Some of you have been following our efforts at the Southern Forest Heritage Museum to stabilize and remove Red River and Gulf #106 from the shed where it has been stored since 1955. After the shed was rebuilt in 2005, the fill on which it and the engine rested was destabilized, and without any track structure left at all (35# rail, on rotted ties) the engine began to take a pronounced list to the firemans side. This spring, when cracks 6" wide and up to 12' deep were found under the engine, the museum volunteers led by project manager Mike Miller, attacked stabilizing the locomotive and removing it from the shed, so that the track structure can be rebuilt. This past Saturday, the locomotive was removed from the shed without a single hitch. There is much about all of this on the RR&G website and the museum websites, www.RedRiverandGulf.net and www.LongLeaf.LA but the u tube video by Jason Rose tells the story of this past saturday very well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fT9WT-UcVA

Looks like a good move. Further plans???

For the moment, only to get the track repaired and the engine back under cover. What we have found out is that the engine, bearings and such as well as the boiler are in surprisingly good shape after more than 60 years of storage. We have a couple of miles of railroad where we could run the engine, but it would need major work to rehab for a locomotive to run on, plus the cost of restoration. But, this is a big step for us right now, just with what we know now.

12 FEET deep? You really need to sort this one out before worrying about fixing the track. Sounds like the track is the least of your worries?

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Mark and Kelly, Here is what I think that the sequence of events was that caused the problem, and I think that we have them (or will have them) corrected. The shed was built in 1913, and was fully walled in on both sides. In the late 1990's the roof deteriorated to the point where the building leaked water in great volumes, finally losing the roof over the central part of the shed entirely by 2000. This allowed great volumes of rainwater (including several hurricanes) to saturate the dry fill which had never been wet. When the shed was rebuilt in 2005, the museum cut back the base of the fill on the fireman's side of the engine, installed a retaining wall, and then planted bushes which were water hogs behind the retaining wall. All of this severely upset the equilibrium of the fill. Finally, the decision was made to open the wall of the shed, so that the engine might be viewed from the rest of the site, which also left that part of the fill continually vulnerable to rain.

We have filled all of the voids under the shed with concrete, and built a additional concrete wall inside the shed next to the track. We will remove the water hogs as well and hopefully, we can figure out a solution to allow the engine to be viewed without closing it in again.

Had the engine had good track structure underneath it, I don't think that it would have been nearly as bad, but all of the ties rotted out more than 25 years ago, and it was setting on tiny rail, which simply pressed down into the fill until the left side of the engine frame was on the ground. New ties and 60# rail should make the situation much better for the future, along with doing our best to correct the "beautification" which caused the problem.