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Volunteers
1. Everett L.
2. Mike M.
3. Mike B.
4. Dewayne S.
5. Angela A.
6. Andrew A.
7. Anthony
8. David H. Sr
9. David Ham.
10. Joseph S.
11. Gavin R.
12. Brent
13. Tucker B.
Accomplishments
1. M4 drive shaft flange
plates repaired with new bolts and lock washers
2. Disassembled big Hyster forklift wheels and brake drum for brake
repair/upgrade
3. Repaired hydraulic line & reconnected hydraulic hose on big Hyster
forklift
4. Relocated fuel pump to better position on all-terrain forklift
5. Replaced battery on all terrain forklift
6. Secured handcar wheel bearing housing to frame with new bolt
installation
7. Welded stops on handcar drive axle to prevent gear sliding on axle
8. Continued clean out of Carpentry/ Plumbing Shop
9. Salvaged useable wheels, bearings, and axles from old & bent wheel
sets
10. Joint repaired near Mainline Junction
11. Continued clean up and organization on Saw Mill pad
Friday
Before the board meeting,
Everett and Larry started to bring the M4 down to the Commissary for
everyone to see the great interior improvements recently completed. 10
feet out of the Engine House the M4 stopped, engine running, but no
movement. After the meeting, Tucker, Joseph, and Everett went up to
troubleshoot the issue. MB, Dewayne, Joseph, Everett, and Tucker rolled
M4 back over the pit and in just a minute, Joseph found the issue: the
drive shaft flange plates were not connected. Of the 6 bolts in the
plates, all were gone except for the one that sheared off and was found
on the front truck frame. In just a few minutes more, using the old bolt
as a guide, new bolts and lock washers were located in the parts room
and were installed in the flange plates. The M4 was tested and in short
order, she was ready for rails again. The repair was so quick and clean,
no photos were taken, something we realized as we headed off to lunch
with the M4 good to go.
For most of Friday and Saturday, and some on Sunday, Dewayne was welding
on the Heisler smokebox, technical work in tight quarters! Gavin and
Anthony assisted on Saturday fetching tools and other items for Dewayne
as he was “in position” inside the smokebox. The restoration continues
on the Heisler and progress continues, slowly but surely.
After lunch, everyone split up to various tasks. Everett headed over to
Lecompte to see the Red River & Gulf Railroad exhibit at the Lecompte
Museum. Mike Miller and David Hamilton headed up to the Machine Shop to
discuss the Heisler's next steps.
In the finished lumber shed, Joseph and Tucker started repair work on
the big Hyster forklift by identifying issues and drawing up a needed
parts list. The main repairs needed are to the hydraulic line to the
horizontal shifter arm, getting the brakes functional, repairing /
replacing the operator’s seat, and returning the fork rack. With David
Hamilton’s advice and guidance, one wheel set was removed and the brake
drum removed so we could inspect the brakes. The wheels have a set of
removable bolts in between them easily removed once David showed us the
right tool in the Engine House tool room for the job. Removing the
wheels allowed for a close inspection and Joseph is already looking to
get proper brake pads for the forklift. The right pads would fix the
brake rod being at an odd angle, a current issue noticed during
inspection. Looking at the hydraulic line, fortunately, only a pipe
nipple was broken, a part easily replaced. The hard part would be
removing the broken nipple still in the 45-degree hose fitting and in
the fitting on the hydraulic arm. Another fortunate find was that the
hydraulic line in question is an Aero-Quip fitting, and not swadged in,
so we could cut out a portion that was rough, beat up, and potential for
a leak. These hydraulic line issues were tackled Saturday.
Late Friday afternoon, Everett and Tucker identified the steps for the
cleanup and organization on the sawmill pad. By removing rotten lumber
and timbers, and setting up good organization of the materials on the
pad, significantly more hard-surface storage area can be gained. This
will be a project worked on gradually as time allows during upcoming
sessions.
Saturday
With good weather, the
volunteers met and then went into the various work groups. A big goal
for all equipment was to make equipment more reliable for use and in
good repair.
Early Saturday morning, Everett took time to train new volunteer Brent
on operating the M4. Anyone who would like to serve as an M4 motorman
should contact us as we are always looking to train more railroad
operators. Having more operators greatly helps our train-operating
ability at the museum.
David Hearne and Joseph went to work on the forklifts. The battery was
replaced on the all terrain forklift and the fuel pump was relocated as
well. Having the fuel pump level with the fuel tank helps avoid the loss
of prime issues we’ve dealt with in the past. David, Joseph, and Tucker
searched high and low for a master disconnect switch to install on the
all terrain lift (coulda swore we had one), but couldn’t find it. The
plan is to install a master disconnect on the all terrain to avoid the
battery-drain issues of the past.
On the big Hyster forklift, David and Joseph removed the hydraulic
fitting on the line to repair, cut off the beat-up portion, and
reinstalled the connection fitting. Joseph was able to remove the one
part of the broken nipple and once David got his Easy-Out, the other
nipple part was removed from the hydraulic arm. Tucker “gophered” most
of the day, running tools and parts between the various volunteer
groups, lining up lunch for the volunteers, and other administrative
tasks. After lunch, the hydraulic line was reconnected. The big test
will be if any leaks are found on operation.
At the Engine House, Everett, Gavin, and Andrew started salvaging and
gathering good axles, wheels, and bearings from broken / defect motorcar
wheel sets. This involved cut off wheels, the torch kit, pipe wrenches,
crescent wrenches, and plenty of penetrating oil. By the end of
Saturday, they had assembled enough good axles, bearings, and wheels to
replace the wheel sets on the herbicide sprayer car. The upgraded
sprayer car has served us well, but the plain bearings need replacing
soon.
Everett, Gavin, and Andrew also did a close inspection on the handcar to
troubleshoot some of the issues noted during the fall festival, such as
gear slipping. More carriage bolts need to be installed to hold the
bearing housings and axles in place. A trip to the hardware store
Saturday evening procured the bolts, washers, and nylon jam nuts.
Mike Miller and museum staff Robin continued cleaning out the Carpentry
& Plumbing Shop building near the Commissary. After some cleaning, they
found the building has a concrete floor/foundation, making the chance of
restoration much more feasible. They ran a water hose over to wash out
the middle room. Looking inside, the rooms already look transformed for
the better! The goals are to make the middle room useful for storage and
to make one of the end rooms setup as the plumbing - carpentry shop for
visitors to look inside at another piece of Long Leaf history.
A wedding had the top package on Saturday, meaning the wedding party
would arrive at the ceremony by train. Angela spent the better part of
Saturday driving the limo golf cart shuttling folks around for wedding
preparation. Tucker operated the M4 as motorman and Angela served as
conductor for the wedding run. The ceremony was in the field in between
the planer mill and the CCC building, so when the entrance song came up,
along came M4 with the bride, bridesmaids, and the father of the bride.
The view from the motorman’s seat was quite memorable as the groomsmen
escorted the bridesmaids and the father escorted the bride down the
aisle.
During the wedding, work continued back at the Engine House (albeit a
little quieter). To prevent the main axle gear from sliding on the drive
handcar axle, Dewayne welded a stop on either side of the gear. David,
Joseph, Gavin, and Everett continued separating good axle, bearing, and
wheel parts from bad using the bench vice. Several parts were plunged in
a vinegar bath, courtesy of David, to get them cleaned up and ready for
reuse.
Sunday
Sunday was the day to finish
up final tasks and to get some cleanup done. Dewayne finished up some
more work on the Heisler smokebox. Angela and David installed the needed
bolts on the handcar and then cleaned several of the bearings recovered
the day before. Everett continued salvage work on another wheel set. The
museum tractor was also busy Sunday. Tucker used it at the start of the
day to empty out the garbage cans from the Engine House. Tucker, Andrew,
and Anthony then used the museum tractor to begin the clean up on the
sawmill pad. The first goal was hauling off all the rotten lumber to the
burn pile. Over a dozen trips were made to the burn pile, getting the
clean up process started. A load of corrugated tin sheet metal was
recovered and taken to the tin metal stash for use on future projects.
Several timber blocks had been cut at an earlier date and these were
hauled up to the Engine House to the good block pile. A tractor-bucket
full of joint bars, presumably for 90-pound rail, were also gathered up
and brought up the Engine House for sorting and potential use on the
track.
After the Weekend
On Monday, David rebuilt two
of the roller axle bearings salvaged Saturday. One of the races looked a
little rough but once it was packed with grease, it rolled pretty
smooth. The other was in better shape and it rolls easily too. David
grabbed three of them to take home, but the third is missing its race,
so it'll have to be set aside for now. He removed the pipe plugs on all
three to install grease fittings. They had to be drilled out and then
tapped, for the filings were like dust, and must have been made of cast
iron. He’ll pick up some of the others later and rebuild at least two
more, so we can hopefully replace the axles on the sprayer next session.
-Tucker "Who Dat" Baker
RR&G Road Master
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