Morning journal and courier., 1884-01-14
Track-Layfns i'm Mexico.

| Correspondence of the Boston Herald It was now dark. and we could see nothing except many dusky forms and the light Of ! tiny camp-ares, where the laborers' evening meals were in preparation. In the morning the ground was covered vith white frost, which soon vanished before the hot sun. The work of tracklaying wasin lively progress. Track | laying, as well ss most other kinds of work, has distinctive peculiaritiss in Mexico. Ton may, perhaps, fancy gang of noisy Irish 1 men in turbulent toll, few rude shanties ! around, much whiskey in the air, and the ground strewn with tin cans and empty bot ties. The picture would hold good of any traek-laying scene in the West, but net ip Mexico. Here the labor is all Mexican, that is to say pure Indian with slight exceptions and the only camp debris left when the work has passed on consists of bushels of tuna skins. The only white men gre the master trscklayer, the lomotive engineer, and the fire man, the civil engineer who is setting the stake to guide the ssrfacing gang, and the cook The foremen of the tracklayisg gangs ere Mexicans.
 All appears to be confusion, and the spec
 tator wonders why the men luggipg all sorts of material and engaged in all sorts otaWork do not tumble over each other. But reajl1 the stricte st order prevails The Indian la borers work steadily and without noise. Ihey
 are well trained and great number of them have been engaged iu the work ever since the
  cross-ties forward and srrangss them boys
 run ahead and drop the spikes. fish plates or angle irons, bolts, and nuts, just in the spot where they are wanted another gang loads the rails on to little fiat cars, which are push ed forward over B brand new track as fast as
 it is laid, where the rails are unl1adsd and carried forward by other men detailed for the purpose. The rails are put on the cross ties in their proper position, those on the right following chalk fine marked on the tlss by
 string, whiie on the left they arc placed at the exact distance from the opposite line hs
 means of a gauging stick. The rails are
 secured together by bolts and nuts through
 the s'angle iroDs,'' or fish plates" as the case may be, &kich connect them, only two
 bolts being used at first, the ether two being
 put in afterward, the design bsing to have the
 rails ready at the earliest possible minnte for
 fat cars, with material to be pushed over
 them.
 As soon as the rails are joined the srikers come to the spot two at each joint, one with
 in cad one without ths rail, yielding lusts, unaEring blows in alternate succession, like two backsmiths at an anvil. The same men also drive the centre spikes at each rail, whsn ths track Is ready for the little flats aforesaid
 Other Epikers and boi: fasteners come along and coapiate the work. WhSn thsre are
 pino tfss, two blows at the utmost will drive 8 spike into place, but with ths hard tiss of oak and mesquite 1t takes several blows
 These latter ties are mostly very uneven in
 size, and therefore it takes considerable
 longer time to lay the teack than with uni form ties of pine, or with those which are sswn or hewn to regular size, as upon most of the roads in the States. This difference in the size of the ties makes mora work n dwelling up, a task which must hs dons be- fore anything heavier than the little material flats can pass over the rails. The Jewellers como directly behind the ,rack-layiRg gsng
 The rails are raikei to exactly the required level by means of jackscrews, and the gravel or ballast is scraped and shoVeied in under the cross ties to keep them in place The track Is then ready for the cars. But bal last train folIo~s immediately along behind filling in between the ties with the needed ballast, and within fifteen days at IessE the track is in perfect order for regular operation. The thorough construction of the Mexican Central is shown in it's b&lasiiug. Instead of laying the track on the bare grading and then filling in with ballast efterward, the line is thoroughly ballastea at the time the gradings is done, giving the best kind of a roadbsd. The ballast all along the line is excellent, a great proportion of 1t being broken rock like thst ou the Pennsylvania rail way, while the rest is of ssperate or various degrees of hardness.