Tractors, tractors!

On my way home Friday night, I saw they were digging up the lower lane of the Meralco flyover yet again. Normally a cause for consternation because of the associated traffic, tonight it was an opportunity to make a toy become real.

Because lo and behold, in full and glorious operation underneath the klieg lights was a "CAT company payloader" - one of Baz's favorite construction toys. I got the boys dressed as soon as I got home, and after making a 20 minute detour to get back to the same place (toldja it caused bad traffic), we were on the street just a few feet away from this plaything writ large.



Officially, it's the Caterpillar 428E Center Pivot Backhoe Loader. But Baz and I have taken to calling it a payloader (which is a front loading vehicle). It looked exactly like the Megablok-CAT Company toy (which Baz is holding in the picture below). Coincidentally, Baz had pleaded on going to Toys R' Us last weekend after noticing in the catalog that this was a new kind of loader that he didn't have yet (they already have have the "Articulated Dump Truck").



The toy was accurate right down to the support struts that extend out when the backhoe is in operation. I wanted to ask the driver's permission to take a look inside the cab, but he was, of course, busy, and I know better than to come up close to someone operating heavy equipment.



The upside was that the boys saw the machine in operation: it was scooping out a trench, probably to lay pipe in. It would use the bucket to crack the asphalt road surface, then scoop out this fine grey sand and dump it on the side of the road. The team of workers doing the job seemed amused by our interest in their contraption.

If ever they open a theme park dedicated to construction, the two boys and I will be there. But only if they allow guests to operate the equipment.