Years ago, I had experience at each of those jobs the old fashioned way at one time or another; on steel gangs, tie gangs and on section crews. There was automation for many of the various jobs then (late 70s), but I have never seen an 'all in one operation' like that. Awesome!! The closest operation I have seen would be the laying of ribbon rail onto an already prepared bed. The work train would run on temporary rails and the ribbon rail would thread through giant bobbins onto the bed. After it had passed, the crew would move in, remove the spikes from the temporary rail and roll it out and then pry the ribbon rail into place and spike it down and anchor it. That is a pretty impressive operation also but still way more hand labor than what is required in the video. You wouldn't believe that those long strings of rail are so flexible, just like giant licorice ropes, if you haven't seen it. You don't want to be standing in the wrong place if an end gets away and wants to straighten itself out. If it doesn't cut you in half, it will definitely knock you out of the park.
I am surprised to see the crew on film without hard hats and safety glasses. With all the injury lawsuits the railroads endure, that was a big no-no back then and probably still is. We'd have been run off on the spot. They would have big safety campaigns from time to time and everyone would be compliant for a few months before getting lax again. Then, the safety meetings would start again.
Thanks for sharing the video. It's great to see the automation but I am pretty certain that the old way of doing things is alive and well on the 'back roads'.
