RAILROAD CONSTRUCTION 29 1 



is to begin. Ties are then laid in position on the right-of-way, 

 and the rails placed on them. The rails are connected by angle 

 bars or fish plates and spiked to every third or fourth tie. This 

 gives the rail sufficient bracing to hold up the train which is 

 pushed forward a rail length and the operation repeated. In 

 taking up track this process is reversed. The cost is about the 

 same as for laying track. 



Spurs are moved with such frequency that it is seldom feasible 

 to carry a stock of bent rails for curved portions of the track. 

 In nearly all cases it is practicable to bend the rails to the proper 

 curve as they are spiked. On main-fine work a rail-bending 

 machine is sometimes employed. 



Where spurs are being built constantly the steel-laying crew 

 may spend alternate days in removing steel and ties from an 

 abandoned road and in placing them on a new roadbed. 



On main lines the expansion of the rails during warm weather 

 must be taken into account in order to prevent buckfing. To 

 remedy this a space of j\ of an inch in winter and ^q of an inch 

 in summer is left between rail ends. On spurs the rails seldom 

 fit closely so that this factor may be disregarded. 



During recent years several mechanical devices have been 

 invented to simpfify and cheapen track laying and removal. 

 The machines now offered are of two general types: (i) those 

 that handle the rails and ties in sections or panels one rail length 

 long; (2) those that handle rails and ties separately. The first 

 method is best adapted for flat lands where there are few curves 

 and turnouts on the line, for where these occur the track sections 

 must be broken up before they can be relaid. The rails are laid 

 with "even joints." 



An operation in Florida using a double- track locomotive crane 

 employs a train made up of a locomotive, four flat cars and the 

 track mover at the rear end. The train is backed out to the end 

 of the line that is to be taken up, the bolts on one end of the fish 

 plates are removed, and four chains are attached near the center 

 of a 30-foot section, which is elevated several feet by a cable on 

 the track mover. The latter is then revolved in an arc of 180 

 degrees and the section deposited on the flat car directly behind 



