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Amazing, I was watching the turnbuckle and the guys climbing so close to it. A lot of danger in that contraption. Fun watching the guys drive the spikes with the mauls.
No OSHA on that operation.
When men were men...no pansies in that crew. Wonder what the pay was?
WOW! I didn't even see temporary Spikes going down!
Connellsville extension of the Western Maryland RR/now part of the Great Allegheny Passage bike Trail. This picture is near Meyersdale, PA., along the trail. Note the reference to a 10 man crew, a lot less man power than the video pictures.
This is some of the most interesting footage I have ever seen. Totally cool!
Someone needs to bang this whole operation out in Proto 48 !!
Thanks for posting 
THANK YOU SO MUCH for that video. I read about handlaying track back in the 1800's but never saw footage like this. How were the rails kept in place before the spiking crews? Never saw any spikes put in place for temporary lining of the track?
Al Hummel
Fred Lundgren posted:No OSHA on that operation.
Yep, and can you imagine how little work would actually get done if there was an OSHA back then?
Alan Hummel posted:How were the rails kept in place before the spiking crews? Never saw any spikes put in place for temporary lining of the track?
When you set a 1,000+ pound piece of rail down on the ties, where is it going to go? In any case, they didn't use temporary spikes, they used Lining Bar Gangs. The lining crew used long levers to inch the track into place, like this:
That is a dying breed. I was able to work with a few callers before they left us. Those were the days..
Thanks for the videos Gents, Amazing what men could do back then. Very few could do that work today. Thank you again.
Philzy posted:Thanks for the videos Gents, Amazing what men could do back then. Very few could do that work today. Thank you again.
Right! Nobody "works" in our country anymore. For example, just try and purchase real work clothes, ESPECIALLY those Made in USA.
Nice movie. Thanks for posting. I work video hadn't been invented yet.
Hi, first time posting. As background, I am a retired railroader with track work and train crew experience. I thought I could fill out some of what you see in this video.
1: You will note that the flats being loaded by the shovel have no ends. Once the train of cars is loaded, it has a car on each end switched in to it. One end is the Lidgerwood plow and the other the Lidgerwood unloader. A cable is stretched between them and pulls the plow through the cars, which have side doors which open at the bottom to dump the dirt or rock. There are aprons placed between the cars so the load goes out to the side. This was a useful method in those days for filling in trestles and widening embankments.
2: At 0:59 you see a man stopping the ties on the conveyor. This is probably to allow joint ties to be dropped in the string, as they were selected for better quality. The tools the men are using are called tie picks.
3: Beginning at 1:52, the man in the middle on the near side of the tie conveyor is placing bridle rods between the ties, every five or six ties. Bridle rods are installed under the rails and clamp the outside of the rail base, thus holding the rails to gauge ahead of the machine. Thus, no temporary spiking. You will see them being installed ahead of the machine with two men, one using a bar to slide the rail into the bridle rod.
4: At 2:08 you will note a man in the left background getting a drink of water. He is holding a "tie fiddle" in his left hand, a board with a cleat across the end, to fit on the end of each tie. It is cut to length to mark the tie with chalk to indicate the outside edge of the rail base. This, along with the bridle rods, centers the track on the ties and to gauge. You can see this man chalking the tie ends.
5: At 2:34, on the rail car, you can see the drive shafting for the conveyor rollers beneath the man's left foot, who is rolling the rail into the conveyor. There is another driveshaft on the opposite side for the tie conveyor. Also note the steam line beneath the drive shaft. There is usually a flagman atop the track layer to signal the locomotive engineer, not noticeable here; maybe they are using some other means to communicate.
6: At 3:24 you will note the man on the far side of the tie chute pulling bridle rods from their rack.
7: At 3:46 note the chalkline at the tie ends to keep the ties in alignment.
8: At 4:10 you can see the bridle man throwing the bridle between the ties. At 4:22 the man with a bar is sliding the rail into the bridle rod. At 4:38 the man by the tie chute with the large light hat hooks the bridle rod to the rail.
9: At 7:09 the bridle rods can be plainly seen on the rail base.
10: At 7:18 the men are moving the rails to allow the bridles to drop off behind the machine and putting the ties and one rail to final alignment. The spikers behind spike this rail first and bring the second rail to gauge.
Rich, I must comment that the lining bar gangs were not usually seen until the track was ballasted, after the initial raise.
MikeCT, the 10 men referred to are only the men placing the ties, not the other members.
WB47, fun to watch; all day on a spike maul, not so much!
Situational awareness and quick reactions were a must on these machines, and on most track work.
Don Francis
____________________
FROM THE WEBMASTER: Just hit the RETURN key to start a new paragraph. You're welcome! 
A fascinating piece of history captured on film, those were MEN.
L.C. King is still manufacturing work clothes, overalls, chore jackets etc in the USA. Good clothing and good people. When they could no longer purchase USA made striped denim they stopped making striped denim clothing.
Joe
If any one would like to see a Lidgerwood unloader in action: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-CaBIKT14m Go to 26:48 to 27:33 to see the unloader, track shifter, spreader and unloader once more. Webmaster: My keyboard does not have a return Key! Don francis
Whoops! Dead link! Go to youtube, type "pbs panama canal documentary" then go to 26:48 to 27:33. Sorry 'bout that. Don Francis
Please bear with me folks! Being a newbie and not too computer-savvy, I'm still trying to figure this all out.
I finally taught myself how to paragraph!
Anyway, the second link above is also junk.
Go to youtube: type in "pbs panama canal documentary" and under the heading "Videos of pbs panama canal documentary" select the 1:23:40 one. When you get there, go to 26:48 to 27:33.
I'm not trying to bump this up, but feel that seeing this amazing vintage technology in "moving picture" form deserves to be shared. Thanks for your indulgence.
Don Francis
Every keyboard has a return key...may also known as the ENTER key.
Rich, I googled the answer and in my case, it is the ENTER key, but thanks for the help.
BTW, I am a frequent past rider of the 765, and always enjoyed those trips. Hope you enjoy your retirement as much as I enjoy mine.
Don Francis
OGR Webmaster posted:Fred Lundgren posted:No OSHA on that operation.
Yep, and can you imagine how little work would actually get done if there was an OSHA back then?
Alan Hummel posted:How were the rails kept in place before the spiking crews? Never saw any spikes put in place for temporary lining of the track?
When you set a 1,000+ pound piece of rail down on the ties, where is it going to go? In any case, they didn't use temporary spikes, they used Lining Bar Gangs. The lining crew used long levers to inch the track into place, like this:
i saw these guys at the NCTM during rail days.
A few years ago the Wheeling and Lake Erie RR re-laid track on the old Montour Westland spur to a Marcellous Shale Gas collection site. The track was laid along the existing rail trail/old Montour RR right of way, there was pretty good access to the project. One hundred years later, we do things a bit different. Click on the link for a slideshow.
eddie g posted:Nice movie. Thanks for posting. I work video hadn't been invented yet.
About 20 years +/- a bit earlier were the first movies.
For example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6Ppp5902Yg
No hard hats, and I'm willing to bet no steel-toed shoes either!
Kent,
Exactly right. I'm afraid to venture how many ruptures there were.
Al Hummel
Alan Hummel posted:Kent,
Exactly right. I'm afraid to venture how many ruptures there were.
Al Hummel
Probably none. Back then men were in far better shape, and tended to know what they were doing, without all the government agencies "protecting them from themselves".
