Yesterday was Spring Cleaning Day on the Grand Trunk, or should I say Canadian National (I suppose I should), as the railroad sent out some equipment to pick up scrap ties that have been lying along the right-of-way since time immemorial.
The equipment consisted of a truck pulling half a dozen gondola cars.
(Click on images to enlarge)
Atop one of the cars sat a crane-thingy with grabbers on its arm (you railroad fans are familiar with these technical terms, I hope). I saw that crane-thingy move itself along the length of that gondola car: working from the controls in the cab, the operator slowly advances, one after another, the several sets of braces that hold the crane platform to the car, and then the whole platform rises up and slides along the little track that sits atop the braces; when it reaches the farther end of the car, it all settles down again and locks in place. I shouldn't wonder* if it could move along the whole length of the train that way.
Down comes the arm, the grabbers grab a handful, the crane swivels on its base and gently deposits the scrap in the gondola; the operator spends a couple minutes arranging the load for space and stability, I suppose, and then on to the next handful.
Same thing, different angle.
Well, taking all those pictures made a nice break from mowing the lawn, anyway.
_______________________
*I spent half of last Sunday watching a Downton Abbey marathon, and I'm now thinking with a British accent.
No comments:
Post a Comment