123 lines
6.3 KiB
HTML
123 lines
6.3 KiB
HTML
<!DOCTYPE html><html><head><title> Diesel Creek </title><link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="html_resources/style.css"></head><body><svg class="hidden_filter"><filter id="crunchy_blur" x="0" y="0"><feFlood x="4" y="4" height="2" width="2"/><feComposite width="6" height="6" in2="SourceGraphic"/><feTile result="a"/><feComposite in="SourceGraphic" in2="a" operator="in"/><feMorphology operator="dilate" radius="1.4"/><feGaussianBlur stdDeviation="2.2"></feGaussianBlur></filter></svg><div class="back"><a href="index.html"><</a></div>
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<h1> Diesel Creek </h1>
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<p>
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Michelle asks: <span class="quote speech">And you really expect to find
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machines here that can be salvaged?</span><br />
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The four are walking into a valley in a large forested area.<br />
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Jack replies: <span class="quote speech">Right now, I'm not even
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sure this is the place – everything looks so different – but,
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if it is, we'll have plenty to choose from and a bunch more for
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spare parts.</span><br />
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James gestures to the side, saying:
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<span class="quote speech">Look, over there.</span><br />
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He points out a group of very rusty and completely overgrown machines.
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<br />
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Annie wonders: <span class="quote speech">How did they get inbetween
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the trees?</span><br />
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Jack says: <span class="quote speech">They didn't. The machines
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came first, the trees grew after. This wasn't a forest
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back then.</span><br />
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They make their way over to take a closer look.
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</p>
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<p>
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Jack says: <span class="quote speech">Looks like these were already
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out of order before they were abandoned.</span><br />
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He turns to Annie and James:
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<span class="quote speech">This is an excavator. We're looking for
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a big one like this, maybe a bit smaller, but not as small as that one
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over there – and preferably without trees growing out of
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it...</span><br />
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He points to a small excavator that sits askew on a thick tree trunk
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that had grown through the floor and out the side.
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<span class="comment">Compact excavator? Tiny excavator?</span><br />
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James asks: <span class="quote speech">Why not just use this one?
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What's wrong with it?</span><br />
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<span class="quote speech">This thing's just done for. Apart from it
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being a pile of rust, it's missing its tracks, the hydraulics for
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moving the bucket, and it looks like the inside of the cab got completely
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dismantled.</span><br />
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They take a quick look at the other machines around them. There is the
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other, much smaller excavator, a dump truck, a <span class="comment">
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what's the name of that machine with a conveyor belt that sorts
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large rocks and rubble from sand?
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<!--
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ChatGPT says "screening plant" but also refers to it as a
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"vibrating belt sorter". Research that.
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It also gives a good description of what it does:
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"splits rubble into chunks, fines, and dust."
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-->
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</span>, and two loaders. All of them
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are rusted beyond repair and missing integral parts.<br />
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</p>
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<p>
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A bit further down the valley, they approach a much larger collection of
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machines, parked in rows and parted out like the first ones they saw.
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<br />
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Jack says: <span class="quote speech">Welcome to the machine graveyard.
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If memory serves right, there should be a few buildings back there and
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one of the main parking lots behind them.</span><br />
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While they make their way through between the machines, Annie asks:<br />
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<span class="quote speech">So these machines dug out the dome?</span>
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<br />
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<span class="quote speech">Well... no. That was mostly done using
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explosives, conveyor belts, and trains. They used loaders to get the
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stuff onto conveyors but most of the machines here were used in
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construction after the digging was done.</span><br />
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</p>
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<p class="comment">
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research that needs to be done:
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When were hydraulic excavators invented?
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When did they get the ability to use a jackhammer attachment?
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When did the cable-driven ones go out of fashion?
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</p>
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<p>
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<span class="comment">missing section</span>
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</p>
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<p>
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Annie calls the others over to one of the buildings.<br />
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<span class="quote speech">Look what I found...</span><br />
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Michelle arrives before Jack and she laughs. He arrives a moment
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later and peeks inside. There sits a cable shovel, partially covered
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in rubble from the caved-in roof – rusty but surprisingly intact.
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<br />
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Jack says: <span class="quote speech">That's ... uhhh ... kind of
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a historical artifact.</span><br />
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<!--
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"I mean, everything here is a historical artifact."
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"Fair enough, but this especially so."
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There is also a kinda small hydraulic excavator.
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They decide to make both work.
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This is for another chapter but here is a list of things they might do:
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- strip parts off of other machines
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- modify or create parts at the Ivydale train yard
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- swap out a beyond-repair engine - with a different one that
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doesn't fit ofc
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- weld things to the machines for botched but improved
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structural integrity
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- maybe come up with an alternative for hydraulic fluid if it isn't too
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far fetched, alternatively scavenge it from other machines or trade
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for it
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- find a grabber attachment for the excavator
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- DIY electronics
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-->
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</p>
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<p>
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<span class="comment">missing section</span>
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</p>
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<p>
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<span class="comment">
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Things that need research: Did early hydraulic excavators have starter
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engines (what were they called again?) or was that a thing of the past
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by then?<br />
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Events:<br />
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-> they take off some access panels<br />
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-> they manage to get the starte engine going<br />
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-> large engine won't start (why?)<br />
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</span>
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</p>
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<p class="copyright">Copyright © 2023-2025 Jan Danielzick (aka. BodgeMaster) – All rights reserved.</p><script>let spans = ["<span class=\"paper green\">", "<span>"]; let pre_texts = document.getElementsByTagName("pre"); for (let i = 0; i < pre_texts.length; i++) {if (pre_texts[i].className != "paper") continue; let lines = pre_texts[i].innerHTML.split("\n"); let result = ""; for (let j = 0; j < lines.length; j++) {if (lines[j].length >= 80) result = result + spans[j%2] + lines[j] + "</span>\n"; else result = result + spans[j%2] + lines[j] + " ".repeat(80-lines[j].length) + "</span>\n";} pre_texts[i].innerHTML = result;}</script></body></html>
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