Jim crow (tool)

File:Track Work Jim Crow.jpg

Illustration of a Jim crow from A Textbook on Civil Engineering — International Correspondence Schools published in 1899 by the Colliery Engineer Company.

A jim crow or rail bender is a tool for bending rails, consisting of a U-shaped or V-shaped armature with a hefty screw rod in its axis. Deluxe models are outfitted with rollers for continuous bending.

Practice

Railway rails are quite flexible and bend easily to radii of Template:Cvt or more. The jim crow is needed to bend rails to tighter radii, especially near the ends.

External links

• http://www.catskillarchive.com/rrextra/tkwk03.Html (with illustration)
• Photograph
• Railway Object Name Thesaurus

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