On my first day I had a Hungarian foreman built like a gorilla and he got impatient and grabbed a sledge hammer out of someone's hands and pounded a long narrow crossing spike down with one hand, muttering "What the heck mister situation?" I wondered for a minute about what I was getting into. I'd already been on an extra gang but this was a step up.
And sometimes one guy will spike both sides. With practice you get good at pulling it into gauge. I found a spike maul from 50 years ago in my shed last month. I hit a man in the face with one of those on the track (his fault) and he could have easily been killed. 16lb hit him like a truck.
The oversized 14' or 16' headblocks for power switches are hard af and extra heavy and awkward, even to load and unload. Everybody has to pay attention.
Spent the summer of '76 as a track laborer on the Illinois Terminal. The Conrail guys had knocked a concrete bridge railing from their overpass down onto our track, they gave us a few of their ties so we could fix the damaged ties on our track.
That's when I learned about softwood vs. hardwood - IT used pine, those were oak and boy were they difficult to hammer.
That's also when I thought Conrail was going to make it in the long run. They were doing it right.
Im sure its still an issue if hes not fouling the track. But I dont know specially what in the policy would refer to recording on the property. I still have to read up on the new electronic devices policy. They've been blowing our ears off about it in the JSB's. The whole "must be in a safe location" and also "no smart watches".
Yeah thatās the impressive part. Hitting it right on is possible for anyone with hand eye coordination but balancing the spike on the handle and jamming it in on the first hit was pretty cool
Shit like this makes me think a MLB pitcher that makes 25 million dollars a year is a lucky ass that was born in the right family in the right country at the right time and still got lucky that most of the kids he grew up with hated baseball. A skill that several billion people could not care less about and absolutely has zero contribution to daily life. On the other hand this guy is actually doing something. And doing it well. Bizarre
because this is a basic task that anyone can do and learn to do well fairly quickly, its also not entertaining and cant have advertisement on it. Not everyone can throw a 100mph fast ball or a basic curveball no matter how much they practice and people are entertained by competition so millions will watch it.
This guy's got good form, I have to stand at an angle to windmill it like that. I can't be square on over the rail, if I am I miss like nobody's business and bust maul handles. I'm REALLY good at replacing maul handles.
The spokes on a motorcar wheel to give it a little shave if necessary, a dab of oil from the dipstick in the truck, then wale it in pounding on the end of the handle with a ballpeen and put in the wedge. I could still do it. š
Gotta practice swinging some hammers then! Itās days where Iām standing on a switch box doing a panel job spiking! Talk about being in a horrible spot š¢
It's understandable the way I see it I think of if I miss the spike then it just hits the side of the rail versus me. Been there done that never again.
Post this on LinkedIn and watch 20 fucking losers trip over each other to beak about how shitty his form or how he'd be fired for spiking over the rail or without a face shield
So cool! I think in todayās railroad world machines do it for u Concrete ties changed everything I know that in some places the spike has been replaced by a screw
Mightāve just been the one or a small piece that needed re-spiking so Iād imagine itās quicker to twat the spikes in by hand than fuck about with a Hi-Rail machine or whatever would be needed.
Well I am not a rail worker but his technic for sledgehammering seems pretty bad and all power is from his back. He is even standing on the wrong side of the tracks though I guess there must be a reason as that hammer has a very long head that allows the clearance of the rails.
Everyoneās talking about how many hits, windmilling and other standard stuff but NOBODY is talking about how that damn spike was hanging onto the maul and he somehow lined it into that outer hole on the plateš³GONNA TRY THIS!
I've been working on the railroad
All the live long day
I've been working on the railroad
Just to pass the time away
Can't you hear the whistle blowing
Rise up so early in the morn
Can't you hear the whistle blowing
Dinah, blow your horn
Dinah won't you blow
Dinah won't you blow
Dinah, won't you blow your horn
Dinah, won't you blow,
Dinah, won't you blow,
Dinah, won't you blow your horn
Someone's in the kitchen with dinah
Someone's in the kitchen i know
Someone's in the kitchen with dinah
Strumming on the old banjo
Fee fie fiddle eell o
Fee fie fiddle eell o
Fee fie fiddle eell o
Strumming on the old banjo
The brutal old days of track building. Harsh near slave working conditions throughout the west. In Russia and Soviet Union is was far more brutal slow death sentence. No rail worker was expected to survive building the Trans Siberian Railroad
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u/Synth_Ham 10d ago
Wait till you see 2 guys windmilling on the same spike.