Tim's Trains Trains, Parktrains and More

On April 26, 2008 we had another work day on the Meadows & Lake Kathleen Railroad. We washed out the tender and the boiler of the steam engine and then fired it up to test the boiler and to give it a good blowdown. Here are some pictures and some videos of the day .

On April 8, 2008 we had a work day at the Meadows and Lake Kathleen Railroad. We gave the hydraulic lift/turnable a test by raising engine 1793 up for pictures and to look at what needs to get it operational again. Here are some pictures .

On March 25, 2008 we visited the Oregon Coast Aquarium and then continued on into Newport, OR to see the Yaquina Bay and Yaquina Head lighthouses. Here are some pictures .

Visit the Oregon Coast Aquarium home page.

On March 22, 2008 we had another work day at the Meadows & Lake Kathleen Railroad while we did more work on the new turntable. We dug out the places for the concret support pads and poured the concrete. Here are some pictures from the work day .

On March 8, 2008 we had another work day on the Meadows & Lake Kathleen. First we removed the bolts and splice bars from the section of track from the tunnel to the large testle, cut expansion joints between the rails and replaced the splice bars and bolts. We then straightened out a kink in the rails from heat expansion. Then we tested the hydralic lift that will be the basis for a turn table and engine lift. Here are some pictures from the work day.

On December 8, 2007 we celebrated my youngest son's 16th birthday by taking a cruise on the Willamette River on the Columbia Gorge stern wheel boat. Here are some pictures taken during the cruise .

On October 13, 2007 we finally had the big day: the Meadows and Lake Kathleen Railroad Golden Spike Ceremony. After nearly 12 years of work the main loop of the railroad is finally complete. Here are some photos of the celebration .

On September 22, 2007 a group of us worked on part of the older section of track. We leveled, balasted and checked the gauge on the track from the first crossing of the creek up to the water tower. Here are some pictures from that day .

On September 1-2, 2007 we had what should be the last major work weekend on the Meadows and Lake Kathleen. We remove and replaced the first curve on the railroad. Here are some pictures from that weekend.

On Aughst 25, 2007 my son Peter and I took a ride on the Mt. Rainier Scenic Railroad in Mineral, WA. We had a ride in the cab of Hammon Lumber Company #17 for the afternoon Trestle Turn.

Visit the Mt. Rainier Scenic Railroad homepage for more deails on their very nice railroad.