Re: EBT late-August update

Guys,

As someone who has worked in railroad construction and contracting for almost 15 years, we generally use the term "dressing track" to mean the final regulating and dressing of the ballast on freshly tamped track to neat edges, uniform shoulder width off the end of the ties (usually 6" or no shoulder on industrial or light duty track), leveling the stone in the cribs to a uniform height relative to the top of the ties, cleaning all stone off the ties, plates and base of rail, all to give the track a very neat, crisp appearance.

When changing ties out of face, which means to change a large percentage of ties in a given stretch of track, the mark made on the one end of the tie is generally refered to as "establishing the line side". We do the same thing when constructing new track. For standard gauge track with 8'-6" long ties, line side is generally 18-1/2" from the end of the tie. From the original photos posted, it looks like the relay ties being installed are longer than the ties already in the track. I'm sure with the current state of affairs financially, FEBT takes what they can get, even if the ties are a little longer than usual.

But, hey, these guys are really knocking themselves out and doing a bang-up job to say the least. It looks like Larry and his gang are making some real headway. I'm sure hoping the EBT can find a very benevolent benefactor to help them get another one of the Mikes online to give them more to attract the public and ease the strain on the one and only steamer in service right now.

Rob Gardner