Hi >From my track maintenance experience on the railways in NSW, Australia, a surfaceman would be involved in maintaining the tracks. In railway terminology, "surfacing" refers to keeping the horizontal and vertical alignment of the track in order, so that there was a smooth ride for the trains and passengers. In the "old days", the track staff would lift the rails and sleepers with jacks, the ganger would eye the horizontal level and then the gang would pack ballast under the sleepers with pick lick tools called beaters. The ganger would then eye along the horizontal alignment and the gang would pull the rails to the correct line with crow bars. This was hard work but a good ganger could produce very good riding track. If England was like NSW (which I assume so, since our railways were modelled on the English system), local gangs would compete for yearly awards for the best kept track. When mechanised maintenance was introduced into the railways, the gangs that had the big yellow machines to lift, line and pack the tracks were called "resurfacing gangs". There were also larger gangs that also replaced the sleepers, and these were called "tie and surfacing gangs". Different rail systems used different terms for this type of work, and in NSW the "general purpose" track maintainers were called "fettlers". The fettlers worked in gangs under the control of (naturally) a "ganger". You sometimes see a group of track workers referred to as "gangers" but in reality there would only be one ganger, with the rest just being members of his gang. Other terms for this type of occupation included "platelayer" (often associated with track construction) or "lengthman". The latter term would have originated from the "length", which was the section of track allocated to a gang. When the ganger or one of his gang inspected the track, this was referred to as "running the length". Hope this helps Frank Johnson -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Ian A McClumpha Sent: Tuesday, 26 October 2010 6:37 AM To: 'Peter Straight'; [email protected] Subject: Re: [WIG LIST] Surface man? Hi A Surfaceman was a person who kept the roads in good order. His job was to fill potholes and keep drainage channels clear. Later, the same name was applied to men who worked on the railways doing a similar job. Best wishes Ian A McClumpha Need help with your Scottish Family History research? Let Imchad Ancestry assist you. Please look at our website: www.imchad.freeola.com _____ From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Peter Straight Sent: 25 October 2010 18:17 To: [email protected] Subject: [WIG LIST] Surface man? Can anyone tell me what a Surface man did? and what it is please?? Heather ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message _____ No virus found in this message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 10.0.1144 / Virus Database: 424/3218 - Release Date: 10/25/10 ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

Hi Frank Thank you for explaining the role of a railway surfaceman now I understand completely what my grand dad did Donna ----- Original Message ----- From: Frank Johnson <[email protected]> Date: Tuesday, October 26, 2010 3:04 am Subject: Re: [WIG LIST] Surface man? To: 'Ian A McClumpha' <[email protected]>, 'Peter Straight' <[email protected]>, [email protected] > Hi > > >From my track maintenance experience on the railways in NSW, > Australia, a > surfaceman would be involved in maintaining the tracks. > > In railway terminology, "surfacing" refers to keeping the > horizontal and > vertical alignment of the track in order, so that there was a > smooth ride > for the trains and passengers. In the "old days", the track > staff would lift > the rails and sleepers with jacks, the ganger would eye the > horizontal level > and then the gang would pack ballast under the sleepers with > pick lick tools > called beaters. The ganger would then eye along the horizontal > alignment and > the gang would pull the rails to the correct line with crow bars. > > This was hard work but a good ganger could produce very good > riding track. > If England was like NSW (which I assume so, since our railways > were modelled > on the English system), local gangs would compete for yearly > awards for the > best kept track. > > When mechanised maintenance was introduced into the railways, > the gangs that > had the big yellow machines to lift, line and pack the tracks > were called > "resurfacing gangs". There were also larger gangs that also > replaced the > sleepers, and these were called "tie and surfacing gangs". > > Different rail systems used different terms for this type of > work, and in > NSW the "general purpose" track maintainers were called > "fettlers". The > fettlers worked in gangs under the control of (naturally) a > "ganger". You > sometimes see a group of track workers referred to as "gangers" > but in > reality there would only be one ganger, with the rest just being > members of > his gang. > > Other terms for this type of occupation included "platelayer" (often > associated with track construction) or "lengthman". The latter > term would > have originated from the "length", which was the section of > track allocated > to a gang. When the ganger or one of his gang inspected the > track, this was > referred to as "running the length". > > Hope this helps > > Frank Johnson > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: [email protected] > [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Ian > A McClumpha > Sent: Tuesday, 26 October 2010 6:37 AM > To: 'Peter Straight'; [email protected] > Subject: Re: [WIG LIST] Surface man? > > Hi > >   > > A Surfaceman was a person who kept the roads in good > order.  His job was to > fill potholes and keep drainage channels clear.  Later, the > same name was > applied to men who worked on the railways doing a similar job. > >   > > Best wishes > >   > > Ian A McClumpha > >   > > Need help with your Scottish Family History research?  Let > Imchad Ancestry > assist you.   Please look at  our website: > www.imchad.freeola.com >   _____  > > From: [email protected] > [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of > Peter Straight > Sent: 25 October 2010 18:17 > To: [email protected] > Subject: [WIG LIST] Surface man? > >   > > Can anyone tell me what a Surface man did? and what it is please?? > Heather > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > [email protected] with the word > 'unsubscribe' without > the quotes in the subject and the body of the message > >   _____  > > No virus found in this message. > Checked by AVG - www.avg.com > Version: 10.0.1144 / Virus Database: 424/3218 - Release Date: 10/25/10 > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > [email protected] with the word > 'unsubscribe' without > the quotes in the subject and the body of the message > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to SCT- > [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' > without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message >