A seemingly endless stream of equipment lines up east of my location just north of the tracks near Parshall, CO (five miles east of the "Troublesome" railroad siding). I spent about an hour and a half here observing how an agressive tie replacement project works. Half the ties (every other one) were to be replaced. CRW 2622a Viewed: 763 times.
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The first step I observed was a "tie exchanger" lifting the rail up and sliding the old ties out to the side of the tracks. I apparently missed the part of the process where the spikes were removed. CRW 2583a Viewed: 711 times.
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After the ties were removed, a pair of maintenance of way (MOW) workers salvage the old tie plates (the metal rectangular pieces that sit between the ties and the rails). They use long rods to pick the tie plates up. (It sure beats bending over for each one!) CRW 2601a Viewed: 713 times.
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The ties are out from under the rails, but still close to the rails. The tie crane picks them up and moves them out of the way. CRW 2578a Viewed: 667 times.
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It would be difficult to slide the new ties into place without moving some of the old ballast out of the way. The "scarfier" has a set of sideways augers that clears out a strip in the ballast so that the ties can be slid in. (Ballast is term for the rocks under the tracks.) CRW 2615a Viewed: 664 times.
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The scarfier is in action making room for the new ties. CRW 2587a Viewed: 659 times.
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