Rockhill Furnace Work Session: September 25-26, 2004

A Friends of the East Broad Top restoration work session was held Saturday and Sunday, September 25 and 26, 2004. We had 18 volunteers on Saturday and 18 on Sunday.

Those participating included Fred Kuhns, Chris Coleman, Charley Wootton, Tom Kozub, Lee Rainey, Shawn Stauffer, Steve Jacobs, Jim Vliet, Jim Bacon, Bob Harris, John and Barb Morgan, Richard Culp, Richard Shell, Bill Adams, Tom Diehl, Dave Phillips, Dave Bulman, Wade Woodcock, Jon Bish, Gordon Brinthaupt Jr. and Gordon Brinthaupt III.

EBT Appreciation Dinner

EBT, RTY and FEBT crews gather for the feast put on by the EBT for all the volunteers.

The "cooking crew" removes the steamed food from the kettles.

A high point of the weekend was the appreciation dinner staged Saturday night by Stanley Hall and the East Broad Top employees for the volunteers. In addition to a tasty old-fashioned Pennsylvania kettle boil, there were plenty of speeches and camaraderie. A great time was had by all.

Brush Clearing

View from the end of the newly cleared main

Looking north from the end of the newly cleared mainline. The switch in view is the southern extent of the yard.

Two chippers ran all weekend to clean up the brush cut earlier by the volunteers. Visitors at the upcoming Fall Spectacular will now have the opportunity to view scenes that have been covered for many years, as well as to walk the cleared line well south of the former end of track in the Rockhill yard. This project has been completed.

Looking south, the new end of track nearly reaches the yard limit and is just short of the next road crossing.

Looking north from the hopper string, one would have seen only trees a few weeks before.

Looking south from near the old end of track, the length of extension is made evident.

The big chipper takes a rest after making much mulch by the Coach House track.

The smaller chipper stays at work removing the cut brush.

Caboose 28

Roof walks are the final touch to Caboose 28.

The new rubber roofing on Caboose 28 having been well washed by the deluges of the last several weeks, the time had come to add the roof walks and roof garb irons. Special reinforcing rubber pads were applied under the supports and grabs and then the roof walks were screwed in place. This project is completed.

Track 3

The track crew excavates for additional switch ties at the south end of Track 3.

The crew has jacked the switch into level as they tamp the ties just installed.

The railroad has plans to operate the M-1 on the No. 3 track for the Fall Spectacular. A hard-working track crew placed and spiked the ties under the south end switch on Track 3, with the help of the air compressor on the M-7. This job has been completed. Once the railroad's contractor repairs the grade crossing at Meadow Street, we will repair the north switch and the track will be ready for steam service.

Machine Shop

The window crew performs repairs to the north wall of the Machine Shop prior to painting.

A considerable amount of official EBT boxcar red paint (also the official building color) was applied to the new repair work on the main entrance to the shops. Visitors at the Spectacular will be able to see all the carpentry and window work in this area, including new windows in the generator room.

Repairs were also performed to the walls of the Generator Room and the newly rebuilt windows installed. Barb Morgan works on sealing cracks in the siding.

The Generator Room was fully painted at the end of the session.

The Machine Shop wall was largely painted painted by the end of the session.

Boiler House

Dave Bulman and Jim Bacon work on painting the trim on the new section of wall of the Boiler House.

Blanks have been installed on the freshly completed window openings until the sashes have been repaired.

A carpenter and paint crew completed the planned work for 2004 on the Boiler House. This included installation of new beams above the rehabilitated brick work, as well as the fabrication, installation and painting of new sheathing, window sills, and trim.

Roof Canyon

The north end of the "canyon" with new roof in place.

Tom Diehl and Fred Kuhns work affixing sheathing over the newly installed roof rafters.

The progress of the roof canyon, showing the old roof and the new roof.

Phase I of the carpentry to repair the so-called roof canyon between the Car Shop and Locomotive Shop was completed. This involved some 80 feet of new rafters above the historic roof, capped by a plywood roof. The installation of the seamless rubber roofing was begun.

Glass Supply

Bob Goldby and Bud Goldby continue the endless task of preparing glass for use in the shops.

Work continued on the preparation of the numerous panes of glass needed for our repair projects around the shops.

Paint Shop

In preparation for the rehabilitation of the Paint Shop as a work area for the FEBT crew, Charlie Wootton provided a year-around electrical service into the building that will allow us to commence repairs this winter.

Coming Up

November 6-7 will be our final work session in 2004. Weather permitting, we will begin tie replacements on the track into the Paint Shop. We will also continue painting and glazing projects to the extent allowed by the weather, and have a variety of indoor carpentry tasks to complete. We hope you can join us!

Lee Rainey,
Rockhill Restoration Coordinator

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

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