The Rubber & Rawhide Railroad

Progress Report for 12 December 2008

This Page Created on December 12th, 2008

Grade Crossing on Garden Path

Visitors to the Rubber and Rawhide Railroad can attest to the general lack of consideration visited on Grade Crossings. We've tried to minimize those crossing open portions of the lawn, and have only lately established techniques for handling those places where track must cross concrete porch and sidewalks.

Finally, at long last, a situation has presented itself with an easy solution to this vexing problem. The garden paths near the Rubber Creek all feature a crushed granite surface. While no fun at all barefoot, the material packs down into a solid mass after a few rains. But, it's still easy to work with a mattock. In the foreground of the picture is the roadbed leading to the Sago Palm Route, a loop off the Leather Oaks Lot Perimeter. By carefully trenching a path slightly wider than the composite roadbed material, it was easy to set the roadbed slightly below the original path surface. When the track has been installed, the thinner composite material will be employed on both track edges. The final height should be practically the same as the path!

We expect to follow a similar technique on most across-the-yard crossings. They are made more complex by the need to keep the track slightly above the surrounding sod height.

Horse is Found !

Regular followers will remember the recent departure of Horse from the admittedly overcrowded front porch. Workers building the Sago Palm Route report that he's got a new home just South of that spiked plant. He must have good contacts to aquire such a prized location.

Harold and Horse Converse

We're happy that he's found such a good home on the Sago Palm Route. Somehow that seems appropriate, we think. In the photo, he and Harold discuss future plans. Will he patiently wait for train service to begin?

Lot Perimeter Track Laying Progress

Despite the inclement weather most of this week, significant progress has been made in closing the Lot Perimeter Route. This last section of Phase III is now just a short fifty feet from completion! Track laying today brought the line in front of King Neptune. While no photos are yet available, the old gent seemed rather pleased. The photo shows the track laying crew taking a brief break before fastening the completed track onto the roadbed. In the background, one can see the Bronze Trio. The photo is taken from the vantage point of the cutoff joining the Sago Palm Route (Phase V) with the Lot Perimeter Route.

Memorial Bell Tower Re-lit!

Somehow, the arrival of the Railroad seems to spur growth and progress. Now that rail service reaches the Memorial Bell Tower, the authorities have refreshed its lighting scheme: We hope to get a natural light photo, but present this flash image for now. When the MBT Loop is completed, we're expecting that this will be just one more reason folks will flock to those evening trains!