Taking Out the Garbage on My Layout

That's so cool!  You are a wizard at this stuff.

-Greg

Lee:  VERY cool indeed!

Nice Work!

The Sanitation Engineer hanging on the back of that Refuse Hauler looks like he is hanging on for dear life, going around the bend…LOL

Thanks Lee…

K.C.

Great looking scene. Here in the West I have not seen manually loaded trash pickup in at least 25 years. I was amazed when visiting MI, where I grew up, a few years back that the trash service is still done by guys riding on trucks who jump off and manually dump the trash into the truck out of regular trash cans instead of using trash bins that are picked up with hydraulic arms and dumped into the truck. Is there some sort of Union (pronounced "mob") thing preventing trash service from modernizing in the East and having 1 or 2 guys picking up trash 4x as fast as it takes 3-4 guys east of the Mississippi?

Lee that's outstanding. I really love it.

 

Bruce

Lee,

 

I am sure no one would mind except the real garbage men. Sanitation uniforms are green. Outstanding design and trucks.

 

Keeping it real!

 

Mike Maurice

Now that is pretty cool Lee.

Another fantastic build. I certainly hope you reported the accidents on main st.

Excellent photography & video to tell this model railroad story.

Another great job with the layout. You guys are making it hard for me to catch up building my layout compared to all the really great layouts I've seen on the forum!

 

Rich in NH

Love it!  I also like that '59 Imperial.

Looks great Lee!!!

Lee

I'm waiting to see the TMCC version that picks up and dumps a garbage can

I am continually amazed at your skills and talent Lee!

 

I really like the way the last set of wheels turns the corners with the extra center pickup.   Terry

That's how I found a high school classmate when I was in basic training at Lackland AFB in 1949.  I was getting ready to go to my permanent assignment when I saw this kid on the back of a trash pick up truck.  It was Benno Anslager.  He was a high school classmate.  I know you second arriving Americans can't pronounce that name.  In fact, at my High School in Giddings, Texas, you could only pronounce my name and Keith Black, the quarterback.  Anyway, garbage trucks have their place!

Lee has your layout been featured in OGR?

Lee...that is great!  I have the same set of orange dressed workers and was going to use them for my street department but I like your idea for using them on the garbage truck....I have a garbage truck so I am going to steal your idea!!  Can't wait for your books to come out!!

 

Alan

I love the articulated rear, very cool.  You never cease to amaze!

Lee, great job as always!  What's next, a Lionel Legacy Locomotive and rolling stock made into a garbage train heading to Upstate New York State from New York City with a landfill on your layout ? You could have a garbage transfer station to transfer the garbage from your truck to the train. All garbage aboard! You do some amazing things!

Here in NYC the garbage guys wear both kelly green and day glow green with Scotchbright stripes. I think part of the reason we still have manual loading trucks is that the automated trash bin size is ridiculously huge. Buildings in the city here just don' t have the room to store these bins. Many buildings are old and this is the way it has always been done. There are both city sanitation and private trash carting for big newer private buildings. Trash and separated recycling that makes it to the street is all in bags and picked up twice a week.

 

Many East coast suburbs often have the big automated bin loaders but those areas have more space to store these huge bins as well as less frequent pickups in part because the trash can be stored in the bin.

 

A large portion of the trash is taken out of New York city by barge and alot is taken by train. The subway has it's own trash trains that go out every night, late nights when the subways switch to local service. It is a blessing and curse to see the trash trains because while they are older and unusual cars to look at, it means you will be that much later getting home.

Thanks for the info SL, but it does not seem to add up to me. I am well aware that east coast cities are congested, a lot of which is due to the road passage standards of long ago. However, there are lots of cities on the Western side of the US that have been around as long as many of the Eastern cities, yet they all (AFAIK) use containerized/automated trash pickup, even at the individual level.

Owen -

 

My guess is that, in addition to what SL said, there are too many obstacles. Most of the roads are one-way (at least where I am, in Brooklyn), and there are cars parked nose to tail (well, a foot or two between them) on both sides of the street, with few curb cuts for driveways. There are also trees. Sidewalk space is narrow between the front of property and the street.

 

David

David: Your congestion explanation does not explain why a lot (most?) of the Eastern US still has manual trash can pick up and most of the Western US has automated bin trash pickup regardless of whether it is an Urban, Suburban, or Rural location. I do not know why this is so, it is just something I happened to notice. My Union/mob comment was more or less a joke, but in my opinion is a distinct possibility as to why this is the case.

Nice job Lee. Growing up in the Bronx and living on Long Island now, manual trash pickup and someone riding on the back is a common site. The truck looks fantastic. I've never seen a garbage truck with an outside rider move so fast though. The "hanger on" is usually there when the truck is picking up in the neighborhood and moving at close to walking speed. When the truck moves from location to location, everyone piles inside and the truck moves faster. 

Lee,

 

Looks great!  Another super conversion.

 

Larry

Does anybody know if the NYC Sanitation Dept. uses Man diesel trucks for their sanitation trucks?  That is what this model is of.  It looks nice but I assumed they probably buy American andthis is not too realistic.

That trash truck would look cool with a blinking strobe light. (it does anyway)