The Blog Has Moved!

We've got a new home!
http://pcrailroad.wordpress.com

The Blogger page will remain online, however, all future blog entries will be made only on the new site. Archives are transferring slowly, but will eventually all be there as well.

Enjoy!

Boxcar Saturday

Hi All,
Today we had our Boxcar Saturday. Karl brought his airless paint sprayer and several gallons of paint. Karl ended up with a funny red spotted syndrome on his face! We all hope that it is not contagious. Dennis, Patti, Rob Himoto and myself all had a good time. Patti helped cook the hot dogs and beans on the Cowboy Hibachi. The beans were very good. Later, I steamed up the Caroline, tested the brakes and ran a short photo freight using Karl's boxcar #3126 and the caboose #303. Rob Himoto of the Santa Maria Valley Railroad supplied the fuel for today's event. We still have to some work to do on this boxcar, like rebuild one of the doors and the roof walk. It also needs some minor brake adjustments and lettering. Then, it will be ready for service.

Today was a fun day and we hope for more like it.

Phil

Tender Lettering

Hi All,

I finished the right side lettering on the Frankenporter It looks pretty
good. Nothing fancy, but it now has lettering on both sides.

Phil

FW: Karl's boxcar

Here are a few shots of Karl's boxcar; former D. & R.G.W. #3126. It is still a work in progress. I have to build one new door build a new roof walk, do the C.O.T.S., work on the brakes, and letter it up, probably for the P.C.R.

-Phil

Iron Horse Chef: Master of Backhead Cuisine

The Iron *Horse* Chef!

The Pacific Coast Railroad has been a big fan of backhead cuisine. Sure, we can't sautée with a coal scoop, but we've got a warming tray, the sizzling ledge on our damper-equipped firedoors (and you coal boys thought we oil burners were good-for-nothin's!) and, of course, the ingenuity of our master of the Cab Culinary Arts, Jeff "Grumps" Badger. Those of you who visit this blog regularly are no stranger to Jeff and his pension for piling up the potatoes, Boca products (he's a vegetarian) and whatever else he can scrounge up on the back of the FrankenPorter.

During our Christmas runs last year, Jeff and I decided at whim to make a little documentary of some of the P.C.R.R's oiliest, greasiest railroader rations -- often resulting when we don't get Bonnie Marie's gourmet leftovers from whatever event is being held in the Asistencia or to give the Commissary Committee a break, and it sat around for the better part of a year on my Mini DV camcorder. We started while hostling, and continued throughout the day on the runs he or I sat out from our seatboxes, cooking up a hearty backhead breakfast, lunch, and chocolate chip cookies (of which Jeff had some witilly thought out name for. I'll have to get back to you on what that was). At long last, however, this broke college student/newspaper editor has finally managed to scrounge the dough to roll into the needed technological resources to edit video off his camera. First on the list, of course, was Iron Horse Chef.

The finished product is far from done, but until then, enjoy this teaser!