188 BULLETIN Til, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
the same way, the material from the cuts being mostly wasted and 
that needed for the fills borrowed. 
Pick and shovel work is usually done by day labor, as are all other 
parts of railroad construction, contract work not being regarded 
favorably by most operators in the region. The cost of digging and 
spreading dirt by pick and shovel is commonly about $0.15 to $0.25 
per yard for common loam and $0.30 to $0.35 for heavy soils. 
In large cuts the dirt is moved to adjacent fills with wheelbarrows^ 
two- wheeled hand dump carts, or push cars. The cost of such work, 
where rock is not encountered, ranges from $0.30 to $0.50 per yard. 
In very large cuts it is sometimes the practice to lay a temporary 
track and remove the dirt by shoveling it by hand on flat cars, the 
cars being hauled out on the line to a point where the dirt can be 
used as ballast. 
Many operators supplement the pick and shovel with power scraper 
work. The labor cost of this work ranges from $0.10 to $0.25 per 
yard, depending on the length of haul and the class of material moved. 
The cost of moving dirt at one camp with a power scraper during one 
season ranged from $0.28 to $0.38 per yard. The equipment con- 
sisted of a logging engine, Bagley scraper, lines, etc., the crew and 
the wages per day being approximately as follows : 
Engineer $3. 40 
Fireman 3. 00 
2 wood bucks, each = 2. 75 
Hook tender 4. 25 
1 or 2 riggers, each 3. 25 
The following record shows what is included in the cost of power 
scraper grading at this camp, also the method of keeping track of the 
cost: 
Tower scraper record. 
Time. 
Items of cost. 
Total 
cost. 
Cost per 
yard. 
Hours. 
60 
85 
235 
235 
235 
Moving machinery to place 
Chunking right of way 
Laying water line 
Rent on machinery, at $1.50 
Engineer, at $0,315; fireman, at $0,275; wood buck, at $0.25 
Hook tender, at $0.50 
Rigging men 
Laborers (finishing work) 
Yarding wood logs 
Total cost moving 3,927 yards 
$37.50 
262.50 
40.50 
352. 50 
206. 39 
117.50 
153.43 
69.33 
16.55 
SO. 0095 
.0668 
.0103 
.0897 
.0525 
.0296 
.0390 
.0176 
.0042 
.3192 
Average amount of dirt moved per hour of actual scraping time, 16.7 yards. 
Ground, average conditions. 
Alignment, 40° curve. 
Remarks: Because of the alignment this cut was scraped from each end. 
