Red River & Gulf Railroad

Work Session

January 23-24, 2021

To join the fun, contact the railroad at: WorkSession @ RedRiverAndGulf.net (no spaces)

Team:

Everett L.
Jacob S.
Kevin P.
David H.
Mike M.
Doug (SFHM Staff)
Larry (SFHM Staff)
Gerald (SFHM Staff)
Muggins (SFHM Staff)
Jason & Noah Rose (Off Site)
Tucker B.

Accomplishments:

- Broken spike maul handles replaced
- Tow bars shorten and re-fabricated to a shorter length
- Gallery car disassembled, bearings repaired, and rebuilt into a sprayer and tool car
- Dirt retaining wall installed near Planer Mill switch along wye west leg track

That was plenty of good fun folks! Thank you to all our volunteers who came and donated their time, talent, and resources. Special thank you to David Hearne for bringing his welding equipment and using his skills to shorten and fabricate improved tow bars. Thank you to everyone who drove long distances to help as well.

Thursday
Offsite, Jason and Noah were making signs for the repurposed Switchman's Shack with one sign being for the Red River & Gulf Railroad and the other being for an upcoming event. The museum staff moved the Switchman's Shack into the Finished Lumber Shed for protection from the weather and to be near electrical plug-ins for power tools soon-to-be-used for the shack's restoration and repurposing. Everett came in Thursday and had the old gallery car mostly dismantled and ready for its next stage in life.

Friday

Friday afternoon after the morning executive committee meeting, Tucker helped Larry and Doug by scaling up the ladder to help position and secure tin sheet metal and screw in wood support beams at the Planer Mill Power House. Doug and the staff have diagnosed the water drainage problem here and have already begun repair work to keep the building stable and functional for years to come. With a good lunch at Dalton's Grocery, Tucker began repairing the broken track jack, rehandling the broken spike mauls, and preparing for tomorrow's volunteer crew by clearing some work space on one of the engine house work benches.

Saturday

After a morning meeting of team planning and safety points, the Engine House was abuzz with activity. Dave Hearne brought his welding gear and using the museum's cutting torch, he was taking the long motor car tow bars, cutting them shorter, and then fabricating new end pieces and pin holes. Shorter tow bars reduce the lateral stress on the cars trailing motorcars, made them easier to handle, and increased the number of available tow bars on hand. Great job Dave! Gerald came by, fired up M4, and was seen giving rides to many museum visitors throughout the day.

Jacob and Everett continued the disassembly of the gallery car to its core frame while Kevin was busy grinding old spikes to be ready for reuse out on the track. Using the chain hoist and crane, Jacob, Kevin, and Tucker flipped over the disassembled gallery car to allow easy work on the axles. The old friction bearings were shot, so they were replaced with better bearings taken from the dropside flatcar (when that car received roller bearing axles) and given plenty of fresh grease. Once placed back over the pit, the car was rolling smoothly and the bearing bolts were tightened down.

After another good lunch at Dalton's, Muggins, one of Domineaux's kittens, was spotted patrolling the Finished Lumber Shed, hard at work. Dave and Tucker helped Doug and Gerald with continued work at the Planer Mill Powerhouse. With Dave steadying the ladder, Doug supervising, Tucker once again scaled the ladder to drill out and cut out a new drain hole in the gutter. Doug and Gerald fashioned a ground culvert to properly drain water in the area. As Dave finished the tow bars at the engine house, Tucker, Jacob, and Kevin installed the dirt retaining wall at the site of the last volunteer session at the Planer Mill Switch near the Pump House. Old ties were placed into dugout slots on the ground, drilled out, and rebar driven through the ties to hold them all together. Now when ballast material is brought in, it will be retained on the track area. With the remaining Saturday daylight, Everett and Dave planned the next move on the sprayer car while Jacob and Kevin received some hands-on training on the M4 railbus with Tucker.

Switch #8 / Main Line Jct switch had become unlevel, and tough to throw. We leveled it with wood blocking, using a track jack and claw bars, and then the switch threw satisfactorily.

Sunday
The new sprayer car has now been assembled and is ready for work! Using two old ties to make an elevated sprayer deck, the old decking from the gallery car was cut to length and screwed down in a new pattern. Several 2x6 boards were used to build a strong undercarriage and frame to hold the main deck. The electrical cord to the sprayer tank was given a good home being routed on the outside of the car using loop brackets. With some black spray paint by Everett on the wheels, the final car repurposing was complete. Great job team!

-Tucker Baker
RR&G Road Master

Thursday/Friday