D&RGW MOW Equipment: Pile Driver OB. A crew from the Friends of the Cumbres & Toltec holds a short safety briefing in front of Pile Driver OB, prior to setting the machine up and conducting a demo in the Antonito Yard. One of the cool things about the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad is that the narrow gauge freight operations survived just long enough for someone to recognize their historic value. Not only did most of the locomotives and rolling stock survive, but much of the Maintenance of Way (MOW) equipment did as well. With the help of the dedicated members of the Friends of the Cumbres & Toltec, those of us who were born too late now have a living "window into the past", allowing us to see first-hand, how railroads did things 100 years ago. One of the teaching tools is this critter: Pile Driver OB. Built back in 1891, this odd-looking contraption was created for the purpose of installing wooden pilings, for the construction of railroad trestles and other similar structures. With the exception of a rebuild around 1920, she served the D&RG, and later, the D&RGW right up until the end of narrow gauge operations in the late 1960s. She came into the possession of the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad in 1970, but was pretty much derelict by that time. From 1999 to 2008, the Friends of the C&TS undertook a long-term restoration effort, not only restoring the appearance of OB, but also making her operable!
As you see her here, OB is configured for transportation. The cab on the left contains a small steam engine which provides all of the power for cab rotation, boom erection and hammering operations. Like her sister, Derrick OP, Pile Driver OB does not have her own boiler. Instead, she relies on a feed of live steam from a locomotive, which is also required to move her to the job site. Once in position, the idler flat on the right is moved away and the boom or derrick to the right of the cab is unfolded and erected vertically at the end of the car opposite the cab. A very heavy iron hammer is then hoisted to the top of the derrick. At the bottom of the derrick a clamp holds the pile....typically a heavy wooden post that has been pointed at one end....vertically, much as one would hold a nail before driving it. The hammer is then alternately dropped on the head of the pile and raised, with the gravity providing the energy for the former, and the steam engine doing the lifting for the latter. It's primitive yet very effective, as I later learned while watching the Friends actually drive a pile to the delight of an assembled crowd of photographers and enthusiasts.
