View From The Porch: View through the windshield, part one:

Friday, October 14, 2011

View through the windshield, part one:

Eastbound on I-30, a couple dozen miles west of Texarkana, what appears to be a giant walking dragline looms on the horizon.

It seems to be a popular subject for photos, too...

15 comments:

Leatherwing said...: I thought you were gonna say Mt. Pleasant, TX, which is where it was a few years ago. I think it's following a vein of coal.; 9:16 AM, October 14, 2011
Tam said...: No, you're right. I typed "east of Texarkana" when I meant to type west. D'oh!

Fixed now...; 9:19 AM, October 14, 2011
Wayne said...: "There's beer in Texarkana, and they're thirsty in Atlanta.." My internal Jerry Reed slipped out.; 10:09 AM, October 14, 2011
bedlamite said...: Up here in Wisconsin, We have Manitowoc Cranes. It's not unusual for people to see a crane from the interstate over a mile away and take a detour to get a closer look. There were a few crashes while gawking at the 31000 with the 680' boom and jib up this summer.; 10:54 AM, October 14, 2011
Alan said...: That thing is amazing. Every time I drive past it I have to pull over and gawk.

Humans, Fuck yeah!; 10:56 AM, October 14, 2011
Andrew said...: You know, you should trade in that Z3 for a 911 Turbo, and take your blog on the road full time.

You could call it "View from the Porsche."; 11:02 AM, October 14, 2011
Frank W. James said...: The Sulphur Bluff Ranch is not too far from Mt. Pleasant, Texas and where I've done a bit of hog 'control' work.

Just saying...

All The Best,
Frank W. James; 11:05 AM, October 14, 2011
CAR said...: Are you sure it's not a Martian War Machine?; 12:08 PM, October 14, 2011
Rabbit said...: There's a fair amount of lignite mining and coal-powered generation in NE TX. You passed by one of the strip mines.; 12:35 PM, October 14, 2011
Anonymous said...: Literally LOL'ed at Andrew.

Terry
Florida; 3:03 PM, October 14, 2011
Will Brown said...: What Rabbit said, until the end of this year anyway. Then the miners all go bust and the rest of us here sit and fume in the dark if the EPA gets it way over coal-fired power plants in this part of the state burning that particular coal.; 3:40 PM, October 14, 2011
Tam said...: Will Brown,

I've got my face colander. ;); 3:45 PM, October 14, 2011
Anonymous said...: Yup, just west of Mt. Pleasant, not far from where I grew up. The draglines don't have wheels or tracks. The four pods they sit on move up and down, back and forth, so the machine "walks" (very slowly) from place to place. To compensate, it can throw the dragline bucket well over two hundred feet.

There used to be three of them. I think the lignite has part way run out, so as far as I know there's only one left.

It's not exactly clear to me why you'd go from Indiana to Colorado via Texas, but if it floats your boat it's fine with me. I was on the road more or less at the same time, though our paths never crossed, since I was going between Ft. Worth and Phoenix. If you make the trip again, send an email; I now have my very own Nazi rollerskate, and wouldn't at all mind a trip to Ft. Worth or Wichita Falls to offer you an adult beverage of choice.

Regards,
Ric; 6:56 PM, October 14, 2011
Tam said...: Ric,

"It's not exactly clear to me why you'd go from Indiana to Colorado via Texas..."

Two words: "toter's" and "permit".

IL and MO can fuck right off as far as I'm concerned.; 9:00 PM, October 14, 2011
Anonymous said...: As a former Kansan, I heartily agree with your sentiments about Misery. As far as Ill-annoy-us, never been there (except for a plane change at O'Hare decades ago) and never will.

(Not that Kansas is any friendlier toward toters--progress comes slow there.)

cap'n chumbucket; 10:04 AM, October 15, 2011