09-30-2009, 09:06 AM
Steamtrains Wrote:Nice pics.....What's that orange contraption..??
The first unit is a flanger. The second piece is a ballast tamper. The third one is a pup tamper. The three pieces of equipment work together, and basically those three machines and a handful of operators replace an entire track gang "back in the day," and can do about 10 times as much track per day. The ballast tamper goes first. The black thing on the front is a "buggy." It is a simple "A" frame with two axles. Between it and the ballast tamper (which is the orange machine) is an articulated set of "trailer tongues." When in operation, the buggy is lowered onto the tracks and then the "tongues" are unfolded to send the buggy out in front of the tamper. On the BNSF unit that I repaired a/c units on, there were two lights next to the cab pointed down track that hit sensors on the buggy. It looks like this one has one light on top of the buggy that points at that black rectangle above the cab. That rectangle is a sensor. The machine is operated by a computer and the operator has to enter all of the curves, hills and valleys into the computer. The machine then runs down the track looking for dips, bumps, or irregularities in the track. If it finds a bump (not very common) it will back up a few hundred feet or yards depending on how big the bump is, grab the track and lift while tamping to cause ballast to go under the ties. It will continue doing this to the point of the bump and beyond. It then reverses direction back to where it started the tamping process and runs through the spot to check to see if it got rid of the bump. If it finds a dip in the track (usually) it will grab the rail and lift while tamping to vibrate ballast under the ties where the dip is. Then it will back up and recheck the track to make sure the dip is gone. If the crew should forget to input all curves and grade changes into the computer for the stretch of track they are working on, it will try to straighten out and remove all curves and grade changes to make the track completely straight and level! The pup tamper then follows the ballast tamper to tamp and settle the ballast, and the flanger follows to dress up the edges. At least this is how the BNSF mow supervisor explained the operation to me when I was repairing some cab air conditioning units for the railroad prior to the railroad getting their people EPA certified to repair the a/c units. The three machines will also be used when track or ties are replaced. The track gang will remove the old ties and/or track, and install the new stuff. Then the three machines will come through and make sure everything is straight and level and dressed up before the line is opened up to traffic again.