Author: Randy Babcock

Late October contained picture perfect weather in the Owens Valley as we gathered to work on #18 and boxcar #1C. The perfect weather also allowed for a little Right of Way exploration!

Work on #18 consisted of lapping and machining of the main fountain valve, constructing a couple new washout plugs, and constructing new tank leg plumbing. Meanwhile on track 1, work was pushing ahead on the boxcar in the form of putting up siding. Thanks to Bob, Jon, Beverly, Scott, and Randy all remaining siding was put up, trimmed to finish size, and hand nailed into place! By rough count, that’s over 1200 nails that were hand driven. Why hand nail this siding you ask? Simple, because the car is being held to Department of Interior restoration standards which means work and materials are done in-kind to what the original had.

We look forward to the next gathering later this year. Please consider a tax deductible, end of year donation. And a big THANK YOU for your ongoing support and donations. Its your support that allows us to achieve what we do!

Better late than never for a blog update. To start with, we had a very successful July 4th steam up and operations. We raised about $5,500 dollars during the course of the day! A huge thank you to everyone who came out and participated!

With a successful 4th behind us, we took a bit of a summer break until late September when work resumed on the boxcar project and the annual inspection of #18. A boiler wash, and some sandblasting of the boxcar trucks were the main orders of business. As has become the rhythm of the Carson and Colorado, we should be having regular work weekends throughout most of the winter months with the next coming up October 18th-19th. As always, thank you for your support and interest in keeping #18 alive!