I worked on KWVR as a volunteer for many years. This machine does in one night what it would take a large gang of us to do in two weeks manually. My house backs onto a railway; they were doing a track-replacement at night last week so I went to see what was keeping me awake: It was one of these things. I'm dead impressed, I walked along the path by the railway and watched it lift out the old jointed 45 & 60 footers on woods and put in a 760 foot length of continuous rolled on new sleepers. That sleeper-carrier zooms back and forth at worrying speeds. 10/10 for the smarty-pants's that designed this!
Someone asked below in the comments for some sort of commentary as to what the machines were actually doing at any given time. I was a conductor and then promoted to a locomotive engineer so my experience is more to do with the operation of trains and engines, but I've been around this equipment enough to know generally what's going on here. 0:01 - 0:16 the machine is cradling and laying down new concrete ties onto a conveyor belt type system. The conveyor will push the ties forward and then drop them onto the ballast rocks below the machine as the machine progresses forward. 0:17 - 0:56 the machine is gathering up the old concrete ties that the machine has scooped up onto another conveyor system and staged them out of the way. The machine then transports these old ties to the rear of the train, as they are no longer needed/being replaced. 00:57 - 1:08 you can observe the new concrete ties moving down forward that will be dropped onto the ballast, and also underneath those on the other conveyor the old concrete ties moving back to the staging area to be later transported to the rear, as I described a moment ago. 1:09 - 1:25 you can observe the machine plucking the old concrete ties out from the ballast rock and loading them onto the conveyor. 1:27 - 1:34 you can observe the new concrete ties being shoved down the conveyor and dropped down onto the ballast rock. 1:35 - 1:55 the machine is spacing the new ties from one another the appropriate distance. 1:56 - 2:13 the machine is positioning the solid welded rail back in place onto the new tie plates which are bolted down to the tops of the new concrete ties. 2:14 - 2:41 the trackmen are laying insulated plates down and hardware that will be later clasped over them. 2:42 - 2:48 the machine is shoving the hardware over the insulator plates, causing them to clasp down and lock the rail in place. 2:49 - 2:56 a scoop is sculpting the ballast rock into it's designated resting location, later to be tamped down. 2:57 - 3:31 the machine is doing several functions at once. The front scoop is pulling in some ballast rock and tunneling it up through a shoot, whilst also a grinding wheel of sorts seems to be sideways tamping rock under the rail while another part of the machine is lifting the rail to it's desired level position. So basically it's lifting the track, shoving rocks under it and in the process some of the rocks get pulled into a shoot that are then back-filled over the empty sides of the track. 3:20 you can see more clearly what I mean by that. 3:31 - 3:40 nothing to see here.. the machine is just getting out of the way for another type of machine to now move into position. 3:41 - 4:01 think of a street sweeper, only with rocks clearing them from the rail and center, then kind of molding them down where they'll need to be tamped down into place later. 4:02 - 4:51 those are like multiple jack hammers all tamping the rocks down into place to tighten the foundation the rail and ties will settle on. It seems to also be making another level adjustment on the rail, because as the ballast shifts around it's changing. The process is similar to stomping dirt around a post that you've put into a hole. 4:42 on, ballast rock cars are opened at the bottom and rocks are back filling any loose areas that will probably be yet again tamped down.
ASMRsupial Thank you for an amazingly detailed explanation! It's mesmerizing to watch such awesome technology and production in action, and even better to understand some of what is going on!
Don't know about being promoted from conductor to engineer, but either career is most respectable. Dad was a conductor and had utmost respect for what at one time was called a Gandy Dancer. Guess these machines put those guys out of work, much as computerization did with the conductor's job.
blows my mind that people can come up with stuff like this! If I was the ruler of the planet for the past 1000 years I think we all would still be peddling water from the river to our homes!
here is something sad in USA . WE OLY HAVE ONE KIND OF BULLET TRAIN, WHICH IS THE ACELA EXPRES!! if we get to afford more like europe style bullet train, USA will be a great nation again.
here is something sad in USA . WE OLY HAVE ONE KIND OF BULLET TRAIN, WHICH IS THE ACELA EXPRES!! if we get to afford more like europe style bullet train, USA will be a great nation again.
here is something sad in USA . WE OLY HAVE ONE KIND OF BULLET TRAIN, WHICH IS THE ACELA EXPRES!! if we get to afford more like europe style bullet train, USA will be a great nation again.
That is just amazing engineering and the power of hydraulics at its best. You have to hand it to the designers. It makes a safe and consistent track for people to just enjoy the ride.
RAILWAY TRACK LAYER. Patented Apr. 3,1883 UNITED STATES JOHN TURNER, OF GROSSE ISLE, MICHIGAN Sorry man, we invented everything worth mentioning, including everything you're using right now to read this and the light in your house.
So, somebody correct me if you have experience with this stuff. But this seems to be a complete rehabilition of an existing track with the following steps: 0:00 bringing in new concrete ties in preparation to place them, and getting rid of old ties (bringing them to the end of this "assembly line" of sorts). This is probably done periodically throughout the next step which is 0:58 removing old ties from the track and placing new ones just behind them. 1:57 adjusting the track to sit flush on top of the ties (track needs to be just inside that metal part of the tie so it can be attached there) 2:16 placing clips which will attach the rail to the concrete ties 2:42 securing the clips 2:49 spreading ballast (the top layer of rock. It helps to keep the track in place and not shift from forces, as well as being resistant to erosion and preventing erosion of the ground underneath it) 2:58 breaking apart and removing old ballast which is no longer suitable for use on the track 3:12 not entirely sure why that stuff is shooting out of the front. it seems to be recycled ballast that they just removed, and while it is unsuitable for use directly on and next to the track, it can be used further outward horizontally from the track. During the process of removal it has no doubt been ground up and made even more unsuitable for direct use on the track than it was in the first place. 3:20 new ballast being placed 3:45 spreading out the new ballast 4:05 simulateously compacting the ballast and adjusting the track height to its final elevation 4:58 laying down the final bit of ballast now that everything is in its proper place
A lot of railroad companies need this especially for passenger and commute and transportation railroads light rail even. When tracks need to be replaced the process is too long with the machinery they use and causes extreme delays and makes us late.
I was wondering who was the genius who came up with the idea for such a machine. Then I saw the name Plasser & Theurer. I should have known it was made by the Germans!
BC Fuerst Yeah, I realised that when I researched the company after making my comment. But when I made the comment, it was based on it being a German language name, and one can't tell a person's nationality from just looking at his/her surname, Austrian being a nationality rather than a race, and surnames are based on the language of a person's race. The immediate reaction of anyone familiar with the German language is that Plasser & Theurer is a German name. A person who is not a football fan would not guess that Arnautovic and Junuzovic were Austrian based on their surnames. Or that Ibrahimovic was Swedish! I also know the history of Osterreich. I know that it was because of political reasons that Osterreich did not become part of Germany back in the nineteenth century. It was going to be either Preussen or Osterreich who would be leader of the united German states and there was no way that the Habsburgs would bow to the Hohenzollerns.
All the machines and yet there still guys laying the pads and pins, I love the spikes that pack the rock in.. they came by my house one time ( live near tracks) it's a cool machine.. when they weld the rails together is pretty interesting as well
whats amazing is not its ability to lay the track but how it makes it level and "settled". drops the gravel on each inch three times, picking it back up again and "steam rolls" it the entire process, making it settled over a few minutes equal to that of 100 years. The reason old track not made by a machine is imperfect is because of settling of the earth. Track laid by machine is using pure gravel and sand, making the "puzzle" fit easier than using dirt mounds.
just to be clear, they're not laying track, they're servicing it. From replacing the sleepers and fixing the gravel not actually putting new track down. Super cool though
Interesting that the machine has essentially been designed to install the tracks "as they are" ie as they they were when they were laid by hand - it would be interesting to see a new design of track integrated along with a machine to install it.
where is this..., Germany? amazing machinery to alleviate labourers' back-pains, damaged limbs and death, although some checking still done the old-fashioned, eye-verifaction and hand-testing methods, I note. I wonder how many weeks these machines could do the east coast to west coast Canadian railroad!
The downside of 'integrated' track is that if you make it in sections, you end up with loud, noisy, failure-prone joins all the way along the track. The nice bit about continuously welded rail is that, well, it's continuous :-)
Commentary on the steps that we're watching would be helpful for those of us who are not in the railroad industry but watching with an interested child.
0:01 - 0:16 the machine is cradling and laying down new concrete ties onto a conveyor belt type system. The conveyor will push the ties forward and then drop them onto the ballast rocks below the machine as the machine progresses forward. 0:17 - 0:56 the machine is gathering up the old concrete ties that the machine has scooped up onto another conveyor system and staged them out of the way. The machine then transports these old ties to the rear of the train, as they are no longer needed/being replaced. 00:57 - 1:08 you can observe the new concrete ties moving down forward that will be dropped onto the ballast, and also underneath those on the other conveyor the old concrete ties moving back to the staging area to be later transported to the rear, as I described a moment ago. 1:09 - 1:25 you can observe the machine plucking the old concrete ties out from the ballast rock and loading them onto the conveyor. 1:27 - 1:34 you can observe the new concrete ties being shoved down the conveyor and dropped down onto the ballast rock. 1:35 - 1:55 the machine is spacing the new ties from one another the appropriate distance. 1:56 - 2:13 the machine is positioning the solid welded rail back in place onto the new tie plates which are bolted down to the tops of the new concrete ties. 2:14 - 2:41 the trackmen are laying insulated plates down and hardware that will be later clasped over them. 2:42 - 2:48 the machine is shoving the hardware over the insulator plates, causing them to clasp down and lock the rail in place. 2:49 - 2:56 a scoop is sculpting the ballast rock into it's designated resting location, later to be tamped down. 2:57 - 3:31 the machine is doing several functions at once. The front scoop is pulling in some ballast rock and tunneling it up through a shoot, whilst also a grinding wheel of sorts seems to be sideways tamping rock under the rail while another part of the machine is lifting the rail to it's desired level position. So basically it's lifting the track, shoving rocks under it and in the process some of the rocks get pulled into a shoot that are then back-filled over the empty sides of the track. 3:20 you can see more clearly what I mean by that. 3:31 - 3:40 nothing to see here.. the machine is just getting out of the way for another type of machine to now move into position. 3:41 - 4:01 think of a street sweeper, only with rocks clearing them from the rail and center, then kind of molding them down where they'll need to be tamped down into place later. 4:02 - 4:51 those are like multiple jack hammers all tamping the rocks down into place to tighten the foundation the rail and ties will settle on. It seems to also be making another level adjustment on the rail, because as the ballast shifts around it's changing. The process is similar to stomping dirt around a post that you've put into a hole. 4:42 on, ballast rock cars are opened at the bottom and rocks are back filling any loose areas that will probably be yet again tamped down.
My railroad experience is a conductor for 2 years(glorified passenger, conductors mostly sit there and drink coffee and talk to the engineer), and a locomotive engineer(The guy operating the freight trains) for several years following that. I haven't actually laid tracks, nor do I know how these machines work exactly but I've been around the stuff enough to have a general idea. I basically know the movement of trains and engines. The commentary I've left above was just a labor of love, as I like all things trains and you asked for some clarity.
makes you wonder, what the old timers would think if they saw how fast they repair and replace and build track now a days. I bet the golden spike drive would have a heart attack
I couldn't help but crinch at the sight of that guy looking into the tie-pulling machine with his hands on it, right next to a sign warning about hands. Guess the hand sign should have had an "x" through it.
Odd how the top rated comments are typically pointless and meaningless. Oh well, such is the level of ignorance and stupidity on RUclips. I like this video. The engineering involved amazes me. I can't understand how one would even begin to design machines like those. Thanks for uploading. Far more interesting than the normal videos of cats falling off things!
Back in my [1980's] days, all this was done by pick and shovel and a crow [long] bar for leverage...ahhh memories,aint it sweet! But also loved the way technology has come, machines can do the work of a 100 men, the only thing it cannot do, is have a smoko break and a beer!
*singing* I've been loafing on the railroad, this machine does all the work. I've been loafing on the railroad, my job can be done by any ol'jerk. Pick 'n hammer are obsolete, guess I don't need em no more. Time to pick up my $10 paycheck an visit my sleazy "financially motivated and occasional girl friend"!
I think I saw this same machine in Illinois a year ago. I heard it does almost 7,000 ties a day. But, they were also replacing the rail in the case of the Illinois line. It's for the new so called "high-speed rail" (NOT! only 110 mph) I still think they should have put real high-speed rail. 110 mph is a joke...
Does it also work for new track laying ? (it seemed to show digging up the old concrete ties and laying new ones, couldn't work out how it would work for completely new track)
yes, the national railroad company NMBS ( National Society/association of Belgian Railroads ). Now there is an operator ( NMBS ) and a infrastructure company ( Infrabel ). the personnel still has the same statute for both companies! There are also little private operator companies. That's the reason why they undoubled it, primarly forced/due to european concurrence regulation. It wasn't simple to undouble it. Belgium
They have solved and automated everything in the whole process - except for planting those little blue thingies, where they need living people to do it by hand. But maybe they come as a part of the machine
I worked on KWVR as a volunteer for many years. This machine does in one night what it would take a large gang of us to do in two weeks manually.
My house backs onto a railway; they were doing a track-replacement at night last week so I went to see what was keeping me awake: It was one of these things.
I'm dead impressed, I walked along the path by the railway and watched it lift out the old jointed 45 & 60 footers on woods and put in a 760 foot length of continuous rolled on new sleepers. That sleeper-carrier zooms back and forth at worrying speeds.
10/10 for the smarty-pants's that designed this!
Someone asked below in the comments for some sort of commentary as to what the machines were actually doing at any given time. I was a conductor and then promoted to a locomotive engineer so my experience is more to do with the operation of trains and engines, but I've been around this equipment enough to know generally what's going on here.
0:01 - 0:16 the machine is cradling and laying down new concrete ties onto a conveyor belt type system. The conveyor will push the ties forward and then drop them onto the ballast rocks below the machine as the machine progresses forward. 0:17 - 0:56 the machine is gathering up the old concrete ties that the machine has scooped up onto another conveyor system and staged them out of the way. The machine then transports these old ties to the rear of the train, as they are no longer needed/being replaced. 00:57 - 1:08 you can observe the new concrete ties moving down forward that will be dropped onto the ballast, and also underneath those on the other conveyor the old concrete ties moving back to the staging area to be later transported to the rear, as I described a moment ago. 1:09 - 1:25 you can observe the machine plucking the old concrete ties out from the ballast rock and loading them onto the conveyor. 1:27 - 1:34 you can observe the new concrete ties being shoved down the conveyor and dropped down onto the ballast rock. 1:35 - 1:55 the machine is spacing the new ties from one another the appropriate distance. 1:56 - 2:13 the machine is positioning the solid welded rail back in place onto the new tie plates which are bolted down to the tops of the new concrete ties. 2:14 - 2:41 the trackmen are laying insulated plates down and hardware that will be later clasped over them. 2:42 - 2:48 the machine is shoving the hardware over the insulator plates, causing them to clasp down and lock the rail in place. 2:49 - 2:56 a scoop is sculpting the ballast rock into it's designated resting location, later to be tamped down. 2:57 - 3:31 the machine is doing several functions at once. The front scoop is pulling in some ballast rock and tunneling it up through a shoot, whilst also a grinding wheel of sorts seems to be sideways tamping rock under the rail while another part of the machine is lifting the rail to it's desired level position. So basically it's lifting the track, shoving rocks under it and in the process some of the rocks get pulled into a shoot that are then back-filled over the empty sides of the track. 3:20 you can see more clearly what I mean by that. 3:31 - 3:40 nothing to see here.. the machine is just getting out of the way for another type of machine to now move into position. 3:41 - 4:01 think of a street sweeper, only with rocks clearing them from the rail and center, then kind of molding them down where they'll need to be tamped down into place later. 4:02 - 4:51 those are like multiple jack hammers all tamping the rocks down into place to tighten the foundation the rail and ties will settle on. It seems to also be making another level adjustment on the rail, because as the ballast shifts around it's changing. The process is similar to stomping dirt around a post that you've put into a hole. 4:42 on, ballast rock cars are opened at the bottom and rocks are back filling any loose areas that will probably be yet again tamped down.
Thanks for the detailed explanation.
ASMRsupial Thank you for an amazingly detailed explanation! It's mesmerizing to watch such awesome technology and production in action, and even better to understand some of what is going on!
ASMRsupial what this thing called?
Don't know about being promoted from conductor to engineer, but either career is most respectable. Dad was a conductor and had utmost respect for what at one time was called a Gandy Dancer. Guess these machines put those guys out of work, much as computerization did with the conductor's job.
ASMRsupial how fast locomotive can go? Can he do 90?
blows my mind that people can come up with stuff like this! If I was the ruler of the planet for the past 1000 years I think we all would still be peddling water from the river to our homes!
You can't expect someone that's hundreds of years old to still be able to come up with good ideas. :P
+HaloToday Like its done in Africa up till now..
here is something sad in USA . WE OLY HAVE ONE KIND OF BULLET TRAIN, WHICH IS THE ACELA EXPRES!! if we get to afford more like europe style bullet train, USA will be a great nation again.
here is something sad in USA . WE OLY HAVE ONE KIND OF BULLET TRAIN, WHICH IS THE ACELA EXPRES!! if we get to afford more like europe style bullet train, USA will be a great nation again.
here is something sad in USA . WE OLY HAVE ONE KIND OF BULLET TRAIN, WHICH IS THE ACELA EXPRES!! if we get to afford more like europe style bullet train, USA will be a great nation again.
Very impressive!
That is just amazing engineering and the power of hydraulics at its best. You have to hand it to the designers. It makes a safe and consistent track for people to just enjoy the ride.
Amazingly simple! Kudos to the Inventor of these Technologies
Amazing. I'd like to see this process in more detail.
That overhead crane thing moves are a pretty high speed.
That's pretty impressive. Working on the railroad has come a long way.
Brilliant..!! Got to admit, the Europeans are great. Love from South India.
RAILWAY TRACK LAYER.
Patented Apr. 3,1883
UNITED STATES JOHN TURNER, OF GROSSE ISLE, MICHIGAN
Sorry man, we invented everything worth mentioning, including everything you're using right now to read this and the light in your house.
I saw these things working on the LIRR a few years ago. Fascinating!
Máquina incrível, ela faz um ótimo trabalho. Eu já vi uma máquina trabalhando assim na estação perto da minha casa!
That was pretty amazing. Some captions explaining what it's doing and why would be great.
Absolutely loved this!! Thank you so much for posting! :)
So, somebody correct me if you have experience with this stuff. But this seems to be a complete rehabilition of an existing track with the following steps:
0:00 bringing in new concrete ties in preparation to place them, and getting rid of old ties (bringing them to the end of this "assembly line" of sorts). This is probably done periodically throughout the next step which is
0:58 removing old ties from the track and placing new ones just behind them.
1:57 adjusting the track to sit flush on top of the ties (track needs to be just inside that metal part of the tie so it can be attached there)
2:16 placing clips which will attach the rail to the concrete ties
2:42 securing the clips
2:49 spreading ballast (the top layer of rock. It helps to keep the track in place and not shift from forces, as well as being resistant to erosion and preventing erosion of the ground underneath it)
2:58 breaking apart and removing old ballast which is no longer suitable for use on the track
3:12 not entirely sure why that stuff is shooting out of the front. it seems to be recycled ballast that they just removed, and while it is unsuitable for use directly on and next to the track, it can be used further outward horizontally from the track. During the process of removal it has no doubt been ground up and made even more unsuitable for direct use on the track than it was in the first place.
3:20 new ballast being placed
3:45 spreading out the new ballast
4:05 simulateously compacting the ballast and adjusting the track height to its final elevation
4:58 laying down the final bit of ballast now that everything is in its proper place
An invention saving time and money. Really awesome!
sorta takes the fun out of that old song, "I've been workin' on the rail road, all the live long day."
That is a very impressive machine! We could do with more of those in the UK!
Incredible machine!
Fascinating! Amazing engineering!
If only the trains that used them ran so smoothly...
This really IS amazing!
A lot of railroad companies need this especially for passenger and commute and transportation railroads light rail even. When tracks need to be replaced the process is too long with the machinery they use and causes extreme delays and makes us late.
SouthCalifas619
do h
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One of the best vids ever
I was wondering who was the genius who came up with the idea for such a machine. Then I saw the name Plasser & Theurer. I should have known it was made by the Germans!
Austrians actually.
BC Fuerst Yeah, I realised that when I researched the company after making my comment.
But when I made the comment, it was based on it being a German language name, and one can't tell a person's nationality from just looking at his/her surname, Austrian being a nationality rather than a race, and surnames are based on the language of a person's race. The immediate reaction of anyone familiar with the German language is that Plasser & Theurer is a German name. A person who is not a football fan would not guess that Arnautovic and Junuzovic were Austrian based on their surnames. Or that Ibrahimovic was Swedish!
I also know the history of Osterreich. I know that it was because of political reasons that Osterreich did not become part of Germany back in the nineteenth century. It was going to be either Preussen or Osterreich who would be leader of the united German states and there was no way that the Habsburgs would bow to the Hohenzollerns.
Julian Cheah don't get carried away. Austria, Germany, best machinery, great pride, man with toothbrush. See some flash back matey?
RAILWAY TRACK LAYER.
Patented Apr. 3,1883
UNITED STATES JOHN TURNER, OF GROSSE ISLE, MICHIGAN
Beat you again chump.
wonderful in railway it is useful be mech
All the machines and yet there still guys laying the pads and pins, I love the spikes that pack the rock in.. they came by my house one time ( live near tracks) it's a cool machine.. when they weld the rails together is pretty interesting as well
those machines where cool. where was this recorded?
whats amazing is not its ability to lay the track but how it makes it level and "settled".
drops the gravel on each inch three times, picking it back up again and "steam rolls" it the entire process, making it settled over a few minutes equal to that of 100 years. The reason old track not made by a machine is imperfect is because of settling of the earth. Track laid by machine is using pure gravel and sand, making the "puzzle" fit easier than using dirt mounds.
Amazing machines at work...it nearly looks like alien technoligy...
So it doesn't replace the track, just the ties?
just to be clear, they're not laying track, they're servicing it. From replacing the sleepers and fixing the gravel not actually putting new track down. Super cool though
Interesting that the machine has essentially been designed to install the tracks "as they are" ie as they they were when they were laid by hand - it would be interesting to see a new design of track integrated along with a machine to install it.
It's a train on top of a train. A meta-train!
amazing,even the robots in high viz look real.
We need more railways in Argentina like that
WWOOOWWW VERY INTERESTING! THANK U SO MUCH FOR SHARING
where is this? It's the Belgium railroad compagny!
Man is truly amazing.
Really good machine for railway track made
Very interesting and educational!
where is this..., Germany? amazing machinery to alleviate labourers' back-pains, damaged limbs and death, although some checking still done the old-fashioned, eye-verifaction and hand-testing methods, I note. I wonder how many weeks these machines could do the east coast to west coast Canadian railroad!
Some said Belgium.
Engineers Makes the World
Shivb
Weapons engineers make weapons, Civil engineers make targets. ;-)
woww never ever seen these machines before :0
A train on a train,
Trainception
My god... This is insane!!
parabens ao inventor
enjoyed that. great video
Think of all the back-breaking work those machines save.
The downside of 'integrated' track is that if you make it in sections, you end up with loud, noisy, failure-prone joins all the way along the track. The nice bit about continuously welded rail is that, well, it's continuous :-)
Commentary on the steps that we're watching would be helpful for those of us who are not in the railroad industry but watching with an interested child.
0:01 - 0:16 the machine is cradling and laying down new concrete ties onto a conveyor belt type system. The conveyor will push the ties forward and then drop them onto the ballast rocks below the machine as the machine progresses forward. 0:17 - 0:56 the machine is gathering up the old concrete ties that the machine has scooped up onto another conveyor system and staged them out of the way. The machine then transports these old ties to the rear of the train, as they are no longer needed/being replaced. 00:57 - 1:08 you can observe the new concrete ties moving down forward that will be dropped onto the ballast, and also underneath those on the other conveyor the old concrete ties moving back to the staging area to be later transported to the rear, as I described a moment ago. 1:09 - 1:25 you can observe the machine plucking the old concrete ties out from the ballast rock and loading them onto the conveyor. 1:27 - 1:34 you can observe the new concrete ties being shoved down the conveyor and dropped down onto the ballast rock. 1:35 - 1:55 the machine is spacing the new ties from one another the appropriate distance. 1:56 - 2:13 the machine is positioning the solid welded rail back in place onto the new tie plates which are bolted down to the tops of the new concrete ties. 2:14 - 2:41 the trackmen are laying insulated plates down and hardware that will be later clasped over them. 2:42 - 2:48 the machine is shoving the hardware over the insulator plates, causing them to clasp down and lock the rail in place. 2:49 - 2:56 a scoop is sculpting the ballast rock into it's designated resting location, later to be tamped down. 2:57 - 3:31 the machine is doing several functions at once. The front scoop is pulling in some ballast rock and tunneling it up through a shoot, whilst also a grinding wheel of sorts seems to be sideways tamping rock under the rail while another part of the machine is lifting the rail to it's desired level position. So basically it's lifting the track, shoving rocks under it and in the process some of the rocks get pulled into a shoot that are then back-filled over the empty sides of the track. 3:20 you can see more clearly what I mean by that. 3:31 - 3:40 nothing to see here.. the machine is just getting out of the way for another type of machine to now move into position. 3:41 - 4:01 think of a street sweeper, only with rocks clearing them from the rail and center, then kind of molding them down where they'll need to be tamped down into place later. 4:02 - 4:51 those are like multiple jack hammers all tamping the rocks down into place to tighten the foundation the rail and ties will settle on. It seems to also be making another level adjustment on the rail, because as the ballast shifts around it's changing. The process is similar to stomping dirt around a post that you've put into a hole. 4:42 on, ballast rock cars are opened at the bottom and rocks are back filling any loose areas that will probably be yet again tamped down.
My railroad experience is a conductor for 2 years(glorified passenger, conductors mostly sit there and drink coffee and talk to the engineer), and a locomotive engineer(The guy operating the freight trains) for several years following that. I haven't actually laid tracks, nor do I know how these machines work exactly but I've been around the stuff enough to have a general idea. I basically know the movement of trains and engines. The commentary I've left above was just a labor of love, as I like all things trains and you asked for some clarity.
I worked on a similar prototype in new York in the 80's made by plasser it was a tie change out machine. TCOM. It was a blast!
Amazing..
piece of art
is the rain that being put down is one continuous rail that is welded with the special weld they on rails now days?
how does it do the curves don't the rails on top stretch and tighten as it turns
how do these machines handle bends?
I actually liked that a lot.thank you.👍🇬🇧
makes you wonder, what the old timers would think if they saw how fast they repair and replace and build track now a days. I bet the golden spike drive would have a heart attack
Вот это ДА!!!
I couldn't help but crinch at the sight of that guy looking into the tie-pulling machine with his hands on it, right next to a sign warning about hands. Guess the hand sign should have had an "x" through it.
Wow..science is amazing
I'm sure this machine rite here has sure saved alot of backs
Odd how the top rated comments are typically pointless and meaningless. Oh well, such is the level of ignorance and stupidity on RUclips.
I like this video. The engineering involved amazes me. I can't understand how one would even begin to design machines like those. Thanks for uploading. Far more interesting than the normal videos of cats falling off things!
I would love to see this done to the railroad line around my town.
Awesome engineering
Thats how Australia does it To perfection like you guys
Nice analogy. I put salt and pepper on my food
thats amazing...
They´re vibrating to make it more compact under the tracks.If they didn´t do this the tracks would sink and start to tilt.
Back in my [1980's] days, all this was done by pick and shovel and a crow [long] bar for leverage...ahhh memories,aint it sweet!
But also loved the way technology has come, machines can do the work of a 100 men, the only thing it cannot do, is have a smoko break and a beer!
this recession has hit the autobots pretty hard.
Amazing video, and i thought earthworks is complex .
*singing*
I've been loafing on the railroad, this machine does all the work.
I've been loafing on the railroad, my job can be done by any ol'jerk.
Pick 'n hammer are obsolete, guess I don't need em no more.
Time to pick up my $10 paycheck an visit my sleazy "financially motivated and occasional girl friend"!
This is basically the Inky Poo John Henry competed against but has come to life
Actually it's a tie swapper - picks up old wood ties and replaces them with modern concrete sleepers.
NICE!
That's so cool
so great man
Really Amazing
How does it adjust for earths curve
USA already have such similar machines. I recall either BNSF or UP showing a clip of it.
Instead of Hell on Wheels its heaven on wheels now
I think I saw this same machine in Illinois a year ago. I heard it does almost 7,000 ties a day. But, they were also replacing the rail in the case of the Illinois line. It's for the new so called "high-speed rail" (NOT! only 110 mph)
I still think they should have put real high-speed rail. 110 mph is a joke...
I remember watching rail movies like this with my grandfather RIP
This is amazing :D
guys who design this kind of mechinery are fucking geniuses
What the hell that was amazing
Such an attracktive machine.
Does it also work for new track laying ? (it seemed to show digging up the old concrete ties and laying new ones, couldn't work out how it would work for completely new track)
I would assume that the pickup part can be disabled. If not there is a similar machine without it ruclips.net/video/XwiNaHmOscU/видео.html
I wonder if one of those could be made 5' 2-1/2" gauge?
So this is in Belgium, eh?
yes, the national railroad company NMBS ( National Society/association of Belgian Railroads ). Now there is an operator ( NMBS ) and a infrastructure company ( Infrabel ). the personnel still has the same statute for both companies! There are also little private operator companies. That's the reason why they undoubled it, primarly forced/due to european concurrence regulation. It wasn't simple to undouble it.
Belgium
you are laying railway tracks with us ... :-D
can this machine go into corners too
It is like riding a train...ON A TRAIN!!!
Robot nation,wow,sometimes i wonder why i even bother to get out of bed.
Imagine something breaking on that machine? Holy hell that would be a rat's nest....
Very cool! @ 3:07 is that compaction ballast and native underneath the New ties and rail?!
Delfinmar I do believe it is track leveling.
Thank you!
engineering at its best
Maybe I'm crazy but watched it twice :D
If the train is laying tracks behind itself then what is the front of the train riding on?
They have solved and automated everything in the whole process - except for planting those little blue thingies, where they need living people to do it by hand. But maybe they come as a part of the machine