Gawd, I hope so. The COVID lockdowns contributed to gaining a lot of it back. Packing and moving did a good job of taking most of that back off. Then I discovered local kettle chips, ginger snaps and ice cream. My last numbers weren’t too good so I’m trying to do better. Doc is putting me on a GLP-1 which should help some too.
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You ain’t close to finding the real stuff yet.
Have you hit Kings Bakery just over the hill from you. Hollywood blew an easy $100 there his first time! However they only had one wet bottom Shoo Fly pie that day so he had to get a two dry bottoms with it.
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We are finally back at it working railroad south toward Three Springs starting just south of Pogue Station. While it was never a railroad owned station, it was a stop with a passing siding. Located just railroad south of Pogue trestle, the station is still owned by the Hoffman family who’s ancestors worked in the mines. They have remodeled it to include a nice AirBnB and a retail area for future development. The signage has said J. R. Rutter’s Cash Store for many years.
Work on the trestle is still on hold pending approval of the scope of work by the US Dept. of Transportation so that the state can release a federal matched grant for the work. It has been in this state of limbo for over a year.
But we want to be ready! The roadbed has been cleared and graded from Pogue Station to Price’s Bridge. Existing track was dismantled and moved off to the side during grading. Recently stacks of re-lay ties have been distributed. Tomorrow a small group will lay out “OTM” in preparation for track building next week. “OTM” stands for Other Track Materials: New spikes, new bolts, nuts and washers for track joiners and some additional used tie plates to supplement those lost to time in the shmutz.
I wasn’t fast enough to make the cut for tomorrows work, but will be able to join the larger crew the during the FEBT work week starting next Tuesday. We will begin by tamping the three switches at Colgate Grove, then move on to new track construction in Pogue.
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That’ll be a popular BnB!
Great stuff, thanks for the report Jon.
Funny this popped back up as I just made this very basic (handed down) recipe but a good one for Labor Day weekend. You may add what you like or increase/decrease ingredients to taste. Sometimes I add shredded carrot or pickle it goes very well with drained canned tuna added in as well.
Just make sure you let it set overnight.
I love the old photo in the window. In the background is one of the telegraph shacks that I modeled for the MIK a few years back.
AND - I finally found the plate girder Price’s Bridge that you told me about years ago. It is easy to see if you look. I probably have been looking for traffic at that intersection rather than into the woods. Now that I know where it is, unless we have awesome weather into early winter, we probably won’t reach it this year.
EDIT to add: That barn behind Hollywood in the last photo isn’t looking too good as of late. It has started to collapse.
…6yrs ago
The old man took pics of some things at the barn. Corn crib maybe ?
WHY …I don’t remember and I probably told him I don’t care. Then he would say: well I’m gonna tell ya’ anyway!
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I re-joined the FEBT track crew today. I missed Monday as my brother and sister-in-law were visiting. On Monday, the EBTF full time track crew and a large group of FEBT volunteers leveled and tamped two of the three wye switches at Colgate Grove. I joined them this morning to tamp the final switch. Spreading ballast…
Using pneumatic jitterbugs to tamp the ballast where the tamper will not fit…
The mechanical tamper makes fast work of what can be reached…
Later in the morning, we traveled to Pogue and began laying track South from the south side of Spring Creek Rd. The old rail here is a bit difficult to deal with as it is vertically bowed. The first stick is attached to one embedded in the asphalt…
Pogue Station in the background. The AirBnB there is now open and one of our crew was staying there…
By the end of the day we had laid out just under 200 feet of rail and fully spiked up about 50 feet…
Tomorrow morning we will replace some ties in the Rockhill Wye, then return to Pogue to do more.
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Jon, How many kilometres of track will be laid by the time the project is completed?
The current goal of Saltillo, PA is a little over 9 miles, or 14.5 kilometers from the restoration starting point of Rockhill Furnace, PA…
The official description of the project March to Saltillo
Back at it today. Not as much progress in Pogue as yesterday because we spent the morning replacing about 15 ties in the Rockhill wye. I think we added about 120 feet to yesterdays progress before we ran out of materials. I spoke yesterday of the bowed rail. The only picture today was of the last rail laid and how much it is bowed on the end. Notice the joint bar resting on two ties; it’s straight while the end of rail is nearly 6" above the tie!..
More track work tomorrow, but first an FEBT cook-out tonight with an information program after.
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After reading these posts I keep getting a subtle tune stuck in my head. Does this happen to you while you’ve been working on the railway? It is like an ear-worm and seems to last all the live-long day.
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We arrived in Pogue this morning to light rain showers. They dissipated long enough for us to get started on building the siding with lighter rail and smaller plates. Eventually there will be three different weights of rail on the siding; 100# in the crossing transitioning to 85# for one stick before transitioning to 65# for the remainder of the siding. At the start of the day the Prentice truck is used to set out ties and rail…
After a short rain delay we managed to lay out about 200 feet of the siding with one rail spiked…
Tomorrow we will gauge and spike as much as we can get done with a small all volunteer crew.
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How do you fix the vertical kink? Just add more rail on the end?
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Basically, yes. We have to hold the next rail in the air while bolting up the joint, then the weight of the next rail holds it down. Not a kink, just bowed.
Today before work started…
The roadbed ready for more track…
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I’m assuming the rail gets that from when it was removed improperly?
39’ long sticks? You know you’ll be fancy when they start welding rails. 
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Nope wasn’t removed improperly. When we remove rail we simply cut the joint bolts and pick it up. There are no ties left as the railroad did not use treated ties or proper ballast. 70 years since the last train. Nature took over.
It’s either worn that way or was purchased as mill seconds. All the 85# rail removed from this area is bowed. It spikes down like normal. This rail was laid in the 1940’s but has mill dates much older. The siding is 65# milled in the 1830’s and is fine.
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We wrapped up our work week this afternoon. All 400+ feet of main and siding are gauged and spiked…
The track we laid here crosses a culvert. Part of the culvert is made from an old boiler…
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Jon,
I think I would like to add these pics that I took 2yrs ago. It really fits in to where you are so far and what Hollywood and I were checking out back then. As a matter of fact I believe you texted me that day and wanted to know where we were as you were getting ready to ride the train.
Pogue Station looking towards Rockhill.
Pogue Station looking towards Three Springs.
Looking southwest towards Three Springs.
Bonus shot of the beautiful Three Springs Creek taken off of Spring Creek and Hamman Rds.
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