Work Session

February 25, 2023

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

Volunteer Railroaders
1. Jason R.
2. David H. Sr.
3. Mike B.
4. Glen A.
5. Wimbley V.
6. Carson S.
7. Chris S.
8. Nick P.
9. Dwayne S.
10. Angela A.
11. Andrew A.
12. Jacques D.
13. Joseph S.
14. Greg M.
15. Mike M.


Accomplishments
1. Logging road crossing dug out for rail operation restoration
2. Brush cleared from alongside ROW from logging road near Sandersville to within 100 yards of the washout
3. Grading completed for Engine House Track #3
4. Ties laid in for Engine House Track #3
5. Removed, sectioned, and hauled off pine tree near track for switch stand area
6. Recovered switch ties for use as switch stand ties
7. Recovered additional switch frog off Car Knocker shed lead track
8. Cleared ROW toward Sandersville on Highway 497 side to near tank car bodies
9. Recovered guard rails and switch point off bypass line corridor
10. Insert four 7x9 ties and one switch tie at Car Knocker Shed lead switch
11. Cleared ROW on sawmill side of track north of Engine House
 

Thank You!

Chris S. for cooking a fantastic chicken and sausage gumbo on Saturday. The gumbo received great reviews and it fed us for lunch, dinner that night, and lunch again the next day.

David H. for transporting and operating the mini excavator this weekend and for bringing his tractor and box blade. Thank you also to equipment operators Glen, Joseph, Jason, and Andrew.

Greg M. for providing guidance and direction for our switch installation and work at the Engine House.
 

Doug and the museum staff for having plenty of gas and diesel for equipment operation for the weekend.

Friday

Prior to the weekend, Tucker had arranged for a mini excavator rental with a rental house in Alexandria beginning on Friday and returning the equipment on Monday. David began work with the mini excavator during the board meeting. He brought the mini excavator to the logging road near Sandersville Road, just south of a cut of logging railroad equipment on the track. Prior permission had been already asked and agreed upon with the landowners to dig out the dirt of the logging road over the track. This will allow for restoration of rail operation over this spot. The dirt was moved so that a truck can still access the gate and logging road by crossing the tracks.

After the board meeting, in the afternoon, David and Tucker worked with the mini excavator and David’s chainsaw clearing brush, debris, and fallen trees from the track heading towards the washout on the Sandersville line. They worked down the west side of the track, then David maneuvered the mini ex to the east side, and worked back to the logging road crossing. They worked down the track within approximately 100 yards of the washout. The mini ex cleared through the bamboo with ease, but the brush and trees were thicker closer to the washout.

In just one afternoon, about 300 yards of the right-of-way corridor was cleaned up, preserving and maintaining the track and corridor. For the first time, you could clearly see the drainage crossings underneath the track and the condition of the culverts. Drainage knowledge is critical for good track management, especially to avoid washouts. Additionally, clearing immediately adjacent to the right of way helps make the corridor a fire break. There are many good benefits to having a cleared and maintained railroad right-of-way.

Saturday
Saturday was a very busy, long, but very productive day. Mike M. was down at the commissary, assisting the staff. It was a beautiful Louisiana Saturday, and many visitors came down to see the museum, keeping Mike busy all day. Mike B. was hard at work on his Heisler, Angela was giving tours all day, and Chris cooked a phenomenal gumbo for the volunteers and the museum staff for lunch. Jason and Jacques operated multiple train rides on the M4 throughout the day for many happy museum visitors.

After the morning briefing, the main work of the day was finishing the grading for the third track in the Engine House and getting the ties laid in for this project. David operated the mini excavator digging out dirt while Glen ran David’s tractor and box blade to pull the excavated dirt out and away from the Engine House. Andrew operated the museum tractor hauling away wood debris to the burn pile. Joseph ran the museum forklift and a crew of Tucker, Jason, Jacques, Wimbley, Nick, Carson, Colton, and Dwayne loaded up good ties on the forklift and separated out the bad ties from the pile. Joseph would also move out the very bad ties, many of which had fully split and fallen apart, over to a separate “bad tie pile” near the burn pile. Greg kept a watchful eye, helping the crew with the work, including tie tong handling, excavation direction, measurement, and engineering decision making.

Before lunch, David and Joseph felled a pine tree that was in the exact spot where the switch stand for this new track would need to be. With Joseph operating the mini excavator, the tree was safely felled and no switch stands were harmed in the process. Mike B. offered to split the pine tree remains for Heisler fuel, so David sectioned out the tree with the chainsaw. Andrew operated the tractor to haul the pine tree sections over to the Heisler wood storage area as Jacques, Jason, and Tucker loaded the sections into the tractor bucket. With Joseph and David operating the mini excavator, they even pulled out the pine tree stump and refilled the hole with dirt.

After a hearty lunch of delicious gumbo, the crew returned to finish the grading. Joseph ran the mini excavator, Glen continued running David’s tractor, and Jason operated the forklift to bring in more ties. With the grading mostly complete after another hour, multiple measurements were taken and the tie lay-in commenced. A crew of Carson, Jason, Nick, Tucker, Greg, Glen, Dwayne, Wimbley, and Jacques dug out the final spots for ties and began laying them in.

The other crew of David and Joseph worked with the mini excavator and the museum chainsaw clearing major brush, debris, and small trees away from the mainline track north of the Engine House. David and Joseph were able to clear on the east side of the right of way all the way to near the tank car bodies approximately 300 yards north of the Engine House. They also, during the brush clearing process, recovered a 60 lb switch frog found by Dwayne and Andrew several months earlier. They also pulled out two switch ties near the Car Knocker shed lead track switch that were placed where a regular 7x9 tie could easily do the job. The switch ties will be used as switch stand ties, and one is needed for the third Engine House track switch.

With the mini excavator back at the Engine House, the final 6 inches on either side of the excavated grade was removed, making the tie lay-in work much easier. In the last hour, the re-joined crew laid ties to within 20 feet of the concrete in the Engine House. Sunday would see the job finished. Saturday was a long, surprisingly-hot February day, but Phase I of the Master Track Relocation & Construction Plan is moving right along.

Sunday
Yes, everyone was quite sore Sunday morning, but eager to finish the goal for the weekend. Jason operated the museum tractor to bring in the last ties needed to bring the third Engine House track to the concrete. Glen, Angela, Dwayne, Andrew, Jacques, and Wimbley shoveled out the last dirt spots and laid in the final ties. Final adjustment laterally will be done on the ties when the rail comes in, but with the spacing set, the crew brought in some ballast to place in to keep the ties from shifting, should there come a good rain. A celebratory photo was taken to mark the last ties laid in.

David ran the mini excavator while Tucker used the chainsaw to clear a few more trees from around the car knocked shed lead track switch. An old tie pile was right next to the track, and with several good ties in the stack, they were placed into the track, pushing out old rotten ties and in the place of the switch ties taken out. The mini excavator made quick tie work and brush clearing work. Somehow, there was a decent switch tie in the pile, and this tie was used to replace an old switch tie that had completely rotted out right past the switch frog.

With the tie work complete, David and Andrew worked with the mini excavator and tractor to recover a 60 lb switch point, a 60 lb switch guard rail, and a 45 lb switch guard rail from near the camping area on the bypass line. Glen and Wimbley went to the museum sign on Highway 497 to install bracing to prevent warping on the sign. The rest of the volunteers cleaned up the work areas, cleared the flangeways on track #2, picked up the tools, cleaned off the motorcars, and emptied out the garbage cans to the dumpster with the tractor. Jacques and Wimbley even made a quick trip with M8 to inspect the track north of the Engine House and the washout. They also gave locomotive 400 an oiling.

With the main work done at 1100, the volunteers began to wash up. The mini excavator was thoroughly cleaned off, and with plenty of leftover gumbo, another fine lunch was enjoyed by several volunteers. It was a safe and successful weekend, and we thank everyone who contributed to its success.

Monday
David used the museum trailer to return the mini excavator back to the rental house in Alexandria, which saved money by avoiding a pickup fee. Thank you David!

 

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

Friday

The day before the Work Session, David and Tucker cleared the main line north of the washout at Hearne's Gulch.

The MOW train/Weed sprayer hasn't had access to this section for a few years now and it needed some attention.

A LOT of bamboo was cleared off the track.

This is a dramatic improvement!

Saturday

WHAT A TREAT! Chris made us gumbo for lunch.

Prior to getting to work, Jacques sampled some sausage to make sure it was fit for consumption.

Sizzling sausage!

Moving FC&G M4 out of the RR&G Engine House so we had room to work and so we could haul passengers later in the day.

Dave gets busy tearing out the last of the dirt filling the road bed.

Glen smoothes out the road bed.

Carson and Wimbley muscle ties into place.

Greg and Joe move a few ties to the staging area

Lennon (the Commissary cat) photo-bombs Noah & Karleigh.

One of the best aspects of working on the RR&G is making new friends and deepening old friendship.

Loading ties on the pad

Finishing up the road bed

Jason delivers ties with the all-terrain forklift

Tucker and Dave prepare to drop a pine so we can place the new switch

Down she goes...

New ties for Track #3 staged on Track #2

"Doctors" Dave & Joe (the Heavy Machinery Surgeons) put that tree down right between another pine and a switch stand.

Despite the appearance here, the switch stand was untouched.

That's real profesionalism!

Cutting up the tree which will be used for Heisler fuel some day.

Chris serves lunch!

This was a darn-fine gumbo!

Northbound UP on the Lake Charles Sub as seen from the lumber shed during lunch.

Glen finishes up the grading

Joe digs out some final rough spots.

Work continues on the Heisler

Heisler owner, Mike Brown

Marking the centerline for Track #3

Jacques & Wimbley muscle ties into place

A rare photo of Jason taking photos. He takes most of the photos in these reports, so you hardly ever see him.

Wimbley, Jacques, Tucker and Everett usually contribute their photos as well.

Removing an un-needed switch tie from the Main Line for use on Track #3

Loading a recovered switch frog from the brush near the Car Shop lead track for transport back to Track #3

The "RR&G Employee Parking Lot"

Main Line, looking north

Noah and Joseph hold down a pile of dirt that will soon be used for ballast on Track #3

The Crew after a hard day's work

After cleaning up for the day, Wimbley (with Jason as pilot/conductor) took the M4 around the loop and back to the 'House.

This was his first time and you can see the concentration in his face.

Backing into the 'House with a nice view of Track #3

Won't be long before Wimbley officially joins the ranks of other RR&G Motormen

Jacques recorded a very pretty sunset over Long Leaf

Sunday

A foggy morning over the Red River & Gulf Railroad

Jason delivers more ties to the Engine House

Nearly done!

Jacques and Wimbley move the last of the ties into place

The FINAL tie goes in!

That's it!!

DONE!!

Another crew photo

Replacing the switch tie that was removed near the Car Shop lead.

New tie

Jacques, Jason and Noah went out the washout on the Main Line for a quick look.

It has stabilized now, but it'll be a massive project to repair this.

Heading back to the Engine House on C&P M8

Recently we've started teaching the younger crew members how to operate the machinery.

Noah took his first try on the tractor and did a great job.

After putting the tractor away, Noah helped David clean the mini-ex before returning it to the rental company

Thus concluded another fantastic and productive weekend on the Red River & Gulf Railroad.

The weekend after the Work Session, Everett stopped in on his way to another destination to survey and mark the location of the inside rail.