Barbecued beef shepherd's pie in 14-inch Dutch oven

Crossing Mother Lode Drive at
Mile Post 136.8.

Last Friday, the El Dorado Western Railroad maintenance-of-way crew crossed Mother Lode Drive in Shingle Springs, California, to clear culverts and cut brush along a one-mile section of of the former Southern Pacific rail line. The crew also begin repair of a major washout. The goal is to prevent further washouts on the right-of-way and adjacent trail by ensuring proper drainage.

Since I haven't cooked for the railroad in nearly two years, the crew boss and thought this would be the perfect opportunity to treat the hard-working crew to a Dutch oven lunch. With plenty of room to safely fire charcoal briquettes, I set up my kitchen on the tracks. The first charcoal chimney was fired around 9:30 a.m. The crew enjoyed lunch three hours later.

I wanted to change the lunch entree for this cook date. Over the past 10 years, I have often prepared some form of chili con carne for the railroad crew. For over a week I had been working on a Dutch oven version of shepherd's pie. Instead of a traditional shepherd's pie with lamb, shredded beef chuck road, braised in beer and barbecue sauce formed the protein base. Since the biscuits, cobbler and coffee are crew favorites, I left them on the menu. The menu consisted of:

• Barbecued beef shepherd's pie in 14-inch camp oven
• Cream coleslaw
• Buttermilk biscuits in a 14-inch camp oven
• Mixed berry cobbler in a 12-inch camp oven
• Railroad coffee

We let the rail cars pass first as they were going to be working the area behind the camera. I set up my firepan and chuckbox between the rails to keep a safe distance from the brush.We don't cook with charcoal on the right-of-way in the summer months due to the fire danger.

The first thing I did was to bake buttermilk biscuits. To ease preparation on site, I weighed the dry ingredients and cut in the shortening at home on Thursday. The biscuit mix was stored in the refrigerator to keep the shortening cold. I added the buttermilk and cut large biscuits (3-1/2-inch diameter) once on the railroad.

With the biscuits on heat, I turned to the coleslaw, berry cobbler and shepherd's pie, in order. To prepare the meat for the shepherd's pie, I braised a 3-1/2-pound chuck roast in beer and barbecue sauce on Thursday. After cutting the roast into large pieces, I seared them in bacon fat in a cast iron skillet. The braising liquid consisted of 1-1/2 cups IPA beer, 1-1/2 cups barbecue sauce, 1/4 cup chopped parsley, 2 bay leaves and 1 teaspoon dried thyme. The braising liquid was poured over the meat in the skillet. After covering with aluminum foil, it was placed in a 300-degree oven for about 5 hours. Once the meat tender enough to pull, I placed it in a zipper lock bag and in the refrigerator. The braising liquid was strained and placed in the refrigerator as well.

As the biscuits were baking in a 14-inch camp oven, I cooked 5 pounds red potatoes in the stockpot. Once mashed, the potatoes would be used as the topping for the shepherd's pie.

To prepare the shepherd's pie, I shredded the chuck roast by hand and placed it in the 14-inch camp oven (see picture above with the peas). I then skimmed the fat off of the braising liquid and poured it over the pulled meat, along with 8 ounces frozen peas. Next a thick layer of mashed potatoes was spooned oven the meat and peas. I baked the pie with coals for around 375 degrees until crisp potato peaks had formed and the sauce was buddling, about 45 minutes. I used 1-1/2 rings of charcoal on the lid and 8 coals under the pot.

The finished meal. Lunch was served to 8 crew members around 12:30. I was able to send cobbler, biscuits and shepherd's pie home with several crew members. We could've easily fed 12 to 15 with the 3 pots.

A culinary car for the El Dorado Western Railroad?

The El Dorado Western Railway Foundation purchased this tool car from the Richmond Pacific Railroad in December 2011. It has intrigued me since then. I've often talked about converting it into a culinary car for the El Dorado Western Railroad, which operates on eight miles of the old Southern Pacific Placerville Branch rail line between Shingle Springs and Diamond Springs.

It's a natural desire in my informal role as the the railroad chef. Several times each year, I host a track-side meal for railroad volunteers. My last such meal occurred in November last year, when I prepared pork chili with guajillo chili adobo, cheesy butter milk biscuits and berry cobbler for the bridge crew. My hope is that my winter schedule will allow me to cook for the crew more frequently during my home season.

A dedicated culinary car would improve conditions for cooking on the railroad. I'm not saying that the complete car has to be remodeled into a galley on wheels. There's plenty of room for rail tools and equipment on the starboard side. It would give me a mobile platform to transport the two-burner stove, ice chest, Dutch ovens and utensils.

I could easily work with the port side of the tool car. That's the side with the shallow tool box. The side with the deeper tool cabinet can be used by the maintenance crew. The pictures describe how I intend put this plan into action.

This is the port side of the Richmond Pacific Railroad tool car. Of two tool cabinets, this one reaches about two-thirds of the way across the deck. The open space leaves sufficient room to mount a two-burner Camp Chef propane stove. The ice chest can be set in the center space for transport. The center section would then be used as a Dutch oven table. This would keep burning coals off the ground when at the work site. 

This is the starboard side of the tool car. There is enough space to mount a small generator, air compressor or water tank. The tool cabinet can be used to secure tools and equipment.

The A end of the tool car. This is the forward end. It will normally be the end that is coupled to the gang car, locomotive or trackmobile. 

The B end of the tool car. There is plenty of storage space on top of the tool cabinet, plus room to hang hoses, chains and other large tools.

Cookin' on the railroad

Friday last I cooked lunch for the maintenance of way crew on the El Dorado Western Railroad in Western El Dorado County, California. The menu consisted of:

• Pork chili with adobo sauce from dried guajillo chilies in 12-inch deep camp oven
• Cheesy buttermilk biscuits with pepper-jack in 14-inch camp oven
• Mixed berry cobbler in 12-inch camp oven
• Railroad coffee

To prepare for the meal, I roasted an eight-pound bone-in pork picnic shoulder at home Thursday evening. I normally use pork butt, but the supermarket didn't have any in stock. The shoulder yielded between five to six pounds of cooked meat once I discarded the bone. I also made the adobo sauce from dried chilies, formed the biscuits with pepper-jack and Parmesan cheeses, prepared the cobbler topping and packed.

After breakfast with the crew (at a Shingle Springs restaurant aptly named the Train Station), I drove to the grade crossing closest to the trestle that we were working on and waited for the train to pick me up.

Once we arrived at the work site, the crew unloaded the kitchen. I set up on a saddle perpendicular to the tracks and began the chili. (Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures of the chili.) To prepare, I sweated 2 diced onions with lots of minced garlic in olive oil, then dropped about 5 pounds diced pork into the pot. One (14.5-ounce) can of fire roasted tomatoes and 1 (12-ounce) can of tomatillos went into the pot next, along with 1.5 cups of the adobo sauce, a pint of beef stock and the pork drippings.

Two teaspoons smoked paprika, 2 teaspoons ground cumin and 1 teaspoon dried oregano seasoned the chili. I later added extra dried chili powder and garlic powder to boost the flavor. The chili simmered over a bed of coal for the next hour and one-half. A couple handsful of corn chips thickened the chili.

Nineteen biscuits fit snuggly inside a 14-inch camp oven. I had intended to brush the biscuits with cream, but forgot.

The berry cobbler is similar in construction to a dump cake. You pour frozen berries (12 ounces raspberries, 16 ounces blueberries and 16 ounces blackberries) into an oiled 12-inche camp oven. Half of the topping (scratch made with a fine consistence like cake mix) covered the berries. After the first topping dump had stated to brown, I covered it with the remaining topping and baked with coals for about 425 degrees until brown and crusty.

In the picture, I set the biscuit lid in the skillet and used it for bottom heat for maybe 5 or 10 minutes. Two rings of coals provided the top heat. The picture shows the cobble just before the second topping dump.

Taking a day off

The downside of working six twelve-hour days each week is you get little time to yourself. We try to get away for dinner one or two evenings each week. Since our Sunday is day off, we assemble with the local saints for worship, then drive off to the former logging town of Greyeagle for lunch and time on the Internet.

Yesterday's drive was unique. We work along the former Western Pacific Railroad Feather River Route. The line's current owner, the massive Union Pacific Railroad, has been running a lot of freight traffic over the rail line. The railroaders among the staff at Oakland Camp (the housekeeping supervisor and myself) have enjoyed watching (and listening when we're busy) to trains each hour.

Catching three trains on our day off was an exciting opportunity. I'll let the photographs tell the story.

As we drove east toward Blairsden and Greyeagle, an eastbound UP high-railer caught my attention at the Spring Garden siding. Thinking I could snap a photo as it crossed the bridge at Blairsden, we sped east on Highway 70. Instead of the track inspection vehicle, this local freight train appeared. My guess is that the high-railer took the siding.

The local took the hole (or siding) once he crossed the bridge. The waiting westbound intermodal freight was the superior train. As soon as the local cleared the main, the westbound gave two long blasts on the horn and proceeded west toward Keddie and the Feather River.

 

I took this photo as the westbound freight passed over the bridge at Blairsden.

 

Later in the day, Debbie and I saw this westbound coal drag as we returned to Quincy and the camp. With sufficient time to drive to the Williams Loop, we drove west. At the Loop, I photographed the train as it wound around under itself. Here the lead locomotive is ready to exit the loop and continue its westbound journey toward the canyon.

Potluck and presentation

Each December, the El Dorado Western Railway Foundation hosts its annual meeting and Christmas potluck at a local historic venue. This is year we used the recreated Southern Pacific depot in the historic town of El Dorado. Around 45 railroad volunteers and their families packed into the station. This was the largest crowd we've had in memory.

I've often used to potluck to feature new dishes. This year my wife and I brought a Mexican casserole with black beans in a 9 by 13-inch roasting pan. I adapted the recipe from the Deer Crossing Wilderness Camp kitchen manual, where it was served every other week at dinner.

I had two jobs this year, so to speak. As the cook in the family, the task of preparing the casserole fell to me this morning. My other job, assigned by the president of the foundation, was to present a talk on rail passenger service on the Placerville Branch rail line of the Southern Pacific Railroad.

After the annual meeting (and before the meal), I presented a mix of historic photographs and newspaper reports on passenger service, which ran from March 1888 to January 1939. One of the two daily trains was provided by a McKeen motor car.

The meeting and potluck were a success. The volunteers enjoyed my presentation. And the dish was nearly cleaned.

MEXICAN CASSEROLE WITH BLACK BEANS

Leave the beef-bean-corn mixture a little on the dry side. You do not want a moist or sloppy sauce. The recipe is a favorite of Deer Crossing Camp in Eldorado National Forest, California. A double recipe fits in a 12x20x4-inch hotel pan and serves 24.

2 pounds ground beef
1-1/ ounces taco seasoning
2 (15-ounce) cans black beans, drained and rinsed
frozen whole kernel corn
1-1/2 cups salsa
1 (10-ounce) package corn chips
8 ounces cheddar cheese, shredded
8 ounces jack cheese, shredded

Saute ground beef in heavy skillet over medium heat until done. Drain excess off fat. Stir in taco seasoning, beans, corn and salsa. Simmer 10 minutes to develop flavor.

Line greased 9x13x3-inch pan with half of the corn chips. Spoon beef mixture over tortilla or corn chips. Top pan with half of each cheese. Top pan with remaining half of the corn chips.

Bake in 350-degree oven, until casserole is bubbling around edges, about 20 to 30 minutes. Sprinkle remaining cheeses over chips. Return to oven and continue baking until cheese has melted.

Cool 15 minutes, then cut 3 by 4. Serve an equal portion of the filling with cheesy chip layer. Serves 12.

Huevos rancheros for railroad crew

This morning I prepared lunch for the railroad crew. The crew is rebuilding a Fairmont Model A4D gang car for use on the El Dorado Western Railroad. Here's the menu:

• Two eggs over easy or medium
• Chipotle-cheddar buttermilk biscuits
• Salsa Espanola
• Simmered pinto beans
• Toppings (chopped white onion, minced jalapeno chiles, chopped cilantro, crumbled queso, Mexican crema and diced tomatoes)

Prep work at home included three components for the meal:

• Started a pot of pinto beans around 8 a.m. The beans were ready by the time I walked out the door at 11 a.m.
• Prepared a Spanish sauce with red and green bell peppers, poblano chile peppers and tomatoes.
• Baked 12 large chipotle-cheddar biscuits; to prepare, I added three minced chipotle chiles (canned in adobo sauce) and two cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese to a one-pound buttermilk biscuit dough.

I'll post recipes at a later date.

Once I arrived at the shop, I set up the two-burner Camp Chef propane stove behind the tailgate to my truck. I cooked two eggs for each plate.

I didn't take time to set-up a plate for the camera. I set the next plate on top of the cooler and quickly framed a picture, while trying to avoid the egg carton in the background. To plate, I laid two fried eggs over a split biscuit. After spooning salsa Espanola over the eggs and biscuit, diced tomatoes, chopped onion, chopped cilantro and crumbled queso fresco were used to garnish the plate. A side of pinto beans and dollop of Mexican crema finished the dish.

Here's the Fairmont Railway Model A4D gang car. It was formerly used by Washington Group International, a large construction company that acquired Morrison-Knudsen Co. in the 1990s. It was last used on a Port of Seattle project. The railroad will letter the car as the El Dorado Western Railroad No. 603.

Menu for a buseman's holiday

Busman's holiday:
A vacation during which one engages in activity that is similar to one's usual work (Answers.com).

It seems that I've been allotted a certain number of cooking hours each day. Meet the quota at work and my culinary soul is satisfied. Skip a day and I must cook I must cook elsewhere to fill the void.

When I decided to take the President's Day holiday off from work, I figured that I'd enjoy a quiet day at home. The time to complete several projects was on my mind. My plan fell apart when the crew at the El Dorado Western Railroad learned of my day off.

It seems the mechanics are working on our new Fairmont model A4 gang car tomorrow. "Come over in the morning," said Keith, president of the El Dorado Western Railway Foundation. "We can use an extra body."

Keith's recruitment call told me of dirt, paint chips and greasy hands in my future. I quickly proposed an alternate way to use my talent. Railroad workers work hard. And hard work builds appetites, I reasoned. What better was to showcase my special skills than to cook a meal for the gang?

"Do you want lunch tomorrow?" I countered. While several mechanics will provide support to the county museum railroad project tomorrow, I'll prepare lunch (more correctly, breakfast for lunch -- see menu below).

In the process, the mechanics will do what they do best -- rebuilding railroad cars. And this chef will do what he does best -- cooking a wonderful meal for a crowd.

Sounds like a busman's holiday to me!

MENU FOR A BUSEMAN'S HOLIDAY

I'm serving breakfast for lunch tomorrow at Bob McCormack's engine rebuild shop. At this hour, I plan to prepare huevos rancheros served over chipotle-cheddar biscuits. While elements of the menu may change when as I walk the isles of the supermarket, it'll look something like this:

Two or three scrambled or fried eggs
Salsa Espanola
Simmered pinto beans
Chipotle-cheddar butter milk biscuits
Toppings (chopped white onion, chopped cilantro, crumbled queso fresco, Mexican crema and diced tomatoes)
Caboose coffee (these are railroaders, after all!)

Braised beef with summer vegetables video

Here's my first attempt at a cooking video. While I don't expect it'll go viral anytime soon, I think I did an okay job. I'll let you judge. I shot it with my cell phone camera. I'd appreciate your feedback.


Chef Steven Karoly cooks a wonderful pot of braised beef with summer vegetables for the El Dorado Western Railroad. Located in the historic town of El Dorado, California, the railroad is a program of the El Dorado County Historical Museum. The maintenance of way crew enjoyed a succulent pot of beef with fresh corn-on-the-cob, new red potatoes, green beans and grape tomatoes. Flavored in a reduced chicken stock, rosemary and garlic rounded out the flavor profile.

Menu for railroad crew tomorrow

It's time to prepare a relaxing meal for the track crew at the El Dorado Western Railroad. I cooked chili and cornbread on a cold, rainy day last June.

I'm changing direction for the meal tomorrow and will cook the complete meal at the depot site in the historic town of El Dorado, California. In June I cooked the meal at home and transported it to the shop at noon.

• Piping hot caboose coffee -- It doesn't matter if its 100 degrees or 70 on the right-of-way, railroaders will drink coffee all morning.
• Braised beef with summer vegetables -- Much like a pot roast, I'll braise a large chuck roast at a gentle simmer in a large Dutch oven all morning, then add new red tomatoes, roasted red peppers, corn-on-the-cob, green beans and cherry tomatoes.
• Tender herb biscuits -- What Dutch oven meal wouldn't be complete without a pot of baking powder biscuits?
• Peach crisp -- Peaches are in season right now; so it makes sense to top the meal with a peachy dessert!

I'm going to make a video log of the meal tomorrow as I cook. Barring any technical glitches (or operator error), I should be able to post my video log of the meal in a couple days. Look for bonus shots of the railroad's 1940 Southern Pacific caboose (No. 1094) and Plymouth locomotive!

Railroad chili at the shop

I prepared chili, cornbread and chipotle cole slaw for a crew of the El Dorado Western Railroad this morning. Due to rain, I cooked the meal at home and drove it to the shop at noon.

A mechanic cleared a work bench for the serving table. I didn't check to see what was in the purple bottle, not do I want to know.

I cooked the chili con carne with beans in a Lodge #12 Dutch oven on the stove top at home. It seems each time I prepare this recipe that I tweak it a bit. Today's pot included 4 pounds ground beef and 18 ounces pork chorizo. I also cut the tomato product in half. It was a good mild pot of chili.

Not all railroad work is work

On Saturday, the El Dorado Western Railway participated in the Town of El Dorado's Gold Rush Christmas. It was a relaxing day after working on the track for the past seven Saturdays. Instead of cutting brush or wielding a shovel all day, Jacob and I enjoyed a pancake breakfast with railroad buddies at the El Dorado Community Hall.

Put my granddaughter in a moving vehicle and she's sound asleep! She's drifting into dreamland as she watches her reflection the speeder's taillight. It's as if she has a built-in dimmer switch. Turn the engine on and her eyes glaze over in an instant.

My wife Debbie and our granddaughter pose for a portrait as the speeder returns to El Dorado. Since her first ride in October, Nevaeh has asked when she could ride the train gain.

Twice I was able to take the Camino, Placerville and Lake Tahoe Railroad No. 4 speeder out for a spin between the old SP depot site and Blanchard Road to the east. Click to read an article on the operation of the speeder.

Wedding train

The readers of the El Dorado Western Railway blog may not know this little know fact: One of our board members was married on a train. The nuptials were held on Bear Mountain on the Roaring Camp and Big Trees Narrow Gauge Railroad in Felton, California, some 10 years ago.

A photograph, with the happy couple posing for the photographer on the brakeman's footrest of the Dixiana No. 1, greets me each I visit the couple. The shotgun stack, as it reaches for the sky in the bright afternoon light of the Coast Range, always catches my eye as I enter their country home. (No pun intended ... the tall, narrow smokestack is called a shotgun stack because of its resemblance to a shotgun barrel.)

The Shay was a fitting venue for their wedding. As one of the railway's longest running volunteers, this board member dates back to the early days of the renovation of the Diamond and Caldor No. 4 Shay.

I'm sometimes envious of my friends. They did something that I would've loved to have done. Since I'm nearly 30 years into my marriage, I doubt I'll have opportunity to get married on a train. Besides, my wife may have something to say about it!

Unless family tradition dictates otherwise, I highly recommend a special train wedding to our loyal railfans. A Facebook posting alerted me to this Portland wedding on-board the Oregon Pacific yesterday:

"A special train operated Saturday in Portland. But this is a special train in a different sort of way because a couple in our railfan community were married aboard! Leia and George charted this Oregon Pacific train for their ceremony which as long time railfans this was a perfect way for them to have their wedding and celebrate their day!"

Click over to Dogcaught: A Railroad Blog for the rest of the story and more photographs.

Who knows, maybe the El Dorado Western Railway will offer the occasional wedding special soon.

Labor savin' backhoe

You appreciate the value of heavy machinery after devoting the past two Saturdays to working on the railroad. In the photograph, Bob McCormack of Placerville excavates a drainage ditch alongside the historic Southern Pacific Placerville Branch rail line near the Town of El Dorado. Bob operates M&M Performance, an auto repair and engine rebuild shop in Diamond Springs, with his son, Jeremy.

Three hands

Saturday morning, El Dorado Western Railway President Keith Berry instructed volunteer Cal Jessiman to give me a refresher course on the operation of the CP< No. 4 speeder. I last ran the track inection car two years ago at an open house on the site of the then proposed railway park in the Town of El Dorado.

Keith wanted my son Jacob and me to make several training runs between the El Dorado and Blanchard crossings while he picked up additional equipment at the county museum.

I followed as Cal detailed the protocol to start the speeder. "This is going to take three hands," explained Cal. I soon leaned what he meant.

To operate the Kalamzoo speeder, grip the clutch lever with your right hand and grab the brake lever with your left hand, said Cal. Then somehow, use your "free hand" to control the throttle.

As Cal explained the process, I rehearsed the emergency braking procedure in my hand and with my hands. Better to simulate disengaging the clutch and engaging the brake now than to fumble through it when a worker walks onto the tracks in front of the moving speeder.

To start the engine, set the brake and place the transmission in neutral, instructed Cal. Turn the key, while gently nudging the throttle forward until the engine catches. Next came the tricky part -- throwing the transmission into gear and proceeding without stalling the engine.

Cal continued. Disengage the clutch with your right hand, shift the transmission into low range and slowly let the clutch out. This is wear the three handed operation comes into play.

I slowly guided the clutch until the transmission was firmly engaged. At the same time I had to be ready to give the engine gasoline to keep it from cutting out. With my left hand on the brake, I slipped the clutch, slowly reduced pressure on the brake and gave the engine one-third throttle -- it worked!

The speeder only jerked once or twice. Two longs on the horn and we were off for the El Dorado Road crossing. (Two long toots on the horn tells railroad workers that you've released the brakes and are proceeding forward.)

Once we were rolling westward on the Placerville Branch, I asked Cal about the origin of his three hands tag. "You know, that sounds a lot like something Keith would say."

"That's exactly what Keith was telling me (yesterday)," said Cal. "You need three hands to do this." Cal operated the speeder for the first time Thursday.

Twenty-three minutes later the run ended. We arrived at Hagen's Crossing, a dirt driveway that crosses the tracks about one-quarter mile east of the railroad depot site. It was time to pass the throttle to the next operator.

Jacob jumped into the operator's seat. A bit apprehensive about the process, he motioned with his hands as I walked him through it.

"Wear gloves," I said as I guided him through the process. "The engine throws off a lot of heat. Keep your left hand on the brake and your right on the clutch and your eye on the road."

It was up to Jacob to figure out how to manage the throttle!

Learning to drive

My son Jacob learned how to operate a speeder car on the Placerville Branch rail line today. Jacob and I joined a work crew from the El Dorado Western Railway at the site of the El Dorado County Historical Railroad Museum in the Town of El Dorado, California.

The Camino, Placerville and Lake Tahoe Railroad No. 4 speeder rolls into the old Southern Pacific Railroad depot site at El Dorado during a November 2008 open house. Also called a track inspection car, railroads used speeders to inspect the track and quickly shuttle work crews on the rails. Pick up trucks with flanged rail wheels replaced speeders in the 1990s.

Drivin' spikes

Drivin' spikes
Originally uploaded by SeabeeCook

When the El Dorado Western Railway drives spikes, it does so the old fashion way. Maul in hand, railway volunteer Ben Cunha takes his turn at driving a railroad spike on the Southern Pacific Placerville Branch last Saturday.

Railway crews are currently replacing missing spikes by manually driving them into the tie with a sledge hammer. Once the crew becomes proficient in the use of a sledgehammer, it will graduate to the traditional spike maul, a large double-sided sledge hammer with long, thin heads.

PG&E No. 35 trolley car near White Rock Road

PG&E No. 35 trolley car near White Rock Road
Originally uploaded by SeabeeCook

The Pacific Gas & Electric Trolley No. 35 picked up railroad workers near the White Rock Road grade crossing as it prepared to return to Hampton Station on Sunday, September 19, 2010. The El Dorado Western Railway came close to putting its Whiting Trackmobile to work on the Placerville Branch line. Around 2:30 p.m., an official from the Folsom Rail and Transportation Festival stopped by our booth to ask if the Trackmobile was available to recover the trolley as it had stalled on the tracks just north of White Rock Road.

We were told that the trolley's power supply had failed and the vehicle that was going to tow it back, a Regional Transit Unimog hi-rail truck, had jumped the rails. Event organizers thought that the Trackmobile was the ideal recovery vehicle. To effect the recovery, plan was for Keith Berry to drive it south on Old Placerville Road to the site, mount the rails between the Unimog and the trolley and tow it to a point where crews could repair the generator.

In the end, our services weren't needed. But it would've been a photographer's dream to see the El Dorado Western No. 601 Trackmobile towing the PG&E No. 35 back to the northern terminus.

Like EDWR's Trackmobile, the trolley was one of unique artifacts at the Folsom Railfest. It required an alternate source of electricity for the event since the Placerville Branch doesn't have overhead power lines. Normally, the trolley is more at home on the Regional Transit rail lines, where it draws electricity from overhead power line through the trolley pole.

Photographer Philip S. Rose provided some insight into the operation of the trolley in the Village Life newspaper: "To power the vintage rail conveyance, Railfest organizers rented the huge generator being towed behind. (Folsom, El Dorado & Sacramento Historical Railroad Association) member Bob Morrison built a rectifier to convert the AC to DC power for the old streetcar."

The trolley was used throughout the weekend event to give paid rides to the public. The PG&E No. 35 was built in 1913 by the American Car Co. PG&E ran it on its Sacramento City Lines until 1934, when it was retired.

"In 1999, Sacramento Regional Transit purchased a beautifully restored trolley (PG&E 35) from the California Trolley & Railroad Corporation in San Jose," according to the Railway Preservation Resources (RPR Consulting) website page for Sacramento. "The car had been completely rebuilt in the late1980s as part of group of seven immaculately restored trolleys for operation in San Jose. Car 35 is operated on special occasions over a portion of the Light Rail system in the downtown area."

An interesting fact about the trolley is that it carries two road numbers. When restored, the car operated as the San Jose Railroad No. 129. The No. 35 wasn't available and it was renumbered 129, the next available number for the railroad. When Regional Transit purchased the car, a representative told us that the purchase agreement required them maintain the car's No. 129 identity.

Conductor Eric Olds of Folsom, punches a passenger's ticket on an afternoon trolley run on Saturday. Eric is a member of the Folsom, El Dorado & Sacramento Historical Railroad Association. He frequently operates their Skagit No. 30 speeder as the motorman.

Imagine a real Thomas The Tank Engine

Yesterday morning I noticed something as I dropped my three-year-old granddaughter off at preschool. While waiting in line, I saw two boys wearing Thomas The Tank Engine t-shirts. A third boy sported a brand new Thomas daypack.

It got me to thinking. If the railroad tracks along the 28-mile Placerville Branch are torn out by Iron Horse Preservation Society, as proposed by the Friends of the El Dorado Trail, then these boys (and their sisters) will never have the opportunity to ride the rails on the historic Placerville Branch rail line.

Sure, the parents of our young Thomas fans could drive the family to the California State Railroad Museum and ride the train on the Sacramento Southern Railroad. After all, the museum is a worthy destination with its amazing collection of locomotives from California's long railroading history.

But I say, why drive over 40 miles to ride an excursion train when there could be at two local railroad venues, one at each end of the line? Boys and girls from throughout the area would encourage their parents make the short drive to passenger depots in Folsom, Latrobe, Shingle Springs, El Dorado and Diamond Springs.

Can't you picture a young El Dorado County family boarding the train at the newly re-created historic Southern Pacific passenger depot in El Dorado? Approved by the county Board of Supervisors last year, the El Dorado County Historical Railroad Park will soon become the premier rail destination for the local region.

The Diamond and Caldor No. 4 Shay locomotive would pull the train – with young Thomas fans sitting on the edge of their seats – to the end-of-track at Missouri Flat Road, near the location of the old Diamond Springs interchange with the Diamond and Caldor Railway. On the ride, the conductor will tell our young Thomas fans how the Four-Spot once pulled trains loaded with rough-cut lumber from the Caldor mill to Diamond Springs.

Then these young Thomas fans will get the view of a lifetime as they poke their heads out the window. At the head of the train, the brakeman will uncouple the Four-Spot from the train. And the engineer will guide the century-old geared steam locomotive through the switch onto the run-around track.

What child wouldn’t react with enthusiasm as the Shay backs down on the run-around track? The engineer and fireman will wave as if they were personal friends of each boy and girl on the train. Our young fans will have come into contact with the real “Thomas” in person.

Along the way, our young Thomas fans will enjoy an afternoon of family fun, while viewing some of the best countryside in California. And, they’ll experience history in the best way possible – by experiencing it firsthand! Captivated by the train crew, dressed in bib overalls, long-sleeved shirts and striped engineer caps, our young Thomas fans will feel the heat of the engine as it passes by. And the sweet aroma of the steam exhaust will capture their hearts.

If the citizens of El Dorado County allow the Friends of the El Dorado Trail and Iron Horse Preservation Society to rip out the twin steel tracks of the Placerville Branch, they’ll be tearing out a piece of our history for good. And families, both young and old, will never be able to experience the once daily passenger local, bound for Placerville.

Come to think of it, I don’t recall seeing any boys in bicycle t-shirts! Tear out the tracks and these boys and girls will miss the sights and sounds of the real Thomas The Tank Engine.

Speeder run on the Placerville Branch

Fairmont A-6 gang car
Originally uploaded by SeabeeCook

Last Saturday, the Folsom, El Dorado and Sacramento Historic Railroad Association (affectingly know as the FEDS) sponsored a speeder run on the old Southern Pacific Placerville Branch for its members. My son and I joined the ride as representatives of the El Dorado Western Railway, which is developing the El Dorado County Historical Railroad museum in the town of El Dorado, California.

We put on the tracks at the Southern Pacific freight depot at Shingle Springs and rode to the end-of-track at Missouri Flat Road, near the site of the Diamond Springs depot and interchange with the former Diamond and Caldor Railway.

Here, the FEDS Fairmont A-6 gang car stands ready for passengers for the afternoon run.

Whiting Trackmobile

It's fun to learn of a new type of railroad locomotive. Not new in the sense that I had never heard of the mobile railcar mover, or Trackmobile.

To this point in my five-year tour with the El Dorado Western Railway, I'd never seen one up close. If you'd asked, "What's a Trackmobile" last month, I'd given a blank stare.

That changed about a month ago when the railway learned of an opportunity to accept the donation of a 1964 Model 3TM Whiting Trackmobile from Aerojet in Folsom, California. The transaction was completed Monday when railway president Keith Berry and board member Ed Chuna picked the unit up in Folsom.

The railcar mover is a lightweight combination road-rail vehicle that's used to move railcars on industrial spurs. Trackside operators typically use the Trackmobile as a cost-saving alternative to the costlier locomotive switcher.

The Whiting Trackmobile has two sets of drive wheels. The operator drives it on the rubber tires on normal road surfaces. To move one or more railcars, the operator mounts the Trackmobile on the rail and couples the unit to lead car. At this point, it becomes a locomotive.

The El Dorado Western will use the Trackmobile on the Southern Pacific Placerville Branch and the new El Dorado County Historical Railroad Museum. According to Keith, the the Trackmobile will function in a variety of roles:

• Maintenance-of-way tug to pull cars on the right-of-way
• Rescue tug that'll pull stranded locomotives and cars back to the engine house
• Crew training vehicle

I'll share more photographs of the Whiting Trackmobile once we mount it on the Placerville Branch. It's first assignment will be track rehabilitation on the right-of-way.