The Wasatch Mountain Railway runs along the edge of a steep hill and a lot of water runs off it and onto the track during heavy rains, sometimes resulting in washouts. The photo on the right shows the aftermath of hurricane Jeanne in 2005 and the tilt in the track is from washed-out ballast, not a tilted camera.
Frost heaves occur on a section of track where runoff from melting snow and rain tend to keep it wet (photo on left). Re-ballasting and re-alignment are required every spring, at least.
The track that is screwed to cypress boards never has these problems.
- Critter Count2007
- Two adult raccoons and one skunk trapped and sent to critter paradise (the wildlife refuge)
- Two baby raccoons netted and taken to the animal rescue organization - one escaped (see photo below)
- One cat trapped; sentence commuted although it did serve a little time- Critter Count2009
- Two raccoons trapped and sent to critter paradise (the wildlife refuge)
- One cat trapped; quickly released- Critter Count2012
- One raccoon trapped and sent to critter paradise (the wildlife refuge)- Critter Count2013
- Two raccoons trapped (one looked pregnant) and sent to critter paradise (the wildlife refuge)
- GroundhogsIf you live in the west or in dense cities you have probably never seen one of these big rodents, but lots of them live in my neighborhood. They can grow to be more than a couple of feet long and 20 pounds. They dig burrows in the spring for having their youngthe hole and a large pile of dirt appear over night. These guys wanted a door right in the middle of my main line but I was just as determined to maintain my track there. I put big rocks in the hole and they just moved the hole to the side; again on my mainline. My neighbor threw M80s into the hole to try to scare them away, I bought some gas bombs that are suppose to suffocate them and I poured fox urine around the hole to frighten them. Nothing worked until I simply trapped them all (six the first summer) and relocated them to an animal refuge. I also buried a large piece of wire cloth under the track after I filled the hole to discourage any squatters that might discover another opening to the burrow (the groundhog photo is from Wikipedia).
- RaccoonsThese beasts try to catch goldfish in the pond but are marginally successful at it. The problem is they make a mess of the pond and tear up the water plants. The first year that I had raccoon raids I built a removable security barrier I could place over the top of the pond. I left it off one night and they destroyed most of the plants and caught one or two fish. The trap was the solution and I trapped six the first summer. The next summer I had no raccoon problems and in 2006 I caught five after having a raid in the spring. See above for trappings after that.
- Wading BirdsThese critters live on fish and are very successful at catching them. It is amazing to me that they can spot the fish in our little pond under the trees, but they do. When they come they clean out most of the large fish and terrify the survivors so badly we may not see them for a couple of weeks. We have had snowy egrets and blue herons (shown in the photo taken out my back window). I don't have a solution for this problem; I just accept reality and stock the pond with cheap disposable "feeders."
- FrogsThe track over the pond is a perfect place to perch and wait for prey. When he leaps he lands in the pond.
- SquirrelsThey use the track as their personal super highway.
- Deer (tracks barely visible at bottom-left)They eat the ornamental vegetation (they really like azaleas) but haven't stepped on the tracks yet because, presumably, they are along a steep hill.
- Hornets (no photo)They started building a nest inside the water tower but I saw them entering and leaving and dispatched them with insecticide.