[Theamazingswal]

Way back when in the 70's I was called to cover a work train out of North White Plains NY. The train consisted of a flat with a backhoe assigned to fix a drainage ditch just south of White Plains. Since it was just a few miles down the road the work crew foreman said the backhoe didn't need to be tied down. On the way the backhoe hit the platform in North White and fell on the 3rd rail and shorted out the system. The work order was canceled but the next day I was back there again and this time I noticed it was secured with some ratchet tie downs. I thought I'd try to model the flat.
George

 

[Gramps]

Looks great and that's good story. What happened to the crew foreman for his decision?

 

[Theamazingswal]

Looks great and that's good story. What happened to the crew foreman for his decision?

Gramps at the time I told foreman I was taking the car under protest and any mishap would be his responsibility. I was looking forward at the time it hit the platform and at the same time NW tower called us to stop the train. I looked over at the foreman who was riding the engine and his face turned white. He worked in a different department so I don't know what action was taken.

George

 

[Cousin Eddie]

What happened to the backhoe? We had a guy running a backhoe on a job site hit overhead power lines with one and it burned to the ground.

 

[Theamazingswal]

Ed the backhoe shorted out the 3rd rail. The breakers were tripped so nothing happened to it. The NYC Harlem Division doesn't have overhead wires. So I guess overhead wires like on the Pennsy & NH don't trip when shorted out?
George

 

[Spence]

Nice MOW build. :appl:

 

[Old_Hobo]

Very nice.....but that backhoe looks a lot newer than the 1970's.....hwell:

 

[Krieglok]

Cool. I worked for a railroad that had a huge excavator(or track hoe) mounted on a flat car. We used it to dig ditches and it had a huge hydraulic driven brush cutter blade that mounted on it. We could cut down 15” thick trees with it!

The tie downs look great. They are an overlooked detail in most cases. Great work!

Tom

 

[Don F]

One can never overstate the importance of securing and properly positioning large equipment. If an excavator or backhoe does not have the bucket arm lowered, impending disaster is just under the next bridge or tunnel portal, literally. Great work on your load.