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Volunteer Railroaders
1. Don F.
2. Chuck L.
3. Everett L.
4. Tucker B.
5. Mike M.
6. Glen A.
7. Wimbley V.
8. Clint L. Jr
9. David Ham.
10. David H. Sr.
11. Dylan S.
12. Andrew A.
13. Angela A.
14. Kira S.
15. Ayden S.
16. Jacques D.
17. Leo P.
Accomplishments
1. Cleaned and organized track tool room in Engine House
2. Three new operators passed railroad rules test
3. Hands-on training and qualification for all operators on M2, M4, M8,
and M22
4. Track #3 in Engine House final portion ballasted and tamped
5. Debris removed from under Saw Mill and between Saw Mill and Boiler
House
6. Scaffold moved under Saw Mill to next work location
7. Weed eating completed in many locations
8. Herbicide sprayed in many locations
9. Rear end of M4 finished
10. New battery cables and terminal installed on M22 Plymouth locomotive
11. M2 greased and lubricated
12. M8 serviced with oil change, repair of radiator hose, fix of leaking
spark plug, change of differential gear oil, unit greased and lubricated
13. Window unit AC installed in rooms #2 and #4 at lodge
14. Inspection and discussion of sprayer car bearings - bearings greased
and lubricated
15. Overhanging limbs on Main Loop Track trimmed
Despite the heat, it was an
efficient, effective, and enjoyable volunteer weekend. Thank you to
everyone who came out. Anyone who can lend a hand during the week or on
weekends to spray herbicide, weed-eat, mow, and related grounds keeping
is greatly needed. Please contact the museum today if you can help.
The next scheduled session is September 23. After that is the 3rd Annual
Fall Festival and Steam Up on Friday and Saturday, October 20 and 21.
Friday
After the board meeting, Chuck, Don, Tucker, and Everett met and
reviewed the next steps of Saw Mill restoration. They reviewed the
debris to be removed, the scaffold to relocate for the next phase of
work, the drainage issues, and the plan of attack. Chuck and Don have
led a group of volunteers doing great repair work at the Saw Mill.
Joseph Swan and David Hamilton have been a big help on this project as
well.
With the meeting complete, Tucker headed up to the Engine House to drop
off donated chain binders, lashing eyes, and ratchet straps. He then
re-organized the tool room, giving it a clean out in the process. In one
box underneath the tool room counter, he found two old Crowell Long Leaf
Lumber Company pay envelopes from 1951 and 1952. These will be placed in
the museum archives. After the tool room clean up, Tucker used the
museum tractor to empty the Engine House garbage cans into the dumpster.
Everett headed to Tractor Supply in Alexandria to locate new marker
lights for the M4. While Everett worked on the supply run, Tucker
started weed eating a dense and tall patch of grass near the planer
mill, a job that would end up taking two more rounds of cutting later in
the weekend to get all the grass cut.
Saturday
The volunteers met for the morning briefing at the lodge kitchen on
Saturday morning and then set about the objectives for the day. All
volunteers headed up to the Engine House for a hands-on review of all
the motorized rail equipment. Dipstick locations, radiator fill spouts,
and routine maintenance checks on the M2, M4, M8, and M22 were discussed
and familiarized with everyone. Operating equipment safely and
effectively, and keeping the equipment maintained, were the goals of the
discussion.
After the equipment walkthroughs, Dylan, Angela, and Andrew met with
Everett for a rules clinic session and written test. David and Glen
inspected the M8 for leaks. The two front spark plugs were pulled and
the seats for their gaskets were resurfaced. This was most likely the
source of the oil leak on top of the head. After that, no other leaks
were detected throughout plenty of M8 use throughout the day. The M8 was
given a thorough servicing, changing the differential oil in the drive
axle, and lubricating the bearings. Along with the M8, M2 and the
handcar were lubricated.
Before the heat of the day set in, the museum tractor was brought up and
the final portion of Engine House track #3 was ballasted and tamped by
Jacques, Ayden, Leo, David, Glen, Wimbley, Clint, and Tucker. Later that
afternoon, the tracks would be leveled up with the bar stock rail and
water applied to the dirt ballast to effectively tamp down the track in
place.
After the ballasting, David continued inspecting, servicing, and
lubricating all the rolling stock over the pit. While servicing was
ongoing, the hands-on equipment qualification for operators was
undertaken. Tucker led training on the M4 on the main loop while Jacques
took the lead on M22 on the Main Line near the Engine House. Everyone
was able to train and qualify on all the equipment they sought to
qualify on.
With training and qualifying complete, attention was turned to remaining
objectives. During the course of equipment training, a short developed
on the M22. David, Jacques, and Everett replaced a battery terminal and
a battery cable to fix the short.
Under the Saw Mill, Glen, Andrew, Wimbley, Clint, and Tucker hauled out
several tractor loads of debris and other rotten lumber. With the work
space cleared, they relocated the scaffold on the Saw Mill ground floor
to position it for the next phase of restoration work. This was a
project in and of itself, requiring disassembly of the lumber deck,
partial disassembly of the scaffold, moving it, re-leveling it,
rebuilding it, and re-assembling the lumber work deck. With the scaffold
relocated and secured in place, it is ready for the next phase of
restoration work.
In the afternoon, Jacques and Dylan used the weed eater and loppers for
grounds maintenance around the car knocker shed. David and Everett
inspected the bearings on the sprayer car. It's the last car with plain
bearings, and after discussion, the plan of attack will be to replace
the plain bearings with roller bearings. Several old, bent axles are
around the Engine House with usable roller bearings that can be salvaged
and repurposed for the sprayer car. Additionally, Everett cut and
shortened the exhaust pipe on M22. A rain cap is planned for the top of
this shortened stack.
To wrap up the day, the Engine House was cleaned up of garbage and tools
put away. A final tamping of track #3 was done with the garden house and
then leveling the tie and rail track to meet at the right elevation of
the bar stock track. More weed eating and grounds keeping was done at
the planer mill and the pedestrian bridge at the end of the walking
trail.
Sunday
Several groups went to work on Sunday doing a multitude of cleanup
efforts. Jacques, Dylan, Andrew sprayed herbicide around the Machine
Shop and car knocker shed and removed vines from the car knocker shed
floorboard. Glen cut limbs overhanging the main loop track to prevent
them from scratching rail equipment, especially the new windows on the
M4. Tucker weed-eated around the taken down shed and at the planer mill.
Everett, Angela, Ayden, and Kira inspected the housing and wires for
marker lights on the M4.
Later in the morning, Glen, Dylan, Jacques, Ayden, and Tucker continued
cleaning up under the Saw Mill and between the Saw Mill and the Boiler
House. In total, 10 tractor loads were hauled out from under the Saw
Mill and between the Saw Mill and the Boiler House. The area between the
buildings needed cleaning out for a future project. Drainage is a big
concern under the Saw Mill and plans are in place to pour a concrete
curb to prevent one water source from washing under the mill. A similar
act was done when the Saw Mill was in operation as only a few feet away
a curb was poured against the wall between the Saw Mill and the new
electrical turbine house.
As the clean up was ongoing at the Saw Mill, Everett and Angela scouted
for couplers that could be used on the front of M22. With the work
complete as the heat of the day setting in, all the volunteers headed up
to the lodge to cool off, clean up the lodge, and to clean up before
heading home.
-Tucker "Who Dat" Baker
RR&G Road Master
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