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We had perhaps our busiest year ever on the Arizona and Pacific Railroad in 2008.
The largest of the construction projects was our continuing work on the engine house. We completed the rock work on the exterior of the building, had an epoxy finish applied to the floor on the interior of the building, painted the doors and door frames and finally got all the door hardware mounted. The clerestory area has all been caulked and sealed, but it still needs insulated and the t & g wood installed.
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We built signs with our A & P logo for each end of the engine house. The signs are ¼” plate with the 3/16“ colored rings and letters welded in place and then powder coated. They sit inside a rock circle designed into the building facade. The large A & P sign mounted between trestle No. 5 and the turntable spur was also completed this year. Each of the 26 letters and 3 rings (on each side) was cut from 3/16 plate and individually welded in place and then powder coated. You don’t what to know the number of hours…
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We extended our pedestrian walkway and constructed a 16 foot long by 33 inch wide loading platform which makes it easier to get in and out of our cars. We also finished additional wood planking where the pedestrian walkway crosses the third set of tracks.
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We rebuilt trestle No. 1 to accommodate a switch on the trestle for our new siding. This is the third version of a trestle at this location. The new siding I just referred to was completed and is 90 feet in total length. The first 30 feet of the siding had been completed previously
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We added 10 tons of ballast to our roadbed this year and did it the old fashioned way with a shovel and an “armstrong” ore car.
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In terms of shop work, we rebuilt 12 MTC trucks with wheels, axles, bearings, seals and fresh paint. We also designed and built four archbar trucks utilizing MTC wheels and axles for under our new gons.
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Our engine No. 2, the “Sandusky” had for years been in pieces scattered throughout several of my storage buildings and shop. We gathered all the pieces and reassembled her in the new engine house. A few additional parts had to be crafted or modified as she went together, but she has really started to take shape. We rebuilt her as a battery powered unit which will extend my run hours later into the evenings (she is very quiet) and it will also extend my operating season later into the summer as she does not put out any heat. We still have the body work to complete on the cab, but significant progress has been made.
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We completed the wheel and axles sets and metal framework for our six foot MOW car and our 4 foot speeder trailer.
We designed and built new couplers for our S-16s and modified the couplers on our gons so that they mate properly.
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We redesigned and mounted brake shafts and wheels to our gondola cars.
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We disassembled our two G-16 power trucks. The frames have been bead blasted and primed, the journal boxes have been rebuilt and the new wheels are on hand. It is a good start, but much work remains on that project.
We built heavy raised plate bases to mount my MTC crossing signal, Allan Herschell crossing signal, MTC two light block (mid 50s style), MTC three light block (mid 50s style) and MTC non-electric crossing signal to and have them on display now in our engine house. They are big and heavy – the plates and the crossing signals…
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We acquired a G-16 “B” unit during the year and brought her back from California and also picked up our two gon bodies from the Hillcrest Shops in Reedley, CA. That was a big trailer and one heck of a trip!
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We shot our first two videos of the Arizona and Pacific Railroad this year. The first was done at eye level and the second from several hundred feet from an RC airplane. We hope to make several more videos of various activities here in the future.
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We were honored to have our Arizona and Pacific Railroad website nominated for the Discover Live Steam Web Excellence Award and then privileged to win the award which is determined by a national vote. Thank you to all you guys and ladies for checking out our site and voting for us.
I also started a new magazine for those interested in our hobby titled “Large Scale Railroading”.
The first issue was released to favorable reviews in October and the second is going to press as you
read this and will be distributed January 15. You can see the magazine's website at:
Large Scale Railroading
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We visited many of the grand scale railroads in AZ on a semi-regular basis – The Flagstaff and Middle Verde Railroad, McCormick Park, Rawhide at White Horse Pass, Adobe Mountain, Encanto Park, Anthem and Freestone Park being those visited most frequently. Those railroads are described in our Arizona Miniature Railroad Guide which can be found here: Guide to Arizona's Miniature Railroads
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The out-of-state railroads we had the pleasure to visit this year were the Panella Pacific Railroad in Lodi, CA, the Hillcrest and Wahtoke Railroad in Reedley, CA and the Forest Park Railroad in Fort Worth, TX.
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We had several run days during the year on the Arizona and Pacific Railroad and guests from many different states visited. Our passenger who traveled the greatest distance this year to ride our trains makes his home in Redbridge, Ontario, Canada.
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We have another ambitious year planned in 2009, but like other years, we may not get to everything. Among the planned projects are:
Have a great New Year Everybody!
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