Posted on by Chris Hauf

Repairing from the rains…

In late December and through parts of January, the Bay Area received significant rainfall with storms lining up one after another. The joy of having our Niles Canyon Railway in a canyon is the incredible natural beauty of the steep cliffs, scenic Alameda Creek and the surrounding hills which make for some dramatic scenery as our railroad winds its way through. On the flip side when it rains, a canyon with its steep walls and creek are the first things to slide or overflow; both which took place with the heavy rains.

In late December and through parts of January, the Bay Area received significant rainfall with storms lining up one after another. The joy of having our Niles Canyon Railway in a canyon is the incredible natural beauty of the steep cliffs, scenic Alameda Creek and the surrounding hills which make for some dramatic scenery as our railroad winds its way through. On the flip side when it rains, a canyon with its steep walls and creek are the first things to slide or overflow; both which took place with the heavy rains.

Highway 84 look west toward Niles alongside our Brighside yard during the December rains. Our yard is on the hill to the right while Alameda Creek typically flows in its banks 100+ feet to the left.
Photo by Bob Bradley – Used with permission

Overall, our railroad survived the pretty well, but we had many slope failures where dirt filled our drainage ditches and culverts and in some cases, covered over our railroad. Since the rains started, our volunteer crews have been out working to insure our railroad is ready for our March rides to start and insuring our railroad is ready for the next rain whenever that may come. We certainly are not ones to not want to see our statewide California drought end.

Whether it’s rain or shine, our crossing signals have to be inspected and tested based on a schedule dictated by the Federal Railroad Administration.  On this rainy day our Signal Department crew is out with umbrellas at one of our six active grade crossings performing the required monthly inspections and tests. 
Photo by: Curt Hoppins – Used with permission

Here are some photos of some recent creativity and work to clean our ditches and culverts using a combination of some of our railroad equipment; some custom built by our own volunteers and some of our earth moving equipment which is kept for just these types of events and more.

All photos below by Christopher Hauf – Used with permission

With our Burro crane for motive power, our custom built ‘Heavy Hauler’ railborne low-boy trailer holds our track mounted GradAll which is busy removing dirt from our culverts and ditches.
The GradAll deposits soil from the filled culverts on the other side of the railroad where our backhoe working in the distance will pick it up and disperse it at the proper grade.
The GradAll deposits soil from the filled culverts on the other side of the railroad where our backhoe working in the distance will pick it up and disperse it at the proper grade.
The Gradall with its extending and rotating bucket is ideal for this type of work.
The backhoe works to redistribute the excavated soil.
Swing for a new load.
Ditching away. You can see how the slopes have failed and slid.
Ditching away. You can see how the slopes have failed and slid.
Museum General Manager, Steve Barkkarie, operates the Gradall. Steve is a master with all types of heavy equipment operation and made the work look easy.
A view from the heavy hauler/Burro side.
A view from above to give a feeling for how steep the slopes really are.
Another shot from above where you can see our railroad, Highway 84, Alameda Creek and the Union Pacific Railroad on the other side of the canyon.
Volunteer, Doug Vanderlee, operates the Burro crane. Doug designed and built the Heavy Hauler from another old Burro crane and a surplus Army lowboy tank hauling trailer.
Scooping a large rock that had come down the mountain.
Preparing to move to the next location.
Off they go deeper in the Canyon to deal with more slope failures.

Alas not all of the work can be done with machines. The mud has covered our railroad in many places where hand work with shovels is required to remove the earth from the ties in between the rails. We are very fortunate to have a very dedicated team that typically volunteers on Wednesday and works on Maintenance-of-Way and occasionally helps with other projects including the rebuilding of our two open cars last year. We thank them for their dedication, and I am sure they would welcome more hands to help.

Mud is shoveled from the ties east of Brightside yard by our dedicated Wednesday Maintenance-of-Way team.
Photo courtesy of Bob Pratt – Used with permission
Mud is shoveled from the ties east of Brightside yard by our dedicated Wednesday Maintenance-of-Way team.
Photo courtesy of Bob Pratt – Used with permission

We want to thank all of our volunteers who have come out to help in the wake of the storms. From our Signal Department crews to this crew to our Brush cutting crew who took care of several downed trees to our Maintenance-of-Way team that has been spending several days shoveling mud from our ties and right of way as sometimes working by hand is the only way to complete the job.

We always welcome new hands to help so please check our Volunteer page for the many different departments you can contribute to including Signals, Brush Cutting and Maintenance-of-Way.