Driving Spikes in New Railroad Ties with a Nordco Spiker
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- Опубліковано 21 кві 2024
- A Nordco Spiker in action driving spikes after new railroad cross ties
have been put in.
See also video on touring the inside of a Nordco Spiker:
• Nordco CX Spiker - In...
Check out my other You Tube channel with more cool railroad and
rail fanning videos along with other adventures Dave has:
/ @thatsdavesotherdoings
Disclaimer: I am an employee of Iron Senergy at Cumberland
Mine. My job is railroad track maintenance. I am very fortunate to
have this job and everyone at the mine is very fortunate to have
Iron Senergy as it's current owner. Our past owners had every
intention of shutting this mine down, but Iron Senergy took
over and have kept this mine alive.
Please understand: I am NOT in any way an official or unofficial
spokes person for Iron Senergy or Cumberland Mine. Any viewpoints,
opinions or anything that I show in the videos, or write in the video
descriptions or any answer to any comment, should NEVER be
misconstrued or interpreted as being in any way shape or form,
any kind of official or unofficial statement from Iron Senergy,
Iron Cumberland, Cumberland Mine, any of the mine's management,
any of the contractors that may be shown in any video, nor of
any of my fellow co-workers.
Any viewpoints or opinions I may make in the videos, in the
descriptions, or in any answer to a comment is strictly that of my
own and NOT an official or unofficial statement or viewpoint that
Iron Synergy or any one at Iron Senergy or Cumberland Mine
necessarily has or makes.
Again, we are very fortunate to have Iron Senergy as our current
owners. Please, when making a comment be respectful of Iron Senergy,
Cumberland Mine, my fellow coworkers and also any contractors
that may be shown. Thank You, Dave
#nordcospiker#drivingspikes#spiker
Dave, I love that you make your videos in ANY weather no matter what! Seriously, it's like we're there. Great, great stuff. 😃
Really pleased to hear you are enjoying the Patrick. Very much appreciate your taking the time to visit with us and may you have a very good day my friend.
Dave ,you are the definition of a dedicated employee, and a man of sound character. I don't think I've ever watched a video in which you have been too excited one way or another, much respect to you. Thanks for sharing another unique piece of the railroading industry alot of folks never think about,gentlemen such as yourself,and the crews you work with are the unsung heroes of this country.
Thank you for the really kind words Wood Butcher. Very much appreciate your taking the time to visit with us and may you have a very good day my friend.
Driving spikes by hand must have been brutal back in the day.
Not for Dave he swings that 18 pound sledgehammer like a 2lb framing hammer lmao
@@steveib724 So do I......for about 3 swings.
@billxam2674 Dave's a big dude lol
You are right about that Bill. Those gandies back in the day
didn't have much fat on their bodies! Imagine doing that all
day long. Very much appreciate your taking the time to visit with us and may you have a very good day my friend.
@@ccrx6700 I watch guys like Jawtooth at the other end watching the trains move product and appreciate the kind of work behind the scenes that make it possible to move product.
Still amazed by the engineers who designed those machines Dave. It's testament to their skill and ingenuity! Thanks for the insight! Happy rails 🙂
You are right about that Richard, these machines are amazing
how they are designed. Sure saves a lot of hand spiking tho!
Very much appreciate your taking the time to visit with us and may you have a very good day my friend.
The Nordco Spiker was very cool to watch. I also noticed the gentleman manually hammering in the incomplete spikes appeared to have excellent form which will help his back down the road. Thank you Dave...
Yes he did a very good job Steve, imagine doing that all day
long walking behind the spiker. Good man they had there!
Very much appreciate your taking the time to visit with us and may you have a very good day my friend.
Neat how the spikes auto feed. That machine saves a LOT of time and hard work!
Glad you brought us all along.😊
And it looks like this equipment as crazy-good precision - that has to help, well, everything - way cool!
Someone has to feed the spike trays, then they drop by gravity
Trena. You are right, these spiker machines are pretty cool to watch and sure save a whole lot of hand spiking! Really appreciate your visiting with us and may you have a very good day my friend.
Many moons ago I got a brief tour of the Plasser American plant in Chesapeake Virginia. Not long after that I had the pleasure of watching some of their machines replacing ties and ballast and adjusting the rails just a few yards from the rear window of my apartment. If I recall correctly there were three separate machines and each was nearly as large as a locomotive. What a show that was for a geek like me!
Wow how cool would that have been Stubby, I would love to
take a tour of a plant like that. No doubt that was pretty special
you got to later see those machines working. Nice! Very much appreciate your taking the time to visit with us and may you have a very good day my friend.
That spiker is really something else. Precision in a macine that size is a tribute to the design engineers and the operator as well. All that MOW equipment is amazing when you think about it. Very enjoyable video as usual Dave. Have a great day.
It sure is a cool machine isn't it Ric and you are right, the design
on it is incredible. It sure saves a whole lot of hand spiking. We do love hydraulics on the RR. Thank you very much for visiting with us and may you have a really good day my friend.
Don't spend your new found treasure all in one place! Another neat video.
Really pleased to hear you enjoyed Dave. Very much appreciate your taking the time to visit with us and may you have a very good day my friend.
Dave, That machine is like a giant nail gun! Thank you!
You are certainly right about that 1208 Bug! These spiker machines are pretty cool to watch and sure save a whole lot of hand spiking! Really appreciate your visiting with us and may you have a very good day my friend.
Thanks Mr. Dave with sharing operational track maintenance and especially finding that half-dollar flattened, that was cool. The machine driving in the spikes sure makes it much easier than the old fashion way of manual labor, this saves backs, knees, arms from injury, thanks again, my friend, love your videos.
Thank you for the nice comment Rev. Harry, glad you enjoyed.
These spiker machines are pretty cool to watch and sure save
a whole lot of hand spiking! Really appreciate your visiting with
us and may you have a very good day my friend.
Awesome video Dave. I remember feeding spikes for a very good operator back on the rail gang in 2004. I wore out gloves every day and had to feed fast for sure. Thanks for sharing and have a great rest of your day Dave.(Steve)
Feeding spikes you don't get much of a break when those guys
are going to town. Very much appreciate your taking the time to visit with us and may you have a very good day my friend.
@@ccrx6700 Yes indeed for sure it was non stop especially with a good spiker operator. Your very welcome.
Modern technology right there but quality control is still a human - nice to see. Cheers and have a great week my friend
You are right Pete, they always have a gandy or two walking behind the tie gang to do QC. Very much appreciate your taking the time to visit with us and may you have a very good day my friend.
I really enjoy watching the technology at work! I couldn't help but think back to the 1800s when they were working to cross the US with rails. The spike gangs who drove spikes manually all day would have loved this piece of equipment :) Very cool to watch!
You are so right about that Brian, can you imagine those gandies
of old seeing this machine work for the first time. Very much appreciate your taking the time to visit with us and may you have a very good day my friend.
I think they would have loved the spiker too, but the number of men they had driving those spikes back then meant they could spike the entire length of rail as soon as it hit the ground and each man probably only had to drive a couple spikes in each rail. It was actually faster than this modern machine.
The government was paying the railroads by the mile of track laid. When they were finishing the transcontinental route through Utah, 6-8 miles of track laid per day was the goal and the norm. 10 was a record.
Even this modern spiker couldn’t keep up with that speed today.
@@ralfie8801 👍😊
You are fortunate to work for a company that is investing in their infrastructure so heavily. Thanks
You are very correct in that Thomas, track safety is very important with this company and that makes me very happy to
be able to say. Thank you for your visiting with us and may you have a very good day my friend.
Great job Dave it’s Robin here . Great coin good luck 🍀 😎👍🏻Robin out
I'm pleased to hear you enjoyed watching this one Robin. Thank you so much for taking the time to visit with us and may you have a very good day my friend.
Oh yeah . The back-saver 5000 .
Bet the men love this
You are so right on that KC! We do love hydraulics on the RR now.
Very much appreciate your taking the time to visit with us and may you have a very good day my friend.
Awesome close up views of the spiking action! Fantastic video Dave. I appreciate how close you get me to something I would otherwise never see. Thank you!
🚂🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃💯👍🇺🇸
Appreciate the nice comment Jim. Thank you very much for taking the time to check out the video and may you have a very good day my friend.
Amazing machine, that Nordco spiker...so precise. Another MofW wonder you've treated us to. "Thank you, thank you" Dave...
It sure is a cool machine isn't it EBF. And sure saves a whole lot of hand spiking. We do love hydraulics on the RR. Thank you very much for visiting with us and may you have a really good day my friend.
Cool machine, makes easy work of driving spikes , But the sound of driving spikes by hand, with the hammers and the singing, music to your ears! But progress is never ending . Thanks for the video ! 👍👍🚂🚂😁
You are right Yellowlab, this is one neat machine and sure saves
a lot of hand spiking. We do love hydraulics on the RR! Very much appreciate your taking the time to visit with us and may you have a very good day my friend.
@@ccrx6700 , always a good day, and your videos make it better!
👍👍🚂🚂
@@yellowlab5624 😊👍
Amazing how those machines work! John Henry would be jealous I think, lol. That dude sure knows how to drive a spike! Great video Dave.
Really pleased to hear you enjoyed Wilbur and thanks for the
nice comment. Very much appreciate your taking the time to visit with us and may you have a very good day my friend.
Those track machines are fascinating inventions. Thanks for sharing Dave.
You are certainly welcome Anthony, glad you enjoyed. These
spiker machines are pretty cool to watch and sure save
a whole lot of hand spiking! Really appreciate your visiting with
us and may you have a very good day my friend.
Thank you for this video!
If that quarter is pre-1964 it’s a real silver quarter and not a Johnson slug. In those days a gallon of gas was a quarter, and one can still get a gallon of gasoline for the silver value of those quarters.
To clean it up apply white toothpaste (not gel) with a fingertip and rinse it out in water, and then soak it in a solution of Oxy-Clean or baking soda for several hours or overnight.
Sounds like a good idea Robin, I will try that. Who knows maybe
that silver, if it is, I can sell and retire.... :-) Thank you very much for visiting with us and may you have a really good day my friend.
Yes, an amazing machine. A significant time saver.
It sure is a cool machine isn't it Mark. And sure saves a whole
lot of hand spiking. We do love hydraulics on the RR. Thank you very much for visiting with us and may you have a really good day my friend.
Wish I'd held on to some of my train-flattened change, pennies get awful thin when they get run over - if they stay on the rail long enough lol. That rail spiker was a lot quieter than the one NS used when they replaced the ties through town one year. Also, someone's raised that young man right. It's so rare to hear sir or ma'am these days.
You are right Tazror, that was a very polite young man, most of
the guys they had in on the tie gang this time were also. Nice
to see young men like that hard working. Thank you very much for visiting with us and may you have a really good day my friend.
That is a great machine! I love the automatic feed for the spikes and the exact positioning to the holes in the hold down plates.
It sure is a cool machine isn't it Nolan. And sure saves a
whole lot of hand spiking. We do love hydraulics on the RR.
Thank you very much for visiting with us and may you have a really good day my friend.
What a cool machine. Thanks for sharing it with us.
Your welcome Larry, glad you enjoyed. These spiker machines are pretty cool to watch and sure save a whole lot of hand spiking! Really appreciate your visiting with us and may you have a very good day my friend.
What a job awesome in all kinds of weather what a neat machine very cool
Thank you for the nice comment Daniel, glad you enjoyed.
These spiker machines are pretty cool to watch and sure save
a whole lot of hand spiking! Really appreciate your visiting with
us and may you have a very good day my friend.
hello Dave & it's is Randy and i like yours video is cool & Thanks Dave & Friends & Randy
Thank you Randy. Really appreciate your visiting with us and may you have a very good day my friend.
Cheatin'! Great back saving video, enjoyed it much. Thanks Dave!
Glad you enjoyed Poowg. You are right, these spiker machines are pretty cool to watch and sure save a whole lot of hand spiking! Really appreciate your visiting with us and may you have a very good day my friend.
A spiker must be nice, my body hurts from swinging a spike maul for 20 years 😢
It certainly is Michael, you as well as anybody knows what hand
spiking can do to a body. Very much appreciate your taking the time to visit with us and may you have a very good day my friend.
This was an interesting operation to watch. Thanks for the video.
I'm pleased to hear you enjoyed watching this one Tim. Thank you so much for taking the time to visit with us and may you have a very good day my friend.
Coming along Nicely.Have a good day to ALL. !
Really pleased to hear you enjoyed Alan. Very much appreciate your taking the time to visit with us and may you have a very good day my friend.
More live action.. Great stuff Dave, so cool to watch, that coin was a nice find..
Really pleased to hear you enjoyed Pappy. Very much appreciate your taking the time to visit with us and may you have a very good day my friend.
You brought up an interesting bit of folklore Dave. I've always been of the school of thought that John Henry was a steel driver, hammering holes into rock for blasting charges and the machine he competed against was a drill. The other theory was he hammered in spikes and competed against a steam spiker. Maybe he did both. Man as tall as the sky and wide as the land, could lay track faster than any other man could run.
I've never heard that about him driving holes in rock, but I'm
not saying you are wrong either crazyguy, folk lore you can
do just about anything! Thanks so much for stopping by and
watching and may you have a very good day my friend.
Great show Dave, I enjoyed watching that machine work, that young gentleman was pretty good with that spike maul! (Dave).
I'm pleased to hear you enjoyed watching this one Dave. Thank you so much for taking the time to visit with us and may you have a very good day my friend.
Very cool! Love seeing that machine at work!
Lucky smashed coin and great to see a good young lad working on the railroad. They are our future.
Thank you for the nice comment Bassotronics and glad you liked the show. Very much appreciate your taking the time to visit with us and may you have a very good day my friend.
Awesome find. I used to put quarters and nickels on the tracks near my grandparents' old house.
Really pleased to hear you enjoyed Robert. Always fun to put
coins on the rails. Thank you very much for visiting with us and may you have a really good day my friend.
Another amazing machine. Don't think you will be spending the coin you found!
Thank you so much for taking the time to visit with us and may you have a very good day.
That third tie that was being put in in the beginning.Look like they're gonna leave it behind and let you take care of that
The gandies behind the spiker took care of it Mike, or else I
would have had to straighten it out. Thank you very much for visiting with us and may you have a really good day my friend.
LOL! Just saw that flattened coin. They were "adjusting for inflation by stretching a buck...or half a buck...or a quarter of a buck...or something...
OK, I'll zip it now...
Never thought of that Eric, I bet you're right! :-)
Thanks Dave really appreciate and enjoy your videos.
Really pleased to hear that weirdscience. Very much appreciate your taking the time to visit with us and may you have a very good day my friend.
Thanks for sharing Dave! Another great show!
Really pleased to hear you enjoyed Brian and your always welcome. Very much appreciate your taking the time to visit with us and may you have a very good day my friend.
So much for the spike maul!
You are right about that Bandwidth. Sure saves a lot of hand
spiking, we do love hydraulics on the RR now. Thank you very much for visiting with us and may you have a really good day my friend.
always great to watch that spiker! makes it look so easy! I have seen some old films with hand spiking!
looked like they were doing half swings. they knocked them in so fast! {but not as fast as the big spiker}
great video, so nice see the unit doing that great job. and they are straight!
It sure is a cool machine isn't it Barry. And sure saves a whole lot of hand spiking. We do love hydraulics on the RR. Thank you very much for visiting with us and may you have a really good day my friend.
Thanks for sharing Dave!!
Your always welcome Fred, my pleasure. Very much appreciate your taking the time to visit with us and may you have a very good day my friend.
Very impressive piece of equipment Dave! Great work!
Appreciate the nice comment Eric. Thank you very much for taking the time to check out the video and may you have a very good day my friend.
@@ccrx6700 You're very welcome Dave!
Thanks Dave!
You are quite welcome keirokeiro. Thank you so much for taking the time to visit with us and may you have a very good day my friend.
When they finish, your job starts. Tamping the ties.
You are right Gary. My job is following the tie gang squeezing
ballast under the new ties. Makes for a more complete and better job when you do that. Very much appreciate your taking the time to visit with us and may you have a very good day my friend.
Interesting MOW machines ... Good vid as usual Dave ... Thx
Really pleased to hear you enjoyed Eddy. Very much appreciate your taking the time to visit with us and may you have a very good day my friend.
Heya Dave. Great to see ya brother
Great video. Stay safely blessed
Nice to hear you liked this one Clark. Very much appreciate your taking the time to visit with us and may you have a very good day my friend.
Great video Dave! It seems like they are pounding those into actual black bananas - almost effortlessly. I don't know where we would be without hydraulics! I agree about the young man, it's nice to see them out working with their hands!
Thanks Mojo and for sure on the hydraulics on the RR! Imagine
spiking into new ties all day long by hand! Very much appreciate your taking the time to visit with us and may you have a very good day my friend.
Great Video Dave! Thank you!!👍
Really pleased to hear you enjoyed JG and your welcome. Very much appreciate your taking the time to visit with us and may you have a very good day my friend.
Great video Dave. I always wonder about the amount of engineering it took to design and build those most excellent machines. Have a great day my friend.
Thank you for the nice comment Lewis, glad you enjoyed.
These spiker machines are pretty cool to watch and sure save
a whole lot of hand spiking! Really appreciate your visiting with
us and may you have a very good day my friend.
Thanks! What a neat machine!
Your always welcome JW, my pleasure. Very much appreciate your taking the time to visit with us and may you have a very good day my friend.
LOVE your videos and commentary Davo
Really pleased to hear that skywatcherca. Very much appreciate your taking the time to visit with us and may you have a very good day my friend.
Dave yet another wonderful video.
Really pleased to hear you enjoyed Jason. Very much appreciate your taking the time to visit with us and may you have a very good day my friend.
I remember putting pennies on the track when I was a youngster. 5 year old railfan
Of course, living around tracks as a kid, that was the cool thing to do Steve. Thank you so much for taking the time to visit with us and may you have a very good day my friend.
They use to call those men that drove the spikes by hand "Gandy-Dancers". My dad worked on a section gang for Nickle Plate RR for almost 50 years. He was both a laborer and foreman of the crew that covered a 14 mile stretch of NPRR in Miami County Indiana. I recall many winter nights when he called out the crew to sweep switches for the 2am freight through his area. They didn't have that machinery to pull out and replace ties back then. Wasn't a job for lazy bones.
Awesome to hear your dad worked for them Haven. I would have
loved to talk with him. Bet he had some really cool RR stories to
share. You are right, back in those days the men were men and
worked very hard for their money. Thank you very much for taking the time to visit with us and may you have a very good day my friend.
An interesting machine to watch at work Dave. Thanks for sharing.
You're quite welcome Robert, glad you enjoyed. These spiker machines are pretty cool to watch and sure save a whole lot of hand spiking! Really appreciate your visiting with us and may you have a very good day my friend.
Well done!
Thank you Dave, glad you enjoyed. These spiker machines are pretty cool to watch and sure save a whole lot of hand spiking! Really appreciate your visiting with us and may you have a very good day my friend.
so why do they place only two spikes per side of plate and not in a line against the rail?
Spike pattern varies depending on whether it is in a tangent
or a curve Marty. Tangents will have usually 2 rail holding spikes
on one side and 1 rail holding spike on the other side of the rail,
plus 1 anchor spike. On sharp degree curves that changes so
there are 2 rail holding spikes on both sides of the rail, plus
the anchor spike. Very much appreciate your taking the time to visit with us and may you have a very good day my friend.
@@ccrx6700 thanks, I won't know unless I ask.LOL
@@bibledefinedbymartycozad 👍😊
I was a track man in NYC transit authority we used to put a rubber pad between the plate and tie this prevented the tie from being platecut overtime extending the life of the tie I did not see any pads there do you use them , that guy twirls that spiking maul real good I bet 4 guys like him can outperform that expensive machine just like the good old days
We do put rubber pads on the tie plates on our bridges Kenneth,
but never on the other ties. The problem with the pads on the bridge timbers is over time they wear out and disintigrate and
then there is a space between the timber and tie plate. Thank you very much for taking the time to visit with us and may you have a very good day my friend.
Thank you, Dave, for bringing us these fascinating behind-the-scene views of the nuts n' bolts of railroading. Amazing machine... it makes me wonder, just WHO in the heck comes up with the ideas for a machine like this, with all of its intricate workings.
Whoever did design that spiker sure saved a ton of gandies from
having to hand spike Henry. We do love hydraulics on the RR!
Your welcome and thank you very much for visiting with us and may you have a really good day my friend.
love watching these videos keep it up dave
I'm pleased to hear you are enjoying watching Gidget. Thank you so much for taking the time to visit with us and may you have a very good day my friend.
Hey Dave, it looks like spring has made it yet where you are....everything turning green here in England!
You are right about that, spring has sprung, this is a nice
time of the year. Very much appreciate your taking the time to visit with us and may you have a very good day my friend.
Howdy! Thanks for another fun Video...
Really pleased to hear you enjoyed zztechs. Very much appreciate your taking the time to visit with us and may you have a very good day my friend.
How cool a machine to save a back breaking job. That young man can sure hit the spikes with ease. Nice find. Dont spend that coin all in one place. lol. Wonder how long it’s been laying there.
You are right Beverly, this is one cool machine. Sure saves a lot
of hand spiking! Thank you very much for visiting with us and may you have a really good day my friend.
Hi Dave, great video. I was lucky to see this machine in action in person and it is amazing. It really saves time and backbreaking work thank you for sharing this. Take care and have a great day.
Thank you for the nice comment Charles, glad you enjoyed.
It's great you got to see one in person. These spiker machines are pretty cool to watch and sure save a whole lot of hand spiking! Really appreciate your visiting with us and may you have a very good day my friend.
Super cool.
Thanks Criticool Hit, glad you enjoyed. These spiker machines are
pretty neat to watch and sure save a whole lot of hand spiking! Really appreciate your visiting with us and may you have a very good day my friend.
Great video. Thanks Dave.
Really pleased to hear you enjoyed John. Very much appreciate your taking the time to visit with us and may you have a very good day my friend.
@@ccrx6700 I landed a new job yesterday. Today was great. Thank you for your kind replies Dave. Always gives me a smile.
@@johnhobbs2689 👍😊
ONCE AGAIN. OUTSTANDING RAIL VIDEO. AWARD WINNNING !!!!!!
Really pleased to hear you enjoyed Bill and thanks for the
nice comment. Very much appreciate your taking the time to visit with us and may you have a very good day my friend.
@@ccrx6700
@@BILLBADASHAW2011 😊👍
We have some tracks out here in the Southern California desert that are over 100 yers old with original ties and hardware still in great shape
That's amazing Big Catauna, I have a friend that works on the Trona RR and he has some rail there still from the early 1900's.
Thank you very much for visiting with us and may you have a really good day my friend.
@@ccrx6700 its surprising with dry arid weather how long things last, I will be out rail carting the old San Diego & Arizona railroad this weekend ...this thing has some history behind it along with some great views and tunnels
@@bigcatauna 👍😊
A great way to spend Valentines Day, Dave! Showing a little love for the track!
Thanks, Dave!
There you go Michael, you are right. What better way to show love to my track than putting in new ties! Thanks so much for visiting with us and may you have a very good day my friend.
Pretty neat machine Dave
You are certainly right about that Mike! These spiker machines are pretty cool to watch and sure save a whole lot of hand spiking! Really appreciate your visiting with us and may you have a very good day my friend.
Awesome video 👍😎🇺🇸🚂👍
Thank you for the nice comment Patric, glad you enjoyed.
These spiker machines are pretty cool to watch and sure save
a whole lot of hand spiking! Really appreciate your visiting with
us and may you have a very good day my friend.
I love that machine gun! 😎
It sure is a cool machine isn't it Michael. And sure saves
a whole lot of hand spiking. We do love hydraulics on the RR.
Thank you very much for visiting with us and may you have a really good day my friend.
Excellent video well done
Really pleased to hear you enjoyed James. Very much appreciate your taking the time to visit with us and may you have a very good day my friend.
Awesome video, as always if there was a RR hall of fame I would give you a million votes
Appreciate the nice comment Eugene. Guess I'll have to start
a RR hall of fame.... :-) Thank you so much for taking the time to visit with us and may you have a very good day my friend.
LOVE IT!!!
Great to hear you enjoyed David. Thank you very much for taking the time to visit with us and may you have a very good day my friend.
The machine was good to see working close up, still a bit of manual work for the young guy to do and he spoke nice to you, like had respect. Hope he makes a long career out of railroad work, I guess they start off doing jobs like that and apply to operate machines once they have some experience working on the track. I have some flat coins somewhere from years ago when we changed to decimal money and put some old pennies on the rail.
Glad you enjoyed Cedarcam. The spiker sure saves a lot of hand
spiking, we do love hydraulics on the RR. You are right he was a
very polite young man, most of the guys they brought in on the
tie gang this time were also. Thank you very much for visiting
with us and may you have a really good day my friend.
Great Video Nice Machine.
Thank you Derrick, glad you enjoyed. These spiker machines are pretty cool to watch and sure save a whole lot of hand spiking! Really appreciate your visiting with us and may you have a very good day my friend.
Hey Dave, you have the best stuff, now because of you I have to build an N Scale Nordco spiker to match the ballast spreader oh by the way, John Henry is rolling over in his grave. 🤣🤣
Oh wow how cool will that be, hope when you get it built
you put up a YT video so I can see it! Great to hear you are
enjoying the videos. Thank you so much for taking the time to visit with us and may you have a very good day my friend.
Great video Dave good gear, good finds on the track, I wonder how old the person is now who put the coin on the rail head. I also agree with you it is nice to see youngsters working out on the track, gives the job a future
Really pleased to hear you enjoyed Ian and thank you for the nice comment. Very much appreciate your taking the time to visit with us and may you have a very good day my friend.
The scarifyer, the stuffer, something else, the spiker, some human finishing, and the tamper. I missed how the metal plates are put on the ties. Quite a few steps to replace ties.
They had a couple of gandies putting in the plates Jonas, I did
not show that. They have a small machine called a plater that
lifts the rail and then the 2 guys slide the plates under the rail.
Very much appreciate your taking the time to visit with us and may you have a very good day my friend.
It seems like you have a significant amount of standing water which is a source of the soft ground ( I think). Can you install drains and get the water to drain away quickly? Great Videos as always. !!!!!!! We appreciate your work...
You are right Byron, there is very poor drainage in the section
at the beginning of the video. It gets a lot of coal spillage as this
is where the train is moving as it is being dumped and there is a
lot of starting and stopping of the train and banging around
so coal leaks out the bottom of the doors. It's a never ending
battle to try and eliminate coal from my ballast and it seems
like I'm losing the war.... :-) Thank you very much for taking the
time to visit with us and may you have a very good day my friend.
Its fascinating to think that the first railroad spike was invented about 1830.... yet nearly 100 years later, railroads are still using that same basic design.
You are right about that Mike, it is fascinating the basic design is still being used. Really appreciate your visiting with us and may you have a very good day my friend.
Awesome Vid Dave!!
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Thank you for the nice comment Ralph, glad you enjoyed.
These spiker machines are pretty cool to watch and sure save
a whole lot of hand spiking! Really appreciate your visiting with
us and may you have a very good day my friend.
@@ccrx6700 you too Dave!!👍🙂
@@ralphgreenwood5857 👍😊
Dave, I watched one of your vids last night where the loaded (coal) cars “rolled over the track” at the switch and some cars derailed.
Then in watching this one it seems to me that when the rail plate is nailed to the tie that almost always there is rock and debris between the two.
I don’t see how this could ever be a really good attachment unless the nailing machine uses compressed air to blow out the joint before nailing.
This to me would cause rail to more easily roll over and dump some cars especially in a curve on the outside rail.
I was curious what you would say about rocks and junk being on top of the tie and under the rail. Thanks , love your vids.
Seems you are too happy working there. //ji John in Oregon
You are right John, ballast and debris under the rail where it comes in contact with the tie plate is an undesirable thing. Perhaps the angle of the camera gave the appearance that
stuff was getting on top of the tie plate under the rail, but this
is most always not the case. The tie plates are put in clean.
There is some ballast on the ties but it is not on the part of the tie plates where the rail sits. Hope that alleviates your concerns.
Thank you for the nice comment Patric, glad you enjoyed.
Thanks so much for visiting with us and may you have a very good day my friend.
Nice.
Great to hear you enjoyed RFM Caboose. These spiker machines are pretty cool to watch and sure save a whole lot of hand spiking! Really appreciate your visiting with us and may you have a very good day my friend.
I can just imagine how many guys they had just to drive in the spikes by hand and of course they had to rotate them every once in awhile because a person can only swing a hammer so many times and the hammers they used to drive the spikes , I'd end up missing the spikes more than hitting them , I'm sure it took alot of practice swinging a spike hammer , Back in the early days of building a railroad , I can imagine how long it took to build a 100 mile railroad , Having to do it all by hand
Another thing is getting the materials to the job site
Your right Marty, can you imagine what those guys did building
the transcontinental RR back in the 1860's. Everyone learning to
drive spikes misses, it takes practice to keep you eye on the spike head and not look at the rail.
Can you explain where and why there's double spikes up against the inner rail in certain areas. I'm thinking it's because of greater lateral force in curves.
You are right Brian, double rail holding spikes are on curves
to help resist the lateral forces of the trains. On some of our
sharper curves we put two rail holding spikes in on both sides
of the rail. Thank you very much for visiting with us and may you have a really good day my friend.
Good video. Most likely a quarter. Good for the Silver.
Maybe I can retire now, sell all that silver I found Clarence.... :-)
Glad you enjoyed and we really appreciate your visiting with
us. May you have a very good day my friend.
@@ccrx6700 not today!
@@clarencewiles963 😊👍
It's good to see the OLD men working hard on the railroad also. Oh wait a minute, that didn't happen in this video. 😂😂😂.
Well I was there Earl, just didn't get to see me doing anything if
that counts.... :-) Very much appreciate your taking the time to visit with us and may you have a very good day my friend.
@@ccrx6700 you know I just gotta rattle the cage a little , right? I am 67 1/2 myself. And still doing all the maintenance stuff around here. Both inside and out. The trick is for us to out work the young ones to keep them on their toes. 🫢😄
Ok, so, how do you keep rocks from getting between the tie and rail because it looks pretty messy installing them ties. I used to have a box full of smashed coins. In the rail line I told you about, there was a spot where there was a small brick wall and a small sand dune climbing the wall, and Id leave coins in the morning on the way to school and then Id pick them out of the sand dune after school on the way home. You can layer coins and they will stick together and never come apart.
Plates are clean when they are put under the rail by the platers
David. If a piece of rock does get under the plate somehow the
spiker operator will usually get out and remove it before spiking.
At least you had coins growing up..... the ones I did have spent
on Matchbox toys. Thank you very much for visiting with us and may you have a really good day my friend.
Very handy, time saving machine. My back hurt, thinking about doing that by hand. I am sure it is for money savings, but, why not put spikes in all the holes? Also, instead of smooth-sided spikes, why not put tiny ribs along the edges, so, they will not pull out so easily? Have a great day.
Yes it sure is and saves a whole lot of hand spiking trainmagnet.
Different sections of track have different spike patterns. No need
for as many spikes in tangent track as there is in curved track
so more spikes get put in on the curves that helps to resist more
the lateral forces of trains thru a curve. On tangent track the lateral forces are much less than on curved track so less stress
on the track structure. I have no idea why barbs are not put on
the spike shanks, no one makes spikes like that. maybe you
can start a spike factory and make some good money selling
those! :-) Thank you very much for visiting with us and may you have a really good day my friend.
Speaking of driving spikes. Who here is familiar with the song "Driving the Last Spike" by Genesis? It's one of my favorite songs. It's also a great track to test/demo a good sound system. Those toms!! Anyhoo... Pay attention to the lyrics, wow. From Wikipedia: "The song's lyrics by Phil Collins are about the Navvies: railway workers of the 19th century, many of whom died constructing Britain's railways. " ua-cam.com/video/A5q0t0vxvlY/v-deo.htmlfeature=shared
Very interesting Stubby, I had never heard that song before,
I liked it and thanks so much for sharing that with us.
Thanks again, Dave. I really enjoyed this video. The spike driver is an amazing machine.
Do you know if that gray rubber mat is OEM or a retrofit? I suspect that it was added post-manufacture, but I could be completely wrong.
I have a funny story about railroad spikes. Many years ago, I found three on my way to work. They were on the ground along with a bunch of old tie plates and such. I picked them up because I liked the look of them, but as I walked to the office, I realized that I wanted them because every one of my co workers, and I mean every one, was playing darts. It was an office craze. People were spending lots of money on exotic equipment like tungsten-aluminum alloy dart bodies, custom flights, and special points. Anyway, when I got to my desk, I attached four post-its to the back of a spike, just as a teammate passed by. "Look!" I said, "I now have custom darts, too. See, it has a pointy end, a blunt end, and flights, just like yours." His laughter attracted the boss, who doubled over with laughter. I'd never seen anyone laugh so hard. I still have the spikes.
Have a good one.
Your welcome Eric. To my knowledge the new spikers come
from the factory with that mat. Some of the older spikers do
have a retrofit shield on them tho. You never said if you ever
got to throw your new darts.... :-) Very much appreciate your taking the time to visit with us and may you have a very good day my friend.
@@ccrx6700 My colleagues wouldn't let me use them. I never understood why ;-)
@@ericmintz8305 👍😊
Another awesome train video Dave! I have to ask how do they hit the holes in them plates with that spike? I thought that was really amazing they hit that hole everytime.
I'm pleased to hear you enjoyed watching this one William. The operator lines up the spiking gun with the holes by eye. Thank you so much for taking the time to visit with us and may you have a very good day my friend.
Hey, Dave. Great video, as always. Can you send me a link on how they insert the tie plates. Thanks Robert
I haven't made a video on them putting in the plates Robert. It is
done by hand, two guys pull a small machine called a plater. It
lifts the rail and then the guys slide the plates under the rail.
Very much appreciate your taking the time to visit with us and may you have a very good day my friend.