| Once bolted and spiked,
ballast is dumped on the fresh track. Two hi-rail swing-dump trucks made continuous
relay trips for several days to bring more
than 2100 tons of clean, new "3A"
limestone ballast to support the track. >>
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<< The trucks really can swing to the side to dump stone along the
ends of the ties. |
May 28, 2001:
The first right curve after the
former end of track.
At this point the track is actually over-ballasted. Once tamping is complete, much
of stone will be under the ties. Excess ballast
will be shaped with a ballast regulator.
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At the new end of line. Dead ahead is Reese's
tamper; switch timbers show where
the siding
will depart the main.
<< The truck occupies what will be
the siding at the end of line. A very tight
custom switch frog--fabricated in our shop--is
just visible in the ballast.
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| Looking inbound a short distance from the
end of line.
The sun emphasizes ripples in the rail and
ballast, showing final tamping, leveling,
and alignment of track is not quite complete.
>>
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