CALIFORNIA RAILROAD COMMISSION

September 27, 1922.
File 182-70

MEMORANDUM INSPECTION OF TRACK AND STRUCTURES
OF THE YOSEMITE VALLEY RAILROAD.
-oOo-

Purpose of Memorandum.
xxxxx The purpose of this memorandum is to set forth the results of a general inspection made of the track and supporting structures on the entire line of the Yosemite Valley Railroad. This inspection included a general survey of track conditions and a comparatively detailed inspection of each trestle and bridge, there being about 100 of these structures.

Summary of Conditions.
xxxxx The track itself is in fair condition. The steel bridges are in good condition except for painting. The wooden trestles and structures are in poor condition generally but they have not yet reached a point where train operation over them is actually hazardous.

Summary of Conclusions.
xxxxx Heavy repairs or renewals should be made on practically all wooden track structures; within a period of two years except that portion which may be eliminated by the proposed line change to the Irrigation District project. To renew trestle approaches at the first crossing of the Merced River bridge should be renewed within six months. The Company should be in a position to make a rapid drive of the structures within the limits of a proposed line-change between mile post 25 and mile post 40 if this line-change is not made within two years.

xxxxx The bolts on the trestles in general have been neglected and should be gone over rather thoroughly and tightened or replaced.

General:
xxxxx This inspection was made on September 14th, 15th and 16th. Mr. W. L. White, General Manager, participated for a portion of the trip and Mr. G. H. Nickerson, Chief Engineer, accompanied us over the entire line.

xxxxx The traffic on the Yosemite Valley Railroad amounts to one passenger train each way daily, one local freight train each way daily over the entire line and two logging trains each day daily between El Portal and Merced Falls.

xxxxx The territory between Merced and Merced Falls is in the San Joaquin Valley and traverses country largely under irrigation. The territory between Merced Falls and El Portal is in the canyon of the Merced River and is essentially mountainous in character.

xxxxx There is proposed a large irrigation development by the Merced Irrigation District, which if effected, will involve the construction of a large dam just west of Exchequer Station. This will necessitate a line change in the railroad from a point just east of Merced Falls near mile post 25 to a point west of the Horseshoe Bend Ranch near mile post 40, replacing about 15 miles of the existing railroad with about 20 miles of new line.

Track
xxxxx The track of the Yosemite Valley Railroad is constructed of 70-pound (ASCE Section) steel, fastened with angle bars, tie plated, on curves, single spiked except at sharp curves, laid on 6" x 8" redwood, pine or cedar ties, redwood ties predominating. The track is ballasted for the greater portion of its distance with a good grade of gravel ballast; a small portion has been rock ballasted; and a small portion shows at the present time nothing but dirt ballast. The grading through the Merced River canyon is largely through a broken slate material standing on edge and this material itself acts as a very satisfactory ballast. The line and surface of the track is fair.

xxxxx The total length of the railroad is approximately 78 miles divided into nine track sections; two of these sections in the Valley are each 12 miles long and have eight men gangs supplied with motor cars. The remaining seven sections averaging about eight miles per section have four men each and are supplied with hand cars. The track is maintained in accordance with average branch line standards.

xxxxx During the war maintenance of this road was largely deferred, due to scarcity of both men and money. There were about 6000 ties renewed in 1918 and about 8000 ties renewed in 1919. Recently a more thorough program of tie renewal has been undertaken, there having been 24,000 renewed in 1921 and the company plans to renew 30,000 in 1922. Since the road was built in 1907, largely of redwood ties, it is to be expected that they will face a heavy demand of tie renewals within the next two years. There are a few places along the line where bank widening will be necessary in the near future. In general the company does not seem to be seriously behind reasonable requirements for maintaining its track to branch line standards, it of coarse being borne in mind that that portion of the railroad, which it is probable will be relocated, is having as small work done on it as possible to keep it safe for immediate operations.

Bridges
xxxxx There are four steel bridges on the railroad, all of which are in good condition except that the two 150 ft. through trusses of the first crossing of the Merced River are in urgent need of painting.

xxxxx The third crossing of the Merced River consisting of a 125 foot through trusses and two 50 ft. deck plate girders will need painting within a year or so, and it would undoubtedly be economical to have this work done at an early date.

Trestles
xxxxx Consideration of trestles of the Yosemite Valley Railroad naturally divides three portions.

xxxxx First, - those on the portion of the line in the Valley between Merced and Merced Falls.

xxxxx Second, - that portion of the line in the Merced River canyon which it is expected will be abandoned upon the development of the Merced Irrigation District project.

xxxxx Third, - the trestles in the canyon on that portion of the line not affected by the proposed line-change.

xxxxx The trestles between Merced and Merced Falls were originally supported by untreated piles which have almost entirely decayed at the ground line and have been cut off and framed from the ground up with 12 by 12 sills supporting four 12 by 12 posts carrying a 12 by 12 cap. The deck was originally constructed with six (7" x 16") stringers two being located under each rail and one under each guard rail. The deck has since been reenforced by the addition of two more stringers, one under each rail, and in cases where the older stringers have shown marked indication of decay or failure, additional second-hand helper stringers have been placed. The trestles have 6” x 8" pine ties, with 6" x 8" pine guard rails dapt over the ties. Bents are spaced on 16 ft. centers with some exceptions. Bents over 18 feet high are sway braced and bents over 20 feet high are provided with longitudinal braces.

xxxxx In some instances the supporting piles have again decayed immediately below the second cutoff line and they have been given a third cutoff with a sub-pony bent placed below the original frame bent, this sub-pony bent varies from one to six feet in height. In some cases this is not a full pony bent but over one or two or three of the old piles.

xxxxx The time is now fast approaching when reliance upon the old original piles should be entirely discarded and concrete footings should be placed under all bents with the possible exception of some of the bulkhead bents in the Valley territory.

xxxxx Two general exceptions to this procedure should be noted:-

xxxxx 1- There are a number of structures that can be entirely eliminated by filling and this of course would be preferable.

xxxxx 2 - The first crossing of the Merced River (13A) has two long trestle approaches. The situation on the west approach could probably be handled by installing concrete footings as the ground seems to be sufficiently stable to get reasonable bearing without an excess of concrete, but on the major portion of the east approach, however, it appears that the best solution would be to redrive the trestle completely. The west 14 bents of the east approach have already been redriven but as the new piles have not yet been capped they do not as yet carry the load. The reconstruction of these trestle approaches is the greatest problem now confronting the railroad. These approaches are on high bents which are framed from the ground surface up. It is impossible without excavation to definitely determine the exact nature of the support under the bents and it is almost certain that the pile support of these bents is practically gone, with the result that these bents are now supported by blocking on the ground itself.

xxxxx The action of both of these approaches were observed as a train passed over, and judging from the reasonable rigidity under load we are of the opinion that there is no immediate hazard at this bridge at the speeds permitted. The road has a slow order of 5 miles per hour for all trains crossing this structure. The condition of the east approach, however, is such that its footings cannot he depended upon in event of high water or change of channel in the river and we are therefore of the opinion that no time should be lost in starting the reconstruction of this trestle. Renewal of this structure is a very large job all to itself.

xxxxx The next important work to be undertaken between Merced and Merced Falls is the 17 bent Trestle, 12A. The footings of this trestle should be renewed with concrete. Bent No. 4 in this structure has been repaired with an unsatisfactory type of construction, it now consisting of a frame bent about 20 feet high resting on a sill composed of two pieces of approximately equal length, set end to end. Under each of these sills one of the original piles reaches to the sill itself and the other is cut off approximately 4 feet below the sill and a 12 x 12 post inserted between the present top of pile and the sill. Under these circumstances an early renewal of the footings in this trestle with concrete should be made. The company, however, appears to be entirely aware of the condition and has placed a 15 mile-per-hour slow order over the trestle.

xxxxx The trestles, in that territory affected by the proposed line- change are being maintained with a minimum of expense based on an expected useful life of two years. Certain repair work is of course imperative even for this purpose but no extensive renewals are probably justified in view of the probable short useful life of these structures. The two most important trestles in this section of the territory are Trestles 31-A and 31-B. A large portion of the decks on these structures should be renewed and various new timbers in the supporting structure should be renewed. It should be noted that bridge gangs have recently been working on these two structures and have renewed a considerable number of sills and caps. It is our opinion that speeds in excess of 20 miles an hour should not be permitted in this section on which full maintenance is not to be undertaken.

xxxxx The footings of most of the bents in the trestles between Merced Falls and El Portal are of concrete and for this reason the trestles can be maintained in a safe condition much more economically than can the trestles in the Valley section.

xxxxx The trestles in the section between the end of the proposed line change and El Portal are, in general, in better shape than the structures in other portions of the line. Several of these have been completely renewed within the last few years and others have undergone relatively heavy repairs. Some of them need considerable repairs in the near future but this work is not out of proportion to what would be expected on a railroad having untreated timber structures about 15 years old.

Conclusions
xxxxx The general program of structure maintenance started by this road about the first of 1922 consists of having a bridge gang of 12 men jump from point to point on the road and make such emergency repairs that are most urgent. In this manner it has been possible for the road to prevent its structures from becoming actually unsafe and so far they have been almost able to keep up with the rapid deterioration of structures which have nearly reached the end of their normal life. We are convinced, however, that the time has now arrived, both from the point of view of ultimate safety of the road and economy of maintenance, to justify an additional bridge gang of approximately the same size as the existing gang. This will permit a more complete job at each structure as it is reached instead of performing only the work immediately necessary.

xxxxx Because of the necessity of making quick moves from point to point a great deal of the same territory must again soon be worked over by the bridge gang for the reason that the most important work heretofore on some of these bridges has been in a sub-structure and it was possible for the deck renewals to be deferred for a short time. It would have been economical, however, to have redecked in conjunction with other renewals and the time will soon be reached when redecking cannot be longer deferred on many of the structures. It might be noted that the foreman of the bridge is also the wrecking-foreman and his duty in this capacity must necessarily at times interfere with the progress of the bridge work. It must be admitted that very satisfactory progress has been made during the past nine months when consideration is given to the fact that the work accomplished has been done by so small a force.

xxxxx In addition to the formation of an additional bridge gang for ordinary work separate consideration should be given to the matter of renewing or redriving trestle approaches to the first crossing of the Merced River bridge. A separate pile driver gang and bridge gang should be employed on this work, or the work should be contracted. This situation is one that will not admit of much further delay and if attempted by the regular forces of the company, the work may drag along a longer period than is really safe.

xxxxx Another move which will assist and speed up the work to a considerable amount is the filling of the structures that can be displaced, the principal structures in this class being the east 250 feet of Trestle 16-B and the entire structure 59-A. There are in addition several single bents that can be displaced in various locations by filling. A steam shovel crew should be started at an early date.

xxxxx The guard rails generally speaking are in very bad condition with the result that from the top the trestles appear to be in a worse condition than they really are. The guard rails should be, and probably will be, rapidly replaced as the trestles are redecked.

xxxxx Both the General Manager and the Chief Engineer of the Yosemite Valley Railroad appear to be fully aware of conditions of their trestles and the amount that they have accomplished in the past nine months is good evidence that they have no intention of letting this work go to a point where train movement is in danger. We were impressed by the fact that at most of the weaker points pointed out to the Chief Engineer, we were advised that these same items were already on his program of work for this Fall.

xxxxx Any minor defects of a really urgent nature that were pointed out by us were corrected on the same day, or the following day.

A. G. Mott,
Ward Hall,
Assistant Engineers.