Rockhill Furnace Work Session: July 19-20, 2003

The fifth Rockhill work session of 2003 was held July 19-20. We had 15 volunteers on Saturday, and 17 on Sunday.

Those participating included Charlie Wootton, Chris Coleman, Pat Coleman, Alan Cupp, Shawn Stauffer, Michael Greene, Reggie Arford, George Cook, Steve Jacobs, Wade Woodcock, Bill Adams, Tom Kozub, Wayne Campbell, Dennie Marquette, Vince Liberty, Jim Bacon, Bob Goldby, Bud Goldby, Richard Culp, and Lee Rainey.

Coach No. 8

Repairs were completed to the car roof. (The railroad personnel report the work we did at the previous session had already significantly reduced the leakage during rain storms.) All the critical window sill replacements were completed. We plan at a future session to replace four additional sills that are beginning to deteriorate.

Track 3

Over 100 ties have been installed to date and 99 more are required to reach the south turnout. We will be placing additional ties and spiking the rails at the next session.

Electrical Shop

The northwest corner of the building is formed by a lean-to which rested on wooden sills that had long since rotted away, causing a serious sag. We jacked up the corner of the building and inserted treated ties for a new foundation. We then replaced a large section of rotted floor, squared and rehung the door, and made extensive repairs to the siding on this part of the building (a mix of slab clapboard and board and batten.) At the next session, we will complete siding and window repairs and power-wash the building preparatory to priming.

Car Shop

The north wall of the Car Shop was primed preparatory to painting in August. (It does not take long to say it, but this one job involved over a man-week of work, accomplished in one morning.)

Glass Crew and Machine Shop

In addition to continuing to salvage and clean glass, the window crew began work on the windows flanking the main shop door. The job involved repairing and reinstalling several sashes and putting a new lintel over the main door.

Generator Room

The repairs at the main door dovetailed nicely with additional roof repairs and the installation of the remaining soffits on the Generator Room. The new wood was then primed preparatory to painting.

Boiler House

An additional load of bricks arrived from our seemingly inexhaustible Ohio brick mine. The rebuilding of the outer wall under the central window is complete and the interior wall repairs are well under way. Additional waterproofing was done on the roof. Finally, the rubble from the cracked boiler casing was removed and the brickwork was jacked up to allow masonry repairs to begin.

Next Session

 

Our next session will be held on August 9 and 10, coinciding with Community Appreciation Day.

Lee Rainey,
Rockhill Restoration Coordinator

You can view other photos of this work session at Bill Adams's EBT Pictorial