A platelayer or trackman (American English

American English

American English is a set of dialects of the English language used mostly in the United States. Approximately two-thirds of the world's native speakers of English live in the United States....

) is a railway employee whose job is to inspect and maintain the permanent way

Permanent way

The permanent way is the elements of railway lines: generally the pairs of rails typically laid on the sleepers embedded in ballast, intended to carry the ordinary trains of a railway...

 of a railway installation.

The term derives from the plates used to build plateway

Plateway

A plateway is an early kind of railway or tramway or wagonway, with a cast iron rail. They were mainly used for about 50 years up to 1830, though some continued later....

s, an early form of railway.

Track Inspection

Inspecting and maintaining the track, including all its component parts such as rails, sleepers, fishplates, bolts, etc., are the chief responsibility of the platelayer. His duties include greasing points, and generally watching for wear and tear.

Platelayers' Hut

In British and Commonwealth usage the term platelayers' hut refers to a lineside shelter in which a platelayer would historically be based. In the heyday of steam railway operation a platelayer might be assigned to each mile or two miles of track, with a platelayers' hut as his shelter and working base. He would regularly patrol his section of track. In modern railway operation platelayers tend to operate in mobile teams, and the lineside of the British railway network still includes a large number of abandoned and generally dilapidated platelayers' huts.