Austin & Texas Central Railroad

Back to the High Iron Ranch

Category: Railroad

  • Ties and Rail Added to Trestle

    February 8th was another huge day on the Austin & Texas Central. Stephen and Lori had to leave for a funeral, but that didn’t stop everyone else from working on the railroad. The primary goal was to install the bridge ties and rail on the trestle and the crew really came through. Attendees: John O,…

  • Prepping the Bridge Ties

    This past weekend…

  • Ballasting and Installing Trestle Stringers

    An impressive 13 people joined the work for the workday on January 25. Here are the highlights: Lots of cameras captured the work. Be sure to scroll through them all. Photos from Linda: Photos from Ken: Photos from Stephen:

  • Cross Bracing on Bents

    Stephen added the cross bracing to the trestle bents and delivered the lumber for the beams that will span between the bents. The easiest delivery method is by rail, poling a loaded flat car. To save a bunch of steps poling the car load around the loop, just give it a nudge.

  • Trestle Bent Construction

    Bob built track panels and Ken, Alexander, and James laid panels on the approach to the trestle. Tim, Paul, and John T pre-treated the lumber, painted the assembled bents, and hauled them out to the right of way. Doug and John O built the bents. Paul’s wife Janet came for a tour. Linda prepped lunch…

  • Trestle Bent Materials

    Once the footers were in position, a string line was placed so the height of each trestle bent could be recorded. Stephen then calculated the lengths of each component of each bent. With the trestle bent #1 proving the data, he then cut the needed parts for the remaining 32 bents.

  • Trestle Bent Prototype

    Stephen built the first trestle bent with a jig to facilitate the construction of the remaining 32 bents.

  • Trestle Construction Begins

    While Bob built track panels, John O and Stephen drilled and labelled the sill boards for each footer and Stephen delivered the footers to the trestle right of way. Ken, James, and “Dead Eye” Rob positioned each footer. 33 footers were needed to reach the bridges around the lake.

  • Turntable Ring Rail Prep

    Doug and I spent an afternoon prepping for the ring rail around the turntable. This involved levelling the area and digging a trench for the concrete base.

  • Approaching the Trestle

    Track panels have been staging on the approach to the trestle. Sill boards for the trestle bent footers are ready.