Russell: After this period of time were did you work?
Honath: Well from Marcilene I went to Amarillo as a Roadway Assistant for Roadway Engineer Johny Rustmer. In that capacity, It was a training program really. We worked with extra gangs and we also worked with him developing equipment. Additionally we worked from time to time in a ride program with the mechanical department checking ridability of track and various type cars. Some of the things we did was work with grouting gangs and the tie gangs. Which was really just one for the most part because there was only one tie gang there was only one. As they had just been initiated at that time. The tie gang as it was first installed cost more to put in ties that it cost to put them in ties by hand The first tie gang foreman on the Santa Fe that I am aware of was Worth Renn from that point the highly productive TKO gangs of today evolved,
Russell: How were those early tie gangs organized. You say it was more expensive initially to place ties by machine than by hand there must have been a lot of men and machine involved.
Honath: The gangs were larger. Even up to the late 50's the gangs carried 37 men and they were larger before that. The machines were integrated in the gang as the machines came along. The Fairmont company was the developer of the tie gang machinery in fact Rustmer and other people on the Santa Fe had some patents on some of the equipment in those days such things were developed as the scarifiyer, the rail lifter, the inserter, remover and it was just a matter. The main reason cost were greater was the problems of developing equipment and the additional problem of change from an operation that did not require very much time to clear to an operation that required continuous period of time to have any success with any mechanized gang, track time I am talking about.
Russell: They did not originally adjust to fact that you needed long track time for the mechanized gangs.
Honath: No. The use of track time on the railroads, the proper use of track time, was an evolving thing that not only required education but really supervision acknowledging that these things needed to be planned and not just happen.
Russell: This first tie gang, what type machinery and equipment did it have.
Honath: It was all Fairmont.
Russell: Was all Fairmont equipment did it have spike puller and·
Honath: It did not have all that equipment when it started. The individual pieces of equipment were developed as the gang was developed. The Santa Fe was the fore runner or guinea pig of the tie gang development and Fairmont Railroad motors was the developer of the machinery and the test area was the Santa Fe Railroad for the most part on the Southern and Northern Division but mostly the Southern Division.
Russell: The first years your production was what a day?
Honath: I would not want to say the exact per day. Some days were pretty lousy, but people trackmen inserting ties by hands were expected to get one tie per man per hour. We weren't doing that will.
Russell: Now days what are we getting. with one of these mechanized gangs we are getting?
Honath: Now days we can get up to better than 2,000 or better insertions per day with the TKO operation.
Russell: With fewer men?
Honath: Oh yes! I do not know what the gang consist is today. But their are figures available tie per man hour. The cost today is about $33 per tie. The cost of the operation equipment and everything is about $13 per tie.
Transcribed in altered from for the Web By Russell Crump
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