Large Scale Railroad
Construction Progress

Help Wanted

In conjunction with the GADSDEN PACIFIC TOY TRAIN OPERATING MUSEUM, we are beginning the process of recruiting interested people willing to help build this project, which will be located here at the museum grounds in Tucson.

Work sessions are on Saturday mornings usually around 7:30am.
Come down and help build a railroad!

For more information, or to volunteer, contact Burt Wright (cell #) 444-0661

Planned for Saturday (Feb 25, 2012):

This Saturday @ 7:30, we'll meet again to enjoy the unbelievably nice weather and maybe even get some track laying done. With the passing siding completed last work session and the last turnout completed, the grade pins set and the alignment painted on the ground, the track crew has no more excuses for not getting the north loop connected. 

Look at all these tools! Evidence that these guys appear to know what they're doing.

Jesse, our newest member of the group, sent the attached photos plus a suggestion that it's "almost time to start looking for a golden spike". Raymond wants to start having some discussions about this, so give it some thought and we'll start the discussions this Saturday.

See you all on Saturday - coffee will be on & pastries available. 

Saturday (Feb 18, 2012):

Looks like the weather will give us another good day to work on the railroad. Was that winter that blew through town on Tuesday? Good Riddance!

As usual, we'll meet at 7:30 or so and coffee will be on & pastries available. Further grade work & track placement will occur along the west side where last week the going got a little tougher. Swinging a pick is hard work - even for the young guys. Fortunately, there will be less of that ahead.

Thanks again to Jesse for taking some time to take pictures.

More track coming soon!

February 11, 2012 Photos, courtesy of Jesse Miller

Raymond is in the material acquisition stages for the turntable and transfer table. Wheel examples have been obtained and they look good. He'll probably bring them on Saturday for inspection.

Thanks to Jim Degrood, we've got our north end connection re-established and grade pins set. Final grade work can now begin.

See you Saturday AM.   Burt

Saturday (Jan 28, 2012):

Before getting started, Raymond & I want to extend thanks to Hans Huth for taking the following photos during the last work session. Photo documentation is really important and interesting when we look back at where we started. All of us appreciate you doing this Hans. We thank you.

Last week built on the previous weeks effort as we're making noticeable headway toward our goal of completing the loop. Getting the new 20' container (pictured in one of the photos below) delivered, with a crew busy setting & leveling it plus Raymond's crew finishing another turnout & almost completing a 2nd, plus the track crew finally starting to permanently set turnouts on the west side of the building made everyone start feeling good again. The weather certainly helped as well and this Saturday will be no exception. We should be able to complete another turnout and put down a significant amount of track plus possibly get ballast placed as well. Work has begun on trying to get steel contributed to our cause to enable us to begin work on the transfer table & storage racks in the containers.

In addition, due to the diligent efforts of a couple of our group, the Lincoln Funeral Train donated to the GPD by Lionel has now found it's new home in the Number 1 display case in the front of the Museum. Look for some publicity opportunities possibly to come with respect to that effort. Great job Wayne & Robert - we can be really proud of this 1st class effort.

Raymond & I look forward to seeing everyone on Saturday beginning about 7:30 AM. As usual, the coffee will be on & pastries available. Enjoy the pictures below.  Burt

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Saturday (Jan 21, 2012):

As usual, we will meet at the GPD beginning at 7:30 AM this Saturday morning to begin track laying and turnout setting along the west side of the building. Additional turnouts are still needed, so work on another turnout may also parallel the track laying effort.

Last Saturday, the placement of the 20' container went very well as it arrived on-time and was off-loaded without incident. The box was positioned and then leveled. No more rattlesnakes appeared, which was good (three large rattlesnakes were found under the container when we picked it up but we left them there). A bunch of drainage piping 6'' through 10" plus a roll of fabric was also given to us with the container so we now have plenty of drain pipe for future use if needed.

The Large Scale Committee (Standard Gauge & G Gauge) met on Wednesday night to discuss their future. Raymond attended the meeting representing our group and reported that change, if it occurs, will probably not be very dramatic. Our track plan revisions were given to the group's Chairman for their use. Ask Raymond on Saturday for a complete rundown on what was discussed. Hope to see you all on Saturday.  Burt

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Saturday (Jan 14, 2012):

This Saturday will be another work session, however there is going to be a somewhat different type of effort needed. 

We have become the proud owners of a 20' long, 8' wide, & 8'-6" high, storage container. Although the paint is weathered, the container is actually in better condition than the 40' container currently on the property. 

As with the effort to place the 40' container, safety will be the overriding goal. Please respect the equipment that will be used during this work session as the operators cannot hear people over the noise of the equipment, and vision is significantly obstructed when sitting in the seats of the skid-steer's (Bobcat). Taking responsibility for yourself and keeping an eye on others will assure that we'll not have any unwanted events. The new container will weigh in at around 5,000 pounds - it will be no contest if you are in the way. Please be careful ! ! ! 

This is a picture of the container - the trash around it is already cleared away making it relatively accessible for the loading. We are picking up the container starting at 7 AM on Saturday morning and it will be delivered to the GPD immediately after getting it loaded. This move is being made possible with the generous help offered by friends of my family. They are providing equipment capable of safely moving the container. Please don't hesitate to extend appreciation to them for this generous offer to help when we arrive at the GPD.

The placement of the container at the GPD will require (temporary?) relocation of some items. These items include the concrete table & benches that are near the trees at the end of the loading zone as well as the long beams & planks donated to us by Jerry Munson (Contractor who built the porch enclosure) that are adjacent to the loading zone. Glenn will have his Bobcat available making these relocations easier. The ballast pile can remain in place for now, however Glenn will be pushing it (re-piling) toward the south to give us a little more space to back in the 3-axle equipment trailer being used to move the container. Glenn will also get some dirt from the "borrow" pile in the drainage way, south of the caboose, to use as a ramp to allow the trailer to go over the extruded curb, hopefully without damaging it. This will permit us to get nearer to the location where the container will ultimately be placed. We will have an adequate number of 4 x 8 x 16 CMU blocks available for leveling the container so with some luck, we'll be able to get it located and leveled during this session.

This sketch shows the intended location for the container as well as the route that we will back the trailer to give you a clearer understanding of what will happen. dashed lines indicate the approach track and approximate locations for the steaming bays. Not shown in the transfer table alignment which will be in front of the two containers. As stated above, this move will begin at 7AM at a property near Valencia & Kolb (far southeast side of town). We estimate that the loading process should take approximately 60-90 minutes with another 30 minutes drive time to the GPD. Please understand that this is an estimate based upon a limited amount of experience and things can happen.  Thus, if the items mentioned above could be cleared and/or placed by 9 AM, this whole operation could come off successfully. I will have my cell phone with me (444-0661).

I will call (Glenn) if the estimated time constraints change, otherwise, we should be at the GPD around 9 AM +/-. This acquisition is very timely as we are starting to design & prepare for transfer table, steaming bay & approach track construction - all of which would have made it more difficult to move this container into it's resting spot.  The starting time for the work session Saturday will be 7:30 AM as usual. Glenn Ellis is the key holder that will open up. If you have any questions, feel free to contact either Raymond or myself. Burt

Saturday (Jan 7, 2012):

This Saturday will be another work session and another turnout to construct.

The session will begin at 7:30 AM - hope to see as many of you as possible.

Don't forget the meeting this Friday night - there will be a dinner served before the meeting as the kitchen is now put back together. 

The program for this meeting is US. I got a last minute request from Bud to do this which will not be a problem. I'm going to put together a slide presentation showing pictures of other facilities running so that all members will understand just what this will look like. I will have pictures of turntables, transfer tables, steaming bays, etc and lots of pictures and perhaps short video clips of 7-1/2" gauge trains in action. Having our group attend this meeting in mass will be great if possible. I will also be introducing Raymond as the new Chairman to take us forward.

Hope to see you all there.   Burt

Saturday (Jan 1, 2012):

Gentlemen,

Sorry for the late notice, but the holidays have resulted in my decision making capability being put into somewhat of a holding pattern. But after a short discussion with Raymond, we decided not to waste what appears to be a great weather day and do a work session tomorrow. We will meet at the GPD at 7:30 AM and probably start another turnout and perhaps start positioning and installing the two turnouts on the ground..   Burt

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