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[tahoeistruckin]

Here's a story of how Jackson Hole is using the Tram to help build the new tram

http://www.jhnews.co...php?art_id=2140
Tram to truck
On Rendezvous Mountain, the iconic ski box is converted to a workhorse as it builds its replacement.


By Angus M. Thuermer Jr.
August 29, 2007
Veteran tram operator Scott Fought say’s he’s never had as much fun as now operating the Jackson Hole Aerial Tram, as it helps construct its own replacement at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort.

Standing at his usual operator’s position in Car 2 recently, Fought is limited in his movements not by a crowd of eager skiers but by a steel barricade that keeps him from falling through the large hole cut out of the tram floor. As he runs the car up the hill, the scenery zooms past the windows and underneath the belly of the car, where the alpine tundra is exposed in a dizzying blur through the new construction hatch.

As work progresses pouring concrete for the foundations of five new towers and a summit mountain station, the old tram cars have been put to use as freight haulers. After cutting out the floor of each car, workers installed diesel generators in each to operate hoists. The hoists, capable of lifting three tons, are mounted on steel superstructures welded together inside each car.

Fought can lean against the rails of this metal pyramid and peer through the hole below as he uses the hoist to raise and lower material on a 200-foot-long chain.

Load by load, Fought and other tram operators haul bags of concrete and other supplies and machinery up the mountain.

The journey begins as a tram car is driven to above a staging area at the base of the 10,450-foot peak. After lowering the chain and securing a load, the operator will haul it up to the car until it is tucked in close where it can’t catch on anything stationary. That’s a worry operators have never had to contend with before. Excess chain, too, is kept collected in a bucket next to the hoist.

With a load in place, the tram car is run up the hill to above where it will deposit its cargo. The load is lowered, unhitched, and the car is free to make another run.

In addition to ferrying supplies, Fought and his colleagues use the system to place heavy pieces, like lengths of rebar used as foundation anchors, in precise locations where workers below guide them into their final positions.

The tram cars also pick up buckets of mixed, wet concrete and move them over forms where the slurry is poured. Work is ongoing on the mountain station haul rope counterweight and box near the top of the hill.

“I’ve never enjoyed myself so much,” said Fought, who sees this job as much more challenging than a simple run up the hill involving only a start and a stop. “You’ve got to be on your game when you’ve got to move something five inches,” he said.

Fought marvels at the engineering that allows the tram, now 41 years old, to be operated with precision.

“I can make this thing run one inch – on your mark,” he said.