NORTH GEORGIA LIVE STEAMERS
Our April club meeting is scheduled for April 6th at 1 p.m. The day is also our spring cleanup workday, which will start at 8:30 a.m., as we make one final push to prepare the railroad and property for our 2024 Public Run Days. We need everyone’s helping to take care of organizing the containers, run day items, check equipment, cut grass, check the railroad for any last-minute maintenance items and more.
Here is a more complete list of items for the day:
Clean out and organize the grey container.
Organize run day items in grey container so they are easy to access.
Clean out and organize the red container.
Oil all switches and clean off debris from railroad.
Cut grass and clean out center island flower bed.
Find and complete any last-minute railroad maintenance items.
Verify all club equipment for operation.
Take care of anything else that was left off the list
Another Friday evening rain leads to great weather on Saturday as more work was done on the “Grandma Line”, water line extension, and the new retaining wall. The crew took a divide and conquer approach to projects starting finishing the new retaining wall then moving to the water line extension project. We had a special visitor “Bob Jr” who helped bring dirt in for the “Grandma Line” area.
Our next big workday is planning for Saturday, March 23rd. We have a couple of items planned and could use as many hands as possible. The plan is to work on cutting in a new switch so the west end of the water line extension can be completed plus we will perform much-needed maintenance on the water line so it can operate as a mainline in the future.
Another beautiful day of weather allowed for unexpected progress on several projects around the railroad. The crew worked on the retaining wall and track work. Check out the details by reading more about the day.
The railroad comes alive on Saturday, April 13th from 1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Come out with friends and family to ride the rails of the Conyers & Hightower Trail Railroad. The cost is $2 per person per ride on the railroad and riders must be at least 18 months old or older. No expectant mothers allowed to ride on the railroad. Tickets can be purchased on site. CASH Only. No Credit Cards or Debit Cards.
The railroad is located at 1632 Centennial Olympic Parkway, Conyers, GA 30012 next to the Steeplechase Grounds at the Georgia International Horse Park. For more information about our ride days please visit ride day webpage
Friday’s overnight rain didn’t deter a small group from showing up Saturday morning for a workday. John, Wes, and Scott started out early Saturday morning by taking care of some items with the “Grandma Line”. They worked on the retaining wall which also means they had to haul in dirt and gravel with wheelbarrows. Robby showed up and brought back one of the new club riding cars to the site. He spent the past few months cleaning and repainting the car while Norm cleaned up the trucks. The riding car is now ready for operation for the 2024 season.
The crew also worked on plans for the retaining wall that needs to be installed near the west end of the Nicol bridge.
Over the course of the month, we plan on working on a project or two around the railroad. In order to give everyone a chance to find a project they are interested in helping with we are sending out monthly emails listing projects and other activities going on around the railroad. Don’t forget to invite family, friends, neighbors, and anyone you know who likes trains. For more details about some of the projects we are working on click on the “Railroad Project List” button below for a complete list. Don’t forget to bring tools, lunch, plenty to drink, and a good sense of humor. Don’t forget we have other fun days planned throughout the month and year as well so don’t forget to visit our calendar page for a complete list of everything going on around the railroad.
The weather cleared up and the day ended up being incredible. The turnout was small, but the fun was large. Peter and Robby ran most of the day. Wayne L, Norm, Rick, Dave L, and Ethel also stopped by. Dave ran his electric switcher for a while and Wayne took a ride on Peter’s train. We did run into an issue with the switch that was moved last weekend on the west end of the Nicol bridge. Norm brought the newly rebuilt switcher out, a big thanks to Dave L for completing this project, and brought the MOW car out to the switch that was being repaired by Peter, Rick, Robby, and Norm. Overall, the day was a success, and the railroad ran great. It was also determined that a small retaining wall needs to be installed near the west end of the Nicol bridge in order prevent loss of ballast around the track. This is the same area that we performed track repair last weekend.
What an incredible workday we had on Saturday. The weather was incredible, and we had more than a dozen volunteers come out which made the day a huge success. Because of the turnout we completed the major track repair on the west end of the railroad along with installing a new switch on the mainline near the west end of the water line. The crew consisted of John T, John, Calvin, Scott, Robby, Peter, Gene, Rick, Ben, Thomas, Paul, Tyler, Norm, Dale, and “Bob III”. The crew also took care of building more than a dozen straight panels for the “Grandma Line” and started building a new switch as well. Rick and “Bob III” took care of leveling the gravel near member container 3 which means we can now schedule the move of the blue container. They also cleaned up a trench that had been dug during our electrical project workday a few weeks ago.
Railroad Located
1632 Centennial Olympic Parkway, Conyers, GA 30012
Next to the Steeplechase Grounds at the
Georgia International Horse Park
Across the street from the Hawthorn Suites
501(c)(3)- Non-Profit Organization