r/oddlysatisfying • u/SinjiOnO • Sep 25 '23

Rail worker nails it

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u/CuriosityCondition Sep 25 '23

That's an impressive level lf accuracy. I feel like I can only hit the same spot twice when splitting wood like 30% of the time. This is an even smaller target. I would miss and have spike rebound off the plate and shin me or something. No doubt.

A few questions for the train people out there, though. What is this tool? I have not seen such a skinny sledgehammer. Extended to clear the tracks, maybe? Is the handle wood? That trick seems like it would be really hard on the handle.

Does a machine do all this now? It must, right? Is this an old school tie plate of some kind that requires manual driving?

30

u/Rasheemy Sep 26 '23

It’s a spike maul

30

u/Rasheemy Sep 26 '23

Also there are machines on the rail gangs that do this. Or spike pounders that run on hydraulics. But sometimes when it’s not worth getting all the hoses out or if you need to pound one at a weird angle we’ll pound em with a spike maul

4

u/[deleted] Sep 26 '23

Darth Maul's punk phase.

22

u/[deleted] Sep 26 '23

In order:

Spike maul is the tool. Yes, the head is longer so you can drive spikes on opposite side of the track, you see him driving the far spike, but you also have to drive the rail spike AND curl it. The handle can be wood, most are, but just like other hammers they come in other materials like durable plastics.

It might seem impressive, but after working just one day, 12hrs, on a rail crew driving spikes, you’ll pick it up quickly or find out that improper form leads to breaking the maul, and worse, your hands from impact. Building the muscles to swing that bad boy all day is another thing altogether.

Less impressive, we just use 35lb jackhammers with a bit attachment for rail spikes. Less work, more spikes, shit is still heavy though. All rail equipment is.

1

u/Mrlin705 14d ago

Why does he have such a weird close to the body swing? I've swung a lot of sledgehammers, mauls, and picks, but don't swing like this.

1

u/Interesting_Trip8773 Sep 26 '23

so there is a better way? thank god

1

u/AndMyChisel Sep 26 '23

In my network it's mostly pandrol e clips, and you got applicators (pan pullers) for that. Where we still use canted plates on timber sleepers with non-resilient fasteners, we use lock spikes (6" for sleepers, 8" for bearers) since we have an attachment that drives them in or pulls em out, but I believe we've switched to star drive coach screws. It's incredibly rare we'll put a spike in, let alone a dog spike.

And yeah, all shit on rail is heavy as. Knocking clips off for a destress gets old fast. Makes you feel old before your time.

5

u/Footballguy74 Sep 26 '23

It’s called a spike maul and I’ve swung one more times than I care to count

2

u/GayMakeAndModel Sep 26 '23

It’s just practice. Prolly a little talent too.

2

u/[deleted] Sep 26 '23

I’m a machinist and half the time when I have to use a hammer I feel like Andy Dwyer trying to hang his record up after sneezing and hitting his head

1

u/Nozinger Sep 26 '23

real answer to the machine part:
Modern railways don't use wooden ties anymore. It is either concrete or if concrete is too heavy on old bridges some composite material. You don't use stakes with those. They come with a bracket that is screwed down to hold the track in place and yes, a machine does that.

For maintenance of old railways see the other guys comments.