Posted by Todd Wilson on Wednesday, August 02, 2006 at 7:23PM :
In Reply to: Re: Are you sure........... posted by Russ / Wyo on Wednesday, August 02, 2006 at 5:34PM :
They sound like track jacks. They use them to lift the rail to tamp ballast underneath or to align rail as they do various repairs. They are a neat item to have and could be handy for some things. Just remember they are heavy duty built but they were used day in and day out for heavy duty things and may be stressed some and in a weaken state.
We used a track jack one time to lift the side of a wheel truck up on a box car to pop the bearing side plates back in after a minor derailment that resulted in 1 set of wheels being on the ground. If you got enough lead in your pencil to work the lift handle they will will jack stuff up.
Todd