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To: "oermsignal" Subject: Orange Empire Railway Museum Signals Update - 3/2/2004 This email is our new regular update about signals work (installation, maintenance and restoration) at the Orange Empire Railway Museum and is a collaborative effort. If you have information that would be of interest to others, please email it to me and we'll include it in our next newsletter. If you would like to be removed from this mailing list, please email me. Likewise, if you know someone who would like to be added to this list, please have them email me. If you've received duplicate copies of this email, please contact me and let me know your preferred email address. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This past weekend was our usual 4th Saturday of the month work day. The Signal Team effort consisted of the following activities: 2038 Signal Conduit: The new conduit recently installed from the platform to the 2038 signal south of the platform on the car barn 4 lead has been cleaned out (mud from the rains) and pull ropes installed. It is now ready for the new cable to be pulled from the 2038 signal to the Alpine signal cabinets. This installation is planned for Saturday March 20. Monthly Crossing Inspections: Mapes Road and 11th Street monthly crossing inspections were completed. The Member's crossing, Alpine Entrance and Central Avenue (back by the Wood Shop on the Loop Line) were completed earlier in the week by Gene. Mapes Crossing Troubleshooting: The Mapes Road crossing has been "false-alarming" recently --- bonds and circuits were inspected to try and determine the cause. No track bond wire problems were found and the thought is that it may be a track circuit adjustment issue -- more troubleshooting needed. Banjo Signal Moved: A "banjo" signal was installed years ago by Grizzly Flats and the Substation. This signal is presumed to be very old (possibly late 1800's or early 1900's) and believed to be one of only a few remaining. The plan was to move this signal to the Signal Garden and restore it as appropriate to preserve this piece of history. In preparation for moving it, exploratory excavation had been conducted around it's foundation. The recent rains undermined the partial excavation and caused the signal to fall over, speeding up the need to move the signal. Allen Holliday, Ron Beach, and Gary See with the help of Paul Harr and Mahlon Dupree dissassembled the head from the base and moved the unit via a fork lift to pallets by the machine shop. Next we will formulate a plan for cleaning, painting and restoring the signal -- our goal is to preserve as well as restore. Signal Garden: Work continued to get the lamps lit in the Searchlight and Semaphore signals so that visitors will be encouraged to enter and visit the garden. The searchlight case is a US&S H5 unit but was missing the mechanism. This weekend's investigation showed that the case has been modified to the point that it will not accept a searchlight mechanism and therefore must be replaced. Maybe next month, we'll see the light lit. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- For additional OERM Signals information, visit the signals website at: http://gsee.sdf-us.org/signals. Question or comments regarding OERM Signals should be directed to the Signals Superintendent Gene Cranston. |