I had filled up our spray truck with water the previous night so we could mix up and be ready to go first thing in the morning. So far so good. Then it came time to set up the computer. It was a little challenging since the office neglected to pre-load a program so I had to make a brand new one on my own. But, with a little help from the manual I was able to get it up and running, so I figured I would test all the nozzles. That's when things started to get hairy.
I flicked the switch for my boom Radiarc (a motorized nozzle that sprays a wide pattern) - nothing. I flicked it off and on again and the motor was running, but no liquid was coming out of the nozzle. Well, this is no good. So I opened up the boom thinking perhaps the hose was kinked where the boom folds up, kind of like a human elbow. With the boom outstretched I tried again - nothing. This was also no good. I turned to Matt, riding in the passenger seat, and asked him if his Radiarc was working. Of course his worked just fine. Great, now what?
I got out and traced the hose all the way along the boom and underneath the truck looking for kinks, cuts, or some sort of plug. Nothing. I thought maybe the solenoid, the device that electronically opens and closes the valve to the Radiarc, was perhaps stuck. So I tapped on it with a piece of iron. Still nothing. But then the light went off in my head, when I took the truck out of the shop there was a brand new solenoid sitting on the passenger seat. It was now obvious why it was there! Supposedly this truck was supposed to be all fixed and ready to go, I guess they didn't quite get to everything. Replacing the solenoid was fast, just pull out a pin, unhook the electronics, pull off the old one and do the reverse for the new. Voila! Problem solved, thankfully!
Jim, our track pilot, met us shortly after and said that crews working in town had a four hour work window so we should be able to get some spraying done. This is where I should also mention that our chemical shipment for this line was not set to arrive until later in the day (more on this later), so we only had enough left over from the previous line for two more tank loads. I figured this would work out perfect, it should take three hours to get our three tanks sprayed and then the window will close, the trains will start running like trolleys (as they do on this line), and we would be done, no harm no foul.
We headed out to some location south of St. Joseph called French and got our track and time and were ready to set on and start spraying. I've set our hy-rail on the track numerous times, a little ballet that involves backing up on a crossing and getting the back and front wheels lined up with the rail so the rail wheels will match up correctly. But today made it look like my first time! I was completely off on the back but the front lined up. Matt had already put the front up by the time I realized I'd never get the back on, so we had to put it all down and start over again, costing time and making me look more than a little green at this.
I did get it on and we did start spraying. Now things seemed to be going! We cruised along just fine. The problem was I misjudged just how much chemical we would need. It was now obvious that we would not make it as far along as I told my ground (read "refill") truck. It should be no problem, except I couldn't get the ground truck on the radio - or the phone. Well, that's no good! I had no choice to go until we ran out and hope I could make contact at some point. This is also when I discovered my spray computer is not properly calibrated - the computer said I had about 46 gallons left when in reality the tank was completely empty.
Luckily our track pilot found the ground truck and sent him up the road. We found a place to fill and boy, did it seem like it took forever! It should take only 15 to 20 minutes (or less) to refill. It's simple, hook up the water hose, start the pump, MSM 60DF, Picloram, Journey, Vista XRT, Methylated Spray Oil, Point Blank, pull the hoses and go. It seemed like it took us forever and a day though, wasting valuable time, making me look incompetent. Sadly, the exact same thing happened the next time it came to refill.
It was now getting past that four hour work window, which was good, because we were completely out of chemical, so I figured I could at least spare myself the embarrassment of having to admit we started the day far shy of what we may need. But then I heard the train dispatcher extend somebody's track and time for another two hours. Oh crap! How was I going to sheepishly tell the pilot we had to quit (on an otherwise perfect spray day! no trains, no wind!) because we ran out of chemical. Then it started raining!
Yes, I thought, rain! We will have to quit now because we can't spray in the rain. Ha! I should have known better, the rain didn't last long and it was back to hoping for train traffic. Unfortunately I finally had to admit to the pilot we would have to stop because, "uhh...we are out of chemical. Completely out." He was amazingly nonchalant about it, but maybe that wasn't hard considering the previous antics of the day.
So we sprayed out the tank, a mere 15 miles short of one end of our territory. I will also guarantee that when it comes time to try and spray this short section train traffic and wind and rail will prevent us from getting it done in any sort of timely manner! At least today was over and I could try again tomorrow, right? Not quite. My ground truck driver informed me that he couldn't find any of the chemical that was supposed to have been delivered to the yard today. Well, that's no good!
I had hoped he just didn't look in the right spot, that it was hidden behind some building, but after scouring the yard myself my fears were confirmed, there was no chemical; and it was five o'clock. I called up the chemical dealership and was lucky enough to get ahold of the secretary there. Not that that helped, she couldn't tell me if it was delivered or not, and if it was when it got there or where they put it. I'd have to call back at eight in the morning, the same time we would normally be trying to get started spraying. Well, this is no good!
At this point I had little to lose, so I figured, what the hell, I'd drive all over town scouring the BNSF property to see if they had dropped it anywhere out of the ordinary. I did have a sneaking suspicion about a place on the other side of the yard where the old passenger depot was. I was so happy when I drove over there and saw a stack of boxes and barrels! The delivery driver had simply found this open lot (the depot has disappeared since I was last in town) near both the tracks and the highway and just decided to drop it off there. As annoying as it was, at least we had our chemical for tomorrow.
So that was my first day, not exactly smooth. But things can only improve from here, right?
1 comment:
yes, it can only get better from there.
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