Just wondered who is paying the freight on this bridge ? It looks like a first class job but lots of bucks.

Glad to see Bigge is still in business. They worked a lot of derailments from SLO, north. There was always this big old boy that ran the job. He told the men what he wanted and they would do it without question. His name could have been Red. We had a derailment at the little horseshoe in 69 or 70 and this trainmaster showed up. (I have some super 8 movies of it.) Well this TM wasn't going to let a contractor run this, he was going to show them. Well we had a pig flat that was on its side and the crane folks had it upright, sitting on the rail. All was needed was a pair of trucks and we could take it down to Chorro and leave it with the car knockers. Well, here sat a truck that "was in the way" and the TM wanted it moved. He took over and everyone stood and watched. The crane operator looked at Red and he he gave him a sign to let the TM do what he wanted. Well, the TM wrapped a cable around the bolster and told the operator to lift it up. He looked to Red for some help but Red wasn't interested. He just smiled.

Well, the crane operator did as instructed and the fun started. As soon as the truck got in the air a bit, the wheels fell off (roller bearing), and took off on their own. Down the side of the hill. The grass was high enough where you couldn't see the wheels but you could see the path of distruction. Bang, a fence would vanish, bang, a tree would go down. Well, when the smoke cleared, one wheel set was lodged in a crotch of an oak tree, the other, farther down in a rock pile. Well, the cats started down and it took them a good 2 hours to drag them back up the hill. The TM?? He was gone, back to Oakland or WJ.


Nudge