Last year, the majority of our time on the Arizona and Pacific was devoted to construction of a new siding, the walkways, loading area and, of course, our engine house. In 2009, the primary emphasis shifted to shop projects that had languished in some cases for many years. There were still a number of construction projects that took place, but the shift was apparent and has made my garage seem much larger. Funny though, after one project gets finished in there and the garage appears spacious, another project always seems to find its way in there …

          We added several additional receptacles and wiring to the engine house this year. We also ran the wiring for some future lighting and anticipated future power needs.

          We added another exterior light to the engine house to help light where our expanded waiting area will be constructed.

Engine house after dark

          We purchased the R19 and R38 insulation for the engine house and hope to get it in place and the ceiling finished this Winter and Spring.

Insulation for the engine house

          We added three more wooden display panels 4’ x 4’ to the interior of the engine house

One of 3 new display panels added to the engine house

          We dug 300 feet of trench, laid conduit and pulled wiring for 5 lamp posts that we are designing and building. The lamp posts are at key locations that we hope will make the occasional night time operation easier and more fun.

Trenching and laying conduit for lamp post project

Two of the new lamp posts during fabrication

          We had several shop projects during the year. We rebuilt several MTC and Allan Herschell train components. We rebuilt:

• Two S-16 power trucks
• Two G-16 power trucks
• 12 passenger trucks
• 10 individual axle sets and 20 journal boxes
• 64 sets of brake rigging
• 64 brake canisters

Rebuilt G-16 Power Truck

Brake Rigging and Cannisters

          We made additions to the two gondolas we purchased and brought home last year. We designed and added decouplers to both cars and also added padded seats.

Decouplers were added to the gondola cars (right)

Seat cushions were added to gondola cars for passenger comfort

          We constructed 2 maintenance of way cars (a 4 foot and a 6 foot) to follow our two speeders. The cars are wood and metal frame construction and utilize MTC wheels, axles and journal boxes. The decking slats are Red Oak. We still have to install the stake pockets and lettering, but they are basically complete.

4 foot maintenance of way car during construction

          We also fabricated couplers for the speeders to pull the MOW cars.

          We did a great deal of sheet metal work on our second S-16, the “Sandusky”. The cab is now in place and fits great. We do have a couple of additional things I would like to modify before she gets disassembled for painting.

The Sandusky sits on the transfer table at the Arizona & Pacific Railroad

          We completed, except for a bit of touch up paint, the restoration and display of our Allan Herschell and MTC signal collection in the engine house.

Allan Herschell and Miniature Train Company signal display in the engine house

          We also completed restoration and display of our MTC track gauge.

Restored Miniature Train Company track gauge

          Our Miniature Train and Railroad Company torque wrench collection (manufactured 1939 and 1940) is on display, but not quite complete.

P. A. Sturtevant Miniature Train and Railroad Company torque wrench display

          We moved our G-16 from Gilbert to the Peoria shops of A&P RR and started on the body work.

G-16 #582 in the A&P RR Peoria shops for restoration

          We also moved a D&RGW “Bumble Bee themed” S-16 to the A&P RR Peoria shops for restoration and assembly.

          We moved speeder No. 2 from Gilbert to Peoria and got her on the rails and running for the first time in many years.

Both Speeders running at the Arizona & Pacific Railroad

          We bought a wine barrel in Northern California that looks great on our engine house platform; we hope to acquire as many as three more for others locations around our railroad.

          We purchased seven period appearing lanterns for our new lamp posts that we are installing along our right-of-way. We think they will fit very well with our overall theme

          We tracked down some key parts for our G-16 restoration.

          We also acquired some of the parts we will need for a long-range Stock Car project – no we aren’t talking NASCAR…

          We visited many railroads during the year and some we visited several times. The railroads in Arizona were:

• Flagstaff & Middle Verde RR
• Paradise & Pacific RR
• Lazy R&G Ranch RR
• Freestone Park RR
• Traildust Town RR
• Schnepf Farms RR
• Enchanted Island Express at Encanto Parks
• Daisy Mountain RR
• Maricopa Live Steamers
• Superstition Scenic RR

A run day at Malcolm Mackey's Flagstaff & Middle Verde Railroad

Engine #11 of the Paradise & Pacific Railroad built by Bill Daney in 1956 sports fresh paint

Mr. Train awaits passengers of the Lazy R&G Ranch Railroad

CP Huntington 287 of the Trail Dust Town Railroad

Springtime at Goldfield Ghost Town's 36" gauge Superstition Scenic Railroad

Schnepf Farms RR in April

          The out-of-state railroads we had the opportunity to visit were:

• Joshua Tree & Southern RR
• Hillcrest & Wahtoke RR
• MP & BH RR
• RS&T RR
• Panella Pacific RR
• Del Osso Farms RR
• The Hurlbut Amusement Co. shops

Joshua Tree & Southern Railroad Shay #6

Crossing "Jack's Gap" on the Joshua Tree & Southern Railroad

The Redwood Valley Railroad's Sequoia runs at Railfest 2009 at the Hillcrest & Wahtokee RR

The Sonoma runs at the Hillcrest & Wahtokee RR during Railfest 2009

          We had the opportunity to host friends and guests from several states during the year and look forward to more of the same next year. We did not have any international visitors this year for the first time in a number of years.

          We had a very ambitious year planned in 2009, but as often happens, we didn’t get everything finished that we had hoped. We did get started and made significant progress on four of the projects we targeted for the year including:

• Insulating and trimming the engine house
• Finishing our engine No. 2, the “Sandusky”
• Finishing our MOW cars
• Phase one (running electrical) for the expanded waiting area project

          None of these projects are completed and thus will be on our project list again in 2010.

          Additional potential projects in 2010 include:

• Completing the lighting project
• Completing the expansion of the waiting area
• Rebuilding two waiting platform benches
• Completing the initial assembly of our G-16 and the “Bumble Bee”
• Extending our loading platform
• Adding signage for our trestles, spurs and sidings
• Constructing our speeder building
• Replacing our speeder building trestle

          Have a great New Year Everybody!

The A&P engine house on an irrigation day

The Phoenix awaits passengers at the Arizona & Pacific Railroad