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Volunteer Railroaders
1. Jacques D.
2. Makayla S.
3. Wimbley V.
4. Carson S.
5. Glen A.
6. David H. Sr.
7. Mike M.
8. Tucker B.
9. Mike B.
Accomplishments
1. Safe railroad operations for the public
2. Cleaned M2, M8, and M22
3. Sprayed herbicide over all trackage
Saturday
Saturday was a railroad operations and “show and tell” day. The
volunteers met in the morning, reviewed the plan, and then spent the day
sharing the museum with visitors as part of the Color Run & Community in
the Pines event. First was switching the equipment around to free up the
handcar and to put the gallery car behind M8 (in case anything went awry
with M4). The weather wasn’t great, with it looking like it was going to
rain all day. Thankfully, it only rained for 15 minutes and the wind
picked up some. The windows on the M4 were well used!
The crew did a fine job and all should hear a “job well done!” Our
railroad operations were safe and nothing out of the ordinary to report.
Glen flagged the Long Leaf Road crossing for the trains, David manned
the handcar, Engine House, and Machine Shop, and Jacques, Wimbley,
Carson, and Tucker operated the M4. Makayla made sure we were all well
behaved. The M4 performed excellently and received great reviews from
riders. Many visitors who had ridden M4 before remarked that the windows
were a major upgrade. David, Glen, and Tucker had tools on hand for any
ready response for M4, but thankfully, none were needed, and the
operations were smooth. (Cue the “smooth” hand motion from the last
Steam Up and Fall Festival!)
Mike M. was working with museum staff Robin on a few punch list items of
work at the lodge. Mike B. was at the museum most of the week working on
the Heisler, so we got to catch up with him before he left on Saturday.
The work on the Heisler is moving along well and it’s really fascinating
watching its progress.
As the event wrapped up, the volunteers took to other tasks and
activities. M2 was connected to the sprayer car, loaded up with a batch
of herbicide, and Wimbley sprayed out to Sandersville, up to the
washout. Jacques and David fired up M22 and the volunteers practiced and
trained operating it on Engine House lead #2. With the spraying
complete, the crew took to cleaning M2, M8, and the M22 by the hose. M2
and M8 moved very well over the spot we repaired the week before on
track #1 and M22 moved with no issues over the newly constructed switch
and over to the hose.
Saturday wrapped up without incident, and that’s always good to hear
when conducting railroad operations.
Sunday
Sunday was much fairer weather with clear skies, plenty of sunshine, and
low wind. Tucker used the museum tractor to empty the garbage cans at
the Engine House and from the lodge porch. Jacques and Tucker took
advantage of the good weather and sprayed all the trackage they could
get to. The Main Loop, the wye, the storage track, the Engine House
leads, and the Car Knocker Shed lead were all sprayed. We even went
beyond Switch #4 / MOP Jct to the end of track, spraying up and down
over vegetation. Several sections of track with dense vegetation
received two passes of herbicide.
We’d like to recognize the prior efforts of Dwayne and other volunteers
upgrading the sprayer car electrical line to a standard trailer plug. It
was quick and easy to connect the line, and it made the electrical
connection to the sprayer tank much more reliable. Good work!
With the spraying complete by midday, the weekend concluded as it
started: safely and without incident. Thank you to everyone who came
out. On May 6, the volunteers return to finish joining, gauging, and
spiking Track #3 in the Engine House.
-Tucker "Who Dat" Baker
RR&G Road Master
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