Although this news has been a long time in coming, we have not been idle in working toward our goals for the Carson & Colorado Railway, Inc. (CCRW).

A great deal has been done behind the scenes with the result being the acquisition of a 40'x70'x20' metal building, and related structures, equipment, and machinery and recyclable materials from the abandoned Darwin Mill in Darwin, Ca. The building will become our Restoration Building.

The acquisition of the building came about through the combined efforts of Bob Ennis, who works tirelessly on such matters as obtaining funding grants from the Transportation Enhancement Activities (TE), and Dave Mull. CCRW president. Bob and Dave met with Linn Gum,Assistant Field Manager of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM).

The result of this meeting is a written agreement between CCRW and BLM which gives CCRW the authorization to remove and salvage structures and equipment from the Mill site. The agreement stipulates that CCRW will use volunteer labor and equipment to accomplish this removal and salvage operation. CCRW may either retain any/all structures, equipment, machinery and recyclable materials removed from the mill site for its use in the development of the CCRW Museum or use any resources generated through salvage of these materials to pay for labor or other costs associated with completion of the removal and salvage project.

We are very excited about acquisition of this building. It is large enough to serve as the Restoration Building for our Baldwin 4-6-0 locomotive and related flat cars, box cars, and other rolling stock and train artifacts.

This building will allow us to do restoration work despite the weather conditions outside. Once it is in place we will add a secure pit for work under the locomotive, electricity, good lighting, a few machine tools, a hoist, and a strong workbench.

Of course, as with many projects of this scope, some solutions seem to bring additional challanges. The acquisition of the Restoration Building is no exception. The terms of the agreement with BLM require that the building be moved by December 31, 2008, using volunteer labor. That's where you come in! We will need many helping hands to accomplish this enormous task and welcome your participation. Because CCRW is organized under the Nonprofit Public Benefit Corporation Law of California for Charitable Purposes, all expenses incurred in volunteering are tax deductable. So, treat yourself to a trip to the beautiful Owens Valley while at the same time helping us to come one step closer to our dream of restoring and operating an historic steam locomotive.