Track Crew

The track crew maintains over forty miles of double railroad track at the VLA. They use big machines and move a lot of dirt. Ties must be replaced regularly. Several of these pictures were made while the crew was working on a section leading from the main track to an antenna pedestal on the north arm. The track was laid on expansive clay and, over time, the track began to sink. They removed the track and about five feet of dirt, laid down plastic sheeting and excavated so that water would run off into a complex French drain, and then put in new dirt and relaid the track.

trackcrew
 
 
 
 Carl uses a backhoe to remove the dirt. Pat, in the little front-end loader, moves the dirt so it can be spread out later. Paul and Ellison confer about the process.
Adrian
Adrian spreads out the dirt that was removed from under the track.
Joe
Joe performs some maintenance work on the tamping machine they will use when they put the track back in place.
ballast
Quality ballast is one of the most important ingredients in maintaining railroad tracks. It must be replenished, and occasionally totally replaced.
Modified on Friday, 26-Sep-2008 12:09:37 MDT