Joining the rails. With the rail in place on the tie-bed, WW&F crew members go about the task of attaching joint bars to couple the new section to the previous one. Note the small track car that is pushed in front of the Gantry Car. It holds joint bars and attachment hardware, as well as the tools that are necessary for this task. In one small concession to modern technology, a WW&F crew uses a battery-powered torque wrench to attach the bolts holding the joint bars on the rail being laid. This dramatically shortens the time required to complete this task, and it reduces the fatigue on the crew doing it. In the background, the Gantry Car crew stands ready to offload yet another tie bundle, to begin the next cycle.
