Leo, who walk the track to check on all the switches before every run day report no overt problems at this time.
Signal Systems - Bob and Steve
A meeting was held last week to address the RR signal installations and systems. We agreed that the project is not urgent, and we will take the risk that the unique system that Lance built for us will last for a while. Rather than pursuing replacing the system in the main yard, we will prioritize some hot spots on blind curves elsewhere on the ROW. And, we will learn more about the train mountain system and how they did it; verify that it's suitable and doable for us. Matt has met with Jon Cooper at Train Mountain, and is in favor of the ZigBee signaling system and volunteered to be part of this process
Steve reached out to Seth Newmann to ask him to wait for 3 months before we make our final decision on what kind of system and hardware we need.
Little Buildings - Tom
Re-did the switch shanties and is now working on the Waterfall Construction buildings which Randy had started. Prior to placing buildings, Tom will coordinate with Ed so that various industry placement will support operational runs in the future. For instance, the Waterfall Construction building will go after the Bovine Tunnel, the Grey building will go with other ice companies at Rabbit Flat, where there are 3 places for them. The Purina Grainery will move.
News and safety - Bob
Sad news. Two weeks ago, member Ron Mason passed away. He did a lot of great work on our little buildings. He also built dioramas in the Truckee UP train station museum as well which you can see when you drop by there. Bob passed around a card for us to sign.
Run news - Bob
2024 October
We are ready! Lots of volunteers and preparation. We’ll publish a report afterwards with pictures and videos. We should have 90+ folks attending, some camping out!
2024 November & December
Run days will coincide with the holidays this year.
2025 July
Following Train Mountain events, some attendees will travel down to PV&ARR (sort of like a Ramble) on the Monday and Tuesday following. Bill, Mike and others will host, Matt and Dee will help coordinate.
2025 Sept. Tri-Meet
Next year we will have our big meet in September rather than October
Bob closed the meeting at 1:09 PM
Mike Ward (from Matt Petach notes - Thanks!)
PV&ARR
Secretary