Tunnel tunes rouse ice cream memories
Some of Fermilab's mechanical technicians spend a lot of time underground. In the echoing tunnels of the Tevatron collider they fix things, crawling behind equipment to replace aging nuts and bolts and repair everything from vacuum pumps to multi-ton superconducting magnets. They work six days a week at an urgent pace to get the collider back up and running as soon as possible.
“What we do is not easy,” says Derek Plant, a mechanical technician for 10 years. “It takes a very special group of people with good communication and a good demeanor.”
Many of the tasks facing the team require diagnostic testing, which can take hours or days.
“During the shutdown this past summer, we had to bring a third of the Tevatron to room temperature to leak-check and repair components,” says Scott McCormick, who supervises the Tevatron's mechanical support group. “This meant long hours and a lot of tedious work for the team.”
In this intense, hurry-up-and-wait atmosphere, it's important to keep a sense of humor. “We find ways to keep the mood upbeat,” Plant says. “That is why we have the happy cart.”
Plant got the idea while transporting equipment in a golf cart, one of many workers use to get around the four-mile Tevatron ring. He went home, got online, purchased the sound system from an ice cream truck and installed it on his cart.
The happy cart, as it has come to be known, still looks the same as the rest of the fleet, but now it plays sweet tunes that evoke memories of carefree childhood days spent chasing the neighborhood ice cream truck. His colleagues get a kick out of it.
“After many hours underground,'' Plant says, “the sound of an ice cream truck coming from around the bend is enough to get a chuckle out of almost anyone.”
-Rhianna Wisniewski
Click here to download the pdf version of this article.
