Re: How do you build a pile trestle from scratch ?

The photos of OB in Volume VII (authored by Jerry Day) show it driving piles in an existing trestle. There is an overhang, but it looks like the center of the truck is over one bent, while it is driving the pile in the next, which looks to be about 12 feet apart. You would need rather short pieces of rail to be able to advance to the next.

I don't think you can plant telegraph poles with it. There is a limitation of how far the platform can swivel; you wouldn't be able to get it far enough from the track. Plus the hammer travel wouldn't work high enough to reach the top of the pole.

I'm now guessing OB wasn't intended to build new trestles, rather its purpose was to repair and rebuild existing structures. Thanks for all the ideas and especially the references to the sled-mounted units. I would think those were normally used during initial construction.

Bill Kepner