Operating Engineer - International Union of Operating Engineers

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Member Spotlight Operator Tweets Atop Canada’s Tallest Crane Local 793 member Robert McFarlane chronicles Toronto from on high [above] One of the hundreds of photos that Local 793 member Robert MacFarlane has shot from the cab of his crane 702 feet above Toronto and posted on Twitter. [right] MacFarlane on ground level in front of the L Tower. [photo] Jordan Chittley/Yahoo! Canada News [story by] Curtis Rush, The Toronto Star Follow Robert MacFarlane on Twitter: @SkyJacked793 10 international operating engineer
FROM HIS DAILY perch high in the sky in Toronto, crane operator Robert MacFarlane can see Niagara Falls out one window and Canada’s Wonderland out another. As the L Tower rises to 58 stories on The Esplanade, MacFarlane is blessed with some of the most stunning views in the city as he hoists construction materials to the top of the condo development. It’s in those quiet moments, sitting in his solitary seat 702 feet up in his crane operator’s cab, that MacFarlane is struck by the beauty of a sunrise over Lake Ontario, or the majesty of a hawk or falcon swooping among the tall buildings. Those are the scenes he wants preserved. So, with no previous photography experience, he comes to work each day equipped with two point-and-shoot cameras and a smartphone. “I’ve even stopped the crane and said, ‘Boys, hang on a minute … . They’re amused by that.’” In any kind of weather, whether it’s blazing sun, cool mist or wicked winds, MacFarlane snaps hundreds of photos, making him something of a skyscraper shutterbug extraordinaire. Many of those photos end up on his new Twitter account @SkyJacked793. His Twitter handle comes from the fact that the vernacular for raising a crane is “jacking it up,” and 793 is his union local. Inspired by Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield’s tweets from the International Space Station, MacFarlane opened the Twitter account recently and began posting photos from his high vantage point. “It’s pretty cool,” the 54-year-old Scarborough father of three says, standing at ground level outside the L Tower. “The bank towers are taller, but not everybody can go outside, like I can. It’s not the same. I can open my window and just lean over and take a shot if I get one. I love taking Humber Bay pictures. I can’t get enough of those.” The crane he works in, he’s been told, is the highest freestanding crane erected in Canada right now, affording him a 360-degree unobstructed view. Sometimes he takes photos from inside the cab, and other times, the 6-foot-5 MacFarlane will lumber out onto the platform to get that perfect shot. Rarely will a big event below escape his photographic eye. He has seen accidents on the Gardiner Expressway and recently a fire evacuation from a building along Queens Quay. The native of New Brunswick has been a crane operator for 20 years and currently earns about $40 an hour. He’s not expecting to become a social media star among crane operators, although he suggests he’s the only crane operator in the world doing what he’s doing. Taking photos from his crane operator’s cab will remain a hobby. He fully realizes that this is a rare moment in a crane operator’s career. Once the L Tower is completed, MacFarlane will have to wait years to get to this level again — if ever. “You only get a shot at this once,” he said. “Every day there is beauty on the lake, and little swaths of the city that will light up while everything else is in shade, and one chunk in Mississauga will be glowing in the sun. I just gotta get that picture.” Sometimes, an early-morning scene with the sun streaking the sky purple or orange is too beautiful to miss. “I’ve even stopped the crane and said, ‘Boys, hang on a minute … . They’re amused by that.’” spring 2013 11
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Operating Engineer - International Union of Operating Engineers

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