Eagle Service Project


Below is a “guest post” by my son. His last step to earn his Eagle Scout rank is doing his Eagle Scout Service Project.

For my eagle project I am making track for a park in Saratoga Springs called Shay Park. Utah Live Steamers, a train group in Utah, currently have a small train track loop. I am planning to make enough track to more than double that loop. The head of Utah Live Steamers, Mike Hansen, is the only one at the moment making the track. It takes him 1 hour to build 1 twenty-foot piece of track, and we need to build around 600 more feet. That means if Mike had to do it by himself, it would take him around 40 hours to build it all. So I have decided, as my eagle project, I will be building 600 feet of track for Shay Park. I am also looking for donations of screws and wood, or even money to buy the materials needed. Any donations will be helpful.

A little more info: Rides are currently given to the public one Saturday a month and around 400 rides are given on those days. On opening day there were around 2,000! The city of Saratoga Springs has built a beautiful park but it is up the the club to build, install and maintain the track for the train rides. By adding the second loop the rides will be longer and more interesting, going to the other side of the park and under a bridge. By organizing and leading volunteers to complete this project, it will help the club and more importantly the community, by having a place they can have fun visiting as a family. Many parents (and grandparents) have had a great time riding the train with their kids at Shay Park and he will help make the experience even better!  Shay Park is located in Saratoga Springs at 358 Aspen Hills Blvd. From Redwood Road, head west on Aspen Hill Blvd, which is just north of the Saratoga Springs Walmart. Continue on this road until you reach the park!

If you wish to donate materials or money for materials contact me at jim@wanlass.com – you can also PayPal donations to that email address with a note for it to be used for Shay Park. If you want a tax donation receipt let me know and the club will send it to you. He is anticipating needing about $300 to buy the rest of the materials that the club does not already have. He will also be organizing build sessions probably the 4th and 5th Fridays & Saturdays of September (22, 23, 29 & 30) so if you want to be involved with that let me know and I will have him contact you.

This picture was taken on the first day of public rides where an estimated 2,000 people rode! The red line is the current track and the green is the new additional loop to be completed.

 

Kids, young and old, enjoy riding the train!

 

Around 400 feet of track is already built for the second loop. Another 600+ feet is proposed to be built to complete the second loop. This picture shows the 20′ track panels that are ready to be moved to the park and installed.

 

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