. Elements of railroad track and construction . ovel,^ is one of the most usedrailroad implements; in construction work it divideshonors with the clay pick. On track work it is not onlyused for all shoveling purposes, but also for tampingthe track, more miles of track being tamped with theshovel than with tamping bai;s and picks. Shovels wear out by the blade wearing thin and themetal breaking at the point of the blade. After theblade wears thin it will bend easily, even if it will not MAINTENANCE OF WAY. 163 break, and it is a common sight to see a workman usingthe rail for an anvil and strai
. Elements of railroad track and construction . ovel,^ is one of the most usedrailroad implements; in construction work it divideshonors with the clay pick. On track work it is not onlyused for all shoveling purposes, but also for tampingthe track, more miles of track being tamped with theshovel than with tamping bai;s and picks. Shovels wear out by the blade wearing thin and themetal breaking at the point of the blade. After theblade wears thin it will bend easily, even if it will not MAINTENANCE OF WAY. 163 break, and it is a common sight to see a workman usingthe rail for an anvil and straightening the point of hisshovel with a spiking hammer. Shovel handles areusually riveted fast to the blade, but there are a numberof patent handles in which the parts may be in case of accident or carelessness, the handle willalways outlast the blade, consequently it is not econom-ical to use an expensive patent handle. 173. Ballast Forks.—A fourteen-tine ballast forkis shown in Fig. 98. The tines are 13|^ inches long, and at. Fig. 98. the point are y^ of an inch wide and -^ of an inch wide atthe upper end, | of a inch thick, and have wedge-shapedpoints. When the space between the points is f of aninch, the total width is 12f inches. The handle is thesame as the handle of a short-handle or scoop some circumstances ballast is handled with aNo. 2 shovel, but when fine material and dirt are to beexcluded, which is in most cases, a ballast fork is used. 174. Wrenches.—^Two wrenches are given in thetable, viz., track and screw wrenches. A screw wrench 164 RAILROAD TRACK AND CONSTRUCTION. is one that can be adjusted to any size nut. They areof two general forms, viz., pipe-wrenches, for grippinground surfaces, and monkey-wrenches, for gripping nutswith plane surfaces. These forms of wrenches are usedby trackmen only in special cases. Track wrenches consist of a straight bar of | by l^-inchsteel, with one end upset and formed as in Fig. 99. Whenbolts o
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