Donations keep chugging in for The Little Train in Soden’s Grove.
The total reached $24,970 — $4,970 more than the original goal — as of Monday afternoon.
“That’s fantastic,” said Les Nuessen of Sertoma Club, which operates and maintains the train. “I would never have believed this to start with.”
The community has responded to the fundraising drive enthusiastically. Schoolchildren and the school district’s staff are conducting their own fundraising drives to help keep The Little Train on track. Both of those drives will end soon. Individuals and businesses also have made generous contributions and pledges.
The train needs a new engine and drive motors, which have been estimated to cost $20,000.
Because of the community support and because more work can be done, the project has a new goal — $40,000.
The extra funds will be used to make needed repairs to the platform and depot that are part of the operation, Nuessen said.
The depot’s cedar shingles are falling off and some of the deck platform is becoming rotten.
“For safety purposes and everything else, we’d like to get in and replace that,” he said.
The cost to replace the deck with “Trex,” a plastic wooden-looking product, is estimated at $12,000.
“It’s low maintenance and not as affected by the weather,” Nuessen said. “It should last for many, many years.”
The roof replacement could be as much as $1,250, depending upon cost of labor.
Sertoma members will hold work days at Soden’s Grove to examine and replace ties and level rails.
“It’ll make it easier on the equipment, the train and the cars,” he said.
ks_farmboy (anonymous) says...
Why can't the local community be solicited to see if anyone will volunteer to install a new roof? It would be good advertising and a free service to the community. Maybe as payback, their company name could be put on a sign on the side of the building.
February 28, 2007 at 1:46 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )