Red River & Gulf Railroad

Work Session

October 23, 2021

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

Volunteers
1. Jason and Noah R.
2. Glen A.
3. Wimbley V.
4. Carson
5. Chris
6. David H.
7. Mike M.
8. Mike B.
9. Jacques D.
10. Jacob S.
11. Michael H. Jr “Junior”
12. Angela A.
13. Andrew A.

Brief Recap
Thank you to all of our volunteers who donated their time to make our First Annual Long Leaf Steam-Up a success! Thank you to everyone who helped with parking and directions, gave tours to visitors, answered questions for guests, helped at the Steam-Up, operated the M4, helped with the M4 troubles, guided folks around the engine house and machine shop, operated the machine shop for visitors, and helped wherever needed this weekend. We truly appreciate all your hard work and efforts both this weekend and in the distant past that made this weekend successful.

Many members of the public enjoyed rides on Saturday on the recently-returned-to-service M4 over our main loop track that has received many recent repairs. While some mechanical issues presented themselves and stopped rides in the early afternoon, a team of volunteers worked hard to return the M4 to the engine house and work is already underway to troubleshoot, diagnose, and work on correcting the mechanical issues. It’s a 1942 Ford V-8 Flathead motor and yes, it does take work, effort, and care to keep it running! We will keep everyone posted of the repairs and progress toward solving some of the “engine fits.” Thank you to our road crossing flag person, Angela, who made sure no cars got too close to the M4 as we crossed Long Leaf Road. Thank you to Junior, Jacques, Wimbley, Carson, Glen, Jason, Noah, and David who assisted with M4-related tasks throughout the day, including moving fuel, sweeping the car, assisting with engine troubles, and moving the M4 back into the Engine House. In the late afternoon, several volunteers operated C&P MRR M8 for operating practice, and cleared some brush with loppers as they went along the line to Sandersville and around the main loop.

On Sunday, volunteers were working in three groups. One group of Angela and Wimbley gave guided tours around the shop complex and engine 106 as visitors continued on Sunday. A second group of Glen, Chris, Mike, and Mike inspected the main belt break in the Machine Shop, evaluated repairs, and began repairs on the M4 engine. A third group of Jacob, Junior, Jacques, Carson, Wimbley, and Tucker cleaned the parts room in the engine house, an area in longstanding need of cleanup and organization.

-Tucker Baker
RR&G Road Master