Check this out! A buddy of mine just sent me this image of TBX 3401 making an appearance outside of the maintenance shop which has been holding it for the past several days. He said he was on brake across the yard when he looked up and saw our car being pulled from the shop. By the time he grabbed his camera he could only capture this shot before TBX 3401 was shoved back inside. I'm going to have to make my way down there to get a better view and more info on just what they are doing with it! Something looks a bit different than before!
I found out some more info on TBX 3401 today. Turns out we had some major ongoing problems from that Rocky Flats adventure. On the way from Missouri to Nebraska one of the crew noticed some daylight shining through to the rails while walking past 3401. He climbed up inside and to his surprise saw a puddle of viscus material effervescing around a big hole in the floor! Apparently whatever they hauled back in Colorado does not like the Nebraska humidity and had turned to acid! These past few weeks they had 3401 locked up inside a shop and gave it the toothbrush treatment and repaired the hole in the floor. I havent been able to get a photo of the repairs yet but supposedly TBX 3401 is no longer known to the state of California to cause cancer. *whew* The last bit of interesting info is about what we saw on the side of 3401 when she peeked out of the shop the other day. It's not graffiti, it's a new logo! (Hehe, ok, I knew about this part all along. ) The only bit of visual aid I have from my outing is a video of TBX 3401 heading off for its next assignment. They have it hooked up to a crane work train! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-soa_7tbnMQ I have no idea what the job is, but they let me know that the job starts tomorrow up at the Ashland depot, next to the feed mill. I'll be there with camera in hand.
Well I made it up to the Ashland depot a little late but just in time for the fun stuff! The work train had loaded TBX 3401 with some ties and Southern 1226 with some old unused rail. When I arrived on scene they had a bit of track built up in the parking lot of the depot. Something tells me we have a retired piece of equipment going on display!
Shortly after I arrived they pulled the ties and rail up to clear the eastbound tracks. I was so busy trying to catch TBX 3401 in the shot that I didnt even notice what rolled up behind me! Everyone then went on break while we waited for that eastbound freight to clear through.
Once the freight passed, we had a three hour window to finish the job. I went over to get a better look at the retired loco! What a beauty, if I do say so myself.
BNSF 2158 pulled the old girl around past the crane: and up alongside TBX 3401 to clear the crossover:
BNSF 2158 pushed the retired steamer right up next to the crane for easy lifting. Here the big crew carefully rigs the delicate old steamer.
And through the magic of the modelers license, the engine is placed perfectly on its new resting track. While one guy unties the rigging, the other 4 men push the tender to the close side of the flat for the next lift: One goes up on top for the hook up:
Whoops! We forgot to pull forward so the crane can reach the far side of the resting track! Not wanting to untie and re-rig, veryone takes a point and carefully watches as the train sloowly creeps forward a few feet:
BNSF 2158 pulls the flat forward and shoves it to the rear as BN 7309 back in with TBX 3401 stopping right in front of the new display piece. Look at that beautiful new logo! BNSF 2185 then couples in the lead of BN 7309 and they carry on, leaving the crew behind as they were invited for a celebratory beer inside the station for a job well done!
I'm sure the next guy to spot 3401 will have plenty of interesting stories to tell about their adventure.
Oh Shute! I just realized I never got a chance to see the repaired floor in the gon. Well maybe someone down the road can snag a photo.
The records department finally released the paperwork on this repair job. I thought I'd share them here for anyone interested.
Curious activity I was preparing to leave the office today, heading out early on a Friday afternoon, when I caught sight of some activity across the street. TBX 3401 was sitting in front of Mistere Meats, and an obvious effort was underway to conceal what was being loaded or unloaded. I made a dash for the door, planning to go over to see what I could see, but my boss intercepted me - looks like I'll be here late dealing with a crashed database server. Hopefully I can find out more about TBX 3401 tomorrow.
It's been a while since someone has spotted TBX 3401! Sounds like a dispatcher somewhere buried it in a yard and forgot about it for a while. Good to see it back on the main rails!
I REALLY have no idea what's going on over there. Hopefully I can figure it out, otherwise this is going to be a really short story.
