Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 242, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 27 October 1917 — PNEUMATIC TOOLS ARE BEST [ARTICLE]

PNEUMATIC TOOLS ARE BEST

One Man Can Do as Much as Two Hand Laborers in Packing Ballast Around Railroad Ties. With the use of pneumatic tools for pricking the ballast around rairond ties, as tried by an eastern railroad, it is claimed that one man can do as much as two hand laborers have done hitherto, and the.work is more thorough and lasts longer. Each air compressor is made to operate four packing tools, which are driven by rapid hammer-blows delivered on their upper end. The operator keeps the tool in contact with the and the tnaterial is thus forced into small spaces not easily reached in hand work. The compressor and its gasoline engine are carried on a small car, which is easily lifted from the track and replaced. Where the working space is limited, as in cuttings, the compressed air may be carried through iron piping, and it is found that the packing tool can be operated with undiminished efficiency from 1,000 to 1,500 feet away from the compressor.