The unfavourable weather conditions which have plagued the majority of 2019 has led to the most extensive damage seen by the Sertoma Club miniature train in recent memory.
That was the opinion of Sertoma Club member Wes Matson who recently spoke with KVOE to update the state of the popular local attraction. According to Matson the recent rainfall and numerous rounds of flooding locally have washed away portions of the ballast and rock which help support the track.
He says there are several hundreds of feet where the track is “up in the air right now.” On top of this Matson says there are numerous areas where the ballast has become “spongey” and you can feel yourself sinking when you walk on it.
Because of the range of damages, Matson says the repair process will be a costly effort. The issue with that, however, is at this time the club is uncertain exactly how costly it will be.
Matson says this is partially due to the full scope of repair work is still unknown.
Thankfully, Matson says several donations have been coming in the past several weeks to aid in the repair efforts. Work on the track got underway Monday, and the club is hopeful repairs could be finished within the next few weeks although an exact time is currently unknown.
Once the repair work is done a state inspection will be required before the train may be used again. Once all of the work is done Matson expects the train will be seeing plenty of use.
If you would like to donate to track repairs you can do so by calling the Emporia Community Foundation at 342-9304 or by mailing the office at 527 Commercial. If you’re sending checks, make sure to put “miniature train” in the memo line.
