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Volunteers
1. Joseph S.
2. Angela A.
3. Andrew A.
4. Tucker B.
5. Glen A.
6. Mike M.
7. Everett L.
8. David H. Sr.
9. Michael P.
10. Wimbley V.
Accomplishments
1. 36 ties replaced, gauged, and spiked on main loop track near
Commissary
2. Continued fill-in of gap on car knocker shed railbed
3. Machine shop main belt returned back into operating position
4. Continued clean up and organization in finished lumber shed
Thank you to all the volunteers that came and worked for continued
progress at the museum. Your time and talent is greatly appreciated.
This session completed installation of the 256 ties that were purchased
in 2023 with the Union Pacific Community Foundation grant. In addition,
about 50 ties came from the old tie pile on the sawmill pad. This makes
a total of over 300 ties replaced on the track in the last 15 months of
our installation campaign.
Friday
After the board meeting, Tucker and Michael P set to prepping the tools
and equipment for the weekend and doing a few clean up tasks. In the
finished lumber shed, they moved out an old electrical control panel to
the turbine room, took several loads to the dumpster, and hauled some
rotten lumber to the burn pile. After that, Michael and Tucker began
loading up the sprayer car and M2 for the next day’s tie replacement
effort. They brought up the generator, topped it off with fuel, topped
off M2 with fuel, and loaded up the sprayer car with all the necessary
track tools.
In town, Everett procured additional drill bits to replace the broken
bits from the last tie replacement session. Drilling pilot holes for
spikes and the electric spike hammer makes the spiking work quite easy.
The tough part really is the drilling so good bits are key.
Saturday
The volunteers met in the lodge kitchen for the briefing Saturday
morning. Everett and Glen looked over the M4 for future efforts to
install air brakes. Glen also took time to lubricate everything on the
M4 undercarriage. Wimbley, Andrew, and Tucker went to start the work
train with M2 to bring it down to the work site on the main loop track
near the Commissary. However, with the temperature in the 40s, M2 was
tough to start. With assistance from Everett and Joseph, after much
troubleshooting and effort, it was found that the choke was not closing
all the way. Once that was fixed (manually at first with Joseph’s hand),
M2 was finally started. Everett then lubricated the choke line so it
would work properly going forward.
David headed out with his mini excavator, and with Angela assisting,
began replacing ties on the main loop track near the Commissary. They
saw the first wildlife sighting of a doe that ran out across the UP
tracks and then up toward the engine house. Tucker had placed some ties
near the work area the session prior with the all-terrain forklift so
some materials were already in place. Once the crew arrived with the
work train, the tamping, gauging, and spiking got into full swing with
Everett, Wimbley, Andrew, and Tucker, later joined by Joseph. Joseph
used the all terrain forklift to bring over additional ties for the
replacement effort. Glen operated a tractor to collect up the old tie
debris from the work area. The day was cold and damp with misting rain,
but the crew made tremendous improvement on the track.
After a gumbo lunch cooked by Tucker, the crew continued working on
replacing, gauging, and spiking ties on the main loop near the
Commissary. Joseph brought over the final ties with the forklift and
then switched to a tractor to collect old tie debris. Joseph also used
the tractor to smooth out the terrain around the track once the mini
excavator had finished working in the area. David continued with the
mini excavator replacing ties.
During the afternoon, Tucker went to pick up an old tie plate on the
track. He was thoroughly surprised to find a tarantula underneath it!
Second wildlife sighting of the day. The tarantula was moving slowly on
the cold day. The crew took a break to inspect it. Joseph, using a
shovel and then the tractor bucket, then relocated it to another part of
the museum away from folks. This marks the second tarantula found during
tie replacement on the track, with the last one being found near the
Planer Mill about this time last year in similar weather conditions.
In the late afternoon, Everett, Andrew, Wimbley, and Tucker finished the
final area of tamping, gauging, and spiking the newly replaced ties.
David and Joseph headed up to the engine house to continue efforts to
fill in the gap in the car knockers shed railbed. Joseph would continue
filling the gap and cleaning up the area in front of the engine house
with the tractor well into the evening.
With the work complete on the track for the session, and the crew back
at the engine house, Everett, Andrew, Wimbley, and Tucker cleaned off
the tools with the hose, wiped them down, and then returned them to the
tool room. Everett and Wimbley then took some time to inspect Locomotive
400 and its upcoming work. Andrew and Tucker headed into the machine
shop to return the main belt between the motor and the main shaft back
into place. The belt had come off during a machine shop demonstration
earlier in the week. Andrew and Tucker scaled the ladder, returned the
belt, installed a board to prevent the belt from slipping off, and then
tested the shop operation once done. With the shafts, belts, and
machines operating properly, they closed up the shop and headed down to
the lodge for the day.
Sunday
With rain coming down Sunday, the crew of Joseph, Andrew, Angela, and
Tucker focused on clean up and organization efforts in the finished
lumber shed. Several additional loads of debris, garbage, and rotten
lumber were taken to the dumpster. A pull-behind scraper, the bush hog,
and several other pieces of equipment were relocated to line up with
additional equipment near the lawnmower shed. The goal is to clear and
organize a larger equipment “line up” space near the lawnmower shed.
Additional organization work, including a clean up of the dozers and
crawlers is forthcoming. The crew also took time to inspect the lumber
stack that fell over the week prior. The bottom layer of lumber had
rotted to the point that the lumber stacks on top (which still looks
pretty darn good) toppled over. Cleaning up this fallen-over stack and
lowering the height of other stacks will be a goal at future sessions.
After giving the lodge a thorough cleaning, the volunteers hit the
rainey road for home.
-Tucker "Who Dat" Baker
RR&G
Chief Engineer
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