Ahhh, CAT!! As Leo mentioned, trks. 12 and 13 were the loadin'
tracks in the building from which was shipped Cat's finest equipment.
These tracks were depressed and situated between concrete docks
that, when the trks. were full, presented a broad expanse of flat
surface over which the tractors could be driven right onto the flats
for loading.
I believe it was in the mid 70's that Cat introduced their new, huge
Excavators. These machines were heavy and, when equipped with
special track shoes, WIDE!! It was the first shipment of these
machines that presented the humorous and, I would imagine, expensive
incident soon to unfold.
We had coupled to trk. 12, I think, and had to wait while the
loading crews secured the machines to the flats. The engine was
only partially in the building and pointed uphill at the doorway. I
was yakin' with some truck drivers while the loadin' chores were
bein' completed. This entire track was full of flats and the flats
were all full of the new excavators. Soon, the Con. notified me
that all was in readiness and I could pull `em out.
Now I'm sure you all know that a GP7 is not the world's most
powerful locomotive. It IS, however, powerful enough to cause a
great deal of commotion and damage if all is NOT in readiness.
After receivin' the "go ahead" from my trusty Con. I started pullin'
on `em. At first I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary but
pretty soon a couple of the truckers began yellin' and shoutin'
about something goin' on in the building. When I looked back all I
could see was something that looked like smoke. Also, the
appearance of this "smoke" was accompanied by a great shrieking and
other noises not clearly definable. Believing this to be somewhat
unusual I shut the throttle off and everything QUIT, immediately!!
Walkin' back into the building I was greeted by the unmistakable
odor of freshly pulverized concrete embellished with the scent of
badly abused steel.
As it turned out the new excavators hadn't been "load tested" as the
term relates to the flats. The weight of the machines was such that
they depressed the truck springs to a point that caused a great deal
of the machines' weight to remain on the dock. Now, since the
excavators had been so carefully chained to the cars, they had no
choice but to follow where I led them. In followin' me however the
track shoes that rested on the dock began to destroy that upon which
they rested.
The dock, as constructed, had very heavy angle iron at the edges to
provide "protection" to the concrete. The degree of protection
needed that day, however, had never been factored into the
equation. The angle iron had assumed the shape of that which wraps
around the "key" on older coffee cans.
A remedy was initiated soon after this event that included a piece
of four-inch timber between the tracks (of the machines) and the
flat car deck. Oh well - - -
Karl
Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CBQ/
<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional
<*> To change settings online go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CBQ/join
(Yahoo! ID required)
<*> To change settings via email:
mailto:CBQ-digest@yahoogroups.com
mailto:CBQ-fullfeatured@yahoogroups.com
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
CBQ-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
|