On Saturday, June 11, Colin Mellin, Tyler Seeley, Tanner Seeley, Kendall Crouch and Paul Brown worked to finish clean up of material in our shop yard from two weeks ago, and then they moved out to work on some issues on our track. The first item was to clean out the flangeways on our two crossings. With regular traffic into and out of the BNSF & UP yards, dirt and rocks tend to build up at these crossings. Next up was some work on switch points that we have had rebuilt with some welding. A bit of grinding adjustment was needed to keep wheels moving smoothly through the point. Next up was applying grease to the outer rail of the sharp curve leading to our shop.

The crew took a lunch break to cool off and refuel, and then we had to remove a stubborn nut from a gauge rod we needed to install in our sharp curve. The last item was to check and adjust another switch point on the lead tracks to the shop. The crew got a lot of little work accomplished, while dealing with 100 degree temps in the afternoon!!

I have included a few pictures of the crew getting the work done!

– Paul

On Saturday, June 4, our volunteer crew of Dwight Maxey, Colin Mellin, Kendall Crouch, Tyler Seeley, Tanner Seeley and Paul Brown got busy and rearranged our operating equipment to prepare for the Summer operations. This consisted of firing up Engine 103 to move the cars around, and pull Engine 102, “The Patriot“, out of the shop after spending the last six months stored away indoors. After getting the equipment sorted out, the crew took a lunch break.

After lunch, we gave The Patriot it’s annual wash job. Not quite like washing your car in the driveway, but close. There is a lot more surface to be cleaned off so it takes a bit of time. Then it was time to fire up the engine and inspect things, before taking the consist out for a short run to make sure everything works properly. We are now ready for our upcoming events over the next few months.

– Paul

Photos by Paul Brown and Tyler Seeley

On Saturday, May 28, a good group of volunteers came out to the Museum for the latest project. Colin Mellin, Dan Reichenbach, Reid Adams, Tyler Seeley, Tanner Seeley, and Paul Brown worked to clean up a corner of the shop yard which had turned into a bit of a dumping ground for a multitude of old project material, as well as stuff that the Museum can reuse. So the material was removed, and a bed of crushed concrete was placed in anticipation of another project coming into the yard. A set of passenger car trucks are going to be reassembled here on their way back into service.

You can never tell what’s coming next at the Pueblo Railway Museum! Which is why you should consider coming to volunteer. I have attached a few pictures to give you an idea of the work done.

– Paul

Today’s train ride event has been cancelled due to the snow that arrived overnight in Pueblo and the fact that it is continuing to snow this morning. There is accumulated snow on the platform area and the temperature is predicted to stay in the mid 30’s most of the day. We are not prepared to support the event in these conditions with our limited resources and people.

Mother nature threw a monkey wrench into our plans! She does that sometimes.

– Paul

On Saturday, May 7, we had a good size crew consisting of Kendall Crouch, Tyler Seeley, Tanner Seeley, Colin Mellin, Dwight Maxey, and Paul Brown, who came out to pay a little attention to our track. The first thing we did was to check and make some adjustments to the switch that caused us some trouble last week. We also straightened one of the point cross bars to allow the points to fit tight against the stock rail. Later next week, we will get the points built back up with welding and grinding. We also checked the gauge through the rails and set in a gauge rod to hold one area.

After a quick lunch break, we did some work to one of our switches on the shop lead tracks. This consisted of lubricating the moving parts and tightening some clamps. We finished up work and put the tools away, finally getting some much needed track work done. Don’t worry, there is more to come!

I have included a few pictures of today’s activity.

– Paul

On Saturday, April 30, volunteers Dwight Maxey, Colin Mellin, Tyler Seeley, Tanner Seeley and Paul Brown found out that all of our hard work to replace batteries on Engine 103 was worth the effort. Even after sitting for a week, the engine started with its own batteries and no outside help! Once the engine was running and warming up, the crew worked to clean up the cab and give the unit a thorough inspection to put it back in service. After our recent wind storms, the cab had a good coating of dust requiring vacuuming and wiping down. When these tasks were done, we worked to switch Engine 104 over to another shop track, and to switch the cabooses into proper order for use behind Engine 103. Then it was time to exercise 103 on our main running track.

Engine 103 is our highest use engine, which leads to some wear issues. One of those wear issues caused a bit of trouble while returning to the shop, as the engine picked a switch point and dropped one wheel into the gauge. We were able to rerail that wheel with a short move forward, and then had to do a bit of work to the offending switch point. After some adjustments, we slowly reversed Engine 103 back to a shop track to park it. Now we have another project at the Museum!

I have included a few pictures of today’s activities.

– Paul