Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Operations sputtered to a restart last night. The strike is settled with management conceding to none of the demands of labor. Trains ran with freight deliveries and track inspection. Several incidents were recorded:

1) An unexplained uncoupling occured in the upper tunnel. While attempting to push the cars involved, the cars were derailed. Plans are to dispatch the crane this evening.

2) Problems continue in the lower tunnel with the Santa Fe F3 bogging down.

3) Construction of the yard spur needs to continue.

4) The engineers are considering options for the upper loop extension.

Monday, April 21, 2008

It is now the 21st day of the virtual shutdown of operations and halt of construction progress. All workers have been laid off for three weeks now. There were a few minor operations and acquisition of materials during the last three weeks, but it has been essentially a total shutdown.

One crisis is the questionable structure of the upper loop. Engineers are suggesting that the last electrical modification for the track resulted in the need for the acquisitions of an additional small strip of property on the north end. This will require significant structural changes to the upper loop as well.

In the yard, work stopped on the last spur. The uncoupling track requires significant electrical connections. There are also questions about the proper way to install road bed around the curves.

More work is also required for warehousing of materials and tools.

At the next board meeting, we must consider whether to hire additional assistant conductors. There are two candidates currently under consideration in addition to the one already hired. Ava has not been available the last few weeks. Sarah and Mikie are the candidates under consideration.

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

In honor of tax day and other family events, no work has progressed on the railway for two weeks! The financial picture is bleak just as operations are close to begin.

Ironically, the skies are now blue instead of a dusty brown.

Yesterday we were able to perform some maintenance on our passenger car named Summit. It was cleaned. The maintenance department degreased the wheels, improving the electrical connections to the interior lights. The maintenance department determined we did not have the resources at this time to properly repaint the outside of the coach.

The marketing department is insisting that the board determine a name for the rail line. The following were submitted for consideration:
G&A Railway
D-FC Lines
AVA Express Company

Revenue is now being generated by providing the following services:
Sightseeing tours to Summit Station - historic steam or diesel
Milk production
Gravel mining
Lumber transfer and transportation
Military support
Auto transport

Future revenue streams:
Over sized document handling
Inter modal transfers

Location and geography description:

The G&A Railroad is nestled in Summit Valley at the foot of Summit Mountain in northern Wisconsin. To the north is Canada. In order to ascend from the valley floor to the foot of Summit Mountain, engineers followed the Petrified River. Two tunnels were required to complete the connection. From the foot of Summit Mountain, a bridge is planned to span the gorge to the west for connection to the city of Desque. This will provide access to markets in Minnesota. The upper tunnel was needed to provide this connection as well as a station at Summit for sightseeing tours and future lodging. the lower tunnel provides a connection to the east. To the east is our connection to the Chicago Northwestern mainline to Greenbay.

Summit Valley provides room for a yard and a few industries developed on railroad property to support the railroad. These industries include a dairy farm and a gravel pit. The gravel pit was started to provide roadbed and ballast for the railroad but then became a lucrative operation in its own right. The dairy farm was a natural fit because of the readily available pastures and the inheritance of the necessary railroad equipment to support the business.

Tuesday, April 01, 2008

No progress today.
I am dreaming about a voltmeter and ammeter to add the control panel.