What's with Bending Over?

No matter how hard we try to make railroading easy, some things never change. Les Wilmunder has done a lot to modernize the 60 feet of light rail that he uses to demonstrate his Sheffield Motor Car speeder. He uses bolts instead of spikes, four-by-fours in place of ties and a power drill replaces the spike maul.

But there's one thing Les can't change is the need to bend over. It pains me just to watch.

Les Wilmunder uses a bolt and washer system to replace the spike.

Les drills the bolt into four-by-four ties with a power drill.

Scott Romine bends over as he sets bolts and washers in place.

Keith Berry's posture puzzles me. Bending at the waist seems to be his most comfortable posture.

There's always one sensible worker on the MOW gang. Bill Rogers kneels to join the rail sections together. (The other sensible guy is the photographer -- he walks around snapping pictures instead on bending at the waist.)