It's a normal summer on the N&F - with the amount of rain we have had in the Ozarks, the railroad looks a bit like a rain forest. Mowing, trimming and weed control in the ballast are the order of the day. Of course, there is always a little bit of trackwork to do here and there, too.
The big project for this summer has been a water treatment facility for the steam locomotives. That sounds fancier than it is; simply put, it is a system of sediment, charcoal and reverse osmosis filters that slowly trickle water into a plastic 55 gallon barrel. Once the barrel is full, the water is tested to make sure it is close to pure, then doctored with an oxygen scavenger and sludge conditioner. The PH level is tested again, and then corrected to the proper level. It's actually a fairly simple setup, but it does take a bit of planning since the RO filter is very slow... it takes about a day and half to fill the barrel. Since our well water is very hard, the new treatment facility should help the boilers last a long time.
Since the water treatment equipment isn't aesthetically pleasing, no pictures for this post. Time to go pull more weeds...
