Rockhill Furnace Work Session: November 6-7, 2004

The last FEBT Rockhill work session of the 2004 season was held Saturday and Sunday, November 6-7. Sixteen volunteers were present on Saturday, and seventeen on Sunday.

Those participating included Chris Coleman, Jim Bacon, Charlie Wootton, Richard Shell, Steve Jacobs, John and Barbara Morgan, Shawn Stauffer, Jim Sucke, Tom Kozub, Richard Culp, Bill Adams, Dave Phillips, Lee Rainey, Mike Wahler, Bob and Bud Goldby, Wade Woodcock, and Ben Sullivan.

This session closed out the 2004 work season with a total of 3114.75 volunteer hours contributed to the preservation and restoration of the EBT facilities and rolling stock at Rockhill Furnace. This handily surpassed our self-proclaimed season goal of 3000 hours and set a mark to beat for the coming year.

Paint Shop

The west side of the Paint Shop before cleanup.

Volunteers work to clean up inside the Paint Shop so that the windows could be worked on.

After removal of vines, cleanup, removal of sashes for work and installation of temporary coverings.

A crew led by Chris Coleman and Bill Adams removed the badly damaged window sash from the thirteen double-hung windows on the west side of the Paint Shop and closed the windows up with chipboard. The sashes will be repaired over the winter for reinstallation next spring.

Jordan Run Erosion

Jim Sucke led survey work on the Jordan Run erosion problem to work out a materials estimate for the solution to this situation.

Hopper 802

The hopper has sprouted legs. With the west side doors removed, the bays make the best place to work.

Steve Jacobs, Shawn Stauffer, and Richard Shell began restoration of the steel side-dump hopper needed for ballast and fill service. To remove the badly deteriorated slope sheets of the car, several hundred rivets must be first ground out. The track crew is determined to show last winter's caboose crew what real rivet grinders can accomplish, and the number they removed in one weekend was very impressive.

Shawn Stauffer cuts the pins to remove the east side doors for reconstruction.

Richard Shell works to remove another of very many rivets in the slope sheets.

Bill Adams works to liberate a separator sheet. With the by sheets gone it became much easier to get to the work.

Boiler House

Jim Bacon and some helpers continued carpenter work on the Boiler House and temporarily closed up the open windows for winter. Richard Culp painted additional woodwork on the building, taking advantage of a surprisingly mild Sunday.

Roof Canyon

Bill Adams and a large crew worked to close up windows in the Machine Shop and the roof canyon area, while Charlie Wootton continued work on the new seamless roofing.

Section House

The Section House now has matching red doors.

The front doors of the north Section Shed were also painted by Richard Culp and the Morgans.

Glass Preparation

Bob and Bud Goldby continued the preparation of window glass for the paint shop, and large quantities were issued to volunteers who are taking sashes home over the winter for restoration.

Lumber Shed

Charlie Wootton passes materials up to Tom Kozub as they repair the Lumber Shed.

The crew works to repair holes in the roof.

Aerialists Lee Rainey and Dave Phillips, assisted by Charlie Wootton, Ben Sullivan and Tom Kozub, reinstalled eleven missing 2'x8' sheets of corrugated roofing on the lumber stock shed, closing up a roof that was in very bad repair.

As dusk began to fall on Sunday afternoon, it was getting surprisingly cold. The crew scattered to return home, closing the books on a season of very satisfying accomplishment, highlighted by the restoration of Caboose 28 and numerous other projects.

Work will resume on February 5-6, 2005.

Lee Rainey,
Rockhill Restoration Coordinator

You can view other photos of this work session at Ben Sullivan's EBT Page and Bill Adams' EBT Pictorial.

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