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03/15/2003 FEBT Rockhill Work Session
Another beautiful warm day in Rockhill Furnace. A group of 12 volunteers showed up and worked on Saturday - Sunday had 9 folks, however I wasn't there for Sunday.

click for full size image Chris Coleman tending to the shop doors. He's preparing the doors for new board-and-batten siding. 131K click for full size image
click for full size image A closeup of Chris prying some old boards off in preparation for new ones. 111K click for full size image
click for full size image Charlie Wooton holding up the door with just one finger! Charlie, don't move that finger! Just kidding - he's pointing out the backside of the door where plywood is used to reinforce the new section. You can also see the new beam, above the plywood, which was fabricated and added last year. 106K click for full size image
click for full size image Standing on the first car in the shed, looking South. 143K click for full size image
click for full size image Standing in the same spot, now facing South East. Tank car. 118K click for full size image
click for full size image Now standing just to the right of the previous photo, off of the cars. More machinery. A generator is to the right. I believe this was actually used for powering some of the machines (converted to electricity) until somewhat recently. 126K click for full size image
click for full size image Turned 180° from previous photo, now facing North. View is into boiler room, with the rear of the boilers to the left. One can see crumbling walls which are to be a focal point of upcoming restoration efforts in the coming year. This room needs help, and lots of it. 107K click for full size image
click for full size image This is the coal bunker. Coal was delivered via a conveyor from outside, off to the right, from a pit and a hole in the wall. The grates which would be used to drop coal into are still evident outside; the pit is filled in. The diagonal slats on the wall would hold boards which would be removed as coal was shoveled from the bin. The boiler doors are just to my left. 101K click for full size image
click for full size image And here are the massive boiler doors and apparatus. 147K click for full size image
click for full size image Directly behind the wall seen in the coal bunker pic (above) is the Generator room. This room suffers from severe roof deterioration (as it has almost no pitch!). The room is to be documented, photographed, videotaped and then restored. Here Bill Adams is sketching and recording data & measurements of the room and its contents. 101K click for full size image
click for full size image Bad photo of the windows next to the boilers (to the right). View is Eastward. 64K click for full size image
click for full size image Now into the main shops area, view of some equipment. 126K click for full size image
click for full size image A view of some of the support beams added due to a deteriorating roof. There is an incredible amount of weight hanging from the beams above. The floor repairs which took place are directly behind the equipment to the right. 130K click for full size image
click for full size image Another view, this time looking upwards. 120K click for full size image
click for full size image Interior of shop. Note all those belts! 94K click for full size image
click for full size image Facing South. Note old switcher parked at end of western inspection track. Tracks are covered with the freight/tourist cars hunkered down for the winter. 91K click for full size image
click for full size image Another view inside the shops, facing West. 88K click for full size image
click for full size image Machinery. 76K click for full size image
click for full size image Facing South West. The windows in the shop are in need of attention and will hopefully have some this coming season. Some of them were covered last year with plastic sheeting, but over the winter the sheeting blew off or was damaged. 109K click for full size image
click for full size image Lee Rainey on the roof and Shawn Stafford perched on the ladder inspect the 2 9' x 3' metal roof panels which fell off during a recent winter storm. Lee was going to secure the panels but found the footing to be too slick. This job would have to wait until tomorrow when a proper ladder could be secured. 65K click for full size image
click for full size image A view from a little farther back. The roof panels are laying in the snow off to the right. 91K click for full size image
click for full size image Here is the approximately 10' x 25' of flooring we removed. A leaky roof caused the severe damage. A pile of axles had to be moved and boards (and some frozen dirt!) was then pried up and brought to the scrap wood pile; wood used to warm up the locos boiler in the mornings during operating season. I apologise - I forgot the names of the two gents in this pic - please email me if you can remember! 88K click for full size image
click for full size image Here is the generator room exterior. The lack of pitch on the roof is apparent, as are the many various conduits (electrical and steam) passing above the roof. This roof will be replaced in an upcoming work session and will make for a tricky job with all those pipes. 136K click for full size image
click for full size image Tom & Bill are inspecting the paneling after the roof boards had been removed by Shawn and myself. The idea is to replace the worn/rotted boards with exact pattern matches so as to preserve the original as much as possible. 93K click for full size image
click for full size image A view of the generator room roof after the ceiling boards had been removed. Woah! By the way, while removing the ceiling, Shawn got pretty dirty from all the coal dust - remember, the coal bin was directly next door to the generator and after many many years of coal going in and out of that bin it left a generous amount up in the roof boards! 148K click for full size image
click for full size image The back wall which housed all the electrical gauges and switches. A really neat area. I'm standing behind the generator. Note the coils leaning on the wall. These were suspended from the ceiling by brackets. They will be replaced when roof is repaired. Tom is doing more inspecting here. 157K click for full size image
click for full size image This is the right side of the boiler front, directly across the way from the generator room. Note ladder for access above. 101K click for full size image
click for full size image Another shot inside the dim shops. 93K click for full size image
click for full size image And another. 93K click for full size image
click for full size image The doors into the shops area. I love the signs. 122K click for full size image
click for full size image This is right next to the doors. 132K click for full size image
click for full size image I was trying to capture the submerged belt drive axle (?) which is beneath the metal plates between the buildings. Unfortunately there was too much snow and glare. In the background, over by the sheds, you can see some of the crew working on the removal of glass from donated window panes. 85K click for full size image

What a great day to be at the EBT! The Spring had sprung and the EBT had survived one more harsh winter! We had a delightfully warm day (which made the porous ground EXTRA muddy and squishy - in some spots up to your ankles in mud) which provided for some great outdoor work. It was a productive day with everyone excited to be starting a new year of restoration. Help the EBT and lend a hand this year! Join the Rockhill Restoration Crew and help keep the EBT alive!

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All images copyright 2003 Benjamin Sullivan
Site last updated 04/04/2003