First photo: Railroad flagger Thaddeus Andris monitors activity on the ground as Rotor Blad pilot Alan Stack cuts trees and brush encroaching on railroad tracks in Windsor with a saw assembly of 10 two-foot blades suspended from his helicopter on Wednesday. The crew is on a 90-day job trimming brush along tracks in Vermont between Vernon and St. Albans.
Second photo: DeCarr Matney, of Columbia, Ky., a saw mechanic for the company Rotor Blade, checks the tension after replacing a saw blade on an aerial tree trimming assembly in Windsor on Tuesday. The bottom of the saw hangs 125 feet below a helicopter for cutting brush and limbs away from the railroad tracks and utility lines.
Third photo: Pilot Alan Stack, of Homossa, Fla., middle, waves to the engineer of a passing train while waiting with Matney, left, and helicopter mechanic James Lheureux, of Woonsocket, R.I., right, in Windsor, on Tuesday. The men, employees of aerial utility clearing company Rotor Blade, needed the train to clear the area before they could continue cutting trees away from the edges of the railroad.
(Valley News – James M. Patterson) Copyright Valley News. May not be reprinted or used online without permission. Send requests to permission@vnews.com.