Organizers of the Sugarbeet Festival have put together a competition to drive railroad spikes and build track. Frank La Tray, a retired railroad foreman, explained the plans to allow novices to give laying rail a try. La Tray emphasized that his main goals are to keep everyone safe and have some fun. He said while some railroad spikes are still driven by hand, most of the work was replaced with powered machinery toward the end of the 1980’s.

The contest at the Festival

La Tray, and some other retired railroaders with track laying experience, plan to let competing teams build ‘short pane...