A group of excavators was required to clear away 85 abandoned vehicles located near railroad tracks in California.

      @joshuagrading via Instagram

      The issue of abandoned cars in Oakland has transformed a piece of land that separates a residential area from a railroad into a trash site. Officials requested a private company to clear it, and an Instagram video illustrates the process of removing approximately 85 damaged, burnt, and wrecked vehicles.

      This piece of land is situated in East Oakland, and local news sources report that residents have been illicitly dumping abandoned cars, scrap metal, and other debris there for years. While disposing of a mattress might be straightforward, getting rid of a GMT800-generation Chevy Tahoe without any wheels presents a more complex challenge. Additionally, the land is owned by three parties (Union Pacific, Caltrans, and Alameda County), and various agencies, including the California Highway Patrol and Oakland police, are involved in the abandoned vehicle towing process.

      Joshua Grading, based in California, employed heavy machinery to systematically remove the 85 cars from the strip of land. It’s reminiscent of when you were three, pretending to crash your Hot Wheels and then clean up the mess—though in this case, the cars are real and the bulldozer operators are being compensated for their work. The job entails retrieving the abandoned vehicles, which can be hard to reach, and loading them onto flatbeds for transport to a junkyard. It seems the team is also clearing away much of the trash.

      Interestingly, a significant portion of the vehicles consists of trucks, vans, and SUVs, alongside lower-profile models like a Mustang and an Accord. The reasons these cars ended up between a residential area and a train track remain unclear. Some may have been abandoned rather than junked, while others appear to have been stolen and discarded. Most vehicles are severely damaged, and many are stripped of usable parts, suggesting little is salvageable; however, there are enthusiasts on the East Coast who would have been eager to retrieve body panels from a GMT400 Silverado previously registered in California.

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