Nostalgia & History > Tunnel Motor Tow truck Tuesday

Tooooo much Weed for class 45T2 9400? Stuck in mud at Weed CA Lumber mill 1979. The late Bruce Petty photo, Shasta division Archives, Dunsmuir CA

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Classic only Bruce could have found this one kinda photo.
Wow.

+ Just dawned on me that Bruce was going for the Klein truck in action photo and not the 10 or 15 other fascinating elements.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 08/05/20 09:37 by TCnR.

How effective was that recovery operation? Those were tough trucks, but...

       That truck was never intended to get the unit out of the slop situation. It was just parked there.

My understanding is they would lift the trucks off the ground on one end and put blocks and such under it, but the far end would probably sink if they did that. They would need to clear the snow and rubble away from the far end and make sure the melt drains away before getting serious. If there is rail underneath there they would probably be looking to see if it rolled over or just what is there. I don't recognize the building but I figure it's in or next to the wye, most of that area was cleared away a few years ago.

Don't know what they really did to get it out except it certainly wasn't with a chain and a big truck.

+ They may have just been pumping air into it checking the brakes,  trying to figure why it rolled away. Good chance it had a problem with the cold, either ran out of fuel, or froze up , etc. May explain why the two guys are simply standing back.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/05/20 16:12 by TCnR.

dcfbalcoS1 Wrote:
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>        That truck was never intended to get
> the unit out of the slop situation. It was just
> parked there.

I have to disagree heavily, that is the position those Cline trucks are put in to lift!  The A-frame can easily lift the heavy end of a six axle locomotive, the square blocking under the left rear corner is ready for the standee to be placed.

The truck is able to move a unit almost a foot sideways by being positioned to the side of the coupler and allowing the unit to swing to the center under the boom when the engine clears the ground.  Small adjustments are made by moving the coupler to one side and lifting again.  If another couple of inches is needed to get the flanges on, one standee can be cranked down an inch or so, which swings the top of the boom over a little.

At Guadalupe we had the LA 553 which was  GM V-6 gas powered with an automatc transmission.  It would go almost 40 on the flat, and about 10 mph uphill.  When Bakersfield got their new swing boom truck, we got their SJ 386, which was the same as the one pictured above.  This was Detroit powered with a 6V-53 and a 10 speed Roadranger, and a 3 speed Brownie.  The Brownie was necessary  because the hoist was driven off the main drive line, and when it was engaged, the driveline had to be disengaged from the differential, by putting the Brownie in neutral.

Up or down could be accomplished by moving the lift lever up or down, or by putting the transmission in low or reverse.

I was the ATM at Guadalupe and had a commercial license, so I quite often drove the truck to derailments at night when a couple of the carmen weren't available.  Two of the old timers didn't like the 10 speed, and would rather drive the other two trucks.
G

I'd like to know the story behind how this SP tunnel motor ended up like that!