During our work session this weekend, I managed to break a $25 tap and chew up the end of an impact wrench socket in the space of about 15 minutes. So, I decided it wasn't a good day for me to be messing with tools. Instead, I wandered around Rion and took some pix I've been meaning to take for some time. I've assembled a photo page which includes some of SCRM's historic photos of the Rockton & Rion. The page will give you a good idea of the construction going on, as well as some of the stuff that still needs doing.

Before anybody says anything about the concrete ties -- they were donated about 8 years ago and have been sitting in Rion ever since. We figured we might as well get some use out of them. They came out of the Bushy Point power plant near Charleston.

http://206.74.77.9/sctrainstuff/history ... nrion.html

Here's a teaser:

I have a feeling that by using those concrete ties you are somehow doing justice to the historical spirit of the quarry. Surely it was common practice for them to use whatever they could get for cheap....somehow I doubt though that anything ever acquired for cheap by them had the potentioal for so many years of faithful service. Good job!

Precisely the way I look at it. We're fixing some of the worst "on the cheap" things the R&R did, such as improving the alignment of the south track. I like to think of it as building the best railroad possible with what's available to us.

The pictures don't show how bad the old track really was. I'd be reluctant to take a motor car over it, and the R&R was running loaded 80-ton hoppers on it! No wonder they put stuff on the ground so much.

There's another spot on the railroad that had 80# rail coming up from the east. The 80# went to "Russian rail" (same deal as the Russian Decapods. This stuff is tall, skinny, and Metric -- the weight works out to about 73#). After a few sticks of Russian, there was a stick or two of 85#, a few more sticks of Russian, a stick of 70#, more Russian, then the rail went to 85# and stayed there. Not a comp bar in sight. We pulled the odd stuff out and took the track from 80# to Russian to 85#. There's another spot on the railroad closer to the western end of it where they went from 105 Dudley to 56# in one jump. They used 56# joint bars and drilled holes high in the 105#. When we get out there, that'll get fixed, too.

The basic building construction should be done next week, barring any more rain delays. The track work is supposed to be done some time in May -- I forget the exact date and rain days have changed it anyway.