Tie Replacement Crew

The blue flats look like some cars that were made up to load/move equipment for the tie gang. The flats with bulkheads around it were material cars that would be loaded at 'Stores' at the beginning of the year for the gangs, to put material on them like spikes/anchors/bolts/Etc. As for the equipment, pretty much everything needed for the tie gang.

I'm betting they are old cars that have been turned into flats that can haul an entire gang of track equipment. I always wanted to do that, instead of having to load and tie-down track equipment on regular flatcars to move a gang. Doing it that way, requires you have a crane to load/unload and is a pain. With those cars, especially if there is a hydraulic ramp built on the end of one of the flats (called "Scorpion" cars down here) you can just run the equipment up/down...which is days quicker.

-- Rick Leggett