I been working on the railroad

[plonq]

Here is plonq trying his hand with a hydraulic tamping machine.

We had to raise this stretch of rail a bit, so we used hand jacks to lift it a couple of inches and then tamped down the ballast using a (surprisingly heavy) hydraulic tool. Yes, I am actually working here and not just posing. I knew that the forman was snapping a picture, and he caught me glancing up to see if he had taken it yet.


Here is a picture of that selfsame forman showing us how it is done. Given that he has been essentially working a desk job for longer than I have, let us say that it was a learning experience for all of us. Happily we managed to take care of the job with suitable safety and alacrity.


If you look very carefully (you may have to click through to the larger version) you can see a train approaching us from the opposite direction on the track. Even though I knew that his TOP clearance ended well past the crossing in the picture, it was still a little disturbing.