Train wreckers? any Hulcher, RJ Coreman, Cranemaster.....

[JMachemer]

employees or ex-employees out there? I worked for Hulcher from 1998-2001 at the Gettysburg Division. I started as a groundsman - setting up the tractors, hooking winch lines and load lines, using cutting torches - grunt labor, but ended up running the CAT 977L before i moved on to my current job at GE.

the work was definatly interesting and exciting, but i got the poops of having no social life at all. Working 40 hours a week at the shop only happened maybe 3 weeks i was there. Being on call 24-7-365 made the job somewhat stressful. We were always out cleaning up derailments. We once did 13 derailments in one week ( over 120 wrecks that year). I got to travel from southern Virginia up to Vermont doing the job. I worked 40 hours straight more than 10 different times there. The biggest wreck i did was 80 coal cars down near Keyser WV/Luke MD area.

I do miss that line of work. I am married now, so i doubt i will ever go back to do it. If u don't know much about the different companies check out their websites - just search for Hulcher, RJ Coreman, CraneMasters... . I don't know all the companies, but we did do some big wrecks with Coreman and Cranemasters.

It is amazing how much a 583K sideboom (Cat pipelayer) can pick up. More than one occasion we picked up an end of a 400,000 lbs+ locomotive with one 583 - using the 977 and a Cat 325BL as more counter weight :-laf

 

[DennyDay]

I work with RJ, not for him and my son spent 10 years with Hulcher out of Denton - - - But thats the life, been wrecking for 30 years and wouldn't know what else to do. The 24/7/365 does get a little old, but you get used to it - - - - I work the chemical side of the wreck business.



Denny

 

[SHobbs]

Working for Union Pacific being on call 24/7 has become a way of life. Like Denny said you get used to it after a while. A few years back we provided Hulcher with alot of business seemed that almost every day we were derailing cars or turning them over.

 

[DennyDay]

SHobbs - - - If you were working at Centenial in the 80s and 90s, it became a 2nd home for Hulcher!!



Denny

 

[nickleinonen]

i haven't been to any major derailments, just some minor ones with locomotives. . i personally have been involved in derailing locomotives on two separate occasions. . we had our car department rerail them with some rerailers. . i went to an outpost that derailed a gp9. . car department came out again and we used the hydraulic jacks to pickup the loco and the hiab crane on the service to tug the truck of the loco to align the wheels with the rail [1/2" at a time = very slow process @ double time ]

 

[DLGonzo]

Have some friends that work for RJ. They all seem to like it pretty good. One is headed off to China later this year for some work. Around in Jessamine Co. KY his name is on almost everything. Killer Private Airstrip, hanger, and multible aircraft.



Anyway, hats off to the hard core blue collar guys out there. Kinda like messing with cows, they don't wear watches and don't care about your schedule.

 

[JMachemer]

i still stop by the shop every couple weeks to see how everything is going. The Hulcher Division at Gettysburg had 3 leave and go to work for Crane Masters - they are in Taneytown, MD. I remember when i was there one of the guys left to work for Coreman up in Newburg, NY.



one thing i hated about travelling was the Peterbuilts they had were governed to 62mph. They had 410hp CAT engines that really struggled with 110,000 lbs. I never did understand that. I figured a company that had that $$ would get a truck engine that was capable of pulling a hill without dropping a gear or 2, or 3. Now they had some old KW's that ran well - 70mph. Most of them had 3406's but we had one rotate through that had an 8 V-92 Detroit - a real screamer.



the company sure did practice PM'ing equipment. It seemed like every week we were changing the oil in something, checking the breaks, or welding/painting. I guess thats why those 583Ks are still running great and they were made in the 60's-70's

 

[SHobbs]

SHobbs - - - If you were working at Centenial in the 80s and 90s, it became a 2nd home for Hulcher!!



Denny

Denny,

If you're talking bout Centennial in Ft Worth I was in that yard in 2000-2002, seemed that after every rain storm we dumped some cars on the ground. I think there was a stretch of about 2 yrs that this went on before they started fixing the rail. Oh they renamed the yard, it's now Davidson Yard after Dick Davidson company pres.

 

[therabbittree]

Neat discussion. . I always wanted to do this type of work . . but as always I got side tracked in the career path . . maybe after the police retirement. . if the pay is way better . . then maybe a swap ha. . any pics from big wrecks. . ??we've seen a few floaters her on the Hudson River line from CSX etc. . lots of rail traffic here. .

Later

Deo

 

[JFaulkner]

Around in Jessamine Co. KY his name is on almost everything. Killer Private Airstrip, hanger, and multible aircraft. .

If you look at RJ Cormans website you can see pics of the aviation division. I've driven past the hanger in Nicholasville KY a few times. I first thought it was an office building but a few weeks later I was there early in the morning and the lights were on inside. Talk about a gross display of income. From what I understand they own the land between the hanger and the airport and have a several mile long taxi way. For the longest time I thought they just had an derailment division. I would like to take a ride on the dinner train south of Lousiville.

 

[SHobbs]

The sidebooms that Hulcher uses are impressive. A coworker turned over about 8 cars one day, one of which was a 60ft box car loaded with plywood that weighed somewhere around 200k. The car was on it's side and the sideboom operator latched on to it with the winch on the rear of the tractor and used the winch only to drag the car, the tractor never moved. He pulled it about 20yds or so till it was at a place he could get it back to vertical. It was fun to watch them that day, very quick and precise in their job. They made it look easy.

 

[DennyDay]

SHobbs - - - Yep. those Hulcher guys can do more with a sidewinder than a monkey can do with a 20 foot grapevine - - - just stay out of their way 'cause you will get run over - - - kinda like the railroad - - the train always wins and when it doesn't Hulcher does!



Denny

 

[JMachemer]

yea they do amazing work. I remember when i just started we did a derailment near Clover, VA. It was at some industrial plant that had a spur line that ended in their property. Well, 2 engines did not get stopped and rolled off the track and down a hill. By the time they stopped, the lead engine was buried so far in the dirt that the window of the engineer was at ground level. At one point we had three 583's, one 572, and two 977's winching on those engines - after the 977s dug out the sides of the engines to free up the dirt and get to the winch/hook points. It put a on my face. The sidebooms ( 583's and 572 ) would pick-up and carry as the 977s winched.

Those old CAT engines - i think they were 3308 and 3306 - sure did throw the black coal in the air. On the way to a derailment we would pull over and start the CATs up while they were on the trailers, so they would be at operating temps when we got on site. I remember watching those 583s as they first started how much/and how high they would blow the black smoke in the air - i'm sure the people driving by thought the circus was in town:-laf

 

[JMachemer]

went back to Hulcher for about a month last year after I lost my job at GE. The Gettysburg division really changed. They now do load transfers and adjustments. A big difference from train wreckin'. I almost got hurt or killed 2times and said that was enough. I got hooked by a chain that was attached to the bucket of a 325 excavator and flung in the air. Was almost knocked into or off of a loaded grain car by 50 mph wind (no harness or lanyard). They seemed to bid on any and all work and under bid everyone just to get the job - thats the economy. But the safety really went down hill with those bid jobs. - using a 25 ton excavator to do a job a 50-100 ton crane should have been used for (load adjustment of 30'x9'x1" steel plates) and only having a 6 foot spreader bar and metal chain. Those steel plates bent like a piece of paper and slid all over the place on those chains. Really lucky no one got crushed. Hulcher just closed a few of their divisions too - 2 I know of in Buffalo NY and Barborsville WV. I am sure they are still a great train wreckin company, but those load transfer and adjustment jobs were down right scary.

 

[DennyDay]

:{

The Gettysburg division really changed. They now do load transfers and adjustments.

Yep, they have changed - - Rick Corman is eating their lunch - - and they are pretty safety orientated - - - Safety at Hulcher went out the window during Katrina when Norm Smith was fired for stopping an unsafe operation in New Orleans - - - Good luck trying to change 'em!



I'm out of it now, retired 14 months ago, don't miss the 24/7/365, but miss the guys we worked with from both Corman and Hulcher and Crane Master when we were in Chicago:{

 

[rbattelle]

I had no idea derailments were so common.

Is it usual that the cars or locomotives that derail are undamaged and reusable once they're set back on track?

Ryan

 

[DennyDay]

I had no idea derailments were so common.



Is it usual that the cars or locomotives that derail are undamaged and reusable once they're set back on track?



Ryan

There are Train Derailments and Train Wrecks (see pictures below)



Pretty common, most derailments are just that, usually low speed, wheels on the ground, with minor damage, with minor repairs needed to running gear. Train wrecks are another thing, most are fairly high speed, with locomotives destroyed, cars ripped up with lading spread over the site, and the rails torn up. Most keep 40 foot sections of track assembled in panels in their yards that can be transported and installed in hours insted of day to get the line open. There is no $$ coming in when a line is down, and many of their contracts with major shippers require payment bu the rail if a shipment is late. With several companies doing wrecking nationwide inculding Hulcher and Corman, and more doing regional wrecking, such as Crane Master in Chicago, Winters in Buffalo, and Pat Baker in Texas, and with a drastic reduction of railroad accidents and traffic in the last several years, it's AFAB (anything for a buck) only the good will survive - - and safety records are beginning to dictate who the railroads will use. When a contractor hurts or kills an employee on RR property, both FRA and OSHA charge that accident against the RR.



Look at the pictures, I think you can see the difference between a wreck and a derailment!

 

[DennyDay]

Safety Forgotten

Hulcher seens to have forgotten this - -

"The Train Always Wins"



Sidewinder was in foul of the main - - caused 22 cars and 2 locos to derail on UP in Kansas this past Saturday

 

[JMachemer]

That almost makes me sick to my stomach. I hope the operators and groundsman involved (both Hulcher and the RR) were not injured. That almost looks like a 572 sideboom (D7 size CAT)? but with all the damage (looks like it might have melted some too) i guess it could have been a 583(D8 size CAT) sideboom. Thank goodness I never witnessed anything like that. We always seemed to be warned in plenty of time to get off the rail - it was the only time we got a break when we were wreckin. I bet there is plenty of safety conference calls going on now at the Hulcher Divisions.

 

[DennyDay]

The Train Always Wins II

I bet there is plenty of safety conference calls going on now at the Hulcher Divisions.

It was a 583 - - the operator was off the machine, but the best part was the UP told the Hulcher crew the main was shut down. I don't know if it was a communications problem or the train crew missed a stop order. I would be there was a communications error - - but what ever it was, looks like Hulcher is off the hook for the cost. :-{}