More line closures at LALS ??? What's going on ???

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keyrouteken
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More line closures at LALS ??? What's going on ???

Post by keyrouteken »

Hi Everybody--
Anyone know what the heck is going on at LALS ? Will the entire layout be closed ??
Here is the latest from Sam Calderwood, the club President, as of 11:00 pm last night:

"All West End Tracks Closed

All tracks west of tunnels have been closed. The tunnel gates are locked and will not be opened until directed by the Board of Directors."

Sam Calderwood

President

Courtesy of Ken Shattock
IBLS
Ray Cadd
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Location: Arcadia, Ca

Re: More line closures at LALS ??? What's going on ???

Post by Ray Cadd »

Apperently, a pipeline tunneling project has caused considerable ground subsidence out near the loop area. That's as much as I know- others will no doubt chime in and offer more information as it becomes available.
Ray Cadd

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cp4449
Posts: 569
Joined: Tue Jun 06, 2006 10:54 am
Location: Granada Hills

Re: More line closures at LALS ??? What's going on ???

Post by cp4449 »

Well like Ray said, our wonderful water and power is building a new reservoir west of Traveltown. To connect it to the rest of the city, they placed a 8 foot diameter pipe under the street outside the club all last year. To go from the front of LALS west to the new water storage location, they dug a hole really deep, and sent the tunneling machine under Traveltown digging east, then turning under the LALS tracks next to the hillside about where the old Spanish kiln was at, then turned north east towards the deep hole at the parking lot for the public.

A sink hole 10 feet deep developed by the fence line, then large cracks began to show up. I am sure the reason why the West end is closed is the contractor, the city, and a geologist have looked over the situation. From what I was told today is part of the tunnel has caved in. They plan to install the pipes, and back fill the location. Please do not except this as the God's truth right now. I am sure more information is coming. I am sure the contractor's insurance company is not to thrilled.
Christopher P. Mahony
Los Angeles Live Steamers
1 inch scale member
Cary Stewart
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Re: More line closures at LALS ??? What's going on ???

Post by Cary Stewart »

Saturday evening I went over to the track after dinner. Still daylight. The vertical shaft that allowed access to the bore has been moved from our side of the street about where the east end of the New Sherwood loading track is to a site about 40fy west of the fire road between us and the green space. The new shaft is about even with the middle of the Santa Fe caboose. The contractor has installed a temporary fence around the shaft site (where our Sunday riders parked) and a long tangent diagonally across the lawn area to about where the curves to the right for both the old main line and the Smith Valley line start. I would seem that the tunnel bore is under us at that point and continues west under Travel Town. It is the middle tangent section of the main lines that has been blocked to traffic. The street has been completely resurfaced and lined and is like new all the way to the travel town bend.
The water tanks are huge with multi Million gallons of storage capacity. They are rectangular, deep and have re enforced concrete wall, floor and roofs. There are going to be two of them. These are major water storage units for LA.
I hadn't paid much attention after the shaft was moved so am just now getting the picture. This is a very major construction project.
Cary
highiron999
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Location: Los Angeles, CA.

Re: More line closures at LALS ??? What's going on ???

Post by highiron999 »

A little California 'Shake and Bake'.
Went to the site and saw what is happening.
Mainly caution.
When the contractor finishes all will be well.
It is in the meantime that we can be concerned as to how much caving in occurs and how much caving WILL occur later.
In any case, in the end, it will be stabilized.

Leonard Evans/highiron999
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fresnojay
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Joined: Tue Jul 13, 2010 1:16 am
Location: Clovis, CA

Re: More line closures at LALS ??? What's going on ???

Post by fresnojay »

Would hate to see anything more than the precautions already taken happen to the club. I grew up going to the club beginning in the early 80's. There are no words the feeling of being able to bring my little ones to the club with our own equipment and hang out with all the great people.

Jason
cp4449
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Re: More line closures at LALS ??? What's going on ???

Post by cp4449 »

The public runs are now on the inner loop as the engineers for the city are assessing the problem.....

That is why I run on the one inch line.....
Christopher P. Mahony
Los Angeles Live Steamers
1 inch scale member
Cary Stewart
Posts: 542
Joined: Wed Jun 08, 2011 5:54 pm

Re: More line closures at LALS ??? What's going on ???

Post by Cary Stewart »

Sunday public will for the time being be done on the railroad as it was done in the early 1980s before the west expansion was completed in 1984. We did have the expanded east end completed first which gave a little longer ride.
Cary
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Fender
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Re: More line closures at LALS ??? What's going on ???

Post by Fender »

This unfortunate incident reminds me of the all-to-frequent news reports of sinkholes opening up and swallowing houses, corvettes, etc., especially in Florida. This is a real bummer because there is no recourse against natural occurrences. Have any of these sinkholes happened near a live steam track?
Dan Watson
Chattanooga, TN
Cary Stewart
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Re: More line closures at LALS ??? What's going on ???

Post by Cary Stewart »

In our case the sink hole is not large and was cause by the tunneling activity (I think). Most of the sink holes formed in So. CA are from broken water mains under streets. These can be huge, deep and a mess. Our old iron water mains are now at the point where breaks can occur anywhere. Wait till the really big shaker occurs. In the mid west and east particularly FL the lime stone is eroded away by acidic water but they also have old pipes to deal with.
I think we will be OK once all the tunneling is done. The contractor will do the needed repairs to the area. I think the City will see to that. What they are tunneling through is mostly river bed sand and gravel.
Cary
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