"Swingin' the hammers and drawin' up pay". The lyrics to Gordon Lightfoot's "Canadian Railway Trilogy" come to mind as I watch the WW&F Spiking Crew in action behind the work train. This activity is most certainly one of the more popular tasks associated with laying track at the WW&F Museum. Members really seem to enjoy swinging the spike mauls like the gandy dancers of old. This is more difficult than it looks. The maul has a relatively small head, so some decent hand-eye coordination is required. The spiking crew typically works behind the work train, with spikes, mauls and other hardware being supplied off of a small track car, which trails Caboose 320. Note that no tie plates are being used here. Just spikes against the rail, the way things were done back in the day in Maine. By the way, it's not just the guys who enjoy the sport of spiking. Several ladies tried their hand during the 2019 Fall Work Weekend and at least of couple of them proved they were pretty good at it!
