With proactive railroad maintenance, you can avoid safety issues and unforeseen track outages. Whether a single-track siding needs a yearly inspection or your facility needs on-site support to avoid shutdowns, regular maintenance is necessary for a smooth-running train.

Track maintenance services include –
– Tie Replacement
– Rail Replacement
– Tamping (a self-propelled, rail-mounted machine used to pack the track ballast under railway tracks to make the tracks and roadbed more durable and level)
– Switch Point Welding (a switch point is a mechanical installation enabling railway trains to be guided from one track to another, such as at a railway junction)
– Rail Lubrication (lubrication provides significant benefits in terms of wear, energy and noise reduction, especially in areas of tight curves or heavily loaded tracks)
– Switch Cleaning
– Gauging (the measurement of trains and everything around it)

Regular Visual Inspection services include –
– Ties
– Rail
– Bolts
– Spikes
– Gauge and Alignment Check
– Sub-grade Evaluation
– Ballast Assessment (ballast is the material which forms the track bed upon which railroad ties are laid)
– Turnouts and Switch Inspection

Track Emergency Services required –
– Re-railing
– Joint Replacement
– Tie installation
– Rail Replacement
– Switch Repairs

Ok, Wow! That is a lot of information about things that need to be maintained or inspected on a regular basis for a train. And I totally agree with you, but let’s look at that list and compare it to the things in our lives that we should be maintaining and inspecting on a regular basis.

“Oh, that hits a little harder than I thought it would.”

Life maintenance –
– Am I doing my devotions on a daily basis? “Well, I do them most of the time.”
– Do I actually pay attention during church services or am I scrolling on my phone? “Um.”
– Do I make a point to talk to others about my faith? “I try to show my faith to everyone that I run into, but I don’t always say the words.”
– What is my mind focused on during my day? “Probably about what is going to happen next in the drama I’m watching when I am not talking to clients.”
– Do I take time to actually spend time in prayer talking to God? “Not as much as I should?”

Life Visual Inspection –
– Who am I spending most of my time with? “I’m usually by myself, or with my husband.”
– What is influencing/distracting me? “My phone.”
– Where is my Bible? “In my computer bag.”
– What is guiding my decisions? “A lot of times my emotions.”
– How do I react when things get difficult? “Truthfully, it depends on my emotions at the time.”
– Do people see Christ in me or the world? “I hope they see Christ.”

I answered each of these questions with the first thought that came to my mind, which is usually the most honest, for everyone. And well,… my answers… were a little disappoint. Asking ourselves these questions on a regular basis will not only show us areas we need to improve, but it will also show us our progress as we start making the choices to fix and adjust the things in our lives for the better. I have improved in some areas since the last time I did an inspection, which is very encouraging. But there are clearly things I need to work on.

How did you answer these questions? Are there things that you need to fix or maintain in your life? But wait we aren’t done yet.

Emergency Services – these are things that need to be fixed as soon as possible in our Christian lives. I can’t tell you what those things are because they are different for every single person. But I can tell you that they are things that are pulling you away from God and guiding you down a path of self-destruction. Anything that goes directly against God’s word and is called a sin, needs to be stopped or removed from your life. If it has become something you cannot live without, then it is controlling your life in a way that God never intended. Get rid of it. NOW!

If it is the internet – shopping, social media, gaming, porn, anything – remove it (and I do mean remove/disable the internet on your phone or computer. At least for a while, until you get the problem fixed). If it is drinking – dump all the booze down the sink and avoid the bars. If it is gossip -then you really need to spend time in God’s Word, prayer, and seeking council or maybe confessing to those you gossiped about.

The emergency services are never easy to fix, but they are the things that will affect our tracks the most. If a train has an issue with the track, it can cause a huge problem very quickly, that is why they are fixed right away. It is the same in our lives. If the emergency problems are not fixed as soon as possible then we are guaranteed to have a huge accident in the near future of our lives. And once that accident happens, things can be fixed, but they will never again be the same. A scare will be left and lives will forever be changed.

So, keep up with the maintenance of your life, so that you can avoid any future accidents. Refocusing our eyes, hearts, and minds on God and a regular bases, is the perfect solution to maintaining your train of life.