Not me, my helper. And not running, just walking. The ballast shifted, he slid a little sideways on a very gentle slope, heard a loud pop from his knee, and tried to take another step, went flat on his face.
I twisted my ankle on the stuff about a week later, had to stay off of it for almost a month. They got the hint, two leg injuries in a month on the same lead within 50 feet of each other. They levled the slope, took up the big rocks, and replaced it with 1" and less ballast, mixed with chipped shale.
A lot easier on the feet and ankles.
Stay Frosty,
Ed
IF you walk around in loose ballast all day, the next morning everything from the thighs down is screaming in agony. The next morning, you look and feel like Tim Conway’s “little old man” routine. If you don’t have a good pair of work shoes, you don’t make it through the day. I set the table for Ed to reply and he did so magnificently. It’s not only the tripping issue. Ed works in a different world than most of us and does so safely (It isn’t as easy as it appears). There are a whole bunch of considerations in play when you elect what size of ballast to put down. (Mainline (3.5 in), Yard (1.5 in), Chips (0.75 in) or screenings/waste (fines) ballast all have uses, what nobody wants is mud!)
We all jumped for joy about 15 years ago when the FRA REQUIRED formal toe paths at each switch for a complete train length. 3/4 minus on top of #3. YES!!
In 1975 blew all of the cartlege in my right knee, shortened my leg about 2 inches. 1/2 body cast for 6 months. Walking on #3 beside a cut on single track is NOT FUN! Got the handle of “Sawout” because I made the hog head saw me out instead of walking on that slope.
I do not know if this has anything to do with ballast. They are putting in a second track in between Antioch and Wheeling. The problem is they are running into pure black dirt. They have to dig it up and put down clay. Pure black dirt is bad for a rail bed for it absorbs water and holds it. The clay is layed then watered down. The sun bakes it. I talked to one worker he told me it gets hard as concrete. Darn us Illinios people with are pure black soil. (We would ship it to Nebraska but it would only blow back.)
TIM A
Ah Tim - you are so right! We have so much clay here in Lincoln, they ought to put in more tracks! You grow the corn and we will run the trains! Great trade-off!
Jen
PS - the wind has actually been a little better here this year. Not nearly as many 'bad-hair days".