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Volunteer
Railroaders
1. Mike M.
2. Blake J.
3. David H.
4. David H. Sr
5. Joseph S.
6. Glen A.
7. Wimbley V.
8. Dylan S.
9. Nick P.
10. Andrew A.
11. Angela A.
12. Everett L.
13. Tucker B.
14. Greg M.
Accomplishments
1. Lights, direction arrow, and “LONGLEAF, LA” board added to new
highway sign
2. Planer mill clerestory windows inspected and situated
3. Gas station shack rear exterior repaired and painted
4. Relocated large flywheel near Planer Mill to better location
5. Relocated Ford pickup truck to better location
6. Inspected & checked Insley operation for movement to better location
7. Inspected all trackage and reviewed maintenance plans and
improvements
8. Continued clearing brush and trees away from caboose frames
9. Cut, hauled in, and stacked three loads of of fuel wood for the
Heisler
10. Rounded up ties for switch for third track in engine house
11. Measured switch turnouts near engine house
12. Cleaned & organized engine house tool rooms and general clean up
Before the Weekend
The weekend prior, Glen and Wimbley installed solar powered lights, a
directional arrow, and a “LONGLEAF, LA” board on the new highway sign
for the museum. These are excellent improvements to our great new sign
and we’d like to recognize these efforts.
On Thursday and Friday, Mike Miller and David Hamilton went up in the
Planer Mill clerestory to inspect the window frames and panes. Many
panes are cracked, damaged, or missing, and since the frames can swing
open or closed, they went up to assess both safety concerns and to
situate the situation so nothing would be falling or swinging open
unexpectedly. David also went over the Insley dragline to see if we
could move it to a new spot at the museum.
Saturday
The main goals for Saturday were to knock out a few “one-off” small
goals, prep for future major projects, and to continue clearing brush
and trees from around the caboose frames at Sandersville.
Mike Miller and Blake Johnson were at work with the museum staff
rounding up plywood, ladders, equipment, and materials for two projects.
Earlier in the fall, Hunt Forest Products donated plywood for a new
ceiling in the Terrell WWII Exhibit. Mike and the staff had painted the
plywood in advance so it would not have to be painted once installed in
the ceiling. Blake and Mike were situating all the resources needed for
the ceiling install this winter. Installing a ceiling and putting in
insulation will greatly help reduce utility bills and will really make
the room more comfortable in the summer. Mike is leading this project
during the museum’s winter closure.
Later in the afternoon, they were working with the museum staff painting
the gas station shack, which had some exterior siding recently replaced.
Robin on the museum staff has taken point on this structure, cleaning it
out, getting the repairs ram-rodded, treated for termites, and getting
it in much better shape. This structure is listed as a contributing
structure on our National Register of Historic Places document, so
maintenance of this building is a necessary task. Some exterior siding
that was in poor shape was replaced with similar siding to keep the
historic look and construction of the building.
Another group of volunteers met at the lodge kitchen Saturday morning
and then set out to handle many of the one-off goals. David Hearne
donated fuel for the tractor and the all-terrain forklift by topping off
both pieces of equipment for the day. David, Tucker, Andrew, and Joseph
then reinstalled the all-terrain forklift engine cover for the day. With
Joseph running the forklift, and Andrew and Tucker assisting, a large
flywheel near the planer mill was relocated to the sawmill pad. This
allows easier vegetation management through mowing around the planer
mill. Andrew, David, and Joseph then used the forklift to relocate the
Ford pickup truck pulled out the trees recently down to its new home
behind the sawmill green chain. This places the truck out of the way,
out of the brush, and on hard ground. It's now reunited with its
long-abandoned partner, the Minneapolis-Moline tractor that was also in
the brush for years.
Glen operated the museum tractor as he, Dylan, and Wimbley rounded up
good cross ties that had been placed around the loop. Since we’re going
to install a third track soon for the Engine House, these ties were
rounded up for that project. With that done, the whole group, tractor
crew and forklift crew, met behind the Engine House to pull out some
ties and a large timber from the brush, and other clean up items. All
metal and debris from the Ford pickup truck was rounded up so the area
could be mowed and bus hogged. The ties in the brush were pulled out and
found to be in good order. However, the large timber, about 12 feet in
length and 10 inches thick, was in bad order, eaten up by termites and a
large crack in the middle.
After finishing these one-off tasks, the volunteers regrouped. Glen and
Mike installed a new door Glen had brought in the Naval Stores building.
This building is very near completion and we encourage you to see the
Naval Stores exhibit and the archives room as soon as you can. It is
shaping up to be a great addition to the museum.
Everett and Tucker met with Greg Miller, a retired railroad
maintenance-of-way foreman who still works part time for a railroad
contractor. After a great meeting and conversation reviewing our
timetable, rules, maps, operating speeds, equipment weight, and track
maintenance program, Tucker and Greg headed out with M8 on an inspection
of all trackage. Everett headed up to meet with the rest of the
volunteers. The crew of David and Joseph were inspecting the operation
of the Insley as many of our volunteers, who had never seen the Insley
operate, looked on. After multiple looks and operations, we all
determined that we need a “meeting of the minds” on the Insley to share
knowledge, make a uniform assessment of what the Insley can, and cannot
do, and come up with a game plan on moving it or not moving it before we
install a third track in the engine house. The goal is to move it down
to near the sawmill green chain, where we’ve already moved the dredge
bucket to, so it's on a hard surface for repairs and not in the path of
planned track construction.
Greg and Tucker had a great time inspecting track, discussing track
standards, reviewing maintenance plans, and covering future track
upgrades and repairs. Greg’s expert knowledge will come in handy and
we’re very thankful to have him helping us with our planned track goals.
Tucker is preparing a report based on this track inspection to share
with the Railroad Operations Committee, the museum board of trustees,
and the museum staff. The track was found to be appropriate for the
weight of equipment we have and the speed we operate.
In the afternoon, Everett, David, Joseph, Nick, Wimbley, Dylan, Angela,
and Andrew, later joined by Tucker, continued the brush and tree
clearing work around the caboose frames at Sandersville. This was more
hard work with chainsaws and loppers. The frames are now fully in the
sun and the first phase of this project is almost complete. In order to
reduce the biomass refuse onsite, the crew cut the large log portions of
the cleared trees into small lengths and hauled three truck loads of
logs back to the museum. These logs were stacked near the current fuel
stores for the Heisler. They were stacked so moisture would not build up
and remain long-term in the logs. We plan on spraying the area with
herbicide in the spring to keep the vegetation down. If we’re felling
trees, we might as well kill two birds with one stone and set aside some
future fuel for the Heisler locomotive. David’s truck did a fine job as
a log hauler! For a warm day in December, the crew put in hard work
“bucking up” the cut limbs and brush, in addition to the clearing work
ongoing. The plan is to continue clearing, dispose/move out the
remaining limbs and cut biomass on site, and to round up the small,
loose metal components. The timeline is to move the frames to the museum
in the first quarter of 2023.
Sunday
On Sunday the crew finished off a few more goals before the museum
winter closure as a rain shower hung over the area. Wimbley, Dylan, and
Andrew took M8 and the herbicide car to round up the final good ties
remaining near the track and brought them back to the staging area for
engine house track #3 materials. Joseph continued working with the
Insley to understand the ins and outs of its operation. Glen used the
museum tractor to empty out the garbage cans from the engine house,
Machine Shop, and from the lodge. Angela, Tucker, Glen, and Joseph then
measured the switch turnouts of the switches near the engine house and
the upper Missouri Pacific connection switch. This is part of the lead
up for the third engine house track switch and to ensure sufficient
materials are on hand for when installation begins.
The crew also took time to clean out the engine house tool rooms, do a
little organization around the engine house, and cleaned the motorcars
and the M4. To end the day, the crew looked around the burned motorcar
shed area down the track from the engine house. It's a place we’ve
passed by many times on the track, but not always slowed down and looked
around.
The museum is currently closed for its annual Winter Closure, but will
reopen on January 11th. If you are working on a project with the museum
staff or a project leader, please contact Doug or the project leader
before heading out to the museum. The water has been turned off and the
lines drained to prevent a freeze from bursting any pipes.
Thank you to all of our volunteers that donated their time and talent in
2022. We cannot wait to get going for 2023!
-Tucker "Who Dat" Baker
RR&G Road Master
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