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Plate 171:  Building a locomotive service yard, Part 37:  the five supporting columns are marked according to their positions, October 2003

After the five permanent supporting columns for the service yard were positioned at their most effective locations, their "footprints" were traced upon the baseboard. Each column was then numbered, and a corresponding number was written at each "footprint". The reason for all this tracing and labeling is that construction tasks are often interrupted for several days at a time, and it is easy to forget even simple tasks that have been "left hanging". Marking each column and, likewise, marking each column's "footprint" helps to perpetuate a smooth workflow in the presence of interruptions.

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The letters E.L.L.Y. on each column stand for "Embankment Level Locomotive Yard". If these little columns were not marked in this manner, the builder might forget their purpose and "steal" them to use in another construction job.

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