An electrifying story
Here are some more memories of Dad. As I told you earlier, he once worked as a lineman for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, Bureau of Power and Light. And during those times as a lineman, he worked on the power transmission line to Boulder Dam. I think he really enjoyed that job, because most of his stories were about those days, much like I enjoy talking about my own career as a “Sheetrocker”.
The story, in a nutshell, was that the line originated in Los Angeles and that is where they began constructing the tall towers. They would drive, cross country, in utility trucks specially built for the task. These trucks became their homes and were known as “Crummy’s”. They had no concrete trucks to bring them cement and they had no cranes to lift the steel into place. The footings were dug by hand and the concrete mixed and poured at the site. The towers were built out of sections of steel and were simply bolted together. I say “simply”, but I doubt that that was the case. Remember; they had to climb them to bolt them together. Once they had a tower complete, they would move on to the next site and start all over again.
One of dad’s stories was of a time when a new crewman showed up at the site and was told to help the crew bolting up the uppermost sections of the tower. The man climbed until he would go no further. He clung to the steel and couldn’t go up or down. Dad said that after trying, in vain, to talk the man down, he climbed up past him and hung a block from the “horn”. That’s the part of the tower that projects sideways. He had a rope and that was thrown down to the crew on the ground. He then fastened the rope to the safety belt of the clinging lineman and pried him loose from the tower. The crew let him down safely, but when the man’s feet touched the ground, he took off running. Dad saw the rope quickly ascending to the block so he grabbed the block and threw it down. The man continued to run until he had disappeared over the hill. The crew went after him and after awhile they came back with the belt, the rope and the block. That was all they found and never saw the man again.
That must also be one of my favorite stories as well...I'm sure I have told it dozens of times.
The story, in a nutshell, was that the line originated in Los Angeles and that is where they began constructing the tall towers. They would drive, cross country, in utility trucks specially built for the task. These trucks became their homes and were known as “Crummy’s”. They had no concrete trucks to bring them cement and they had no cranes to lift the steel into place. The footings were dug by hand and the concrete mixed and poured at the site. The towers were built out of sections of steel and were simply bolted together. I say “simply”, but I doubt that that was the case. Remember; they had to climb them to bolt them together. Once they had a tower complete, they would move on to the next site and start all over again.
One of dad’s stories was of a time when a new crewman showed up at the site and was told to help the crew bolting up the uppermost sections of the tower. The man climbed until he would go no further. He clung to the steel and couldn’t go up or down. Dad said that after trying, in vain, to talk the man down, he climbed up past him and hung a block from the “horn”. That’s the part of the tower that projects sideways. He had a rope and that was thrown down to the crew on the ground. He then fastened the rope to the safety belt of the clinging lineman and pried him loose from the tower. The crew let him down safely, but when the man’s feet touched the ground, he took off running. Dad saw the rope quickly ascending to the block so he grabbed the block and threw it down. The man continued to run until he had disappeared over the hill. The crew went after him and after awhile they came back with the belt, the rope and the block. That was all they found and never saw the man again.
That must also be one of my favorite stories as well...I'm sure I have told it dozens of times.
posted by Steven | 6:20 AM
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