Page 10 - February 2019 Club Car

NILES CANYON RAILWAY

- - - - - - - - - - - - - Wednesday MOW Report - - - - - - - - - - - - -

2019 is starting out to be a good year!
Work on two major projects has pro-
gressed in spite of the heavy-duty rain
storm around Wed. the 16th. The good
news in the rain department is that all
the culverts seem to be doing their job
and the R-O-W is still where we left it.
One project that was started on the 9th
was to remove a tree that was threat-
ening the historic 1860’s retaining wall
out near the big curve. The tree was
felled and lots of brush chipped before
we called it a day. The remaining trunk
will be extricated when the hillside dries
out a bit.
Another project that was continued is
removing OTM (spikes and tie plates)
from derelict ties and sorting things for
re-use, landscaping or hazardous dis-
posal. This marked the return to ser-
vice of the hydraulic pump which let the
team use the spike extractor to make
the job more efficient.
While that was going on, the Eastern Photo by Joe Peterson
end of the R-O-W was examined for fu- The trees do not always wait for us! Here Steve Jones is examining a tree with crotch
ture needs and projects noted. One of rot failure. WEDMOW will have to come back and buck the tree into smaller pieces
for removal.
these is a tree that had crotch rot failure
and half the tree is now laying on the
ground. This will soon be bucked up

Photo by Joe Peterson
Notice the relationship between Doug Photo by Joe Peterson
Vanderlee in the foreground and Bob Doug Vanderlee observes while Steve Jones fells a tree that endangered the historic
Pratt at the top of the slope! 1860’s retaining wall.
Page 10 Pacific Locomotive Association February 2019