Work Session A/Project 1370 report

[Paul Davenport]

It turns out the Dispatch lacks space for the normal printing of work session reports so I'm posting the report for Project 1370, which was a May special project for ROW work that involved use of a work train pulled by the Durango Railroad Historical Society's Locomotive 315. Friends volunteers and railroad employees did the cutting and loading work, but the report also notes others who deserve thanks for their help that made our work possible. FYI that I sent a separate note to Projects Committee Chairman John Engs thanking him for his behind-the-scenes work in organizing the project. His contribution included making sure the work train included a car that provided the crew with covered protection from inclement weather. As it turned out, that showed good foresight.
- Paul Davenport, team leader.

The report:
Project 1370 was a special project conducted by the Friends at the railroad’s request. The project focused on removal of “storm damage* and trees deemed to be imminent hazards from the right-of-way between Mileposts 399-343 during the week of May 17-21. The team consisted of TL Paul Davenport, ATL Ron Hassell, Ben Wight, Tom Davenport, Don Stewart, Roger Davis and Russell Thomas.
Bad weather — very cold temperatures, rain, lightning, snow and hail — forced cancellation of one entire work day (Tuesday) and shortened two others (Wednesday, Friday). That significantly reduced the crew’s time on the ROW, but the primary goals were achieved except for the part of the work area closet to First Crossing. Note 1 below.
Work areas included the aspen grove on the curve going up the ridge between Lobato Trestle and Dalton, the aspen grove between Lake Lobato and Lobato Siding, the Narrows and most of the straightaway between the Narrows and First Crossing.
This project was supported by a work train pulled by the Durango Railroad Historical Society’s Locomotive 315. The train transported personnel, equipment and cuttings, which were hauled to Chama for later chipping. Note 2 below.
The train included three flat cars, a concession car to carry equipment and a caboose to carry personnel. The Friends crew was augmented by a daily average of six railroad employees drawn from the track crew, train crew members and fire patrol operators. Besides cutting gear, water and snacks, items carried on the train for emergency use included equipment for first aid and firefighting, including oxygen tanks, an AED, backpack water pumps, shovels and Pulaski axes.
Project personnel worked in one of two groups, one for cutting and the other for loading the resulting cuttings (“slash” in forestry terminology) onto the work train for transport to Chama for later chipping.
The cutting group included sawyers who used chain saws to fell trees and then cut them up into sizes suitable for loading onto the train, typically eight feet in length or shorter. Another sawyer used a battery-powered pole saw to trim damaged limbs from trees that did not need to be felled. Other cutting group members placed the slash close to the tracks for loading on the work train. Members of the cutting crew practiced distancing to avoid contact injuries with saws. Note 3 below.
The work train and the loading group followed the cutting group at a distance so that each group could work apart for safely. Logs were generally loaded on one flat car and other slash on two other flat cars. We found it productive to load slash onto one flat car at a time, with two loaders on the ground taking turns feeding slash to one of two stackers who were positioned apart on the car being loaded. For efficiency and safety, branches were handed up from to the stacker cut-end first.
The work train and two accompanying track cars used by the track crew members and the fire patrol were the only traffic on the railroad when the project was conducted before the railroad’s operating season, so there was no need to interrupt cutting or loading to accommodate other movements or to require that the train and the track cars to temporarily clear the main either by returning to Chama or going onto a siding. Note 4 below,
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NOTES:
1:The work performed included little cutting of trackside vegetation encroaching on the ROW. That work is central to annual Project 710 of D work session but was not a primary goal of Project 1370 during A work session nor was there time to do much of it given time lost to bad weather.
2: Sincere thanks are extended to the DRHS for its members’ volunteer work in support of this project and to the participating railroad personnel, particularly those who helped cut, stack and unload the material removed from the ROW. We also appreciated on-site logistical help provided by, among others, Friends volunteers Bob Reib and Leon Beier, who as a railroad employee also was the train’s brakeman. And we thank Roger and Barbara Hogan for shooting drone video to help us scout the work area from afar before the work session.
3: The storm damage consisted mostly of aspen trees either knocked down or partly broken by the weight of heavy snow during a September 2019 storm. The railroad used heavy equipment to remove fallen trees and broken limbs from the tracks to allow trains to operate during the remainder of the 2020 operating season, but that material and other storm debris largely remained on and near the roadbed. Also, broken branches remained hanging from trees.
4: Description of techniques and circumstances are included in this report for reference in case a similar project is conducted in the future.
END

[Jim Davenport]

Paul and Ron talk about chainsaw operation at the safety meeting before the work train departs from the Chama Yard.

[Craig Kumler]

Thanks for the report Paul! Very nice work