The Tie Laying Machine aka TLM consists of a string of flat cars initially loaded with new concrete ties and eventually filled with old wooden ties. Doing the filling is one of two gantries, machines that run along rails on the sides of the cars and over the loads. One works the rear section of flat cars adjacent to the TLM, removing the wooden ties delivered by a conveyor and dropping them in an open spot in the middle, then picking up the concrete ties to deliver to the same conveyor at the TLM. The second brings concrete ties from the front to the middle and takes the wooden ties to load onto the now empty flats, which are taken away by a diesel. Between the TLM and the flats is the spike puller. This car, ATM 15999, has two stations beneath it where operators, each positioned over one of the rails, pull the spikes from the tie plates. Next is the TLM itself, with several different stations. First, the conveyor where the ties are picked up and dropped off. Then the spreader/plow section where the rails are spread, the old ties are dug up to be fed into the bottom of the conveyor, and the new ties on top of the conveyor are dropped into place. The next section is where the rail is reconnected to the ties, and the last section contains the power section, which generates much of the power that runs the machinery as well as providing motive power to move the entire train. Bringing up the rear is a former baggage car converted into a tool car.