By far the most time doing trackwork is spent pick and shovelling the old ballast out of the way before pulling out the old sleeper. Short of hiring/buying a small backhoe (which we can't afford) has anyone found a better way to speed things up (and make it a bit easier... None of us is getting any younger)?

Can’t think of anyway to do it manually that’s any easier than shovels, alignment bars and brute human force. Watch the used RR equipment markets and auctions for a tie inserter.

Outside of a backhoe, we do everything else semi-manually with a pneumatic spiker and a pneumatic tamper. We also have a a bunch of track jacks, a gas powered rail saw and a rail drill. All these tools were donated. We use a Case 500 CK loader/backhoe with a cribbing bucket for tie change outs and dumping stone. Save your pennies and keep an eye out for used equipment. A local equipment dealer worked with us donating part of the purchase price for a newer used machine after our ancient loader/backhoe finally gave up its ghost in a cloud of smoke. We then sold it and a parts donor sister so you can recoup a little cash even if they’re dead.

All that said, we’re always watching out for older track equipment that could be donated and repaired. Our backs ain’t getting any younger, either.

I use a mini excavator with a thumb, cost about $7500 for the mini excavator, $200 for the thumb

Leverage helps:


A WW&F volunteer made the metal "ladder" with a hook that goes over the head of the rail so a bar can be used more efficiently as a lever. The device reminds me a bit of the rack system used by the Mount Washington Cog Railway.

The photo is from June 26th. Full sequence of tie replacement work that day can be found here.

I was told that rule-of-thumb for manual tie work was 1 tie-per-manhour. At age 60, I can still work at that pace, but for how much longer?

We have one of those ladder things, but being standard gauge, it is also quite heavy. It's about the same labour to just shove the pointy end of a bar in the dirt and lever the old sleeper out, using tongs to pull at the other end. If you can see this: https://www.facebook.com/CRMreopen2017/videos/424585195137789 you will see how it used to be done 20 odd years ago. Unfortunately it is pretty much the same mob still doing it now, with some noticeable attrition in the ranks. And the mechanical sleeper picker has long since gone.

So my main interest is how to make the initial task of getting the old compacted ballast out of the way before extracting the old sleeper easier. This is the hardest and slowest part. We have some handheld power tools to make attaching the new sleeper's fittings and tamping the ballast back easier afterwards.

I could not fathom doing more then about 3 ties without a backhoe at a minimum. Save your pennies and buy some equipment. You can get some real scores at equipment auctions these days.

"If the tie comes out in one piece, you've taken out the wrong tie."

I'm a member of the shovel/bar/pick/jack crew. We did have a worn out CASE 580 backhoe that we could use in some places, but our clearances sometimes prohibited it.

We jacked high enough to get the tie out fairly easily, then dropped the track. The new tie usually required some shoveling to get it under the rail. Don't put the new tie in before dropping the track, as it may be a high point and break a rail.

Cinder ballast is fairly forgiving!



Sometimes we would drive a used/bent spike (that we wouldn't re-use) into the tie at a location on the top so that we could put the track jack between the spike and the rail (in the gauge, horizontally on top of the tie). If the spike held, we could move the tie enough to "break it loose".

If that tie is "Spike Killed" it's defective.

That means the hole the spike is in is so worn or rotted out that the spike has no hold. I've also seen plenty of examples of the spikes being rusted solid to the tie plate and the entire tie plate can slide around.

Just another way that every derailment is the Track gang's fault. ;-)

Brian

Digging bar to loosen the stone and a ballast fork or rake to move it. Pointy things go into the stone a lot easier than a broad blade like a shovel.

To go with the spike killed comment, we’ve changed ties that on first glance looked serviceable on top but the bottom half was rotten. Usually in places where dirt and drainage needs to be addressed.

The Whitewater Valley Railroad has used one of these machines for years now. It is much smaller and cheaper than a production unit, but still gets the job done. We have one member that primarily uses it, and installs 1000-1400 ties per year with it. He doesn't have to dig the ballast because the machine pushes it out of the way. It does take some time using it to avoid lifting the track structure and generating unneeded tamping work, but very doable. Depending on options, there are some other hydraulic tools that can be powered by this same machine to help with other related tasks.

https://www.rccfabricators.com/projects ... tie-master

You mentioned that the group can't afford alot, which I certainly can understand. Time is money though, and volunteer labor while cheap is not free. 20 years ago our group said this machine was too expensive. A member purchased one and performed some contractor type work on other railroads in the area. When he passed, the group having seen what it could do, purchased it and there has been no looking back.

Feel free to PM me if you would like to discuss.

Ryan

I'll second either the small tie inserter or the leverage ladder. We have both on our 24" gauge and the production rate is about the same IMHO. The ladder is very effective. If you have enough ballast, the tie inserter can push the old tie out through the ballast. With 8' ties, I think the tie inserter would have the edge, even the small ones with limited range that need to reset their grip in the middle of the tie to finish. Ours came from a contractor auction, and even though it needed a new motor for the hydraulic system, was not expensive in the scheme of things.

Nick

I've been on a couple different tie gangs. Some were lots of hard work but with 10 of us we could get in 100 ties a day just using a tie machine. A backhoe with a ditching bucket and thumb can be your best friend too. If you do have to do everything manually, pick the side that has the least resistance of ballast or other material to move, try to dig out a path for the old one to slide out, and then figure out the best angles to use the tie tongs to your advantage. Just figuring out a couple different ways to grab the old tie with some tongs can give you some momentum. We also used to place the new ties on top of the rail and once the old tie was removed, you can sometimes in one or two motions slide the tie off the rails and then pendulum back under them. Depends how much thicker they are, but doing it manually always sucks.

That said, I'd recommend have a couple teams work specific jobs. 2 guys to pick the sides of the tie, 2 to dig out the loosened ballast. 2 to pull the spikes, and as you get to the end of a section of maybe 20 ties, the first 2 go back and start knocking out plates or removing spikes from the opposite side. That way you get a bet of a break on some of the repetitive motion because its such hard work. As you progress with that section, each group circles back to help with pulling out ties, then maybe digging more as needed for the thicker new ties, and just get them under the rail. Then circle back again and start plating and laying out spikes, with someone to claw each end of the tie as they're spiked.

Rotating like that I've found has been the most efficient way to get it done. Some guys are better spikers than others.

Get a tie machine or a backhoe.

I don’t know what railroad you're working with, but maybe you could rig up a log splitter or something to at least have a portable hydraulic jack, and just use oak blocks to keep pushing the old tie out. I was looking at the photo of the 2 foot gauge stuff and that came to mind.

Logging mules...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nomON5hauzY

Kate and Kim will yank 'em right on out of there. LOL