Rainier Live Steamers (RLS)--- UPDATE

[keyrouteken]

Hi Everybody-- The following letter from Mr. Peter Comley, a member of the Puget Sound Garden Railway Society and the owner of the Sunset Valley Railroad, explains in some detail what is going on with the new Rainier Live Steamers at Mineral, WA.

Rainier Live Steamers (UPDATE)

At the annual meeting on March 25th of the Puget Sound Garden Railway Society, after the presentation by Bill Zingheim, I volunteered to head up a committee that would form a SIG (Special Interest Group) to possibly build and operate a 7 ½” gauge railroad at the Mt. Rainier Scenic Railroad in Elbe and Mineral, Pierce County, Washington. For those members not at the meeting, the Railroad was given 9 steam locos and 10,000ft of rail, and they have a tract of land on which a railroad can be built. All monies for track building supplies and train components will be provided by the railroad, however this is pending at present by a default on a note due to the benefactor of the railroad. Once this has been cleared then track ties and other supplies can be bought and construction can begin.
The SIG would probably operate as a separate non-profit organization. Members would form a club that would interface with the Mt Rainier Railroad and use the facility. As it would most likely involve giving rides to the public, liability insurance has to be taken out, and Bill estimates $40 p.a. per member of the club to indemnify up to $2,000,000.
The club would have the responsibility of building the track. We would find a suitable location to construct ‘panels’, which are 10ft sections of ready to lay track. As shown at the March meeting the ties are made from moulded plastic with gauged tie plates and screw holes for easy assembly. To make a panel, a team of two would place the ties in a jig and then screw in fasteners, and could build 3-4 panels per hour. We have about 500 panels to make, many of them curved. We also have to make 19 switches, these are more involved. Once panels have been finished they would be taken down to Mineral and stored ready for laying.
The club would have the responsibility for constructing the railroad. The plan of the railroad has already been made and this was shown round at the March meeting. There are 3 phases to be built. With the consent of the Mt. Rainier Railroad we would survey the line, grade and prepare the roadbed, and do some minor cutting and filling. The site is pretty much level so there is no major work to do. We don’t know at this stage what equipment/help is available to assist us. Then we would lay about 200 ft of a line of 2x4’s along the route, lay a second line 4ft from the first, and fill in with sharp ballast. This will have to be leveled and compacted with a tamper. Then we lay the track, and back fill with more ballast. There is about 5000 ft to build.
The club would be able to use the track, along with the Mt Rainier Railroad. Bill has a possible use of an electric powered Plymouth style switcher, and 3 gondolas. However for pulling people we would need to construct passenger cars. These are simply long benches with footrests either side that passengers would straddle. Bill thinks 10 would be required. We will probably ask if some of us could be trained to drive the steam engines, but there is quite a bit of training to be done, and the engine boilers need to be certified by a pressure test plus some other procedures to get them to a working condition. At this stage we don’t know of any other motive power that would be available.
It is likely that some sort of shed or barn would be needed to store the rolling stock, and a transfer table to enable people with their own engines to come and ride on the railroad. Based on the experience at Skykomish, there are quite a few folks out there who have 7 ½” equipment. For example I have a Jolly Trolley.
I’m asking if any member of the club is interested in joining this SIG and participating in the activities outlined above. Please reply to me at pete@sunsetvalleyrailroad.com by the end of April if you’d like to join in. We will then have a first meeting with Bill to set up the club, define a charter and make a plan to approach Mr. Steve Butler, interim General Manager of the Rainier Railroad, with our proposals and requests. We would also make an inventory of assets that members might have (trailers, hauling capability, backhoes, tampers, place to build panels etc.) to help us construct the railroad. It’s going to be a whole lot of fun!
Regards,
Pete Comley
Sunset Valley Railroad

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There you go guys--- Any volunteers ??

Cheers.
Ken Shattock
IBLS

[NP317]

Ken:
I can't help from this distance, but I do have some cautions about the passenger "ride-astride" cars.
Make sure appropriate plywood is used in their construction. The Skykomish cars apparently have problems. Disintegration!
Check with Ken Olson of Kitsap Live Steamers about plans to build the cars. KLS produced a number of these cars based on the BCSME design used at their Burnaby, BC, track. I have borrowed one of Ken's cars at Train Mountain and it was first class in construction, materials, and paint finish. That's how he does things.

I was the first steam locomotive engineer when we started the Mt. Rainier Scenic Railroad in 1982, and had a fantastic time working 14 hour days. Never was so much work so rewarding. Rebuilt the Heisler #91 first, and then Hillcrest Climax #10 down in Tacoma, and steamed them up to Mineral. Lots of stories created there, running through the woods. I think this new Rainier Live Steamers will be an outstanding addition to our hobby. I hope to run my not-yet-completed Polson Logging Co. #90 Mikado there someday.

I used to stay in the old cabins on the Mineral site. Best dark-skies astronomical viewing ever, with my 8" reflecting telescope.
Worked Hard and Played Hard.
~RussN

[James A]

Ken:
I can't help from this distance, but I do have some cautions about the passenger "ride-astride" cars.
Make sure appropriate plywood is used in their construction. The Skykomish cars apparently have problems. Disintegration!

~RussN

You beat me to it but I can 2nd that. At first the cars were great but soon began falling apart. They discovered they were built with the wrong type of plywood. They have built new cars with the appropriate plywood.

[keyrouteken]

Thanks for the tip about the riding cars. I have forwarded the info to Pete Comley--Sunset Valley Railroad Company who is the new RLS committee chair.

Ken Shattock
IBLS