One of neatest things about MCC is the many trees and resulting shade. However, the downside of trees are that they blow down in storms or die and subsequently fall down. When they fall on the track it usually bends the rails requiring replacement. A year ago July half of a huge oak fell on the NORATS bock (down the bank from Barney Yard). The pieces were too big to move by hand--- it was a chore to get the track cleared. An extra long chainsaw and a log splitter reduced the trunk to manageable pieces a few weeks ago. Most has been hauled off and only this pile remains.
Over Labor Day Randy decided to take down a couple dead trees at Whitaker before they fell on the tracks. He placed some ties along the track to prevent damage to the rails.
It looks like his aim was pretty good.......
Yep, right in the middle of the ties.
He then found the right spot for the next cut so that so that the logs wouldn't fall on the track.
The next step was to cut a piece off to get the track open again. Whole operation from track closed to open again was less than an hour. That was a cottonwood which doesn't make good firewood so it was cut into manageable lengths and rolled into the gully behind Randy for erosion control.
