Ahh back at home.  This half was pretty short, and I am not complaining the next one will be 10 days long.  We got our truck back! I think that was really the most exciting thing that happened this week.  We have been working on our punch list to get ready for an upcoming cut in, so that means doing lots of little stuff.  We did a lot of running bond wire out to the tracks and foaming signal housing and junction boxes.  Here is a picture of one of my fellow employees shrinking the shrink tube on to the splice to insulate it and prevent grounding out.

 

 

     I do have to say we really do get to do a lot of pretty interesting things out here.  I have gotten the opportunity to run a backhoe, a boom truck and a shovel. (OK that last one isn't really that fun)  I am learning how the signals work and how to trouble shoot problems in the system.  One of the things that makes this job so interesting is that no two locations are exactly the same.  Here is a great "for instance" 

This is what we call "Coney Island" and it is at the beginning of a 2 mile long bridge.  The signal you see there is actually sitting on a cantilever upright.  The upright itself is about 20' high, and another 20' to the top of the signal.  You better not be afraid of heights if you do this job!  The other interesting part was the walk way.  Once we figured out how we were going to build it, then we had to make it accessible.  There is a matching one on the other track.  We are not the only ones involved in these decisions, our bosses come out and come up with some pretty good ideas themselves, but there are always changes or issues that come up as you work.  When we were installing the base of the cantilever for this signal first we had to make a road, then we dug up part of an old bridge!

     I have to add one more pic for all the rail fans out there, this is the triple stack in Richmond, VA.  There is one more set of tracks under the track with the grain cars.  I had to settle for two outta three ain't bad because there was no train on the bottom.  The top track is the C&O, the middle track is the SCL and the bottom track is NS.  I grabbed this picture as I was walking back from lunch, but couldn't get my phone out fast enough to catch the engine of the grain train.

     I will be home until Sunday, and then I will be headed for Hagerstown for safety certification. In my next post I will answer the most asked question, "Why do you work for the railroad?"