Riding the rails

I had an interesting week at work. We began last Friday installing this crane at a local metal stamping plant.
It's not very high, only 60 or so feet up, but this was the first time I got to work on the installation of a crane like this.


Here's an action shot of The Big Man hooking up the cables from the festoon system to the crane's hoist motor cables. The festoon system allow the trolley to move along the bridge, dragging it's power and control cables back and forth along with it. You can see the loops of cables in the above picture.



Here's the boss, Alpaca Dick (don't ask) answering one of The Big Man's questions regarding some "extra" wires. All he does all day is sit around and look important. I think he's got it down pretty well here.


Junior and Dobi, henceforth known as Dan the Man because whenever I think of Dobi, I think of a particular house elf. Anyway, Jr. and DtM are connecting the 480v AC power feeds that go from the collector shoe to the main crane disconnect. The collector shoe travels along in that track above Dan's head, picking up power from the internal hot rails. As a safety precaution, the power has been shut off, locked out, and tagged out.



Finally, a picture of me! I was supporting the festoon cables that went into the pullbox that TBM was working in. You can bet your ass that I had those safety lines hooked up at all times.



Later, as we tested the crane, I got to ride it up and down the length of the building. We were looking for obstructions and to ensure it worked properly. It was fun once, but I can see the thrill wearing off quickly.