[CC-ARES-RACES] FW: La Plata-station, caboose & restoration

[Paul M. Tackish]

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Subject:	La Plata-station, caboose & restoration

Hello Everyone,

     I tried sending this out yesterday but somewhere the message =
disappeared in the ozone (or ether). However,I did have a better chance =
to inspect the caboose yesterday and there is a bit of damage that I =
will detail later.

     Last Saturday morning (April 28) I sent out an email letting =
everyone know that the caboose paint removal had begun. Tried to follow =
it up later but my internet connection
was having difficulty. Anyhow, the group of people trained in lead-based =
paint removal sand blasted the caboose from roof to steps and trucks. =
The surface rust pretty much was removed. A protective plastic covering =
was placed on the roof that covered most of the carbody.=20

     Then Mother Nature unleashed her anger Sunday evening. The train =
station lost a large portion of shingles on the lower left of the =
trackside half of the roof. I saw Mr. Winkler Monday morning at the =
Office of Emergency Services and he told me that the roof of the =
building already had problems, that the historical society people were =
covering the computer with plastic when not in use to prevent water =
damage and that he was hoping that this additional damage would provide =
the impetus to properly repair the roof of the station.

     Last (Tuesday) night I had occasion to inspect the caboose. At =
first we thought it had gotten by unscathed but I noted one broken =
window on the right (north) side of the caboose as well as both cupola =
windows on the long roof end of the car having been removed completely =
at the frame as well as one window on the short roof end. I don't =
believe that this was a product of the sandblasting as one window is =
dangling rather precariously-more likely a result of the winds. The =
protective plastic is still attached to the caboose but is just blowing =
in the wind and is not protecting anything.

     Dale, I have to agree with you-while the original intent was to =
have the caboose restored for July 4th, last Sunday night rearranged =
everyone's priorities and I think the cleanup and restoration of La =
Plata has MUCH more precedence than the restoration of the caboose. The =
caboose is safely on its display track and out of the way. Helping some =
of these folks who've lost homes and businesses is of a much higher =
priority than the caboose-after all it sat untouched for over 20 years =
and a few more weeks-or months-probably won't hurt in the overall scheme =
of things.  =20

     Just my two cents worth on the tornado, damage, etc. In addition to =
being a railway enthusiast I'm also an amateur radio operator. Sunday =
night we were called to assist with communications after the storm blew =
through. Phone service had been interrupted and cell phones were =
worthless. Either the towers had been damaged or the circuits were =
overloaded.=20
I spent most of Sunday evening at Civista Hospital providing radio =
communications when they lost their telephone and paging services. =
Monday I helped provide communications for a
Red Cross damage assessment team. Seeing the extent of the damage Monday =
was sobering. I'll be 49 years old soon and I don't think I've ever seen =
any destruction like that in my life. The clean up and recovery efforts =
were hampered Monday by all the traffic on 301 as folks rubbernecked and =
I personally was dumbfounded to see whole families walking through La =
Plata gawking at the damage. Yesterday, the local authorities had pretty =
well sealed off access to the town and you have to have a legitimate =
reason to travel into downtown La Plata. Anyhow, if you don't have to =
come to La Plata DON'T!
Travel is still restricted and even residents can't travel on some =
streets without showing identification to prove that they live there. =
Please don't hinder the cleanup/restoration effort. Parts of downtown =
are still without power and traffic lights are not restored at 301 & 6.

     If you do volunteer to help in some way, do it with a legitimately =
recognized group (i.e. Boy Scout troop, service club) and have ID.=20

     When (or IF) there are any further updates on the caboose I'll be =
sure to pass them along.

               73-(amateur radio shorthand for "Best Regards")
                                        Art

P.S. I did see the signal maintainers repairing the crossing gates =
Monday, as reported by John. Also saw two locomotives southbound Monday =
evening, running light and just crawling through town. It was so dark, =
especially since electricity hadn't been restored, I couldn't see the =
numbers.=20