(The Charlston Post and Courier posted the following Associated Press on its website on July 7.)
GRAY, TENN.–Railroad workers took advantage of the holiday weekend to wrap up two months of maintenance in eight days, as CSX Transportation closed down 300 miles of railway in five states.
“No matter if it’s hot or rainy, we’re here driving away,” said Alvin Stinson, a CSX foreman said of the work that began Tuesday. “This is really a moving assembly line.”
Stinson said only the danger of lightning would stop the 1,200 workers from striving to get all the work done by Tuesday’s deadline.
The “maintenance blitz” includes reworking 153 private rail crossings, replacing 172,000 cross ties, driving more than 2 million rail spikes and completing repairs to four bridges and 18 tunnels.
The railway being worked on stretches from Elkhorn City, Ky., to Laurens, S.C., and also touches Tennessee, Virginia and North Carolina.
CSX Chief Regional Engineer Ken Wilson calls the operation “unprecedented in the company’s history.”
Supplies began being delivered in all five states in January to get prepared, he said.
Replacing a couple of miles of ties is an arduous process involving about 35 pieces of equipment, Stinson said.
“It starts with a front tie handler laying the ties out to be replaced from these piles. A machine comes along and lays the tie down,” he said.
“Then another group will come along and pull out the old spikes and ties, more will come and lay new ties, then a rail lifter machine comes and lifts the rail and puts the plate in place under the rail.
“Then spike crews and dressers come in and finish the work up. We put in about 1,200 ties per mile. It’s a process that keeps you going, and these crews are the best at rebuilding these tracks to be their safest.”
Since most corporate customers shut down for the Fourth of July holiday, CSX officials selected it as a time to get a lot of work done with less inconvenience.
Effort has gone into accommodating property owners in affected areas, as well, said David Hall, spokesman for CSX.