On Saturday, March 7, volunteers Dwight, Bruce, Chris, Kendall, Dannis, Nick, Ben, Reid, and Paul worked at the D Street Shop to get our caboose equipment cleaned and ready for use for our first event of 2026 on March 8. We also needed to start Engine 103 to switch equipment for the proper consist for the event. While starting the locomotive, we ran into some trouble with a relay causing the fuel pump to stop. After solving that issue, we had a good start and finished the work. After the equipment switching was completed, Engine 103 was taken out to the main running track to check the track and locations for the event on Sunday.

While bringing Engine 103 back into the shop to tie up, we suffered a minor derailment on a sharp curve leading into the shop yard. So it turned into a training event for some of the volunteers, to learn what is needed to rerail a locomotive. We successfully got the engine back on the track, repaired the rails to keep the incident from happening again, and were finally able to tie up about an hour later.

I have included some photos of the work completed before the incidents.

– Paul