Caption: I remember taking this photo like it was yesterday! After having spent a number of years on regional rail and tie renewal gangs, I decided to change it up a bit by bidding the Great Lakes Regions only hi-rail excavator at the time. This Gradall G-660 had been modified by Warner & Swasey with motor grader tires to give it the clearance needed to adapt a very heavy set of hi-rail wheels to each end of the unit. The rear axle set was direct drive to the rail wheels through a pto from the 10 speed manual transmission. The machine clocked in at 68,000 lbs. and had a boom tip reach of 35 feet from center of rotation. It was quite the rig to move around some of the small Ontario towns I worked in during 1974 and 1975. The remote control drive and steering from the upper cab made for some second looks when working the machine off the tracks. I last saw the unit in the work equipment shop in Moncton, NB in 1987. Both of which are no more. And the same goes for my 1973 Duster parked along side the unit.