After several dry days (we were beginning to look around for Noah after
40 days of rain), we have finally been able to move the wooden
ties into place on the partially complete railbed in our backyard. John
was going to rent a forklift Bobcat for delivery tomorrow but the company
had one ready to deliver yesterday. David, one of our neighbor DeWayne’s
wrestling students, had some time to help so he and John moved the ties
from the front driveway to the backyard and put them in place.
After several attempts, the steel rails (which weigh about 1,000 pounds
each) finally got relocated to the street in front of the house. Then
it started to rain again. If there is another dry spell, the rails will
get shifted to the backyard today too. We have three rails, each about
30 feet long. One rail needs to be cut in
half so that we can create two 45 foot rail sections. The rails need to be
in place before we can move in the caboose.
All of the guys in the neighborhood regularly come over to watch, help,
and offer advice. There are usually two or three of them
hanging out with the big boy toys whenever we rent a Bobcat or other
piece of construction equipment.
Now that the ties are in place, the contractor can come and fill between
the ties with gravel (ballast). The top of the ties and top of the ballast
will be just below ground level. The addition of the rail plates
and rails will bring the bottom of the caboose’s wheels to slightly
above ground level. This is an important consideration because of
building height limitations in San Jose. We still need to get the railplates
from a local railroad museum. They are all paid for but not yet delivered.
We are still checking on WP668 in storage every day. The inside looks
dry despite the rain and as far as we can tell, no one has tried to break
in or damage it.
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