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Volunteers
Everett
Angela
Andrew
Glen
Wimbley
Mike M.
Chance
Scott
Tucker
Accomplishments
M4 dashboard wiring traced and installed
Tie replacement on Main Loop
Run herbicide train
Evaluation of operational repairs to wheeled and tracked logging
equipment
Thank you to all our volunteers for coming out this weekend! Your
efforts are most appreciated, and many months of hard work is going to
be enjoyed by many museum visitors at our upcoming fall events.
Before the Weekend
Mike M. has been hard at work over the past few weeks working with the
museum staff preparing for upcoming fall events at the museum. New LED
lighting has been installed at the Planer Mill, work continues on the
new Archives building, and additional lighting has been installed in the
Finished Lumber Shed.
At the last volunteer weekend, Glen took the old dashboard out of the M4
to make a new one. The old dashboard and wiring had been added to,
changed, added some more, and changed again many times over the years.
Glen has made a new, very professional dashboard for the M4. The
controls and gauges will be labeled, and it will be a fine upgrade to
the M4.
Saturday
Saturday morning began with the group reviewing the donation of several
boxes of archive material and photos donated to the museum. The museum
archives continue to grow, and we are excited for more material to be
catalogued, digitized, and made available for researchers and
historians.
After reviewing the many photos of the mill, woods operations, and
locomotives, the volunteers split into two groups. Group #1 of Glen,
Wimbley, and Mike M. worked on the M4. The electrical wiring was traced
and tested for proper operation before the new dashboard is installed.
This is tedious and technical work, but we thank and applaud all those
doing this work. The plan is to ensure the wiring is in working order
and to install a master disconnect to the battery. This will prevent an
unneeded draw on the battery when the M4 is not in use and represents a
good upgrade to the M4.
Group #2 of Everett, Angela, Andrew, and Tucker set to work replacing
ties on the Main Loop. Rain inundated Longleaf for days leading up to
the weekend and with more rain forecasted, the rental of a mini
excavator was not carried out. However, the weather was indeed decent,
and work progressed replacing rotten ties. With a flatcar loaded with
tools and Everett operating the tractor, the crew headed out to replace
ties on the Main Loop near where the M4 had derailed in May. Everett
brought in ties to the work site while Angela, Andrew, and Tucker
cleared away pine straw, removed spikes, and began shoveling dirt out to
pull out the rotten ties. After much digging and pulling, the rotten
ties were removed, and fresh ones put in their place. I must tip my hat
to Andrew and Angela, they remembered the spiking lessons from earlier
this summer and their spike-driving skills have improved mightily. The
fresh ties were spiked down and many of the ties in this area also
received new spikes on the outside curves. The rail dynamics in this
particular area had pushed out several spikes, but this was corrected
today. Riding over this section is significantly improved.
At midday, the crews broke for lunch, courtesy of the museum. Thank you
to the museum staff for the lunch! The tractor, unfortunately, broke for
lunch too. The hydraulic lines sprung a leak. Everett spent the
remainder of the afternoon fetching the needed parts in Alexandria and
repaired the tractor back to service by the close of the day. After
lunch, work progressed on the M4 wiring work and continued efforts
replacing ties in the track. Wimbley came to assist with the tie
replacement effort and with luck, the next tie replaced was a piece of
cake! Excellent timing Wimbley! After the main work for the day was
done, plans were discussed and formulated for future efforts.
Sunday
Chance and Scott, museum visitors of a few weeks ago, came out Sunday
morning to inspect and evaluate the wheeled and tracked logging
equipment in the finished lumber shed. Chance is well versed in diesel
mechanics of these machines and his report and efforts are invaluable in
potentially getting these pieces of equipment operating again. The first
plan is restoring one of the Allis-Chalmers HD-15 to operation and
potentially one of the CAT D7 bulldozers. Thank you to Chance and Scott
for these efforts!
Glen, Mike, and Wimbley continued work on the M4 wiring and dashboard
installation. Everett, Angela, and Andrew set out to install joint bars
on the Main Loop track to ensure curves were smooth to operate over. A
herbicide spray was finally conducted over the Sandersville line, with
much blow-down tree tops covering the track. Fortunately, these limbs
were cleared by hand and spraying was done all the way to the washout.
The Main Loop and the wye east leg also received a herbicide spray as
well. While the final spraying was ongoing, Everett, Angela, and Andrew
removed a rotten tie on the main line track near the engine house at
Switch #7 (Switchback Jct). Replacing this rotten two with two fresh
ones completed the track maintenance efforts for the weekend.
The M4 is receiving repairs and much needed upgrades. The Main Loop
track is getting into much better shape. M4 rides will be coming soon,
fall events are around the corner, and the weather will be cooling off
soon. Thank you to our volunteers this weekend, and please consider
joining us in the near future.
-Tucker Baker
RR&G Road Master
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