Maintenance of Way---
 12/30/00
What is Maintenance
of Way? It is a group of dedicated employees organized into the Bridge and
Building, Water service, Electrical, Signal and Track Departments. (from
Union Pacific Railroad Company's "Track Workers Handbook", circa
1950)
- The 1998 cement tie and rail replacement project in the Tehachapi area.
1.  2.  3.
 4.
#1
Tamper--Tamps ballast under track to level it, also aligns track left or right.
#2 - 3 and 8 Part of the
concrete tie machine, possibly a P811.
#4 - 7 Gantry--brings the new
concrete ties from the flatcars.
5.  6.
 7.
 8.
- MOW train hauling rock and equipment to areas in danger of washout out on the
Mojave Desert area beyond Cajon Pass.
1.  2.
#1 - 2 Escavators, missing their buckets--Used to move rock and dirt.
1.  2.
 3.
 4.
#1 - 2 Clipper and Spiker--used to clip or spike the rails.
#3 - 4 Destress Gang--heats the rail and takes out extra to prevent
buckle.
#5 and 7 Swingmaster or speedswing--a crane for rails.
#6 Schramm Air Compressor This machine is a large air
compressor.
5.  6.
 7.
- Repairing a washout area in Santa Susana pass at the Topanga Blvd
under-crossing.
1. 
- April 2000 Siding Upgrade at Cajon Station.
12/30/00
1. 
2. 
3. 
4. 
#1 - is a Pandroll Jackson Model 6700
Tamper. The cart at the front extends with
lasers on it for determining grade. It then can tamp the ties and make the
track level. It can also move the track side to side to make the correct
radius. Usually following is a pup tamper (tamper without the laser cart) and
a ballast regulator.
The laser on this machine is used exclusively for alignment on tangent
(straight) tracks only. The Laser cart is the silver cart hanging on the
"front buggy" of the machine. It is placed ahead of the machine, up to
1/2 mile and the laser then is used to create a straight line to reference to.
The rest of the stuff on the front of the machine are a "front buggy"
and "spacer buggies". The front buggy is used to create an artificial
straight line for the surface (i.e. up/down) and alignment (side to side). This
is done (on this particular brand of tamper) using non-laser light beams. The
spacer buggies are used to keep the front buggy far ahead of the machine. The
buggies create an approximately 120' long reference system that moves along with
the machine and effectively smoothes out irregularities (dips & kinks) over
a longer distance.
#2 - Two ballast regulators. ON
the font is a broom. the rear a blade to move ballast
inside the rails and on the sides are blades to shape the ballast line.
#3 - Tie cranes. Moves ties.
#4 - Fairmont "TKO" (Tie Knock Out) Machine Remote This machine
is used for removing and inserting ties. See http://www.harscotrack.com
for details.
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