Originally Posted by
M923
I believe it on the hassle on the yard’s end. I may take it in whole or nearly whole.
When you yard owner recognises that you have initiative and the means to get her done, remember that your not paying s crew by the hour for travel and torch and loading.
I've been the beneficiary of scrap that was either to little in volume and to far for the yard to go after, on one occasion about 20 tons of rail the crew had over looked. The yard owner gave me a letter of authorisation to remove the rail even though the cut up rail was going to a yard geographically closer and more convenient for me.
Once I had the rail cut up the yard in Pentiction B.C. at my request sent out a self loader to pick up the scrap rail. If I remember correctly I may have worked in a deal where the yard supplied the oxygen.
On anther deal same yard that forgot the rail had left behind more scrap up the Harrison Lake, they cleaned up the main site but did not bother heading further up the lake for bits of machinery that was scattered. Some older cats, triple drum winches and an old Adam grader.
Originally when the yard had acquired this huge lot of scrap it was their intention to barge the scrap out, someone had neglected to find out the width of a railway bridge going over the Harrison River. The barge would not fit through and this changed from a water operation to a trucking operation which is more expensive.
Had they been able to use the barge then going after the other pieces of machinery further up the lake would have been viable, the road leading further up the lake has some very steep hills with one having a thick layer of loose sand which makes it almost impossible for large trucks to make the grade.
Most heavy traffic is brought up after freeze up or is towed up the hill with a cat, access by water would have circumnavigated the hill. Trucks with four wheel drive could easily make the grade.
Years ago was given a steam shovel, the boiler was full of holes so they used a large diesel operated air compressor to operate the shovel, they used it for prospecting. They had used the shovel to make a road down to where she sits to this day.
When they shut down for the winter had brought the air compressor up the rough road they had cut in for maintenance then during the spring runoff the road had washed out and they had no way of getting the air compressor back down to the shovel.
The placer claim and the shovel were both abandoned at this time and that steam shovel has sat unmolested for these past 40 years. There ya go my claim to fame I own an old Bucyrus steam shovel which sits on the banks of the Fraser River a bit east of North Bend.
Before the bridge was built between Boston Bar and North Bend you had to cross the river with the aerial ferry, any scrap leaving the North Bend side of the river either left by rail or via logging roads to Lillooette.
This is the terrain worked in and know every back road there is on BC. I've cut and hauled scrap from most and explored others with either some old beater of a 4x4 or by dirt bike and I prefer the latter for getting over and around wash outs.
My shovel is on the north side of the Fraser River and you can see from the first image the banks are very steep.
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