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Introducing
the Spring Creek Railroad
in Central Illinois
click
on images for larger view
by Mike
Folkenroth
The Spring Creek Railroad
is a project that has been five years in the
making and has many years left to go
I first became aware
of this hobby from a live steaming web site in 1999.
Through a series of very fortunate events, I found myself hooked up with
Lee Wright and Mark Gregor, both hobby veterans. In 2000, I began learning
metalworking as an apprentice to Lee Wright building a pair of Trinity
gondolas. I also was spending summers at the Western Illinois Railroad
learning about track work and MOW from Mark Gregor.
In 2002, having become immersed in the hobby, we sold our city house,
purchased some property and begin building a new railroad-centric home
in the country.
A part of the new railroad's master plan was to have a depot/workshop/storage
shed that was dedicated to the railroad. A large out-building was completed
to serve as railroad central and provide heated storage of rolling stock
in the winter months.
We purchased a pile of CCA lumber on closeout and proceeded to
built a track panel jig table.
In order to build
the switches and fabricate many of the necessary parts, we purchased a
Bridgeport Series I from an estate sale in Chicago. A friend of the seller
owned a machinery moving company and agreed to deliver the mill here in
the Peoria-area for a very reasonable fee. He didn't plan on having to
move the mill on dirt (he assumed and so did I), so we built a sloppy
deck out of 2x6s to support the fork truck. Everything was going well
until while lowering the mill towards the ground, the mill accidentally
touched the ground, which released the tension on the nylon strap, and
allowed the mill to roll over on its face.
Aw crap...
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Warning:
This photo could cause Tool Makers
to spontaneously combust.
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** In all fairness, this
fellow is a competent machine mover and a heck of a nice guy. He was at
an extreme disadvantage due to
the screwy conditions of my construction site.
Well, using two tractors and a
bunch of chain, we were able to right the mill and quickly move it into
its now home in the workshop. (Yes, it needed a little repair and some replacement
parts, but works just fine now)
The workshop is now
complete. Time to start building stuff...
Finally started laying
track in mid-August 2004.
Here Mark Gregor,
Lee Wright and an incompetent foreman install the first track panel at
SCRR. The skid steer drops the first bucket of CA-6 ballast on the very
first track panel.
Here I am 150' later grading the right of way as the main line approaches
the driveway crossing. Time to cut up some more ties - that job is never
complete.
Here the track works its way across the driveway, across the front of the
yard the then turns north heading towards the playground area. This is where
progress stopped in early November 2004 due to the weather.
Work on the railroad
resumed in early April 2005 with an unexpected snap of warm weather. Luckily,
we had prepared 28 track panels and three switches that were just waiting
to be installed. We wasted no time in completing a number of projects
in the depot area including laying the loading track and the passing siding.
The retaining wall
was completed previously in 2004 and includes a recessed sitting area
(or BS corral ). There is a 7' wide loading platform along the side of
the depot/workshop.
The custom hanging
lantern posts were quite an involved project as all the lantern fixtures
had to be disassembled and rewired. They don't provide a lot of light,
but certainly help set the tone for this vignette.
The list of railroad-related
projects has grown to about 750 items and we're currently working on number
6. With about 600' of track installed (as of 4/10/05) and 1400' remaining
to complete the phase-1 loop, this should be quite a busy railroad season.
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