|
Volunteers
1. Mike M.
2. Glen A.
3. Everett L.
4. Angela A.
5. Andrew A.
6. Joseph S.
7. Joseph S. Jr.
8. Tucker B.
9. Wimbley V.
10. Clint L. Jr
11. Gaven R.
12. Michael P.
13. Nick P.
14. Dewayne S.
Accomplishments
1. Golf cart (“the Limousine”) battery replaced and seats cleaned
2. Finished lumber shed roof leaks repaired
3. Engine house & equipment cleaned and organized for festival
4. Vegetation around water tower cleared
5. Grass mowed and weed eating completed around Planer Mill
6. Brush cleared outside main loop track between Planer Mill and engine
house road
7. Log log truck road flagged and partially cleared
Thank you to all of our volunteers who came out and contributed to a
successful weekend!
Friday
Everett got a new battery for the main museum golf cart, generally
referred to as “the limousine” or the “limo.” It had been struggling
over the past few weeks and battery charging didn’t seem to help. After
replacing the battery, Everett cleaned all of the seats and had the golf
cart looking great.
Saturday
The volunteers split into several crew for work throughout the day.
Glen and Mike M. did the first phase of roof repairs on the finished
lumber shed, which consisted of fabricating sheet metal to fit under the
drain channel, cutting it to length, covering it with tar, sticking it
up and securing it in place with strapping. This took care of the larger
holes. Once that was done, they got up on the roof (which was HOT) and
blew the roof channel clean, which also took off some more rust so that
more leakes were visible. They marked all of the remaining leaks to come
back on Sunday.
Also in the finished lumber shed, Joseph operated the all terrain
forklift with Tucker as a groundman relocating the old commissary
shelves. The shelves had been moved away from roof leaks to the area in
front of the lodge. Since the steam up at the festival normally takes
place in front of the lodge, the shelves had to be relocated. Joseph and
Tucker filled the museum trailer full of non-historic and old crumbled
shelving, garbage, debris, and other items to clear a space for the
shelves. The process was a small step in the great challenge that is
cleaning and organizing the finished lumber shed.
Andrew and Joseph Jr. worked outside the finished lumber shed clearing
brush and vegetation from near the water tower area. Andrew operated a
weed eater nearly all day and Joseph Jr. picked up the tall brush that
had been cut and stacked it for disposal. The area near the water tower
is traditionally used for the various festival vendors, so the area
needed a thorough cutting and cleaning. Once Tucker and Joseph finished
moving the old commissary shelves, they joined the cutting effort.
Joseph operated the museum lawn mower and tractor with the finish mower
while Tucker grabbed the second weed eater. The crew of Joseph, Joseph
Jr., Andrew, and Tucker cut all the grass around the south and east
sides of the planer mill and planer mill power house.
Up at the engine house, the crews worked to prep the building and the
equipment for the upcoming fall festival. Wimbley and Nick worked on
straightening up the engine house and organizing the lumber - metal pile
at the corner. Clint and Mike P reworked the bracket and installed the
GPS speedometer in the M-2 and afterward gave M2 a wash. Everett washed
the Hand car and the M-1. Wimbley took Mike P, Gavan, Dewayne and Nick
and made a weed spray run, and did some training on the M-2. Wimbley,
Nick, Everett, and Gavan swept and blew out the engine house and did
some cleaning up.
In the evening, Tucker and Joseph worked on clearing brush away from the
main loop track between the planer mill and the engine house road.
Tucker grabbed the museum chainsaw to cut down many small trees with
Joseph operating the tractor. The brush was cleared to bare ground and
gave a comfortable 10-to-15 foot buffer zone away from the track.
Dewayne surveyed McGiffert log loader #1229 (in front of the machine
shop) for future repair work. Work will be needed to improve the
McGiffert to allow it to move. This is part of our master historic
equipment preservation plan to get this McGiffert on a test operation
track. On a test operation track, air could be used to demonstrate
McGiffert operation.
Throughout the day, Angela moved volunteers from point to point on the
museum golf cart, a valuable help to reduce walking and spend more time
working! In the evening Dewayne and Angela conducted CPR training with
Gaven.
Sunday
Glen and Mike came back early Sunday. They put down matting and tar on
the top of the leaks in the channel before it got too hot in the day,
wrapping up the first phase of repairing the finished lumber shed roof.
Everett and Kayleigh washed the rest of the M-2 and did some more
cleanup in the enginehouse. Angela and Gavan then did some training on
the M-2.
Andrew, Tucker, and Joseph worked at the old truck logging road. After
the closure of rail logging operations, the mill used motor trucks from
1957 to the mill’s closure in 1969. This log truck entrance road is
essentially the old bypass rail corridor that Meridian Lumber Company
trains used going from the logging camp at Seiper to the mill at
Meridian, Louisiana. The corridor allowed them to bypass the mill at
Long Leaf. Tucker and Andrew used forestry flagging to demarcate the
road while Joseph used the museum tractor to mow down grass and push
over small brush on the road. The road is in pretty good shape, with a
gravel surface visible after clearing away surface dirt and ditching on
the east side from the reserve log pond all the way to Highway 497. The
goal here was to mark the road for future bulldozer work to clear the
corridor.
-Tucker "Who Dat" Baker
RR&G
Chief Engineer
|
