The Rubber & Rawhide Railroad

Progress Report for 29th January 2009

This Page Created on January 29th, 2009

Phase V-A to Phase II Connection

The last planned interchange between the House Perimeter Route and the family of lines associated with the Lot Circumnavigation Route became a reality earlier this week! The occasion was the completion of interchange between the Sago Palm/ Horseman loop (Phase V-A) and the House Perimeter just North of its connecton with the North Garage Loop. The photo at left depicts the full extent of the line, as viewed from the North, looking towards the Magic Portal.

Grade Crossing Concerns for the new line.

The already difficult situation with the grade crossing for the North Garage Loop as it crosses the main garden pathway is further exacerbated with the installation of an extremely diagonal alignment of the new line! The photo at right reveals how far above existing grade the new railway lies.

Brick Reclamation Dig!

Our Civil Engineering staff were busily estimating the amount and type of fill they would require to build the Garden Path up to the railway's height when a new wrinkle was thrown in their path. The Archiac Brick Reclamation Association sent members in to dig up a dozen or so bricks. Seems their records showed that these very bricks had been part of a flood diversion program installed in conjunction with the initial landscaping of Leather Oaks, the Garden Destination, in the last century. Let me see now, it must have been way back in Nineteen Nought and Ninety-Four, I reckon. There was some heated discussion, but fortunately a spare quantity of red fill dirt was promissed by the ABRA to make up the deficit.

The Marshy Path Grade Crossings

The opening of the Marshy Path has the distinction of being host to the only parallel grade crossing on the entire Rubber and Rawhide Railroad! That distinction, alas did not save it from some of the same drama we just saw at the diagonal crossings on the main Garden Path! This time, it was a dozen or so antique white bricks, reclaimed some thirty years ago from a Camille-destroyed house in Long Beach! Someone remembered that they had been used as a convenient demarcation between the crushed granite of the Marshy Path and what was then the Small Green. In this case, there was a more practical benefit envsioned for their reclamation. Our Grade Improvement Board is keenly interested in improving performance on some critical portions of the original Phase One trackage. We don't want to give away the whole show, but Jupiter most likely has his gauntleted hand in it! The photo at right shows the site after the bricks have been removed and other grade crossing preparations were completed. Unfortunately, no one had told our track laying crew that all of this activity was planned: They were intent on completing Phase V-A trackage! Some other time, guys!

Marshy Path Grade Crossings Gravelled!

We're not showing you the three cartloads of red fill dirt that preceded it, but here are the initial results of the freshly gravelled grade crossings at the Marshy Path. Those guys sure do sloppy work, don't they?! While our camera crew was called away on another assignment, the tracklaying folks spent about an hour cleaning things up enough to continue their buildup of the area. We believe that their intent is to connect Phase V-A with the Phase III mainline (visible across the top of the photo) tomorrow, and if the gravel truck stays away, they may even complete the buildout of the Bronze Trio Crossing!

Garden Path Grade Crossing Preparations Continue!

Not content with trashing our beautiful Marshy Path, the gravel guys had their shot at the diagonal crossings on the Garden Path too. We caught them half way through their fun, it appears. You think only two more cart loads will fill things in up to those red bricks? (Ed. Note -- look carefully just to the left of the hoe handle.)

Red Bricks? RED BRICKS ! ! Hey, guys, aren't those the ABRA bricks? Oh, I see, they will be visible again? Yes, I see they're angled out of the ground, well be careful with that gravel, or you know who they'll be throwing the extras at!

Garden Path Grade Crossing Preparations Continue!