they just fall off the hills around here Regal. 
Nice looking Jon can we run trains yet?
If you were in our area of the California desert we have plenty of rocks. Thereās nothing like living on an alluvial fan! It does make it challenging digging a trench sometimes.
You flatlanders kill me. This is why we have geared locos. Other wise, that is what chain saws are for, cut the _______ root and get on with it! Trees are such a pain in the ______ and they blow over in the wind storm! Paul
Jerry Hansen said:Well lets see... In my particular part of the country millions of rocks were deposited on the surface by the receding glaciers at the end of the last ice age. Fast forward to the 1600's, and farmers began clearing fields to plant, placing these glacial droppings in long dry stacked walls separating fields, and marking property lines. 200 or so years later, most farming moved to more fertile parts of the country, and second generation tree growth took over New England covering most of the fields. Today, if you a walk in any wooded area here, you will come upon these long piles of rocks, still marking long abandon fields.
Where do you guy's go to steal whoops I mean collect yer rocks????? Regal Out here they'll cite ya for trespassing, and or harboring stolen property!! Yikes!
A lot of my ācollectingā is done from our boat. We live on a man-made lake crated by flooding a rover valley. The shoreline is littered with small boulders and many of the accessible islands have rock walls. I wade along the shore and pick out the ones I find interesting.
Collection and sale of New England Wall Rock has become big business here. You can buy them by the pallet at landscape supply stores. A lot of what I used to line Deep Cut was rock brought here by a contractor who started to repair some of our natural stone walls, but disappeared leaving the job half done and a pile of rock in my driveway.
E. Paul Austin said:Who you calling a Flatlander ???? My line of sight is less than a half mile to the west, and only a couple to the east :D
You flatlanders kill me. This is why we have geared locos. Other wise, that is what chain saws are for, cut the _______ root and get on with it! Trees are such a pain in the ______ and they blow over in the wind storm! Paul
And I happen to like trees for the shade and the insurance money they provide when they fall on you house !
The survey crew went out late this morning and determined the sub-roadbed was not far enough below grade in many places. The excavator was called back and more soil removed from the trench in preparation for roadbed.
I decided to continue with concrete roadbed, but this time Iām using 2x4ās for forms because I didnāt want to rip my last piece of plywood. This will result in more space between the roadbed and the cut walls which will help provide a place for water drain.
Itās over 90 here today, so work is progressing slowly. I might get the forms in place but will probably not pour today.
The recent heat wave has taken itās toll on the roadbed/track gang. Sunday they worked most of the day in high temperatures grading the sub-roadbed and building concrete forms. Monday they were off on a well deserved holiday, and Tuesday, with temps reaching into the low 100ās, the crew was given a second day off. Yesterday, there was no relief to the heat, so the crew worked indoors on the re-bar cage. Today, if outside work is possible, a load of gravel will be moved and placed in the form. The concrete crew is scheduled for Saturday.
The front office is getting very anxious. The wye has been out-of-service for over 5 months and is impacting the summer tourist schedule. They want to schedule some trains!
Hey Jon,
Nice looking, but I only have 1 question. How come it doesnāt go anywhere? It looks like the start of a great looking tunnel.
Chuck
Chuck Inlow said:
Hey Jon,Nice looking, but I only have 1 question. How come it doesnāt go anywhere? It looks like the start of a great looking tunnel.
Chuck
If you didnāt start at the beginning of this thread, Deep Cut has a long and storied history. It stopped initially because it was becoming too deep and since it was the end-of-track at the time, I wanted it to be fairly level. When I first started digging, the cross-the-street neighbor suggested I continue under the road and into his yard. I thought about it for about a minute and then came to my senses.
Other than depth, another reason it stopped was that I was too close to the road and water lines to turn into my yard to continue. Also this area is in the middle of a stand of Pine trees and digging among the roots is pretty tough. Now, if I could get Andy to bring his machine over, then maybe we could do something 
Although I wouldnāt want a long curving tunnel this deep in the ground - too hard to retrieve derailments.
As it worked out, the rail laid in the cut became the tail of a wye. I have a physical obstacle on the other tail that limits my train length. Making the tunnel longer wouldnāt add any operational advantage.
Temps have moderated somewhat, enough to move some stone to get the bottom of the form leveled out and the rebar cage in placeā¦ [url=lsc.cvsry.com/Post/DeepCutTunnel-76-1200.JPG]
(http://lsc.cvsry.com/Post/DeepCutTunnel-76-800.JPG)
[/url][color=blue]FF: Click to Enlarge - IE: Right Click Photo and select Open Link in New Window to Enlarge[/color] This section of roadbed will be 3 inches narrower than the existing switch pad to allow water to drain between the roadbed and the rocksā¦ [url=lsc.cvsry.com/Post/DeepCutTunnel-77-1200.JPG]
(http://lsc.cvsry.com/Post/DeepCutTunnel-77-800.JPG)
[/url][color=blue]FF: Click to Enlarge - IE: Right Click Photo and select Open Link in New Window to Enlarge[/color] An overall view - ready to pour concreteā¦ [url=lsc.cvsry.com/Post/DeepCutTunnel-78-1200.JPG]
(http://lsc.cvsry.com/Post/DeepCutTunnel-78-800.JPG)
[/url][color=blue]FF: Click to Enlarge - IE: Right Click Photo and select Open Link in New Window to Enlarge[/color] Now that itās close to done, how about a before and after comparison. BEFOREā¦ [url=photo.cvsry.com/deep2-1280.jpg]
(http://photo.cvsry.com/deep2-640.jpg)
[/url][color=blue]Deep Cut - Circa 2004 - FF: Click to Enlarge - IE: Right Click Photo and select Open Link in New Window to Enlarge[/color] And AFTERā¦ [url=lsc.cvsry.com/Post/DeepCutTunnel-79-1200.JPG]
(http://lsc.cvsry.com/Post/DeepCutTunnel-79-800.JPG)
[/url][color=blue]FF: Click to Enlarge - IE: Right Click Photo and select Open Link in New Window to Enlarge[/color] Concrete pour is scheduled for Saturday, weather permitting. Iām almost ready to answer Roosterās favorite question.
Nice!!!
Page 19
Sorry
Jon Radder said:
Now that itās close to done, how about a before and after comparison. BEFOREā¦ [url=photo.cvsry.com/deep2-1280.jpg](http://photo.cvsry.com/deep2-640.jpg)
[/url][color=blue]Deep Cut - Circa 2004 - FF: Click to Enlarge - IE: Right Click Photo and select Open Link in New Window to Enlarge[/color] And AFTERā¦ [url=lsc.cvsry.com/Post/DeepCutTunnel-79-1200.JPG]
(http://lsc.cvsry.com/Post/DeepCutTunnel-79-800.JPG)
[/url][color=blue]FF: Click to Enlarge - IE: Right Click Photo and select Open Link in New Window to Enlarge[/color]
So whatās the plan for the next 7 months now that the fallout shelter for squirrels is almost done Looking at the ābeforeā picture, Iām just curious as to how many ankles fell victim to āDeep Cutā ? Ralph
Ralph Berg said:
So whatās the plan for the next 7 months now that the fallout shelter for squirrels is almost done
Iām going to start working on thisā¦ [url=lsc.cvsry.com/Expand14-1024.jpg]
(http://lsc.cvsry.com/Expand14-640.JPG)
[/url][color=blue]FF: Click to Enlarge - IE: Right Click Photo and select Open Link in New Window to Enlarge[/color]
Ralph Berg said:
Looking at the ābeforeā picture, Iām just curious as to how many ankles fell victim to āDeep Cutā ? Ralph
Amazingly, no one ever fell in or tripped over it. Over the years the dirt began falling away from the sides but left the sod in place at theg top. I always worried when mowing with the tractor that I would collapse it.
OK, Jon. How about a picture showing where the rail line will exit the āVaultāā¦and the place where the organ will be located for the burial of the urnā¦must have music for the serviceā¦!!
Has anyone ever built an organ grinderās car WITH SOUND? That would work!
Fred Mills said:Fred - Once you are in the 'vault', there is no exit. It is a forever commitment :D I think Doug has hit on the musical solution, however I believe I would prefer a steam calliope. We should be able to borrow one from the circus.
OK, Jon. How about a picture showing where the rail line will exit the "Vault".....and the place where the organ will be located for the burial of the urn.....must have music for the service....!!
EDIT to add this Steam Calliope link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKbD3OUIEGY&feature=related
Jon
What are you going to do to keep the critters and slithers out of the ātunnel?ā I donāt think that you want any surprises.
I planned on simulating one of the EBTās roll-up tunnel doors with a plug. We donāt have any snakes around these parts, but Iām sure some of the critters would find it a nice spot to build a den. I donāt think there is anything I can do to keep insects out.