Yep. Posted a shot of it in use at the beginning of this thread…
The moratorium was lifted when the first steam power since 1956 crossed 994 with all the staff and volunteers that made it happen on board…
So now I can backtrack and post a few of the latest progress…
Henry Long EBTF Track Forman and Gene Tucker FEBT track crew leader…
Tomorrow we set the rubber in the South crossing and the contractor will pave. That will complete Southward expansion for this season. There may be some preliminary work to the South of Pogue bridge. Until contracted bridge rehab is done, this is the Southern terminus for trains.
Rumor has it the paid crew will be working in my back yard moving the track 1 switch further South. I need to get my pictures now!
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Jon,
Great post. Just wondering if you’ve got yourself completely moved into the house or whether you’ve been working on the railroad all the live-long day.
Great series of posts Sounds like you are having loads of fun.
Stan
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Thanks for the great shots Jon. You’re livin’ the dream!
The living areas are pretty much done, except hanging pictures. The extra bedroom “hobby room” is jammed full of boxes and the garage (shed) is only organized enough to access my saws and tools. I haven’t even thought of unboxing any train stuff!
Top priority is getting electric and heat into the garage before winter. I have a mechanical contractor coming this morning to look at the abandoned oil furnace in the crawlspace and quote installing a propane wall furnace in the shed.
Later this week is Orbisonia Homecoming and I’ve been asked to man the FEBT Outreach table for a few hours each day of the weekend. At least it’s indoors in AC.
I’ve also been battling with my nearly 30 year old Craftsman riding mower to keep it operating. Even though my actual owned property is less than .25 acres, I mow well over an acre including street ROW’s and the three vacant lots behind me. The mower has not been happy with all the extra stress!
Oh, and we are way overdue in getting our vehicles titled and registered in PA. In order to do that they require you to have a PA driver’s license, which we finally got. Now jump through the hoops to get titled, registered and inspected. None of which is done at the DMV 
I might be dying in the dream if this heat and humidity doesn’t break. I’m glad yesterday’s track work was done by 11:30A and we are done for now.
Yesterday the rail seals were installed on the South high school driveway crossing, stone clean up out of the grass areas and new grass seed spread. Paving will happen today or tomorrow…
I hear ya, it’s wearying hot… I need a large-brim hat of some kind…
Just saw this. You’d be the envy of the crew in one of these!
They paved the crossing and mounted the traditional oval signs on rail posts…
Al Gallo photo
The 3 paid and numerous volunteer track crew that got it done…
Matthew Malkiewicz photo
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Wow, amazing work. Y’all must be super proud.
And there you are in the center, that’s frameable Dude!
Can you show a rough map on where this extension is going, or otherwise describe the project and destination?
It’s called the March to Saltillo. Here is a track status map that is a little outdated. The In Progress portion to Pogue has reached the bridge where it waits for contracted repair work…
The town of Saltillo is a reasonable excursion destination distance with Wye facilities. The station was lost to decay some years ago, but a recreation is being built based on modern architectural drawings of the original before it was torn down. The exterior shell has been completed by a contractor. The interior will be finished by volunteers using a number of artifacts salvaged from the original. How the shell looked about a month ago…
This is all made possible by the incredible success of fund raising efforts (on track to reach $500K this year) and a very dedicated core group of volunteers. These are exciting times and I’m happy and proud to be part of it.
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My understanding is that (a) a professional contractor is needed to refurbish the bridge - it’s solid but lots of work needed on the supports, etc., and (b) the County has found a funding source to pay for it. So Jon will have to move over to Pogue and start laying track south from there!
Thanks for the map, Jon. So if I’m understanding it correctly, the 3.3 miles of in-service track will, with this “march,” grow to 11.3 miles. Very impressive!
Information on needed contractor performed repairs is correct. There is a grant, but the state still has not funded the last one that was spent using OPM and the state won’t be doing any funding until the budget impasse is resolved. [Bob - if that is political, delete this post] It is hoped that the job will go out for bid in the fall and work done over the winter.
Personally, I think we should start working from Pogue North. The powers that be think Saltillo North is the next work site. Rumor has it there is an issue with a land owner in Pogue that has built a garage on the ROW.
Got me an indor climate controlled sit down gig for the weekend 
And we are finally legal on the road…
I’m having a bit of guilt about that. I wasn’t thinking at all, just looking for good footing. I didn’t mean to upstage the two guys who really got it done and the rest of the crew that has been at it for years, not weeks.
Track work resumes Tuesday, but I think I’ll play hooky. My back has not been the best lately and the job is replacing ties on the active main near the ice cream stand. Digging out old ties and placing new ones by hand. No tie inserter in service (yet).
Tonight there was a private dinner party at the grove. I grabbed a few dusk shots from the back yard. I have RR permission to cut that brush. There is a public dinner train tomorrow. I’d like to get better shots.
I got out early today before the first trains and cut a bunch of brush. It was 46° when I started and I still worked up a sweat. Hopefully long pants and a Technu wash when I came in will keep the poison ivy at bay. Still a little more I could do, but much improved…
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That’s a butt-load of weeds you cut Jon, nice!! String trimmer, or something more aggressive? And what a great view of the trains you opened up for yourself.
Cliff
PS: And what a view for the dinner guests, who’ll surely have been keeping up with your shed rebuild! And as they passed it, I’ll bet more than a few passengers wanted to ask their conductor, “Sir, was that the famous spot on the shed where the Rooster peed?”
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