Trackside with Trains Vol. 332: 'Trackwork' is open for voting

[Brian Schmidt]

Vote for your favorite image in Trackside with Trains Vol. 332: "Trackwork!" Who captured it best this week? The poll is open through July 22.

http://trn.trains.com/photos-videos/trackside/2018/07/vol-332-trackwork

[CSSHEGEWISCH]

I went with Kenneth Williamson's photo.  Any photo that includes a Jordan spreader will get my vote.

[Murphy Siding]

Anybody else think that Joeseph Cermak and Robert A. Howard photographed the same work train in June in Erie and in Lebanon PA?

Edit: I looked a deeper into it. They are both taken in June, but about a week apart- a week and 2 years apart!

[Euclid]

It is interesting that there are two definitions of "trackwork."  I see that one of the two was only photographed by Chris Miller. 

[Paul_D_North_Jr]

Robert Jordan's of the WC crew - it's got the human interest part the best, and captured the most 'action' in motion.  BTW, they're not lining the track, they're jacking something - of the 3 guys in the middle in the photo, the jack is behind the left leg of the left guy, and the guy on the right is pulling down on the lining bar (which is what you use as a jack lever when you're not lining track with it).  There's another jack in front of his left leg, and the big guy on the right is holding what looks like a new tie plate, perhaps to slip it in under the rail after they've jacked it up enough above the tie (switch timber? hard to tell).  And as the caption says, trackwork the old-fashioned way - skilled manpower (even if looks like just laborers, you can't use people off the street for this work). 

Some good choices here.  I'd have voted for the West Chester RR one next, but there's only 1 guy there, and it's kind of passive.  Then one of the tie gangs, but they're both 'tied up' (pun!) for the day, so nothing happening. 

It'll be interesting to see what some of our other regular engineering-types vote for (mudchicken?).  

- PDN. 

P.S. Nasty 'S-curve' in the British photo of the Gatwick Express at Clapham Junction by Chris Miller - between the 45 and 15 signs just to the lower right of center, from the 2 facing-point turnouts (switches).  Also the one to the right is a turnout in a curve, including the stock rail through the switch on the outer ('high') rail of the curve.