August 2020 Work Session Report

The Painting crew was feverishly spreading red about the complex on both days.  Final touches were put on the stretch of buildings between the electrical shop and the coal bin. Those buildings are actually starting to glisten in the sun, something I’ve never seen before.  By the end of Saturday they had begun work in the shop alleyway covering up all the new siding with the first coat of red.  On Sunday they continued in the alleyway finishing first coat everywhere and even applying second in some areas.

The Track Crew continued their hard work on the south end of the ladder in the yard.  On Saturday 24 ties were removed and 16 new ties were inserted. On Sunday more of the same commenced, but I did not get numbers of ties removed and replaced.  There isn’t much else to say about this work other than the entire Rockhill yard is really starting to look excellent.

With the majority of the brush now tamed in the Rockhill vicinity, this crew moved its focus to Robertsdale for the weekend.  Main line and scale tracks were cleared from Main St down to Mine 1. It’s amazing how tall it had all become in just a few short years since it was last cleared.

Signs of a distant finish line are beginning to show on Combine 14, as more window wrap has been applied between windows and the car is getting close to ready for the final outer covering.  Inside woodwork between windows was installed in a few places that were bare while paint was being stripped off other original wood elsewhere.

The Shops crew finished up work on the Boiler Shop side.  This included installing new lower wall siding under the window sills, painting it black to make it look old, and then rehanging the steam heater piping.  Once the walls were finished all of the various machines were moved back into position.  Finishing details were the rehaning of a cabinet and the water trough as well as returning the large cabinets to their place guarding the large drive gear of the punch and shear.  The last effort was to remove all of the leftover lumber, building materials and tools.  There were also several piles of steel to move back. About 60 2″ dia. pins, several dozen stay bolts and also a nice collection of stay bolt taps were among those piles.  All the while this all happened, a sub crew was able to fit two downspouts to the end of the alley since the paint crew had come through and gotten the back wall done.  This was all later to be seen in action, as Sunday wrapped up with a nice downpour.

– Randy, FEBT Crew Leader