BNSF X4400320 20040808 WI Prairie du Chien

A spike driver (also known as a spiker) is a piece of

rail transport Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a p ...

maintenance of way Maintenance of way (commonly abbreviated to MOW) refers to the maintenance, construction, and improvement of rail infrastructure, including tracks, ballast, grade, and lineside infrastructure such as signals and signs. Track The most fundamen ...

equipment. Its purpose is to drive

rail spike A rail fastening system is a means of fixing rails to railroad ties (North America) or sleepers (British Isles, Australasia, and Africa). The terms ''rail anchors'', ''tie plates'', ''chairs'' and ''track fasteners'' are used to refer to part ...

s into the ties on a

rail track A railway track (British English and UIC terminology) or railroad track (American English), also known as permanent way or simply track, is the structure on a railway or railroad consisting of the rails, fasteners, railroad ties (sleepers, ...

to hold the rail in place. Many different sizes of spikers are manufactured and in use around the world.

History

Historically, spikers was the slang-name for the rail workers who drove in the spikes after the

gandy dancer Gandy dancer is a slang term used for early railroad workers in the United States, more formally referred to as "section hands", who laid and maintained railroad tracks in the years before the work was done by machines. The British equivalents o ...

s laid the track on the tie. Spikes are used to hold the rail in gauge and keep it connected to the ties. Before the development of automated spikers, this task was done entirely by hand using pickaxes to drive the spikes into the ties. This process was slow and not easy to learn (at the driving of the

golden spike The golden spike (also known as The Last Spike) is the ceremonial 17.6-karat gold final spike driven by Leland Stanford to join the rails of the first transcontinental railroad across the United States connecting the Central Pacific Railroad ...

that marked the completion of the

first transcontinental railroad North America's first transcontinental railroad (known originally as the "Pacific Railroad" and later as the " Overland Route") was a continuous railroad line constructed between 1863 and 1869 that connected the existing eastern U.S. rail netwo ...

in 1869, several executives of the companies building the railroad tried and failed to drive in the final spike, showing how difficult a task it was). To make the process of driving spikes faster and easier, automated self-propelled machines that travel on the rails were developed in the 1900s. These machines can insert spikes far faster than by hand. Brian Solomon writes that, "Spike drivers take less time to accomplish their tasks than it takes to read about it."

Method of operation

When in operation, a spiker works by using rams to drive spikes into the ties, using either compressed air or hydraulics to power the rams. The spiker uses chutes to automatically feed spikes to the rams, which are present on both sides of the machine to allow spikes to be inserted on both rails at the same time. A worker will periodically add fresh spikes to the chutes as needed to keep the machine supplied. On larger spikers, spikes are supplied from a feed bin, eliminating the need to add spikes by hand. Railroad workers operate the machine by directing the rams and moving the spiker, which is usually self-propelled and powered by a diesel engine. The process is as follows: # The spiker moves to a tie that needs spikes inserted. The spiker uses claws to grab the tie and hold it in place. # Workers use a joystick to direct the rams to the locations where spikes are to be inserted, and then activate the rams to drive the spikes into the rail. # The spiker releases the tie, and moves on to the next tie to repeat the process. Maintenance of way equipment Rail fastening systems A typical spiker has controls on both sides of the machine, allowing it to operate when only one of the two rails needs spikes inserted.

Manufacturers of spikers

Harsco Harsco Corporation is a global industrial company based in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania. Harsco operates in 30 countries and employs approximately 11,000 people worldwide. The company provides industrial services and engineered products that serve ...

Nordco Nordco, Inc. is an American manufacturer of railroad maintenance of way and inspection equipment, based in Oak Creek, Wisconsin. Founded in 1926, it has been a subsidiary of Wabtec since 2021. The company is one of the top manufacturers of railr ...

References

{{reflist