Our 2020-2022 shutdown (first for COVID and then for the Spirit Lake Cleanup Project) was an opportunity to rebuild our passenger’s favorite outdoor “Safari Car”. The project started with a complete tear down of the platform and fencing of the car. Many hours were spent installing a new floor and posts. By chance, painting was always done on the hottest days. A work group of LS&M Volunteers, as well as donated employee hours from Enbridge, work tirelessly to finish this project in preparation for the Lake Superior and Mississippi Railroad’s re-opening in Season 2023.
LSMR volunteers, as well as donated employee hours from Enbridge, worked tirelessly to finish rebuilding the safari car so it was ready and looking good for our 2023 reopening.
Thank you to all who are helping to complete this project and those who are supporting it with their donations.
By mid-July, 2021, the new decking, posts, and rails had been replaced on the Safari Car.
Most of the refurbished benches were placed on the Safari car. The front and back walls were added. There was still the final bench and a gate to be attached.
Planks needed to be custom cut to fit the unique layout of the Safari Car. Large rivets protruded from the frame causing the planks to not lie flat. The rivets needed to be ground-down and the planks hollowed out in places to fit level.
On June 3, 2021, The Lake Superior & Mississippi Railroad held a news conference to announce that our 2021 season was being postponed until 2022 because of the US Steel Superfund project. (This ultimately became a July, 2023 reopening.) Our tracks pass through 1.5 miles of the project site where bridges and track were removed to help with remediation and construction. This downtime offered us a unique opportunity for maintenance and renovations. Enbridge Energy provided a generous grant to renovate the Safari Car. Enbridge has also provided employees to begin work on the project.
Safari Car Renovation - Summary
In June, seven Enbridge volunteers worked a total of 52 hours in four half day shifts. They removed the structures on the Safari, cut lumber to specs and built bench supports. This preparation was a great help to enable LS&M volunteers to proceed with the floor replacement.
As LS&M volunteers started participating, a set number of volunteers were requested on each work day, dependent on the stage of work, so as to match the task at hand with the number of people required. The project was completed with eleven days of volunteer work scheduled in June & July with August 5, 2021 the final day. In the Spring after the green treated wood dries, volunteers will be needed to paint, attach new fencing and lay carpet strips.
The managers for this project are Tom Thatcher & Steve Voltzke. Both of them have worked many hours in preparation for this project as well as every scheduled volunteer work day. Tom prepared the rebuild plans using his CADD drafting program which were included in the grant application. This probably helped to convince Enbridge that we had a professional project in mind. Planning meetings took place with Enbridge as well as LS&M advisors. Tom pre-cut the lumber to make it easier for volunteers to do their work. As work progressed, issues came up when the old flooring was removed and unusual car structure was revealed. This took additional time to overcome. All in all, the direction of this project was completely structured by Tom & Steve in planning, preparing materials and actually doing the work in addition to the volunteers mentioned below.
Thanks to LS&M volunteers: Mike Casey, Joe Hochban, Brenda Moore, Dave Moore, John Pilegaard, Marilyn Carter, Mike Pappas, John Cavanaugh, Jim Wright, Duayne Anderson, Trish McKenny, Robert Zakovec and Joel Manns. Together they contributed 104 volunteer hours.