TRANS SUBCOURSE 671
RAILWAY TRACK MAINTENANCE II
INTRODUCTION
In mid-nineteenth century, Major General
George H. Thomas said, "The fate of an
army may depend on a buckle." If the
general had been a railroad man, he
might have said something like this--
battles cannot be won while soldiers
wait for railroaders to deliver a
train of ammunition, nor can a rail
operating crew deliver such a train
while waiting for maintenance-of-way forces to
repair the track.
Expediency is the order of the day in a theater of operations; the prompt arrival of trains at their
destinations is far more important in wartime than that of any train operated in peacetime. As a student of
maintenance of way, you must realize that the shine on the "buckle"--the refinements of track and roadbed
described in this subcourse and its predecessor, Trans Subcourse 670--will have to be bypassed in oversea
theaters. There, no profit angle exists and no long-range maintenance programs to protect capital investment are
involved. Nevertheless, each track maintenance man must recognize the advantage of knowing the maintenance
procedures presented in this subcourse. Such knowledge adds to the efficiency needed in performing, planning,
and directing the maintenance activities that enable the trains in a theater to keep rolling to fulfill their essential
logistic mission.
After studying the reference text to this subcourse, you should be able to explain the types, methods, and
principles of routine track maintenance; to describe the function, components, design, location, construction, and
maintenance of various types of turnouts; to identify the design, function, and characteristics of the various types
of railroad curves; to explain the method of stringlining curves when they get out of line; to explain the function,
design and maintenance of highway grade crossings and guard rails; to identify the more important problems of
seasonal maintenance; to identify special maintenance problems; and to describe certain principles of
maintenance -of-way management.
The subcourse consists of five lessons and an examination divided as follows:
1
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