Continuing Around the Loop – December 2, 2023 – Another great crew at the Austin & Texas Central. Panels were built. Track was laid. Ballast was spread.
Rounding the Curve – November 18, 2023 – A great turnout today to build panels and lay track around the curve beyond Austin. Of course, the end-of-the-day chat session is just as important.
Ballasting into Austin Track 1 – October 7, 2023 – Thanks again to Tim for taking photos. We see Bob, Ken, Johnny, and Richard was busy shoveling ballast while John was working ahead filling in ties at the joints.
Panel Building – September 9, 2023 – Photo credit goes to Tim. Stephen, Tim, John, and Ken spend the day building panels, rebuilding old switches and contemplating track alignment in Austin.
Switch stands ready – September 1, 2023 – The Tumbleweed and Dry Gulch Railroad found a dozen spare switch stands in inventory and has donated them to the A&TC. (Thanks Philip!)
A View from Above – July 29, 2023 – Kari brought her architect friend Vanessa this morning. Vanessa programmed her drone for a low altitude flyover. The resulting image of the entire ranch will be used for detailed surveying going forward. Kari and Vanessa then filled the trailer with root balls for the burn pile. (Stephen unloaded the trailer the next morning and positioned […]
A Little Shop Time – July 23, 2023 – Stephen spent a little time Sunday in the shop addressing a couple of small projects. First task was to prepare fish plates for the upcoming work day. Using Ken’s rail slot punch with Stephen’s fish plate jig, approximately 150 fish plates were made in short order. Timing tests show it takes 20 seconds to punch […]
Clearing and grading – July 22, 2023 – Kari, Tim, Paul, and Stephen worked the morning clearing downed trees and branches from the Austin loop Saturday morning. This included two large dead cedar trees that the February ice storm brought down over the right of way. Stephen was able to grade the right of way from Austin around the loop and it is […]
Making fish plates – July 17, 2023 – Using Ken’s newly acquired rail slotting punch, Stephen made a jig to create slotted fish plates. It is a piece of scrap rail with the center web removed. Two screws in the rail head keep the rail in position in the punch. Then the raw piece of aluminum bar can be slide into the punch. […]
Laying it down – July 15, 2023 – Thanks to Ben, Stephen was able to pick up another load of tie material Friday. Saturday, Stephen and Ken decided to just lay panels. Aided by Ken’s generator running two fans, they put down approximately 240′ including multiple switches. This work spanned two of the four (or more) tracks through Austin.
Panels and Turntable – July 8, 2023 – It was HOT! But, we were working. Kari arrived early and began clearing branches from the weeds around the steaming bay area. We all then spent an hour chipping branches before hitting the rails. Ken and Richard pumped out 15 panels with Linda priming washers on screws and John rebuilding a switch. Doug, Tim, and […]
In the news – July 1, 2023 – Bill Laird wrote a feature piece published in the July 2023 edition of the HALS Stack Talk newsletter. With permission of the editor, the article is available here.
Laying Track – June 10, 2023 – Another workday at the A&TC despite the Texas heat. Alexander, Tim, and Sam are sweating it out laying panels in Coleto. They are getting ready to tie in a switch for a spur to the White Aggregates ballast tipple.
Cut and fill complete – June 4, 2023 – At long last, the cut and fill has been completed. Here is a walk from the end of the fill up the 1% grade through the cut and then to Coleto. In case you are wondering, the deepest part of the cut has been done for over a year and the walls have not collapsed. […]
Super Power and Early Power – May 6, 2023 – Photo op of locomotives from both ends of the steam era.
First tour video – July 15, 2021 – Monthly workdays began in April and progress has been steady. Watch the first tour video and check back for updates.