Southern Pacific #18 Update – February and March 2021

February managed to see one, very small, work day occur. Only four attended and our primary focus was on installing a temporary, yet stable, roof on perlite car #73. Long without a proper roof, #73 had its plywood roof blown off last year in a wind storm. With no immediate plans to perform a proper restoration on #73 we decided to reinstall a plywood roof however this time with a little more structure to it so it will last, its certainly not pretty but will suffice. Also repaired was #73’s door so it will open.

Work was also begun on the pair of former Westside Lumber company trucks which will be repaired and ultimately placed under boxcar #15 to make it sit at a proper height and look more historically accurate. Work still remains to be performed before they are ready to go under #15.

In addition to the work on the boxcars, we removed the gauges off of #18 to test them for its annual. Also accomplished was some repairs to our push car and trips to both Owenyo and Kearsarge. All in all it was a beautiful day and a half in Independence! We look forward to the next work weekend, hopefully in April!

Southern Pacific #18 – January 2021

2021 is upon us finally! The first thing to report is that members should see a newsletter in their inbox, or mailbox, in the first part of February; hurray! Holding work sessions is still a challenge under California’s Covid guidelines however, its our hope to be able to perform a few minor tasks soon. That’s about all to announce for the moment, so stay safe, and look forward to those beautiful work days to come in the shadows of the Sierra’s!