Red River & Gulf Railroad

Work Session

October 8, 2022

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

Volunteer Railroaders
1. Jason R.
2. Noah R.
3. Joseph S.
4. Gavin R.
5. Everett L.
6. David H. Sr.
7. Clint L. Jr
8. Wimbley V.
9. Carson S.
10. Nick P.
11. Ben S.
12. Mike M.
13. Tucker B.

Accomplishments
1. Joint bars re-drilled and refitted on main loop going up hill from Long Leaf Road for smoother rail joint meets
2. Assisted museum staff with cleaning up and hauling off a cut down sweet gum tree
3. Cut up and cleared tree top that fell on the car knocker shed lead track
4. New air horn, compressor, and air reservoir installed on M4
5. Main Loop track cleared of overhanging limbs and brush
6. Dredge bucket moved with forklift to near green chain behind sawmill
7. Cleaned up metal debris and brush in area near Insley crane
8. Recovered useable joint bars from old broken rail recovered during clean up near Insley
9. Engine House, Machine Shop, Car Knocker Shed, and locomotive #400 organized and cleaned up for festival
10. Nuisance trees removed from back of Car Knocker Shed
11. Various small trees removed near locomotive #400, Clyde Skidder, and near main line track at Engine House
12. Sprayer car electrical line reset on side of car with new metal brackets and line repaired
13. Museum “limousine” golf cart thoroughly cleaned
14. Recovered spikes ground, cleaned, and resurfaced for reuse
15. Joint bars re-drilled and refitted on main loop going downhill from Engine House road crossing toward the Planer Mill
16. Rail joints of 60 pound-90 pound meet ups ground down for a smoother rail head meet

Friday

Everett, David, Jason and Noah started working on Friday with many projects. Everett repaired the thermostat in Bunkhouse Room #3. The thermostat eventually had to be replaced and the volunteers furnished a new one. David and Jason finished cutting up the sweet gum tree that Larry had taken down to create more light in the Planer Mill parking lot.

David, Jason and Everett, assisted by Noah, replaced 8 sets of splice bars with joint bars on the 90 pound rail going up the hill from the crossing, and replaced three sets of splice bars on the 60 pound inside rail, resulting in a much smoother ride up the hill.

Saturday

The volunteers met up at the lodge kitchen for Saturday’s objectives and then split into various teams. Mike continued his work on getting more electrical lines and lighting at the take down shed ready for the upcoming fall festival. This will give more lighting for this area at night as this will be the main parking area for the festival.

Jason used the museum chainsaw to cut up and clear out a large tree top that had fallen on the Car Knocker Shed lead track. Jason and Everett then made a track inspection on the main loop curve from the Engine House road crossing down to the Planer Mill switch notating future joint bar maintenance.

David went with the museum tractor and Gerald’s bush hog to mow around the main loop track from the dry kilns down the hill grade to the road crossing. With the dry weather lately, he was able to clear brush back enough that you could drive a truck on the inside of the main loop from Long Leaf Road crossing all the way up to the dry kilns. Unfortunately, a hanger bar for the hydraulic lifting arms on the back of the tractor (attached to the bush hog) fractured during mowing, so he had to chain up the arms and return the bush hog to the finished lumber shed. He dismounted the bush hog and returned to clear back more brush and sapling trees along the loop track. He plans on welding the hanger bar back together soon.

Joe used the museum forklift to move the dredge bucket pulled out of the brush near the Engine House to a new home near the green chain behind the sawmill. The dredge bucket was used on the Insley, likely to dredge the log pond. Soon the Insley will be moving to this new spot near the green chain. This will give a good space to repair the Insley boom, give concrete ground for easy work space, and away from vines and brush growing all over the crane.

Clint, Wimbley, Ben, Nick, Carson, and Tucker loaded up the M4 with brush and limb cutting tools and set out around the main loop. They cleared overhanging limbs and brush that were hitting the M4 as it went around the loop. Everything was cut back so passengers will have a good experience at the upcoming fall festival. Going up hill from Long Leaf Road crossing was significantly smoother thanks to David, Jason, and Everett’s Friday work on the joint bars.

With the inspection and brush cutting complete, Jason and Joe took the M4 down to the commissary to give train rides for groups of museum guests. The ride went well, was smooth, and free of any brush hitting the M4.

After lunch, Jason, Everett, and Mike met up to review the plans for installing a new air horn, compressor, and air reservoir on the M4. With the plans set up, they gave another group of museum guests a train ride and then headed up to the Engine House with M4. Once at the Engine House, they started the air horn system installation with help from Clint, Wimbley, Carson, Ben, and Nick. This included a test run of the air horn and its sound was more than up to the task.

Joe used the museum tractor to continue clean up efforts near the Engine House and the Insley. Various metal parts were moved out of the way, brush and debris were cleared out, the ground was scraped and smoothed, and usable track parts such as joint bars, rail supports, and switch plates were recovered. With some pieces of rail pulled out with good joint bars on them, David brought around the torch cart to cut off the old bolts so the joint bars could be used again. He used the opportunity to show Gavin and Tucker the basics of torch use. David also repaired the torch cart box that held the striker and torch handle. He even repaired some of the broken electrical cord on the herbicide sprayer car.

In the late afternoon, Joe joined Jason, Everett, and David working on the air horn system installation. Tucker, Wimbley, Clint, Nick, Ben, Carson, and Gavin then made a sweep through the Engine House and Machine Shop cleaning up and organizing the buildings for tours at the upcoming fall festival. The crew also gave locomotive 400 a thorough cleaning, removing debris and leaves from the locomotive. Significant debris and leaves were removed from the top of the tender. Much material was removed to prevent moisture buildup on the locomotive.

Sunday

On Sunday, Jason, Joe, Everett, and Mike continued the air horn system installation. Mike reviewed the schematics and setup with them. Everett made multiple runs into Alexandria to pick up more parts and supplies to get the job done. They got the horn setup on the motorman’s exterior side, ran the air line down to the compressor and air reservoir, installed the wiring for the compressor, and added a gauge and switch on the control panel for the compressor. Jason put together a short video from the weekend of the M4 in service and with the new air horn. The horn sounds great and this is a great improvement!

Gavin and Tucker, using the museum chainsaw, went over to the car knocker shed and cut down some of the nuisance trees that were growing out of the back of the building, one even amongst the track itself. After cutting the trees, they began organizing and cleaning up the car knocker shed so many festival goers can see the great work put into locomotive 106 and the fully intact wooden log car. Once done at the car knocker shed, they moved with the chainsaw over to the area between locomotive 400, the Clyde skidder, and the main line track near the Engine House. They cut down several more small trees near the track and cut them into several sections. There are plans for a controlled burn in this area this winter, so with the small trees cut down into pieces, the controlled burn will go much further in cleaning up the area of brush, debris, and nuisance trees too close to historic equipment such as locomotive 400 and the Clyde.

After a well deserved lunch for Everett, Jason, and Joe, Everett reset the electrical cord on the side of the sprayer car with new metal hanger brackets and brought the gator clamps even in length. The electrical cord looks good again on our trusty sprayer car.

Monday

Everett cleaned the Museum's "Limousine” golf cart and had it looking fantastic. He also cleaned, ground, and refaced over 100 spikes, as our good spike supply is running short. We still have more than 200 left to clean and prep that we’ve recovered from various track maintenance efforts.

Tuesday

On Tuesday, Everett replaced 4 more sets of splice bars with joint bars, two going up hill from Long Leaf Road and two coming down toward the Planer Mill. He spent several hours working on the 90 pound-60 pound joint on the hill trying to raise the 60 pound rail without success as it is at least a two man job. The remainder of the work coming down hill toward the Planer Mill is also a two man job. After completing what he could do on the joint bars, Everett ground on the rail joints where two different sizes meet to smooth out the ride and cut the risks of derailment at those joints. He started first on the down hill to the Planer Mill area.

Tuesday afternoon, David welded the adjuster link for the tractor and reinstalled it.

Wednesday

Everett worked more on the big hill grinding rail joint meets smooth and then more again around the loop. He has continually identified the rail joint meets needing attention and grind them down to a smoother meet

Thursday

Mike Miller, Everett, and David teamed up to finish up work on the main loop track going up the hill. They lifted the outside on one section and re-spiked it to fix the super-elevation issue. This re-aligned the rail at the 90-60 pound joint. Thursday afternoon, Everett walked the loop and did a final inspection. He made caution and proceed boards where super-elevation work will be needed over the winter.

-Tucker "Who Dat" Baker
RR&G Road Master