Fill dirt

El Dorado Western Railroad roadmaster Peter Schultze guides backhoe operator Bob McCormack as he dumps a bucket of fill dirt onto the track. Working just east of the Blanchard Road grade crossing, the maintenance-of-way crew built up the fill over an existing culvert. The crew first constructed cribbing out of discarded ties (visible in the foreground). Bob them shuttled four or five buckets of fill dirt from Blanchard Road to the work location. Next the crew compacted the dirt under the ties.

The railroad can accomplish much with the backhoe. Peter said that it's the best tool we have for MOW work. Over the past 18 months, Bob has skillfully replaced approximately 300 ties with the backhoe.