Did anyone else happen to watch this show last night (7/7) ?This show featured the moves of a depot (which needed to be cut in half and later reassembled) and the recent moves of a UP Big Boy and a Centennial Diesel.In my opinion, this was an interesting show, displaying the type of ingenuity, dogged determination, even stubborness and semi-questionable decision making often needed in restoration type efforts.(When I say semi-questionable, this is in reference to the types of scenarios most of us are all to familiar with, you make a decison that forever labels you as a genius or an idiot, dependent upon the outcome)Interesting to note that the same types of problems and "best laid plans" gone awry, type of things affect even "professionals", as opposed to more typical all-volunteer efforts.The most interesting part of this show, and one I'd be interested in hearing opinions from others about, was the safety and planning aspects of some of the things I saw. I realize all of this was shown through the forced perspective of television, all poised for dramatic effect, but some of it just made me wonder. What I would expect would be simple, basic efforts, ie, making measurements for clearances, as opposed to "I think we'll be okay", left me shaking my head. That coupled with some of the safety issues I saw (Snapped cables and chains with workers seemingly in prospective harms' way, tow trucks being used to pull the locomotives and doing wheelies under the load, climbing under and on top of various loadings, etc) made me wonder if some poor unsuspecting OSHA inspector may have had a heart attack while watching last night.Clearly these people know their jobs, and did them well, but it does show, at least in some small way, the type of extreme efforts needed to keep history alive for the rest of us. Wish someone would do a full series on museum efforts, or even just a few shows on specific rebuilding efforts.

Otherwise titled - How to move a stationStep 1 - Take circular saw out of case.Step 2 - Plug saw in.Step 3 - Proceed to CUT THE BUILDING IN HALF!!Step 4 - Give it a good yank to make sure both halves are separated!Or at least that's how i saw it.Ya know, i had many the same thought..And, although we don't have OSHA up here in canada, I am familiar with them,and that's pretty much the first thing i thought of after looking at some of the practices. There were defintly some safety appliances lacking. I am a bit disappointed however. I think they should have done a show on each one. One for the station move, and one for the Centennial/Big Boy. I would have liked to see more on the big boy move, and felt that could have easily filled up a 1/2 hr along with the centennial. They didn't show where the beams went, or how they lifted. ANywho, those are just my thoughts. The show was fairly interesting none the less.

I watched the program, and I think most the problems were due to the typical breathless style of TV reporting, all while not having a good understanding of what was going on. My take on a lot of what you mentioned:Depot: Wire clearance is sometimes difficult to determine accurately, wires sag different amounts depending on temperature and wind conditions, and it's hard to pre determine how much clearance will be needed as the load comes up a rise and then breaks over. Anyway, the communication lines were low voltage, so if there is a problem, someone just has to get on the roof and lift them, which is what they did. As to the high tension line, the narration makes it clear that the power company was supposed to be present and wasn't. I can't think of a better way to force the issue than to get out and block half the highway. Notice how quickly the power company was on the scene then?Locomotives: These things weigh a lot more than most things house movers move; the job really should have gone to heavy machinery movers, the kind of outfits that move big turbines and generators. Anyone who thinks they are going to pull a DD-40 truck through the gravel with a Bobcat has another think coming, but these guys learned pretty fast. And, they were using a chain, NOT a cable, so when it broke, it just dropped rather than whipped.The wreckers were winching, not towing, and it is typical for the front ends to come off the ground. I fact, the older trucks that didn't have hydraulics typically had mechanical skid plates that were set close to the ground and made contact as the front of the truck came up. One of the things that was totally missing from the narration was the fact that on the locomotive moves the dollies were self propelled, powered by hydraulics (you could see the power unit hung on the side of the load), and the wreckers were simply being used to turn the dollies. When they needed more power to get up the hill, they used big end loaders.I'm certainly no expert, only been involved in moving a dozen or so streetcars and small buildings, but it was enough to show me that one can never pre-plan everything, one just has to take it as it comes. Early on, the driver on one of the streetcar moves summed up the proper attitude with a simple instruction, "If I snag a wire, don't stop me. All wires are supposed to be sixteen feet off the pavement (we measured 15'-8") and if they aren't today, they will be tomorrow."

After first seeing the broken axle picture several months ago during the Big Boy move over the crossing I now understand the problem.But, as mentioned what the heck was that all about. Plywood? Why not steel plating and if the grade of the incline over the crossing had been decreased by starting the ramping further back, the downward force on the one axle would have been greatly reduced. Easy for me to say, I wasn't there, but there seems to have been some math missing somewhere in the process.Things are definitely different in the west than here in the east. The power company didn't show so the move went ahead anyway? Here you would have had DOT, DEP, OSHA, FRA, Utility reps and crews, State Police, Local Police, Fire....blah, blah, on and on to make moves like that.Did anyone else think the buearocrats were noticable absent? Maybe they were just out of the camera angle.

I've yet to see the show and am sure it is exciting television, but the unanswered question is this: What idiot decided to move this huge locomotive to an awkward site off-rail, costing a fortune and potentially causing damage to it in the process, when it could have easily been transported on its own wheels to a different place where it could have received better care?

Because, now no one will ever be able to afford to move them back to active rail.

Did the UP recreate the old billboard "Big Then, Bigger Now" with these two locomotives? The shot at the very end of them both sitting in the park reminded of that advertisement. I do think it would be quite an impressive display.One note about breaking chains. I used to think that chains would just fall when they break until I was involved in the testing of 1-1/4" di-lok anchor chain. The recoil due to the stored energy in these chains was just as bad as wire rope. The digital video was incredible to watch in slow motion. Please never let your guard down when pulling with chains.I also thought that there were a large number of unsafe acts performed in all the moves shown. Most of it I would attribute to lack of planning. I base this on the large number of heavy moves that I have been involved in my career. I was even flabbergasted by the way the hydraulic trailer moving the 4023 was operated.Anyway, just some of my thoughts.

Like many "civic improvements", this was managed by planners who have little affection for the equipment or it's historic role. While a cover over these two giants is hoped for, I wonder if the same planners have gotten that far in their thinking. Does anyone have pictures of the two giant locomotives as they are displayed presently?