Latest update from Eagle Point Railroad
Here is the latest update for Monday, March 24th from Eagle Point Railroad.
Today, a few of us met up at the railroad and walked the track from the Education Center to Cumberland and along the swamp route to see the damage from the fire. It was quite amazing to see how well the track held up. In some places, there were only a handful of ties in each small section that either burned or melted (wood vs plastic). In a few of those places, there was some minor rail damage that can easily be resolved. It was very clear that the ballast along the right of way did help to shield the track from damage. A good number of the trestles survived with either some small decking fixes needed or simple stringer replacements. However, the Crowder Creek trestle was destroyed. A few of us did venture up the mountain division and did find some much more extensive damage on the Monteagle Wye trestles. Also, Barry did report that much of the Tracy City curved trestle didn’t survive. It was also noted that there was some decking damage to the PJ Wendt bridge along with Taylor Industries and the snow sheds.
One additional note is that the breakers have been turned off in the club carbarn. One of the breakers is tripping. We will hopefully be able to investigate this on Saturday.
We did record the damage locations on a map and are working to transfer this to a digital version. The club officers, EPRR manager, and Barry Garard are going to meet tomorrow night to discuss a plan for how we can get the railroad up and running again. Following tomorrow night's meeting, we’ll have more information to share.
We have received very generous offers from other live steam clubs including Midsouth Live Steamers and North Georgia Live Steamers along with some of the hobby suppliers like Plum Cove Studios that wish to help us get the railroad back into operation again once we have determined a course of action. Some of our closest live steam neighbors are ready to pitch in and help.
