Apparently, the Mucker couldn't muck it up any worse. Soory... It was there, had to pick it. Hope things improve, bummer to lose more Rail Service anywhere.
A "mucker" has a very low profile and can work in place by scooping up the debris and lift the bucket over the unit to dump the debris on a conveyor to the outside. Right now they are scooping up a bucket full by a skip-loader, backing out some 850 feet to dump the rock into a waiting truck. It takes time to make all those moves!
Bill- I did know what a mucker is, and how they work. Hence my comment about what they were presently using not being intended for this job. The way they're doing it now, isn't much better than pick and shovel. It almost seems as though they're simply milking the situation for as long as possible. I can't believe the RR leadership is that ill equipped for making better decisions. Boxcab E50 [ 10. August 2004, 17:43: Message edited by: BoxcabE50 ]
Ah .. OK .. I misunderstood your comment. When the tunnel caught fire and the extent of the internal damage was unknown, CORP, or RailAmerica decided NOT to inform their insurance company (who ever that is) because they felt the insurance company would raise the premium ... and we all know that's exactly what would happen. Now, they CAN'T notify their insurance company because they have made the situation worse by using inferior ways and means to restore stability of the bore. Poor initial decision on their part .. especially when it was made not knowing what the whole picture of damage is / was.
As I understand it, there's several executive & management heads that might be rolling by the time RailAmerica gets done with them.
We just received an update ... the projected date to open tunnel 13 is now May 2005! I spoke with the mgr of CORP yesterday and was kind enough to give me permission to to up to the tunnel to do some photography, and interview the construction people. He said that regretfully, he can't allow me to enter the bore for photographs because it's too dangerous at this time. I feel that because of the historic value of tunnel 13 (the site of the last train robbery in the USA), the repairation of the tunnel should be recorded for railroad history. I'll post the photos and information that I get here.
I would tend to believe this should happen. May of 2005? Sounds as though they could bore a new tunnel by then. Which is about what the project now is? Boxcab E50
