When you guys are done, could you do my driveway? Retired crew member Mike O'Daniel leads the charge as the White Pass Rotary Fleet impacts an 8-foot drift in front of the station building in Bennett, BC. This drift was the last major obstacle to the completion of the 2011 spring line-clearing operation.
Now you're probably wondering what a retired guy is doing up there in the pilot house of the rotary. The answer is that there just weren't very many current crew members who had any significant experience operating this equipment. In order to help train some of the younger railroaders, the White Pass & Yukon invited several long-service, retired guys to participate in the 2011 operation as instructors. Although the line does not intend to use the rotary on a regular basis to clear the tracks each spring, they consider this type of operation to be part of their heritage, and they intend to maintain the capability to do it on special occasions. Judging by the success of the 2011 event, both the equipment and the personnel are in top-notch form.
