Major Track Safety Improvements Got Done on Curve 8

Ride in the cab of our EMD SD 40-2 Locomotive as we deliver a load of
ballast up to Curve 8 where we did some major safety improvements
to our track. We'll dump some ballast and show you the final product
on this curve after it was all tamped up.
Check out my other You Tube channel with more cool railroad and
rail fanning videos along with other adventures Dave has:
/ @thatsdavesotherdoings
Disclaimer: I am an employee of Iron Senergy at Cumberland
Mine. My job is railroad track maintenance. I am very fortunate to
have this job and everyone at the mine is very fortunate to have
Iron Senergy as it's current owner. Our past owners had every
intention of shutting this mine down, but Iron Senergy took
over and have kept this mine alive.
Please understand: I am NOT in any way an official or unofficial
spokes person for Iron Senergy or Cumberland Mine. Any viewpoints,
opinions or anything that I show in the videos, or write in the video
descriptions or any answer to any comment, should NEVER be
misconstrued or interpreted as being in any way shape or form,
any kind of official or unofficial statement from Iron Senergy,
Iron Cumberland, Cumberland Mine, any of the mine's management,
any of the contractors that may be shown in any video, nor of
any of my fellow co-workers.
Any viewpoints or opinions I may make in the videos, in the
descriptions, or in any answer to a comment is strictly that of my
own and NOT an official or unofficial statement or viewpoint that
Iron Synergy or any one at Iron Senergy or Cumberland Mine
necessarily has or makes.
Again, we are very fortunate to have Iron Senergy as our current
owners. Please, when making a comment be respectful of Iron Senergy,
Cumberland Mine, my fellow coworkers and also any contractors
that may be shown. Thank You, Dave
#tracksafety#safetyimprovements#ridecablocomotive

[@petercruikshank2618]

Your infectious laugh and positive attitude made me smile. Keep staying safe out there!

[@ccrx6700]

Thank you for the nice comment Peter. Have to stay safe, it's the name of the game on the railroad. Really appreciate your visiting with us and may you have a very good day my friend.

[@zalmaflash]

A rail trip with Dave always brightens a day.

[@ccrx6700]

Thank you for the nice comment zalmaflash and glad your day went a little better with the video. Very much appreciate your taking the time to visit with us and may you have a very good day my friend.

[@CameronMcCreary]

Thank you very much Dave for showing us the repaired railway. It looks great.

[@ccrx6700]

Your welcome Cameron. We try to keep our track safe and it's great to have a company that spends money on track safety improvements. Really appreciate your visiting with us and may you have a very good day my friend.

[@richardfritz8797]

Dave Thank You very much! Always a great day when we get to ride along with Dave. Great they do take care of the track bed and thank you for the education.! Stay safe. Cheers! Peace.

[@ccrx6700]

Thank you for the nice comment Richard. Glad you enjoyed the show. Really appreciate your taking the time to visit with us and may you have a very good day my friend.

[@paulbergen9114]

Now you can breathe that sigh of relief knowing that that section of track is ready for more tonnage at regular speeds. Certainly a lot better seeing the fresh ballast than coal dust mud.

[@ccrx6700]

Your right about that Paul, much nicer now. Track always looks a lot better with new white ballast than it does with the coal on it. Really appreciate your visiting with us and may you have a very good day my friend.

[@johnathanlewis2049]

Hi Dave That’s great that the company cares about it’s facilities and spends the money to make the necessary improvements

[@ccrx6700]

It certainly is Johnathan, we are very fortunate that the company spends money on track safety improvements. Makes me a happy camper. Thank you for taking the time to visit with us and may you have a very good day my friend.

[@jenniferbutcher8393]

So the miners had canaries and you have the bobblehead 😂. High tech, indeed! Love that snowy day. Such a beautiful place to work.

[@ccrx6700]

Yes that's right Jennifer and as long as my little buddy doesn't die riding in the truck I know the atmosphere is still good to breathe.... :-) Really appreciate your taking the time to watch and may you have a very good day my friend.

[@user-yb9sr8pp9o]

Looking Really nice 👍. Have to keep the train crew Happy AND Safe!

[@ccrx6700]

Thank you for the nice comment Alan, train crew is happy now. Really appreciate your visiting with us and may you have a very good day my friend.

[@billyschultz2673]

Man! That is a nice ballast car. I always had beat and bang type cars. Use a winch on old coal hoppers with a 12 foot plow tie. Hard work.

[@ccrx6700]

Yes it is Billy, our old car had to run along side it using bars to open and close the doors, this is sooooo much nicer! Thank you for visiting with us and may you have a very good day my friend.

[@robertf3479]

Curve is looking good now Dave, and your "high tech track geometry meter" hardly moves at all now. Very cool.

[@ccrx6700]

Thank you for the nice comment Robert. We try to keep our track as safe as we can and are really fortunate we have a company that spends money on track safety.And yes you are right, Scooby is a happy camper now... :-) Very much appreciate your taking the time to visit with us and may you have a very good day my friend.

[@morse2795]

You sure got some mighty fine looking track there Dave. It shows all the care and work you put into it. Thanks for another very awesome train video Dave!!!

[@ccrx6700]

Thank you for the nice comment William. We try to keep our track as safe as we can and are really fortunate we have a company that spends money on track safety. Very much appreciate your taking the time to visit with us and may you have a very good day my friend.

[@PlanetMojo]

Great job Dave! Keeping the trains safe is Dave's job #1 😊

[@ccrx6700]

Thank you for the nice comment Mojo. We are very pleased to get this curve taken care of. Really appreciate your taking the time to watch and may you have a very good day my friend.

[@briandonovan9560]

Very impressive track conditions Dave, pride shows in your quality efforts. Nice video as always. Thanks for the entertainment.

[@ccrx6700]

Thank you Brian. We try to keep our track safe and it's great to have a company that spends money on track safety improvements. Really appreciate your visiting with us and may you have a very good day my friend.

[@mattkinnard6899]

Nice work! Something about watching that fresh ballast dropping for the car is very satisfying.

[@ccrx6700]

Thank you Matt. Fresh white ballast always makes the track look really good before it gets black by all the coal leaking out of the car doors.... :-) Very much appreciate your taking the time to visit with us and may you have a very good day my friend.

[@kg4muc]

You’ve got that part looking brand new!! I believe your tracks are some of the safest in the US. Great Job Mr Dave

[@ccrx6700]

Thank you for the nice comment Wayne. We try to keep trains running safely here. Very much appreciate your taking the time to visit with us and may you have a very good day my friend.

[@Milepost1965]

Dave knows a lot about Rock n Roll.....

[@ccrx6700]

Your right about that Donnie, you could say I'm a rock star.... :-) Thank you for taking the time to visit with us and may you have a very good day my friend.

[@NoewerrATall]

@@ccrx6700 You, sir, are definitely a rock star.

[@ccrx6700]

@@NoewerrATall 😊👍

[@briankemp5206]

Track is looking good! Thanks for sharing Dave.

[@ccrx6700]

Thank you Brian. We try to keep our track safe and it's great to have a company that spends money on track safety improvements. Really appreciate your visiting with us and may you have a very good day my friend.

[@opieshomeshop]

*_I'm sure the locomotives are a lot happier too. Less wear and tear. Good show. Discovery Channel will be calling you sometime soon. Mike Rowe is going to narrate._* 😆🤣😁😎

[@ccrx6700]

You are right David, good track is much easier on rolling stock wear and tear than track with it's rough spots. I had written Mike many years ago when his show was popular to come and visit us, he never replied back. Oh well, his loss. Thank you for taking the time to visit with us and may you have a very good day my friend.

[@rodneydavis324]

Great work on the track today, Dave. Always nice to see a professional at work!

[@ccrx6700]

Thank you for the nice comment Rodney. Appreciate very much your watching and may you have a very good day my friend.

[@dchurch2012]

Another excellent video Dave! That's some model railroad you've got there! (In my favorite scale - 12 inches to the foot!) 😊

[@ccrx6700]

Thank you for the nice comment David. I like 1 to 1 scale trains also... :-) Very much appreciate your taking the time to visit with us and may you have a very good day my friend.

[@maddigger0074]

Another excellent video Dave.. thank you for sharing

[@ccrx6700]

Thank you for the nice comment Mad Digger, glad you enjoyed and it's my pleasure to share. Appreciate your taking the time to check out tonight's home movie and may you have a very good day my friend.

[@maddigger0074]

@@ccrx6700 you're welcome Dave

[@DanielParadis-sr5nh]

Thank you for sharing this wonderful video with us!

[@ccrx6700]

Your certainly welcome Daniel and it's always a great pleasure for me to be able to share them. We are very fortunate to have a company here that allows me to make these and one that spends money on track safety. Glad you could drop by tonight and may you have a very good day my friend.

[@lewistodd9242]

Dave the track is looking great. I kept watching your little buddy. Thanks for the ride along. Have a great day.

[@ccrx6700]

Thank you for the nice comment Lewis. We are very pleased to get this curve taken care of. My little buddy is happy with it... :-) Really appreciate your taking the time to watch and may you have a very good day my friend.

[@paulsmith5398]

Great details of the front/rear handrails..........and the mechanism of the ballast car!

[@ccrx6700]

Glad you enjoyed Paul and thanks for the nice comment. Really appreciate your visiting with us and may you have a very good day my friend.

[@davidthorne4491]

You and the crews keep making tracks safe

[@ccrx6700]

Thank you David. It is really great that the company spends money on track safety improvements. We like to keep our trains running safely. Really appreciate your visiting with us and may you have a very good day my friend.

[@dalecaldwell9096]

Thanks for sharing the video. Enjoy them very much..

[@ccrx6700]

Thank you Dale, glad you are enjoying the home movies. Really appreciate your visiting with us and may you have a very good day my friend.

[@SteveMikre44]

Dave, Greatly appreciate this series of videos documenting the repair and safety improvements made to curve 8. Your enthusiasm and excitement are very contagious...

[@ccrx6700]

Thank you for the nice comment Steve and glad you have enjoyed this series on track improvements. We try to keep our track as safe as we can and are really fortunate we have a company that spends money on track safety. Very much appreciate your taking the time to visit with us and may you have a very good day my friend.

[@dalelinton7716]

I’ve been inspecting some of the short line track near me and I think they have bern watching Dave. Lots of new maintenance improvements going on!

[@ccrx6700]

Wow that's pretty cool Dale, we are lucky to have a company that spends money on track improvements, let's hope those short lines are watching and learning! :-) Thank you for your taking the time to visit with us and may you have a very good day my friend.

[@TriGogglin]

Fantastic Dave, looks amazing, you keep the wheels turning on that railway.. glad the guys appreciate your work..

[@ccrx6700]

Thank you for the nice comment Pappy. We are very pleased to get this curve taken care of. Really appreciate your taking the time to watch and may you have a very good day my friend.

[@ebf82234]

Hey Dave...another great time spent on the rails with you👌...with a great-big smile on my face 😊..."thank you, thank you..." Watching you dump that nice, fresh ballast takes me back to when -- a couple years ago -- I watched a "string" of Herzog hoppers dump ballast in the "wee hours of the morning" across newly-laid track panels of the LIRR's rebuilt Nassau Interlocking. I literally ran outdoors in my "jammies" to video the moment under portable floodlights, as I lived nearby. Your track is looking "mighty fine", my friend... 👍👍

[@ccrx6700]

Your certainly welcome EBF. Oh wow that had to be really cool to see Herzog dumping skeleton track, I'm jealous, I've never seen those Herzog cars dump before. Very much appreciate your taking the time to visit with us and may you have a very good day my friend.

[@ebf82234]

@@ccrx6700 Hey Dave...watching that "team" of Herzog cars dumping ballast "in unison" was quite a sight. Each car has a set of controls mounted "mid-ships", and -- with a worker standing beside each one -- the "unit" train crept along, and -- "on cue" -- each man opened their respective set of doors to let the ballast drop. BTW...those track panels (for Nassau Interlocking) were manually assembled (beforehand) in a vacant yard nearby by track workers...absolutely nothing "pre-fab" about that operation...I watched (and photographed) the guys doing this. The "show" continued when these panels were then (literally) carried to the worksite (interlocking) by crawler-track machines...one on each end...through local streets (with close clearances). This whole process had me completely awestruck...I'm forever amazed by MofW work and the skilled people who perform it. And -- you -- my friend, are a very big part of that "equation". Thank you, so much, for your videos, and -- especially -- for your kind replies (to my comments). 😊👍👍

[@ccrx6700]

@@ebf82234 😎👍😊

[@larry3064]

Thanks for the ride along, Dave. I always enjoy it.

[@ccrx6700]

Your certainly welcome Larry and glad you are enjoying watching. Really appreciate your visiting with us and may you have a very good day my friend.

[@russelltrupia4479]

Little do I know about track work, but it sure looks awesome to me.👍👍

[@ccrx6700]

Thank you for the nice comment Russell. We are fortunate the company spends the money on track safety improvements. Very much appreciate your taking the time to visit with us and may you have a very good day my friend.

[@chrisstromberg6527]

Wow that track looks great Dave. I'm glad they are finally taking care of what needed to be done! Thanks for keeping us updated.

[@ccrx6700]

Thank you Chris. We try to keep our track safe and it's great to have a company that spends money on track safety improvements. Really appreciate your visiting with us and may you have a very good day my friend.

[@StormySkyRailProductions]

Great material Dave. Enjoyed watching the rock dumping during a light snowfall. The finished product looked great. Have a wonderful rest of your Tuesday.(Steve)

[@ccrx6700]

Thank you for the nice comment Steve. We are very pleased to get this curve taken care of. Really appreciate your taking the time to watch and may you have a very good day my friend.

[@StormySkyRailProductions]

@@ccrx6700 Your welcome and yes indeed I bet.

[@philadelphia3117]

I'm so glad you addressed the noise made when the doors open and close. I actually thought it was something mechanical tapping the sides of the car in order to get all the rock out. Same concept as using sledge hammers to assist in releasing coal. I am surprised to hear it's air exhaust.

[@ccrx6700]

I've had so many in the past write in about that klunk thunk noise so figured I'd add that in what it was Phil A. Really appreciate your visiting with us and may you have a very good day my friend.

[@robertalcock1523]

Beautiful, beautiful job Dave!!!

[@ccrx6700]

Thank you Robert. We try to keep our track safe and it's great to have a company that spends money on track safety improvements. Really appreciate your visiting with us and may you have a very good day my friend.

[@terryrobertson8382]

Good job Dave and crew, track is looking very good.

[@ccrx6700]

Thank you for the nice comment Terry. We try to keep our track as safe as we can and are really fortunate we have a company that spends money on track safety. Very much appreciate your taking the time to visit with us and may you have a very good day my friend.

[@joanieswanson570]

Thank you for this awesome adventure. Nice job!

[@ccrx6700]

Thank you for the nice comment Joanie and your welcome. Very much appreciate your taking the time to visit with us and may you have a very good day my friend.

[@bluefj-wc3vz]

Another cool video Dave. Keep those wheels rollin safely. 👍

[@ccrx6700]

Thank you Blue. We try to keep our track safe and it's great to have a company that spends money on track safety improvements. Really appreciate your visiting with us and may you have a very good day my friend.

[@texaswonderer5564]

Thats one good looking track. Your doing a first class job. Good video as always. Have a good and safe weekend.

[@ccrx6700]

Thanks and yes we were very fortunate the company spent the money on much needed track safety improvements. Appreciate the nice comment my friend.

[@romancharak3675]

Big kids playing in the "Big Kids" Sandbox. 😸

[@ccrx6700]

Yep we like to play trains here Roman, at 1 to 1 scale.... :-) Really appreciate your visiting with us and may you have a very good day my friend.

[@billtheunjust]

I love seeing track with new ballast, it looks so nice. Though it would look much better if the old ballast could be removed instead of just pushed out wider and wider each time, but alas I get that it's just not feasible.

[@ccrx6700]

You and me both Bill, fresh white ballast really makes the track look a lot better. You are right, it's not feasible to reclaim and clean the old contaminated ballast. Really appreciate your visiting with us and may you have a very good day my friend.

[@earlschmitt884]

Don't feel lonely with the weather. We here in Wisconsin been doing the same. 2 or so days in the 70s and the next day we struggle to get to the mid 30s.

[@ccrx6700]

Seems like SW Pa and Wisconsin have similar weather patterns Earl, except you guys colder and have a lot more snow. Really appreciate your visiting with us and may you have a very good day my friend.

[@jamesbyrne2004]

Great video Dave. Always enjoy riding along with you on your day to day operations.

[@ccrx6700]

Thank you James and glad you enjoyed the ride on track with me. Really appreciate your visiting with us and may you have a very good day my friend.

[@skywatcherca]

GREAT videos Dave - you are getting better and better.

[@ccrx6700]

Thank you skywatcherca. We try to keep our track safe and it's great to have a company that spends money on track safety improvements. Really appreciate your visiting with us and may you have a very good day my friend.

[@CNder77]

Nice to see another video, awesome, content as always. Nice going Dave

[@ccrx6700]

Thank you CN for the nice comment and glad you are enjoying all the home movies. Really appreciate your visiting with us and may you have a very good day my friend.

[@thisolesignguy2733]

Man that's pretty country up there. Just watching your channel brings out the kid in me.

[@alro2434]

50-60 miles west or south, Ohio or West Virginia, looks a world of difference for some reason, so much nicer it's hard to believe.

[@thisolesignguy2733]

@@alro2434 I live in Indiana, I feel ya

[@ccrx6700]

Yes it is Sign Guy, we really like it here in SW Pa. We are about 1 hour straight south of Pittsburgh. Very much appreciate your taking the time to visit with us and may you have a very good day my friend.

[@lawrietaber657]

Excellent vid Dave the track looking good well done awesome job thanks.

[@ccrx6700]

Thank you for the nice comment Lawrie. Glad you enjoyed the show. Really appreciate your taking the time to visit with us and may you have a very good day my friend.

[@garymessina1609]

Great job Dave and gives you a lot less worries great video thanks

[@ccrx6700]

Thank you Gary, glad you enjoyed the show. Very much appreciate your taking the time to visit with us and may you have a very good day my friend.

[@derrickanderson4932]

Thanks for sharing Dave.

[@ccrx6700]

Your always welcome Derrick and it's my pleasure. Very much appreciate your taking the time to visit with us and may you have a very good day my friend.

[@Sugarmountaincondo]

Class1 Railroading on a Class3 short line 👍👍

[@ccrx6700]

Thank you for the nice comment Eric. We try to keep our track as safe as we can and are really fortunate we have a company that spends money on track safety. Very much appreciate your taking the time to visit with us and may you have a very good day my friend.

[@1208bug]

Thanks Dave, great job and great video.

[@ccrx6700]

Your welcome 1208 Bug, glad you liked the show. Really appreciate your taking the time to watch and may you have a very good day my friend.

[@154Colin]

You... are a rock star. OK. It's a lame joke, but I thought it funny. Anyway. All kidding aside. Your doing a great service showing the everyday operations of a prototype railroad.

[@ccrx6700]

As much ballast as I've hauled and spread over the years you are right Colin, I am a rock star of sorts.... :-) Thank you for visiting with us and may you have a very good day my friend.

[@johnathanlewis2049]

Howdy Dave Have lived here in beautiful Southwest Pennsylvania since Spring 2018 You mentioned about February weather I’ve come to this conclusion about the weather here We get all 4 seasons and very likely all in the same day!! It can be anywhere from Zero to 100 degrees Roll the dice and make up your mind Great video by the way! Have a great day!!

[@ccrx6700]

Your right about weather in SW Pa Johnathan, have the fireplace going in the morning, then turn the air conditioner on in the afternoon, but like my dad used to say, variety is the spice of life.... :-)

[@ianhughes7805]

Nice job Dave, line and top look great

[@ccrx6700]

Thank you for the nice comment Ian. We are very pleased to get this curve taken care of. Really appreciate your taking the time to watch and may you have a very good day my friend.

[@daveadock2874]

I bet you are happy that you got all that track done. Looks like Pennsylvania got some (and may be getting more) severe weather today and tomorrow. I'm glad I'm back in Washington state, I would hate to be flying home with all the bad weather hitting the central states and east coast. Stay safe!

[@ccrx6700]

You are right about that Dave, always a good thing when we can make track safety improvements. Yes we've had several bad storms here this week and another one coming in tonight. Really appreciate your visiting with us and may you have a very good day my friend.

[@paulfazekas7475]

Another great video thankyou Mr dave

[@ccrx6700]

Thank you Paul. We try to keep our track safe and it's great to have a company that spends money on track safety improvements. Really appreciate your visiting with us and may you have a very good day my friend.

[@jonwatt678]

Nice looking job Dave...

[@ccrx6700]

Thank you Jon. We are very pleased to get this curve taken care of. Really appreciate your taking the time to watch and may you have a very good day my friend.

[@thomascardinal6192]

Good looking track Dave!

[@ccrx6700]

Thank you Thomas. We try to keep our track safe and it's great to have a company that spends money on track safety improvements. Really appreciate your visiting with us and may you have a very good day my friend.

[@bradleyjanes2949]

Another great video 😅 thank you

[@ccrx6700]

Thank you Bradley, glad you enjoyed the show. Very much appreciate your taking the time to visit with us and may you have a very good day my friend.

[@wilburroth5150]

looks real nice Dave.

[@ccrx6700]

Thank you Wilbur. We try to keep our track safe and it's great to have a company that spends money on track safety improvements. Really appreciate your visiting with us and may you have a very good day my friend.

[@mackfisher4487]

Your track looks so good with clean white ballest

[@ccrx6700]

You are right Mack, fresh white ballast always makes the track look so good. Some places out west I'm told they have a pinkish colored ballast, can't imagine that. Thanks so much my friend for visiting with us tonight and may you have a very good day.

[@jughead8988]

I've seen about every kind of underground mining there is. From shooting from solid to shuddle car to continuous haulage bridge sections. I would love to have the opportunity to see a long wall mining operation. I've seen plenty of videos but I doubt they do "the shuffle" justice!

[@ccrx6700]

I would love to see that in person also Jughead. We took a tour back in the mid 1980's of the long wall unit under ground, but they weren't mining, it was just sitting there and it was a much smaller shearer and shields than what they have now. Thank you for taking the time to visit with us and may you have a very good day my friend.

[@jughead8988]

@@ccrx6700 a undercut section or shooting from solids isn't very fun. Continuous haulage and I'm betting a long wall is where it's at for mining. There's work involved in any of them but on a bridge is about as easy as it gets depending on what machine your on. I started as a scoop operator but switch to a single head bolt machine after 3½ years and was also the section MET. I loved the bolt machine but the scoop would make a old man out of you fast! A lot of heavy lifting involved with all the belt structures and belt! I'm sure railroading is much the same way when your green and don't know crap from apple butter you work yourself to death! Once you learn a little bit things get easier! When I first started on a scoop the boss we had I truly believe he tried to make everything as hard as possible! We only dealt with two different lengths of belt. 100 foot and 1000 foot. According to that boss the only possible way of lapping belt up so we could move it was for every man on section to get ahold of it with a pair of vice grips and pull their guts out to lap it up. I finally got the opportunity to work with a old crusty miner that had been on a scoop for a couple of decades and he thought me the easy way. Give me a scoop, a foot of ¼ chain with a grab hook on one end, one pair of vice grips and a bag of rock dust and I can lap a 1000 foot piece of belt in 10 minutes by myself and never step off the scoop!

[@RFMCabooseNP1713]

That was fun.

[@ccrx6700]

Thank you and glad you enjoyed RFM. We try to keep our track as safe as we can and are really fortunate we have a company that spends money on track safety. Very much appreciate your taking the time to visit with us and may you have a very good day my friend.

[@raymondsprengelmeyer1278]

You really have some nice looking track Dave, thank you for taking us along!

[@ccrx6700]

Thank you for the nice comment Raymond. We try to keep our track as safe as we can and are really fortunate we have a company that spends money on track safety. Very much appreciate your taking the time to visit with us and may you have a very good day my friend.

[@dorothycole8611]

Job well done. Looks nice!

[@ccrx6700]

Thank you. Really appreciate your visiting with us and may you have a very good day.

[@Bender24k]

Thanks, Dave!

[@ccrx6700]

Your certainly welcome Bender. Thank you for taking the time to visit with us and may you have a very good day my friend.

[@philliphelms6505]

Dear sir. Would just like to say with no disrespect intended! But you are the most happiest person I have ever seen and I mean that in a good way. But after all the years you work somewhere you learn don’t get mad just get the job done!

[@ccrx6700]

Thank you for the very nice comment Phillip. I take that from you as a high compliment. If there is one thing I've learned in 70 years of life, it's that the energy you give off is the energy you get back. Like the Louis Armstrong song, when you're smiling, the whole world smiles with you. Very much appreciate your taking the time to visit with us and may you have a very good day my friend.

[@philliphelms6505]

No thank you for being you my friend and God Bless you and yours.

[@ccrx6700]

@@philliphelms6505 😊👍

[@richardaustin2640]

Looking good Dave, nice work all round! Don't often get to see ballast going down while it's snowing! So glad scobby is still keeping an eye on things 🙂 Stay safe out there.

[@ccrx6700]

Thank you Richard. We try to keep our track safe and it's great to have a company that spends money on track safety improvements. And yes Scooby is a happy little camper now... :-) Really appreciate your visiting with us and may you have a very good day my friend.

[@toddheisler9874]

Thanks for sharing 🙌👍🙏

[@ccrx6700]

Your certainly welcome Todd. Really appreciate your visiting with us and may you have a very good day my friend.

[@danielrongo2367]

Awesome job Dave love the video

[@ccrx6700]

Thank you for the nice comment Daniel. We try to keep our track as safe as we can and are really fortunate we have a company that spends money on track safety. Very much appreciate your taking the time to visit with us and may you have a very good day my friend.

[@paulsmith5398]

Nice & purty!, 90 mph class 1 quality👌❗

[@ccrx6700]

Thank you Paul. We try to keep our track safe and it's great to have a company that spends money on track safety improvements. Really appreciate your visiting with us and may you have a very good day my friend.

[@paulsmith5398]

@@ccrx6700 while i am not sure what the day-to-day weather conditions are in your area, (aside from what occurred in the video), i am largely relegated to stay indoors, unless i can round up someone to lather my back with sunscreen. I had a fairly large melanoma removed from my back 4 years ago, and now theres one on my nose. My advice to everybody that works outdoors with you, just pour that sunscreen on heavily, skin cancer is nothing to play with!

[@ivoryjohnson4662]

Looks good and safer

[@ccrx6700]

Thank you Ivory. We try to keep our track safe and it's great to have a company that spends money on track safety improvements. Really appreciate your visiting with us and may you have a very good day my friend.

[@TonyNaggs]

Nice video Dave.

[@ccrx6700]

Appreciate your saying that Tony and glad you liked the show. We do thank you for checking it out and may you have a very good day my friend.

[@missyd0g2]

Hello from rainy Michigan

[@ccrx6700]

Glad to have you join in with us MissyDog. Got a lot of rain here the past few evenings too. May showers bring June flowers.... :-) Thanks for watching and may you have a dry day tomorrow my friend.

[@bobparsons77]

Nice fresh ballast Dave.

[@bobparsons77]

What is the cost?

[@ccrx6700]

Track always looks really good with new ballast on it Bob before the coal cars leak out coal and make it all black.... :-) Thank you for taking the time to visit with us and may you have a very good day my friend.

[@ccrx6700]

We buy our ballast for $18 a ton, that includes delivery price. It's limestone.

[@clarklindquist8137]

Good evening Dave Another awesome video Happy Memorial day. Hope it was awesome for ya

[@ccrx6700]

Thank you Clark, glad you liked the video. Hope you had a very good Memorial day also. Really appreciate your visiting with us and may you have a very good day my friend.

[@fredeisen7401]

Dave you use such hi tech equipment!! Thanks for the cab ride and ballast placement. Happy Memorial Day!

[@ccrx6700]

Scooby is a happy little camper now riding over this track Fred. He doesn't eat much either... :-) Thank you for taking the time to visit with us and may you have a very good day my friend.

[@robinroberts3335]

Nice job Dave big job making it safe 👍🏻😎 Robin out

[@ccrx6700]

Thank you for the nice comment Robin. We are fortunate the company spends the money on track safety improvements. Very much appreciate your taking the time to visit with us and may you have a very good day my friend.

[@richardbause2453]

No live snakes today Dave. Looking good for 50 MHP. Check out the photos on your phone 📱. Good milestone work on the CACV.

[@ccrx6700]

You are right about that Richard, no snakes up there, that was taken in end of February so they were all in hiding... :-) Thank you for visiting with us and may you have a very good day my friend.

[@johnhobbs2689]

Dave I really enjoy the ride on videos. I just got 10 rock cars for my HO layout. Have a great day.

[@ccrx6700]

Thank you John, glad you enjoyed the show. If you have a YT channel take a video of those rock cars and send it to me to watch, I'd like to see that. Really appreciate your visiting with us and may you have a very good day my friend.

[@stevedrake2031]

I see Scooby riding with you !

[@ccrx6700]

He sure does like to sit up in front of the windshield so he can see everything Steve! He's my big track helper. Appreciate very much for visiting with us and may you have a very good day my friend.

[@steveib724]

Videos are great 👍 if you can make them longer Dave thanks

[@ccrx6700]

Thank you Stevie. Really glad to hear you are enjoying the home movies. Really appreciate your visiting with us and may you have a very good day my friend.

[@geonerd]

I see an awful lot of ballast and coal off to the side of the track. Is there no way to scoop it up, clean it, sort it, and then sell the coal and (re)use the rock? I guess it's just cheaper and easier to buy more new rock? At any rate, it's good to see the company taking care of the track.

[@ccrx6700]

We have thought about doing that in the past geonerd, but it is way too expensive. Here's a video I made on why we don't reclaim our ballast that will give you more information on why we don't do it. Really appreciate your visiting with us and may you have a very good day my friend. kzbin.info/www/bejne/ap_XhJp6gLKkbac

[@williamralph5442]

Road bed looks perfect. Can you pull the rock from the sides and use it for ballast? Thanks Dave

[@ccrx6700]

Thank you for the nice comment William. Stuff on the sides was pretty contaminated so we put all new ballast down. It's good that the company buys me the ballast to be able to do this and helps to make the track safer. Really appreciate your visiting with us and may you have a very good day my friend.

[@zztechs]

Howdy!

[@ccrx6700]

Thank you for taking the time to visit with us and may you have a very good day my friend.

[@tomedgar4375]

Love seeing maintenance of way content. What keeps the rock from accumulating on top of the rails and interfering with the trailing truck?

[@ccrx6700]

Glad you are enjoying these home movies Tom. When dumping rock you have to be careful not to dump too much, better to dump smaller amounts. Dump too much and you are right, it will derail the rock car. It has happened here. Very much appreciate your taking the time to visit with us and may you have a very good day my friend.

[@chanwittwer4925]

Hi Dave, do you have decent heat and air conditioning in those old locomotives? Also, I like watching these videos from the point of view of the guys on the ground, they're really interesting. Please continue making these videos😊

[@ccrx6700]

Yes they do have both Chan thankfully. Glad you are enjoying the home movies and I will continue to keep making them, just for you! Thank you for taking the time to watch and may you have a very good day my friend.

[@user-iu5wf9yj9w]

You should put extenders on your ballast regulators wing and drag some of that ballast from the sides up to the rails. Why waste it!

[@ccrx6700]

Norfolk Southern had a regulator around here many years ago that had extensions on it. I visited and took measurements and drew up a drawing for it and presented it to the office. That is as far as it went. Thanks so much for visiting with us and may you have a very good day my friend.

[@danacampbell-vu2ut]

Could you scrape up the stone along the sides and wash and sift out the rock and reuse it? Would save the company some money? 🤔🤔🤔🤔👍❤️📹😃

[@ccrx6700]

We have thought about doing that in the past Dana, but it is way too expensive. Here's a video I made on why we don't reclaim our ballast that will give you more information on why we don't do it. Really appreciate your visiting with us and may you have a very good day my friend. kzbin.info/www/bejne/ap_XhJp6gLKkbac

[@mikelockhart1827]

Dave you have another really good video this evening im really enjoying it . Dave are you a war veteran?

[@ccrx6700]

Thank you for the kind words Mike. I am not a veteran, my dad, 2 uncles and grandfather were and we honor them and all veterans on this Memorial Day. Really appreciate your taking the time to watch and may you have a really good day my friend.

[@jz1340]

Being it's now May...that video must be from March. Thanks

[@ccrx6700]

Yep end of February and first of March JZ. Thank you for your taking the time to visit with us and may you have a very good day my friend.

[@MusicByWinston]

Love your series, Dave! Just curious what length of track do you cover with one loaded ballast car? Its hard to gauge distance from the videos, so it's anybody's guess from our perspective.

[@ccrx6700]

Really glad you are enjoying the home movies Winston. Depends on how heavy you dump the ballast, I usually put about a medium spread as you saw in the video, that will go about 1/4 of a mile. Thank you for taking the time to visit with us and may you have a very good day my friend.

[@artillerest43rdva7]

great job stabilizing the track, it is always difficult when you run out of the raw materials when you are doing a task. Dave is there a ball park figure for how many pounds of rock {No.2 } per foot of track? so you are able to do a quick calculation of how much you need versus how much you have on hand. then you can place what you have where it is key? nice video, love your positive energy! when you love what you do, you never go to work!

[@ccrx6700]

Thank you for the nice comment Barry. In new track construction it typically takes about 20 tons of new ballast for every 10 linear feet. Cribbing takes about half that amount, so yes if I wanted could figure out approximately how much ballast would be needed. I had requested more ballast to get delivered several weeks before this project even got started , however it took awhile to get it here. Very much appreciate your taking the time to visit with us and may you have a very good day my friend.

[@artillerest43rdva7]

@@ccrx6700 WOW that is so much stones! 2 tons per foot! that is a crazy amount of stone. but that is needed to lock down the rails and prevent movement . especially when you look at the tonnage as it runs across the rails! the engines are at least 200k tons and the cars are when loaded 100k pounds each. it is so sad that you are still at the losing end with vendors for supplies! especially with some thing like stones, that are processed locally! unlike the parts of equipment are mostly made some where else far away. thank you Dave for the reply. being on the outside of railroading I never realized what huge volumes of materials that go into creating and maintaining of it all.

[@ccrx6700]

@@artillerest43rdva7 😊👍

[@frederickday7600]

Thank you for yet another informative and entertaining video. I was wondering if you engineer cambers into the curves or not and as an aside, do you set the speed limits on the tracks you repair.?Sorry if this is a dumb question but I live in the UK but love USA trains.

[@ccrx6700]

Your welcome Frederick and thank you for the very nice comment. If by camber you mean super elevation, then yes I put super elevation into all my curves. Super elevation is where the outside rail in a curve is super elevated (higher) than the inside rail. Our track speed here is a constant 25 MPH. I have a chart that tells me how much super elevation to put into each curve depending on the degree of curvature and the train speed of 25. Very much appreciate your taking the time to visit with us and may you have a very good day my friend.

[@Christiane069]

How often do you have to re-ballast a specific are of tracks? Do you have any knowledge on the cost of ballasts for this job or similar? Yes you have a great job.

[@ccrx6700]

That depends on the section Chris. There are some places that we almost never have to tamp and other places that get tamped many times a year. Usually we put down ballast when a place is tamped if there is not enough to pull in off the track shoulders. Cost for our ballast is $18 a ton delivered, which is very reasonable. Thank you for visiting with us and may you have a very good day my friend.

[@Christiane069]

@@ccrx6700 Thanks again for your time. i really enjoy your videos.

[@Christiane069]

@@ccrx6700 Whoo! The price is very low, if I compare the cost of lumber at Home Depot. I was expecting cost in the hundred. Thanks for the feedback. Do a good job today. Right. I can hear your laughter.

[@ccrx6700]

@@Christiane069 👍😊

[@ericsikma4764]

LOL! Needed to do a double-take on the thumbnail. My eyeballs said, "White ballast," while what's left of my brain said, "SNOW?? WHA-A-A-A-AT?? It was about 84F here today! Oh. Never mind. Those are rocks, not snowflakes..." Oh, dopey me...Sometimes I need to get out more.

[@ccrx6700]

White is pretty on the track whether it's snow or new ballast, white is much better than the coal covered ballast to look at... :-) Thank you for taking the time to visit with us and may you have a very good day my friend.

[@thomasharrington5369]

🚂🚂🚂

[@ccrx6700]

Thank you Tom. Really appreciate your visiting with us and may you have a very good day my friend.

[@brianbickley8368]

I heard back in the old days, that they used to use steel slag from the mills as ballast. Is this true?

[@ccrx6700]

You are right slag has been used as ballast Brian. it's very cheap and we thought about using it way in the past, but wondered about how tamping that steel would cause a lot of wear on my tamper work heads. Thank you very much for visiting with us and may you have a very good day my friend.

[@VinceFelix-ff9cf]

Hi buddy! Another fantastic video. Question...what are those rocks suppose to do on the tracks. Second...what kind of steel is needed to use to make rails to support 480,000 lbs of heavy metal Locomotive trains. Thanks Dave.

[@ccrx6700]

The ballast does two things Vince, one it helps to promote water drainage away from the track and secondly it holds the track in place so track doesn't slide around when a train passes over it. Ballast was all plugged up with coal fines on curve 8 so water couldn't drain away, then when water stays in there the track wants to pump mud up from the bottom and that creates an unstable base for the track to sit on. Not a good thing, so we got rid of the old ballast and put in new. Much better now. Thank you for visiting with us and may you have a very good day my friend.

[@VinceFelix-ff9cf]

@ccrx6700 Thanks Dave!

[@ccrx6700]

@@VinceFelix-ff9cf 👍😊