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We had another productive year on the Arizona and Pacific Railroad in 2006. The year seemed to race by as we worked on several more large-scale projects. We are close to completing our major track realignment project that we started in 2005. In that continuing effort, we demolished and removed 60 feet of our retaining walls and added an additional 75 feet of retaining walls in new locations. We added two more switches and 101 feet of new rail, extended both legs of our longest trestle by 5 feet, built a crossover, completed the steel superstructure and block work for our 21 foot transfer table and graded for 75 feet of future additional track. We now have 1501 feet of track and 9 switches in place.
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If you read last year’s annual report, you will note that we had intended to construct a three way stub switch this year. As our future plans have evolved, however, we realized we could add a great deal more functionality in our scenario with two standard switches rather than a three way stub and went in that direction instead. You will also note that we had hoped to start on our engine house/car barn this year. Well it didn’t happen.
After numerous delays, much frustration and many revisions, we finally received city approval on our architect’s drawings for our first three stall engine house. The permits were recently pulled and we hope to break ground in the Spring. The building will be 23 feet 4 inches wide and 40 feet long. Unfortunately, we had to remove several large trees to make room for the engine house as our original proposed location was rejected by the permitting department. We have already planted several replacement trees in key locations that will add to our summertime shade in the years ahead
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We have made significant progress on our 21 foot transfer table. All the components have been fabricated and most have already been assembled. We designed the transfer table to appear very much like our trestles with ties and rail on the table. We completed the concrete and steel foundations as well as the associated steel and block work for the transfer table base. The steel work on the table itself is also complete. Painting the steel, mounting ties, attaching the rail and installing the lock mechanism remains unfinished
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We enlarged our primary brick observation platform and added an outdoor fireplace to keep guests warm during our nighttime operations in the winter. We adapt well to the heat here in the desert, but anything below 55 degrees and we think we are freezing. We also added a 20 foot long pedestrian bridge which connects this observation platform with the tracks on the east of the property and provides easy access to another loading and unloading point and facilitates operation even during “irrigation days”.
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We poured and completed the concrete slab for our future speeder building that will house our two speeders and trailer. The rail is already in place. We’ll finish this construction project next year.
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We built brick steps and an elevated wood walkway to allow easy access onto and across our longest trestle. The walkway leads to the future site of another themed gathering area.
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What would a railroad be without a place to hang a sign with its name, logo, operating rules etc.? So we built a steel and block pillar of the same design as our trestle pillars and a frame for our future A & P Railroad sign.
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We also designed and built the locking mechanisms for both our turntable and the transfer table and need to get them installed soon.
In addition to our Arizona visitors, we once again had several out-of-state guests during the year. The other states represented were California, Texas, Colorado, Minnesota, Illinois, Idaho and Utah; we had multiple visitors from California in particular.
We had the opportunity to visit the Joshua Tree and Southern Railroad in Joshua Tree, CA for the dedication of the Jack’s Gap Bridge in November of this year. It is amazing what a relatively small group of highly dedicated and hardworking guys working in 15 inch gauge can accomplish. The terrain they are traversing is simply incredible as have been their efforts; it makes me feel like a slacker getting to build on relatively level ground! A job really well done by the JT & S crew! Here's a link to our spotlight article featuring the Joshua Tree and Southern Railroad
Activities in the maintenance department are often less noticeable and certainly less exciting than new construction, but are necessary and time-consuming nonetheless. We completely rebuilt and refinished our hand pumpcar, rebuilt the motor and replaced the carburetor on our speeder, rebuilt the transmission in Engine no.1 to address a leaking issue, re-powdercoated our switchstand targets, moved a crossing signal, added 14 tons of additional ballast, replaced several ties and painted the exterior of the superintendent’s house…
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We have several projects on tap for 2007. Among them are:
We hope to have even more states represented by our visitors and guests in 2007!