Any idea how much that panel of diamonds weighed?
Turning to the Rochelle cam a few times yesterday to see the action, I noted it was "renewing" in one second intervals....Believe before, in the past the best I ever noticed was two second clicks.
I took a look just before the liights began to distort and blind out the camera and I actually could see several rather heavy cranes working, and I supposed they were positioning the diamond assy. at that time.
I appreciate what view is there under normal conditions, but it certainly is no comparison to the Roanoke unit....Either one of them.
That certainly was an impressive amount of work accomplished in the 13 hr. plus as indicated by one poster. I was surprised there was no lights on later in the night to be "checking" how the installation was holding up, etc.....Didn't catch any trains going over it.
Quentin
I WATCHED FOR THE FIRST 90 MINUTES AFTER IT OPENED AND COUNTED TEN TRAINS. 3 BNSF
AND 7 UP. (NOT THE SODA). I WATCHED INTERMITENTLY UNTIL MIDNIGHT AND SAW FIVE MORE.
TRAINS. TODAY LOOKED A LITTLE SLOW.
STEVEL
They still appear to be moving slowly this afternoon. 2 BNSF trains and 1 UP and a track gang in the last 30 minutes.
They must still be settling in the new diamonds.
Found these:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/35746972@N04/5194721567/in/photostream/
Carl
Railroader Emeritus (practiced railroading for 46 years--and in 2010 I finally got it right!)
CAACSCOCOM--I don't want to behave improperly, so I just won't behave at all. (SM)
Wow - thanks, Carl - nice catch ! That's quite an informative sequence. I note that in the caption under this photo - http://www.flickr.com/photos/35746972@N04/5195155028/in/photostream/ - it says that the MOW people dug down over 4' to remove a mud hole - I also saw a small dozer and what looks like a vibratory roller in that "Making the final grade" photo.
What also caught my eye elsewhere in that collection of photos was this caption under this one -
http://www.flickr.com/photos/35746972@N04/5148951522/in/photostream/
"Getting Revenge!!
After a hour and a half of delays because of UP hogging the diamond at Rochelle and backing up BNSF trains along the Aurora Sub, a BNSF westbound Intermodal pulls up across the diamond and stops. This maneuver, known as "Ha, Now it's my turn" allows four Eastbound BNSF "Z" trains to continue their journey towards Chicago without further delay.
Shot under the trailer of the stopped Intermodal you can see a waiting UP Eastbound Container train and the nose of the first Eastbound BNSF "Z" Train passing by."
- Paul North.
It's amazing how efficiently railroads get things done. An equivalent repair on a highway would take months. About 20 years ago, NS replaced a swing bridge near by with a lift one in about a day.
_____________
"A stranger's just a friend you ain't met yet." --- Dave Gardner
jclass Any idea how much that panel of diamonds weighed?
The caption to one of the photos linked by Carl says 240,000 lbs., which is 120 tons, or 30 tons for each of the 'diamonds' that consists of 4 'crossing frogs'. But that intuitively seems a little too heavy to me - without doing the math, I'd guess at about 20 tons each/ 80 tons for the whole shebang. But I could be wrong . . .
.....A great collection of photos you linked to Carl. Some beautiful ones other than right there at Rochelle....Especially the evening shots of sunsets, etc....
But the series of disassemble / and bring the new set to the site and install it....Really great. I was impressed with having enough space to "drag" the new set {diamonds}, on top of the double track from where it had been assembled, and have enough space to pass between the signal bridge legs.
I do not think that assembly would weigh 120 tons. But I did wonder why 4 very heavy duty looking cranes were required to do the job. I'm wondering how they kept from damaging the rails on each double track running up over them, part of the time with the additional load on the crane{s}, {from part of the diamond assy.
Certainly was a lot of employees assembled in one spot. I suppose each had a job to do. And the 13 hr. plus proves the job did get accomplished in great time.
I was just surprised I didn't see any lights working on the scene late that night to "watch" the newly installed assy., to be sure everything was behaving....As many backed up trains resumed used of the routes.
great job CShave, it an honor to see them. STEVEL
So, did anyone else save snapshots of teh action?
Just "bumping" this thread to coincide with some discussion on the main Rochelle Webcam thread about the "diamonds in the rough" visible on satellite images.
Let's keep the Rochelle webcam discussion all together, please:
Semi-official Rochelle webcam discussion thread
Brian Schmidt, Editor, Classic Trains magazine
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