Land management was on the agenda this week. With a borrowed chain saw (thanks dad), we cleared fallen trees and branches along the southeast fence-line. As the day progressed, we moved on to cutting down many of the smaller trees that were growing close to the cabooses. Unfortunately, our chain saw’s battery died before we could finish, so we’ll come back at it in a few weeks. This project generated lots of campfire wood and a sizable brush pile.
17: Door Repair
The big headline for this week was the repair of Caboose 17’s back door. Considering the damage it suffered at the hands of vandals, we were preparing for the expensive proposition of total replacement. Thanks to my father-in-law’s resourcefulness, creativity and incredible fix-anything-skills, our door was not only repaired, but improved. The door’s new lease on life gives us time to evaluate the feasibility of restoring and reinstalling the car’s original steel doors.
Exploration
While exploring the property, we discovered another ravine on the northwest end. This is the smallest of our ravines, but its beauty is no less impressive than the others.
Railfanning
Several trains passed Caboose Falls. The first was a lengthy eastbound mixed freight. This was followed by a westbound intermodal that included a track geometry “Do Not Hump” car behind the locomotives. After that, an eastbound empty coal train and a very short train consisting mostly of foreign power units.
