Tie gondola - loading/unloading - 1980s?

Model Railroader Prototype information for the modeler
1

Would any of the following methods be prototypical for the 1980s?

Car topper: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSG9jS5Q1zs

Backhoe with clips: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKtHdwb-1ao

Excavator riding on ties: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=milnY5kb5O4

2

Maybe this will help.I recall seeing Burro cranes loading bundles of old ties and rails as late as 93.

3

I built a model of one I photographed in Marysville CA. I don’t remember the year but am pretty sure it was shortly after the Rio Grande bought the Southern Pacific which was in 1988. It was riding on a D&RGW MW gondola. The gondola had clearly been modified to transport the crane.

I know I built my model years before Railway Express Minatures came out with their N scale model. The company was founded in 1997 according tom Walthers

TieGondola1 by Donald Schmitt, on Flickr

TieGondolaImage2 by Donald Schmitt, on Flickr