Decommissioning 1960s Dangerous Rigging

Theatre Safety Training Video Series
Cal State LA
Short Video Series
Decommissioning 1960s Dangerous Rigging
I've been meaning to remove this grid-mounted track for 15 years. It was installed in the late 1950s or early 1960s and was impossible to inspect and perform maintenance on due to inaccessibility. It was always an unknown, and that unknown was reason enough to take it out of service. Now that I have removed it, I've discovered so many more reasons why it had to go.
0:11 - Very Old Track
1:20 - Richards-Wilcox Mfg. Co.
2:24 - Carrier/Truck Termination
3:13 - Track Hangers
4:09 - Carriers/Trucks
4:37 - Danger Confirmed!
5:09 - Scenery Carrier from H&H Series 100/200 Track
5:54 - Maximium Hanger Spacing
6:37 - Tru-Roll Scenery Carrier Unit
7:12 - H&H Pivoting Curtain Carrier Unit for Series 400 Track
8:41 - Decommission Time!
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Cal State LA
Department of Theatre and Dance
College of Arts & Letters
A&L Productions

[@leistico]

Around that 7min 30sec mark... there's a joke in there somewhere about "Grab me a handful of those Grade 5 zip ties. They're stored next to the structural lauan, and the spool of plaster line." And how are you liking that cordless band saw? I ask because my shoulders are dying from doing so many precision Milwaukee Porta-band cuts for some spiral staircases I'm building. Overall, it makes me shudder to think how many K-12 schools out in the sticks may still be rigged with stuff like that due to "budget constraints" or "resourceful contractors," or even well-intentioned helpful parents.

[@calstatelaalproductions2358]

We used to have a corded Milwaukee porta-band saw until like 8 or 9 years ago, with case and everything. It just disappeared. Someone must have left it out somewhere like in out basement and it walked or someone borrowed it and it never came back. I wanted to buy another Milwaukee, but the folks at the tool store (Tools R Us, now closed during the pandemic because so much traffic was going online for stuff, and sad because they were my most accessible repair shop too) convinced me to choose within the Makita battery system and not go to a whole different battery system just for one tool.
Been very happy with the Makita ever since. We don't use it often. But when it's the right tool, it's awesome to have. So glad I went for the full-sized portable band saw and not a mini version. But I 100% approve of this one. When I got our first cordless jig saw, it was like going from the stone age to modern technology. The Makita jig saws are so well balanced. And not having a cord to adjust improves accuracy and performance 1000%. Even if you are careful, if you adjust your cord, the jig saw shifts and when you continue your cut you almost always are now out of alignment.
Sprial staircases are fun! We borrowed one from a local community college for Rent years ago. It was enough or almost enough to get to eight feet, but the design called for it to continue up into the flies and to also for it to become piecemeal as it went higher, so we had to cut and weld additional treads. Very satisfying when you are done and everything works.
After finding that one hanger about to unthread itself, I want to kick myself for ignoring this rig for 15 years. I've known how shitty and dangerous it was from the first inspection I ever did of the fly system. I wasn't too concerned with the 80 lb soft (duvetyne) covered portal flats that were hung on either side, but I knew the cables were a disaster and that I couldn't accurately assess or maintain the track or the terminations there. Glad it's gone now and glad that it held together all these years. (also glad it made for some good content!)