Tools Used for Railway Track Maintenance
The first thing which comes to our mind is what is the importance of maintaining a railway track? There are several reasons behind it, such as providing safety, a comfortable journey, reducing the no. of accidents, increasing the life span of the track, etc. To maintain railway track in a serviceable condition, there are needs of some tools. Because tools can reduce human effort as well as reduce time consumption.
In the previous article, we discussed several important tools used in construction work. In this article, we are going to discuss the tools used for railway track maintenance work. So, let’s begin.
1. Beater pickaxe
A beater pickaxe is a tool that is primarily preferred for railway track maintenance. As the train moves over the track, the ballast moves away from its original position. For this reason, a beater pickaxe is used to pack rail ballast at the bottom of the track. Thus, this tool is used to restore the ballast to its original position.
2. Jim Crow
A jim crow is another tool used for bending the rails as well as breaking the rail. It consists of a U or V-shaped armature with a sturdy screw rod in its axis.
3. Shovels
A shovel is a tool mostly used to dig as well as to handle granular materials. It is used to move granular materials from one place to another in a very short distance. In the case of railway track Maintainance, it is used to handle rail ballast.
4. Crowbars
A crowbar is nothing but a hand tool made of metal. The end of this tool is flattened and curved. They are mostly used to remove nails but here it is used to align the track slightly and also to raise the sleeper to the desired height.
5. Cant board
As the name suggests, it is a tool used for checking the can or super-elevation on the curve track.
6. Adzes
Adzes is a hand tool that is mostly used for cutting and trimming wood. It consists of a handle made of wood and a sharp curved metal blade attached at the bottom, perpendicular to the handle. Adzes is used to do adzing to the wooden sleepers.
7. Hand hammer
Hand hammers are used for many purposes, but in the case of railway maintenance, it is mostly used to drive spikes.
8. Rail tongs
When it is necessary to lift up or move the rail manually, Rail tongs are used. It is used to lift and move the rail when the old rail is to be replaced.
9. Spirit level
A spirit level is nothing but a level instrument. It is a rectangular-shaped small box either made up of wood or hard plastic. It comes with a bubble tube placed in the middle. It is used to check whether a surface is vertical or horizontal. In railway, it is used to verify cross-level as well as check the track alignment.
10. Sleeper tongs
When it is necessary to pick up or move the slippers manually, sleeper tongs are used. It is used during sleeper replacement work.
11. Spanner
Spanner is a small hand tool that is used to tight or loose nut bolts. In railway maintenance, it is used to tighten or loose fish bolts.
12. Lifting Jacks
Lifting Jack is a very important tool used for lifting or moving railway tracks. It is used when a railway track is to be laid or an old track is to replace.
13. Claw Bar
A claw bar is nothing but a hand tool consisting of a long metal bar with a hook at the end. These tools are mostly used to pull up any object. but in railway, it is used to pull or remove spikes and bolts from rail tracks.
14. Wire Claw
A wire claw is a very important tool mostly used in railway track maintenance work. When there is a need to replace the sleeper, at first, the ballast around the sleeper has to be removed. Therefore, to remove the ballast from around the sleeper, wire claw is used. It is also used to spread the ballast around the sleeper.
15. Sledgehammer
A sledgehammer is mostly used to break the hard ground, stone, brick, etc. It consists of a heavy metal head connected with a long handle. In case of railway maintenance work, it is used to hit on chisel head for cutting rails.
Read Also:
5 Major Cross Sectional Elements of a Railway Track
Functions of Ballast in Railway Track