The ballast might be piled up there until it can be loaded into rail cars for normal movement.

As for that train crew ineffeciantly sitting there, there are many around that insist the railroad waste that money to have that crew sitting there, instead of utilizing other more cost effective power equipment. Some thing about protecting union jobs and to heck with so what if it costs the money.

Observer Wrote:
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> The UP is doing a bit of MoW work here on the
> Geneva Sub. Ballast renewal must be part of the
> deal because the UP has employed the "Slot
> Machine", which is a series of open ended
> articulated gondolas, and a back hoe that fits
> inside the cars. The removed ballast is dumped
> into these cars, the cars are relocated to a MoW
> storage area along the RoW and the cars are
> unloaded using the backhoe, which requires the use
> of a work train. Somehow, this operation seems
> inefficient, you have a train crew basically
> sitting while the backhoe operator does his thing.
> And, I would assume the ballast material could be
> regarded as contaminated, diesel oil, grease and
> etc. The ballast is stock piled above and 200 feet
> from a pond where people go fishing. Are railroads
> exempt from environmental regulations regarding
> hazardous material?