Waterbury abuzz at helicopter tree-trimming feat

September 26, 2020  |  By Shanti Boyle  |  Community News Service 

A helicopter dangles an aerial saw through Waterbury as it trims trees along the railroad corridor last week. Photo by Gordon Miller.

Rotor Blade helicopter pilot Alan Stack flies his aircraft and operates the 10-blade aerial saw in Waterbury recently. Photo by Gordon Miller.

The chopper and its 10 spinning blades navigates the railroad right of way as a ground crew member follows along clearing fallen branches by hand. Photo by Gordon Miller.

Photo by Gordon Miller.

Closeup of the aerial saw at work. Photo by Gordon Miller.

The aerial saw uses 10 blades, two-feet in diameter. Photo by Gordon Miller.

'H' marks the spot for the chopper landing pad in the field beside the Ice Center. Courtesy photo.

The Ice Center in Waterbury provides a wide-open staging area near the railroad corridor. The helicopter and arm with the aerial saw attached need room to maneuver and park. Courtesy photo.

Blades are checked and replaced during the operation. Trimming is interrupted for refueling breaks at the Ice Center. Courtesy photo.

Photo by Gordon Miller.

The chopper hovers just above treetops and the pilot assures observers it's staying clear of powerlines. Photo by Gordon Miller.

The Rotor Blade operation continues along the railroad right of way from Brattleboro to St. Albans. Courtesy photo. Photo by Gordon Miller.

An unusual sight caught Waterbury and other local residents by surprise last week as many stopped to do a double-take at the low-flying helicopter slowly making its way across town. 

Katya d’Angelo looked out her kitchen window on Railroad Street and said she was shocked and a little amazed at the spectacle: A 10-blade saw dangling from the chopper was just overhead trimming tree branches along the tracks. 

“We’ve lived here for almost five years and I’ve never seen them cut the railroad tree branches like that,” she said. 

Neighbors came out onto porches and driveways to have a look. Front Porch Forum lit up with firsthand accounts, questions, and remarks from those offering explanations. 

“I was on my way to the dump and saw the helicopter. I stopped and took a picture of it,” wrote John Castaldo on the local online message board. “Never saw anything like it before.”

Castaldo, d’Angelo and all of the others who got a glimpse of the operation and said they couldn’t recall ever seeing such a sight were right. That’s because clearing the railroad’s path has never been done like that before in Vermont.  

In an arrangement between the New England Central Railroad and Amtrak, the two transit companies contracted Rotor Blade, a South Carolina-based helicopter company, to trim tree branches hanging over the railroad right of way. The measure is preventative, according to Charles Hunter, assistant vice president of government affairs for Genesee & Wyoming Inc., parent company to New England Central.  

Video by Katya d’Angelo

“It’s much more timely and cost-effective to use the helicopter as opposed to a ground crew. You can accomplish a lot more tree clearing in the amount of time,” Hunter said. 

This is the first time the NECR has used Rotor Blade, and Hunter says the trimming is going really well. The project began in July and is expected to be finished by the end of 2020. It spans 190 miles, from Brattleboro to St. Albans. 

The operation has captured attention along the way. The Valley News newspaper in White River Junction had coverage in August and as the crew moved north into Williston this week, posts popped up on Facebook with more comments from surprised passersby on the ground. 

In Waterbury, the helicopter crew used the Ice Center as its landing and refueling area for four days last week. Rotor Blade worked with rink manager Tim Griffith on the logistics. 

“All the kids that were there for hockey were really excited to see a helicopter,” Griffith said. “The most interesting thing is the helicopter guy, when he was taking off and trimming the trees, was obviously buckled but leaning out of the helicopter the entire time to keep his eyes on the blades. There’s no door on [the helicopter].”

The helicopter guy is named Alan Stack, and he’s been a Rotor Blade pilot for 13 years. He says this is the best way to trim the trees. “There’s no equipment to get to the tops of the trees like we get. If they don’t use the helicopter to trim the branches, they have to remove the whole trees,” Stack said. 

D’Angelo mentioned feeling “unnerved” by seeing the saw blades so close to her residential area, but Stack says that he has complete control: “We have people looking for power lines for us or any other obstacles along the road. And I have 100 percent control over the saw; I can turn the saw on and off, move it laterally and longitudinally… You can see in Waterbury that I didn’t cut past a certain area where the houses were too close. When that happens, I’ll pull away and we’ll use alternate methods to cut, like tree climbers with equipment to get to the tops.”  

Stack noted that when the branches fall down, members of their crew follow along on the ground behind the chopper to clear them away. 

Stack loves his job, saying it’s the best one in the world. “I’ve gotten to work in all 50 states. I’ve worked in Puerto Rico, Canada, Europe… We get to travel a lot. It’s wonderful.” 

Videos by Tim Griffith.

Community News Service is a collaboration with the University of Vermont’s Reporting & Documentary Storytelling program.