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Along UP's Coast Line through San Luis Obispo (and all the way up into Cuesta Pass and beyond), nearly every-other crosstie is marked for replacement with a pink dash of spraypaint.
March 9, 1998 |
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Bundles of new crossties can be seen along the right-of-way. The scent of creosote hangs in the air.
March 9, 1998 |
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The next day, a Union Pacific Maintenance of Way crew marches past Cal Poly State University, unbundling ties and placing them near where they will be needed.
March 10, 1998 |
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Two machines roll through removing the spikes on the inside of the rail. A friendly MOW foreman informs me that the next morning at 7:00, the old ties will be removed and the new ones inserted.
March 10, 1998 |
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Sure enough, the next morning, after the UP "school bus" arrives at Cal Poly and the track machines come down from Cuesta, work begins to replace the crossties.
March 11, 1998 |
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What the crew called a "TKO machine" (a tie remover/inserter) travels down the tracks, removing the marked crossties.
March 11, 1998 |
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This machine passed through after the TKO machine, although its function is a mystery to me. Like the TKO machine, it also has clamps to grab the railhead.
March 11, 1998 |
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This is what the track looks like after a tie-removing TKO machine is done with it.
March 11, 1998 |
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After a crane comes through moving the old ties away from the track, this next crane follows positioning the new ties for the tie-inserting TKO machines.
March 11, 1998 |
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The first of two more TKO machines lifts the rail and inserts the new ties in the gaps left by the old ones.
March 11, 1998 |
