November 19 Workday

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Here in Tennessee, you never quite know what the weather will be like. On Friday, the high was 81, and on Saturday, the high was 52 with high winds. While it was a little cooler today, we got a lot of good work done on the track. Continuing with the lower loop rebuild and installing the new switch going into Conner Siding.

The last hour of the workday was spend removing all the tracks from the trple bridges on the upper loop. This winter, the bridge will have a new foundation constructed.

November 15 Workday

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With great weather today, several members came to the track to build some new track panels and dismantle some older ones. The first task was taking apart the remaining 15 panels that were pulled up last week. After that, the crew worked hard to build 36 New Track Panels, 26 of them have steel rail on one side, while the remaining 10 have aluminium rail only.

November 5 Workday

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We had amazing weather today during the work session. With a good crew there, we were able to make great progress on our track projects. The "Bypass track" is all connected and ready for gravel. 

We also began work putting new track on the Lower Loop. While working, it was discovered that the diamond had incurred some damage in it's 20 year life, so it is being repaired offsite. New wood will also be installed on the bridges in that area in the coming months.

With the amount of track being replaced, we have a crew dedicated to dismantling the old sections of track. They are sorting the good and bad rail and taking care of all the old ties.

November 1 Workday

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Its Finally Fall at Mid-South Live Steamers!

What started out as a preparation day for the workday coming up on November 5, turned into a major work day very quickly.  Bill Gardei, Lutz Braun, & Michael Haywood arrived at the track Tuesday and got a lot of work completed. This puts the club in a great position for the upcoming work day. Project #1 was the replacement of "Bypass Track" and you can see below, a great deal of work was completed Tuesday!

Winter Meet 2016

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The Winter Meet was a lot of fun and everyone had a great time. The weather got cooler as the weekend progressed but the steamers were nice and warm! Want to thank everyone, the public and engineers alike, for attending the winter meet.

Tuesday and Wednesday before the meet was spent making new track panels for this winters track improvement projects. Below is a track map showing where the club will be doing these repairs. These are slated to be completed before the Spring Meet in 2017.

Fall Meet 2016

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The 2016 Fall Meet was a lot of fun and a huge Success. We hauled over 2000 people from Thursday to Saturday. It was a hot, but dry meet reaching into the 90’s every day, quite abnormal for late September. Want to thank everyone, the public and engineers alike, for attending the fall meet.

Jimmy Cunningham installed the beautiful 50th Anniversary Charter Member Bronze plaque on the south side of the caboose.

Before the Meet Started, Lutz Braun refinished all the tables under the pavilion and did a wonderful job!

September 10 Workday

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With limited time before the Fall Meet, everyone at the work day was committed to getting this section of track rebuilt and graveled. Although we were all tired, at the end of the day we completed this project and the track is ready for the meet.

September 1 Workday

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In Preparation for the September 3rd work day, a few members went to the track to start on a track replacement project. This section of track, on the first curve of the upperloop, had very worn rail and even older ties. The 60 feet of track before this section were replaced before the Spring 2016 Meet.

The second part of the work day was spent dismantling all the older track panels from the area pictured above and some additional panels that were taken up from the storage yard project last month.

August 13 Workday

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With the 2016 Fall Meet only 5 weeks away, everyone is trying to finish up all the small track projects we have started this summer. We were finally able to ballast the storage tracks in the yard next to the storage sheds. We did not have time to level them as of yet but plan to do so in the next few weeks. This yard is now 1000% better then its condition just a few months ago.

After the Fall Meet, work will begin on the tracks on the other side of the trees in the yard.

August 6 RunDay

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The run day started off very hot and several rain showers passed threw the area.

As the afternoon went on, several members were able to get out and enjoy the track.

July 30 Workday

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Over the last two months, MSLS members Bill Gardei and Michael Haywood have been working on the storage yard tracks next to the sheds. The picture below was taken in late June 2016 after the two outer tracks had been repaired.

Since the weather was mild yesterday, they were able to complete work on two more tracks.

In the next few weeks, gravel will be put down and all the tracks leveled.

You will also notice that the 2x storage tracks that were closest to the trees have been removed. As the trees have grown up, the roots have pushed those tracks to high up to be used safety.  The remaining tracks will be spaced out a little more to allow easier walking between each line.

There are 2 more storage tracks on the right side of these trees that will be repaired sometime after the Fall Meet.

 

 

July 2 Workday

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Normally during the summer months, work days are limited to light maintenance, mainly due to the heat and humidity here in Tennessee. July work days are very rare but an exception had to be made this year.

Sadly, in the photo below, you can see the vandalism that occurred at the facility.

The word was quickly put out to club members of the damage to the caboose. A team was organized to come out and restore the caboose back to its former glory. 

We are very thankful to all the members who came out to the track and helped with this project.

May Projects

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With the 50th Anniversary over, a few members got together this weekend to take care of some small projects still on the to-do list.

The switch leading into Conners Siding had some drainage issues that were repaired in February. It was also planned to install new ties in the switch due to the water damage, just time ran out before the Spring Meet.

Also today, the crew repaired, leveled, and re-graveled the Electric Locomotive Yard. There are four tracks in this area and three were completed today. The 4th one will be worked on in the coming weeks. Due to the large trees in that area, the first photo shows more area but has a shadow over most of the yard.

Spring Meet 2016

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The 2016 Spring Meet Celebrating the clubs 50th Anniversary was a huge success.

Photos of the meet have been posted on this site and more will be added in the coming weeks.

The Few Remaining 50th Anniversary Shirts are available for purchase in the store.

In Addition to those Photos, With the help of several members loaning me their family photo albums, I have also posted the following images.

2001 Mini Meet -  6 New Photos               2000 Mini Meet - 20 New Photos

1998 Fall Meet - 57 New Photos                2001 Spring Meet - 33 New Photos

2000 Spring Meet  - 24 New Photos         1989 Spring Meet  - 28 New Photos

1988 Spring Meet - 9 New Photos              1987 Spring Meet - 6 New Photos

March 19 Workday

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Continuing the work from the March 5th workday, the track going under the Upperloop Bridge has been replaced. 

Last week, a few members started repairs on the Gaddes Diesel Yard. This is the large yard located just before the street crossing. There are several sections were the ties were very damaged or nonexistent. While this repair is not complete, major progress has been made.

March 5 Workday

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Our first official work day of 2016 had a great turnout and beautiful weather.

As mentioned in the "February Projects" blog post, this section of track from under the Upper Loop Bridge to the bridge pictured below was scheduled to be replaced within the next year.  Since the initial repair went so well, the work crew went ahead and replaced the remaining sections of track in this area. The aluminium outer rail in this curve was showing extreme wear so it was replaced with steel rail.

Another section that incurred damage during the winter is the Upperloop Mainline as you make your way to the tunnel. This area has also had issues with sediment runoff from the higher ground nearby that was causing the track to be buried in dirt and wash away all gravel. The crew worked very hard to remove all the extra dirt and establish a level area for the new track to be installed.

Special Thanks to D.Blackburn for taking these Photos for the Website.

February Projects

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Last month, the park had an outside contractor install some additional water lines in the park. During this construction, some damage to the Upper Loop mainline did occur in a few places.

Since the weather was very nice this weekend, a few of us went to the track in a effort to repair one of these areas.

You can see the deformation in the aluminium rail above in the two images. The section of track, just after the Upper Loop Bridge was scheduled to be replaced within the next year or so. 

New Rail and Ties have been installed in the damaged section. This spring, the area will be leveled and graveled over to complete the project.

Just before Conners Siding, there was a small area that had washed out under this switch. When this occurred is not known, but must have been after the Winter Meet in October. A couple pieces of PVC pipe and the washout was corrected. This spring, the gravel crew will revisit this area to clean the switch and replace some of the fill used .

January Projects

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Since there was one nice day of warm weather in Tennessee this week, one of the projects we had on the to do list got completed.

This Bridge, located just after the diamond, has been in its current location for at least 15+ years. As you can see, the original track ties on the bridge are falling apart and have moved from their original location.