As 'Doc' Lewis mentioned in Re: Heber Valley #75 Rebuild, we hope you were able to watch the segment that aired locally (Salt Lake City, Utah) on November 29th. The Heber Valley Railroad got some excellent coverage. However, few could pronounce "Heber" correctly.Why were sledge hammers used instead of spike mauls?To make driving spikes harder?

Yes, I wondered about the sledge hammers too--though I thought that the Heber Valley didn't want people breaking all of their spike mauls. Frankly however, I suspect that the HV required the producers to provide tools (liability). One can note that no HV staff were in view (except the approving engineer) during the tests. Of course were they there, they might well have laughed their a****s off---poor civilians......... : <)).Nice looking site they've got down there though. One of these days I might actually make it down there.Michael SeitzMissoula MT

Maybe they used sledge hammers because they thought they were hammering large "nails." :) -- Ray

When we were approached about doing the show and what they were wanting to do, we advised the producers that they would be picking up the cost of all associated tools needed. Sledge hammers were the weapon of choice simple because sledge hammers are less expensive that spike mauls.

Some railroads, including CSX, now prohibit the use of spike hammers and require their employees use sledge hammers. They think spike hammers are more prone to beakage and the flying chips can injure employees. I have taken more that one man to the hospital to have a piece of spike hammer removed from their body. Of course I have also seen sledge hammers do the same thing. Personally, I much prefer spiking with a spike hammer.John Bohon

I second John's comment. I know a track contractor who uses 8-pound sledges rather than 10-pound spike mauls for hand spiking. He says his men can't handle a bell-pattern maul. Most railroads forbid multiple-man spiking any more, and they require everyone to stay 25 feet away from the guy spiking to prevent injuries.

Thanks Mike.

John and G.W., thank you for the interesting infromation about sledge hammers vs spike mauls.I guess with most spikes being driven by machines now the art of spike driving is being lost.I have witnessed several of the World Spike Driving Championships at the Golden Spike National Historic Site and the skill of the top people is absolutely amazing.

Sincxe I'm not built like one of the winners of the spike contest, I like to use a 16 lb. sledge. I want the spike to know it's been hit! I'm not good enough to both "power down" and aim the maul at the same time, so I do the aiming and let the weight of the tool do the work.Now, our foreman is ambidexterous, so he uses 2 mauls at once!