Rockhill Furnace Work Session: November 1-2, 2003

The final Rockhill work session of 2003 was held on Saturday and Sunday, November 1 and 2. We had 21 volunteers on Saturday and 17 on Sunday. John and Barb Morgan took the distance record, driving over 8 hours from Ontario to work with us.

Those participating included Charlie Wootton, Jim Bacon, Chris Coleman, Pat Coleman, John Morgan, Barbara Morgan, Alan Cupp, Bill Adams, Shawn Stauffer, Tom Kozub, Wade Woodcock, Bob Goldby, Bud Goldby, Jim Sucke, Steve Jacobs, Cathy Ott, Dave Brightbill, Reggie Arford, Bob Harris, Don Dissinger, Vagel Keller, Ben Sullivan, Tom Sullivan, Brian Morrons and Lee Rainey.

Aided by beautiful and unseasonable weather, we finished the season with a bang, completing several large projects and posting a final total of 2600.25 volunteer hours for 2003 (up from 1182 the previous year.)

Track 3

The work of leveling and aligning this track was completed. The track was used by the EBT crews in switching cars to be put away for the winter.

Electrical Shop

Minor repairs were made to one of the doors, and the trim painting and window work were finished. All planned structural and siding repairs and painting have now been completed on this building.

Section House

Battens were installed and the front of the building was reassembled. (We were amazed and gratified that, when we hung the original doors, they fit within an eighth of an inch. This is quite an accomplishment considering that almost the entire building had been torn down to the foundation and then reassembled.) We installed a new window and applied a first coat of EBT building red, completing the planned work on this building for the season.

Glass Crew

The glass crew (Bud and Bob Goldby with occasional help from others) completed their self-assigned goal of salvaging over 500 panes of glass this season for the shop repairs. Since panes of this size sell for over $3 each, this represents an enormous contribution to our repair efforts.

Boiler House

Repairs continued on the brickwork of the east wall and we poured a new concrete sill for the side door.

Generator Room

We made preparations to begin installing the ceiling in this room.

Machine Shop

Work began on repairs to a new set of windows.

Car Shop

Work commenced on the seven "previously restored" windows on the west side of the Car Shop. One window was completed.

Planning for Next Year

Several teams prepared work plans and materials estimates for a variety of projects for the coming year, including track repairs, repairs to several of the operating cars, drainage improvements, roofing work, structural repairs to buildings, and more.

This year represents a record of remarkable and substantial accomplishment. Many, many thanks to all who turned out to work during the year, and thanks also to those who contributed to the FEBT annual fund drive, which supplied the funding for the materials we needed.

Lee Rainey,
Rockhill Restoration Coordinator