Track workers make short work of short line repair

Described as a "moving assembly line," track work vehicles roll down N.H. North Coast Railroad tracks Monday in Milton. (Lebanon Voice/Harrison Thorp)

MILTON - The rail gang from Tartaglia Railroad Services picked a beautiful day on Monday to work on the tracks of New Hampshire North Coast Railroad.

Their mission this week is to replacing stressed ties to make passage smooth and safe for the sand trains traveling between Ossipee and Dover every weekday.

The line of work vehicle moving slowly down the tracks on Monday comprised "basically a moving assembly line," says equipment operator Steve Schrader.

About a quarter mile up the track in front of the work cars seen in the picture, a lone rolling vehicle pulls the spikes, the first step in the process.

Then the equipment Schrader operates, seen at left in picture above, called a TRIPP, removes the old ties and inserts the new ones.

TRIPP refers to "tie remover inserter and plate placer," Schrader notes.

Not all the wooden ties are bad, just a few, which are marked with orange paint so Schrader knows which one to rip out.

The half-dozen workers or so began their day in Ossipee and are working their way to Dover where the 41-mile short line ends.

They were already in Milton by noon on Monday.

Behind Schrader's TRIPP are other pieces of the assembly line puzzle, including an orange crane that picks up the old ties and leaves them in convenient piles to be picked up afterward for disposal.

The railroad work crew, out of Syracuse, N.Y., will be done by Thursday, Schrader said.