The rain cleared for long enough over the weekend that we were able
to put down 3 rail ties. John strung yellow cords around 3 sides of
the rail bed for levelling. The railbed is lower on the ends and higher
in the middle but the difference is not so extreme that the rails will
have trouble arching over the bump. We are lining up the existing
holes in the wooden ties so as to make assembly (of rails, spikes, tie
plates, ties) easier. The ties
are different lengths – some were clearly used in switches – and of
varying age and density. However, since
WP668 will not move much on these rails, we care more about the
top to bottom measure being the same (which it mostly is) than about
other measures or conditions.
Moving a hundred pounds or more of wood heavy with creosote is awkward at
best. We shifted each tie from the pile on the driveway onto my red
wheelbarrow and them bumped it over the mud to the new railbed. Now
that we have the measurements and allignment sorted out, next weekend
we will rent a Bobcat to move the rest of the ties. We bought extra ties so
that we can pick out the ones which look and fit best.
KatysBlog 
