I grinder passed right by the house at 2am one cold night in Colorado Springs near Fillmore. WHAT A SIGHT! The wheels and grinders glowing bright. Itnwas a rare railfan moment I'll never forget.
Seeing those things coming at night is an eerie sight, even if they aren't actively grinding. Something about all the lights they have is just ominous, like the patrolling enemy element looking for a tiny infiltrator in a movie.
Dude, what you just described sounds exactly like what I saw one night when I was a tiny kid in my dad’s car! He’d strap me into the seat and take me hunting for the trains around LAX whenever we heard one. This was before the Alameda Corridor went in, so the trains used those tracks all the time. One night, there was a weird and loud (but very short) train that Dad matched speeds with on the parallel road. That imagery still sticks with me.
We chased it one day when I was working from the Fort Lewis Fire Station. They were setting fires for miles along the Virginian section in SW Roanoke County. They finally stopped grinding for the day due to all of the fires started by the grinding.
I spent 4 months at Fort Lewis in the mid 90’s when Serving in the British Army. Exercised in Yakima (Mid Feb 🥶) took RnR in Seattle. Happy days and good times as a young Sapper attached to the Parachute Regiment. Amazing scenery in Yakima probably the best sunrise I ever seen if not the coldest 😉👍🏼
@@brownwarrior6867Different Ft. Lewis, my friend. He’s talking about Roanoke County, Virginia, right outside the City of Salem. He must be a firefighter or paramedic, because he’s talking about RCFD Station 9. Or at least it used to be. I was on the Ft. Lewis rescue squad in the early 1980s, back when it was a volunteer crew. I know that station well-I remember when it was built. “Rescue 951 responding!” :)
They stopped end of day. But not because it was end of the day? Yea. UFOs are real too... Also, how did you chase it? I picture on foot running around screaming and controlling them fires.
This is off topic, but at 4:35 this is probably the best side-shot I've seen of a box truck showing off the gap between the cab and the chassis. Trucks are my kinda thing and it's so hard to find good isometric side shots for 3D modeling purposes.
The Van Based truck with the extra gap, I always laugh, they are trying to get "Dock Height" out of a truck series that is almost always "extra low" - The Cabover Reefer behind it is dock height and then has to deliver to restaurants that are "on the ground" - LOL!
I see this about two to three times a year where I work. I work in Washington, DC, across the street from the CSX main. The main is very busy, with CSX trains passing over it every hour, plus Amtrak and the local commuter trains from VRE (Virginia Railway Express) and MTA (Maryland Transit Authority). Those rail grinders put on quite a show at night. I work the graveyard shift, and you can see the spark show really well.
Off topic, but my god, I love the old architecture of those buildings in the background! We should still be putting the effort to make new construction to match that beauty.
I always forget how young the USA actually is. In Europe and the UK we are so used to seeing old buildings that I didn't even notice anything special about the one in the background until you pointed it out. I live in a house from the 1920s and it doesn't feel particularly old compared to most other buildings in the towns and cities I see here. Come over and visit our part of the world sometime if you haven't already. If you like old architecture I'm sure you will enjoy it. 😊
@andyarchitect A kind invitation. I have a friend who lives part-time in my neighborhood, and part-time in London. He invites me often to visit the UK, but I'm penniless, so I cannot afford the passport, let alone the airfare.
@@darrinswanson Wishing for you to have the funds to go travelling in the future 🙂It's always good to have a goal to save up / aim for... perhaps this can be it. Best of luck
@andyarchitect oh yeah, for sure a lot of folks that don't live here forget, I don't blame you. I have a coworker that is married to a lady from across the pond. They lived over there for a few years as well as south Africa, as electricians we often discuss the various differences in architecture and infrastructure across the world. It's a rather fascinating discussion usually. The oldest building we have ever worked on, was built in 1853. Oldest home/residence was a bit newer than yours, 1937 if memory serves correctly. We've worked on other stuff in between as well, that's just the oldest vintage we've gotten to work on. However my state was only granted statehood in 1836 so it's not nearly the age of eastern states. Said couple got married in a "young" church of roughly 500 year vintage, BTW.
I saw this done in the St. Louis, MO area many years ago. Like the first set up shown, they had two guys with fire hoses at the back of the rear most card.
Been on several LORAM related brush fires. We see them in town, we mosey on down to the station and top off the tanks. They and MOW do a good job, but these heatwaves we’ve been having, really get these things off running.
We were driving through northern Ontario with snow on the ground, this type of train came through with sparks flying everywhere. Hitting the snow, the sparks, made loud hissing noises with lots of steam, weird smell.
I live on a BUSY siding. evry year or so, this massive train slowly inches thru, swapping ties gravel and some years the rails too...Just a bit to far to see. But ive seen piles of ties and raill periodicall along the edge so dang full reworks. But we get really heavy ore and armaments etc rolling by. The ore trains shake the house during the day, and very occasionally and ONLY at night mil/armament trains over 70-80 Mph fly thru like a muffled jet engine and smooth rubber wheels. The trains sound like jet turbine but really quiet. So I guess this siding is well maintained . Me no train guy. But I have raced them on my dirtbike way off but along side, while the engineer waves and laughs. My train ramble. Thanks for the vid . Trains are cool .
That's a 400 Series grinder...worked on both, a 400 and 300 series as well as the the little S&C grinders (Switch & Crossings)...Super dirty, and hard work...but met some awesome friends there. One 400 I worked on, was the B.C. (British Columbia) dedicated machine, the other 400 did Albert through Ontario on CN. The 300 series was dedicated to CP at the time and would only do Ontario and some quick runs past some board lines down into the USA. I don't miss changing the spark blankets...scratchy itchy stuff lol
Rail grinder: train that keeps the tracks at an even level and between joints. For a smoother ride and maintenance of the tracks. The spray coming off the sides is herbicide. This keeps plant life from taking over the rails causing a derailment.
I seen the primary grinder myself in person and at work. Oddly no switch grinder or hi-rails with it, which isn't good cause it started a fire. Video I took has sadly since been lost to time.
The rails have to have a certain crown and profile for the best fit for all the wheels that roll over them. That wears down as thousands of wheels go over them. A lot cheaper to grind the rail crown and profile back to original spec this way than to do a full rail replacement.
man we had one of these just out of my town in NSW, RFS turned up, wasent needed since they had already put it out practically, RFS cleaned it up, since rail grinders in Aussie have fire trucks that follow em! Nice catch
I used to live near where they made these and I vividly remember a nightmare I had one night where I was walking through the woods and one of these came flying down the tracks throwing sparks and instantly lighting the whole forest on fire trapping me.
that actually happened but you have to work for them to know about it because they only show it for training purposes. It didn't light the forest on fire but they lost control and flew off the tracks.
Wow never seen anything like this in Australia, would be great to see but probably too risky our tracks on the side a really poorly manager littered with waste, grass and other stuff it would be too dangerous....great idea my dream job driving trains and fire locomotives
Over years of being in service, the rails get beat out of shape by the traffic - exactly the same way a blacksmith beats iron into shapes, just slower and not as easily visible. If you remember the childhood "Little Golden Book" called "Tootle", you'll know that sometimes young trains wander off across fields chasing butterflies and such, getting them in trouble. Grinding resets the correct shape, and helps deter "Exploration" by young trains like Tootle (and some older, forgetful ones) by helping keep their wheels locked properly in place on the rails, where they belong.
@@Ferd414 Thank you for the explanation. When you see the sparks, it looks like a large amount of metal is removed. I'm guessing this procedure can't be done too many times without risking weakening the rails?
Don’t think I’ve ever seen or heard of one here in Australia, if there is it would absolutely have to have water suppression or the proverbial would hit the fan with the Fire services.
I’ve never seen this train before, and was about to ask “what’s a Loram Grinder?” Lo and behold I just had to wait until 4:51 to see why it’s called a Grinder
the rails are ground to restore the correct shape of the rail. Yes, they wear down over time and become the wrong shape. Thats not only dangerous but also makes rolling on the rail inefficient and inefficiency wastes resources. This is basically a massive surface grinder on wheels.
![BLACK BAG - Official Trailer [HD] - Only in Theaters March 14](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Du0Xp8WX_7I/mqdefault.jpg)
I grinder passed right by the house at 2am one cold night in Colorado Springs near Fillmore. WHAT A SIGHT! The wheels and grinders glowing bright. Itnwas a rare railfan moment I'll never forget.
I saw the same things years ago! I thouth the train was on fire, then I got a closer look
That's awesome man! ✌
So what you're saying is that you live on the ''Other'' side of the tracks?
@@nozzledrich They never said that..... Video was recorded in Benson, NC. and he's talking about somewhere else
I live in the area, wish I could've seen.
the railfan who actually films a before and after of the track surface will win the internet for day :)
You ever see the video of a go pro set in the middle and the grinder passing over?
This is a first for me, I'd never heard of or seen such a thing. Very cool.
Seeing those things coming at night is an eerie sight, even if they aren't actively grinding. Something about all the lights they have is just ominous, like the patrolling enemy element looking for a tiny infiltrator in a movie.
Night would be cool!! 👍
Dude, what you just described sounds exactly like what I saw one night when I was a tiny kid in my dad’s car!
He’d strap me into the seat and take me hunting for the trains around LAX whenever we heard one. This was before the Alameda Corridor went in, so the trains used those tracks all the time.
One night, there was a weird and loud (but very short) train that Dad matched speeds with on the parallel road. That imagery still sticks with me.
@McKeelix surreal for sure. Seen the rail grinderv3x now. Always at night. Very cool
Makes it real fun to duck down in the woods when they come by. 😂
Kind of like the patrol in The Matrix
We chased it one day when I was working from the Fort Lewis Fire Station. They were setting fires for miles along the Virginian section in SW Roanoke County. They finally stopped grinding for the day due to all of the fires started by the grinding.
I spent 4 months at Fort Lewis in the mid 90’s when Serving in the British Army.
Exercised in Yakima (Mid Feb 🥶) took RnR in Seattle.
Happy days and good times as a young Sapper attached to the Parachute Regiment.
Amazing scenery in Yakima probably the best sunrise I ever seen if not the coldest 😉👍🏼
Maybe also ran out of water lol
@@brownwarrior6867Different Ft. Lewis, my friend. He’s talking about Roanoke County, Virginia, right outside the City of Salem. He must be a firefighter or paramedic, because he’s talking about RCFD Station 9. Or at least it used to be. I was on the Ft. Lewis rescue squad in the early 1980s, back when it was a volunteer crew. I know that station well-I remember when it was built. “Rescue 951 responding!” :)
They stopped end of day. But not because it was end of the day? Yea. UFOs are real too...
Also, how did you chase it? I picture on foot running around screaming and controlling them fires.
@@mauwalkerthat the area that had the lynchings a couple years ago?
Edit: yep.
I literally have no idea why this came up in my suggestions, but I think a new obsession has been born 😂
If you like this you should see the snow clearing trains
The average person has no clue how much effort and expense it takes to maintain a railroad. Great video 👍
This is off topic, but at 4:35 this is probably the best side-shot I've seen of a box truck showing off the gap between the cab and the chassis. Trucks are my kinda thing and it's so hard to find good isometric side shots for 3D modeling purposes.
The Van Based truck with the extra gap, I always laugh, they are trying to get "Dock Height" out of a truck series that is almost always "extra low" - The Cabover Reefer behind it is dock height and then has to deliver to restaurants that are "on the ground" - LOL!
That’s really cool and I’m glad you pointed it out, because I wouldn’t have thought about it otherwise!
I see this about two to three times a year where I work. I work in Washington, DC, across the street from the CSX main. The main is very busy, with CSX trains passing over it every hour, plus Amtrak and the local commuter trains from VRE (Virginia Railway Express) and MTA (Maryland Transit Authority). Those rail grinders put on quite a show at night. I work the graveyard shift, and you can see the spark show really well.
Off topic, but my god, I love the old architecture of those buildings in the background! We should still be putting the effort to make new construction to match that beauty.
I always forget how young the USA actually is. In Europe and the UK we are so used to seeing old buildings that I didn't even notice anything special about the one in the background until you pointed it out. I live in a house from the 1920s and it doesn't feel particularly old compared to most other buildings in the towns and cities I see here. Come over and visit our part of the world sometime if you haven't already. If you like old architecture I'm sure you will enjoy it. 😊
@andyarchitect A kind invitation. I have a friend who lives part-time in my neighborhood, and part-time in London. He invites me often to visit the UK, but I'm penniless, so I cannot afford the passport, let alone the airfare.
@@darrinswanson Wishing for you to have the funds to go travelling in the future 🙂It's always good to have a goal to save up / aim for... perhaps this can be it. Best of luck
@andyarchitect oh yeah, for sure a lot of folks that don't live here forget, I don't blame you. I have a coworker that is married to a lady from across the pond. They lived over there for a few years as well as south Africa, as electricians we often discuss the various differences in architecture and infrastructure across the world. It's a rather fascinating discussion usually. The oldest building we have ever worked on, was built in 1853. Oldest home/residence was a bit newer than yours, 1937 if memory serves correctly. We've worked on other stuff in between as well, that's just the oldest vintage we've gotten to work on. However my state was only granted statehood in 1836 so it's not nearly the age of eastern states.
Said couple got married in a "young" church of roughly 500 year vintage, BTW.
I saw this done in the St. Louis, MO area many years ago. Like the first set up shown, they had two guys with fire hoses at the back of the rear most card.
Been on several LORAM related brush fires. We see them in town, we mosey on down to the station and top off the tanks. They and MOW do a good job, but these heatwaves we’ve been having, really get these things off running.
You don't keep your tanks full?
@@Sponge60 not completely, about 3/4, makes much better time on the hills. Hydranted territory.
Looked windy too, worst case scenario
Jeez you can see the ditch lights from Jupiter
That’s the whole intent
The average gevo has brighter.
I like the car alarm sound, is it coming from the train
I’m pretty sure they used dedicated blinders from live performance lighting.
@@MrMiamiswaggz305 Me too! I couldn't stop cheesing ☺
We were driving through northern Ontario with snow on the ground, this type of train came through with sparks flying everywhere. Hitting the snow, the sparks, made loud hissing noises with lots of steam, weird smell.
One of those would go past our house when my kids were little. We called it a dragon.
Great video! Thanks for sharing!
I live on a BUSY siding. evry year or so, this massive train slowly inches thru, swapping ties gravel and some years the rails too...Just a bit to far to see. But ive seen piles of ties and raill periodicall along the edge so dang full reworks. But we get really heavy ore and armaments etc rolling by. The ore trains shake the house during the day, and very occasionally and ONLY at night mil/armament trains over 70-80 Mph fly thru like a muffled jet engine and smooth rubber wheels. The trains sound like jet turbine but really quiet. So I guess this siding is well maintained .
Me no train guy. But I have raced them on my dirtbike way off but along side, while the engineer waves and laughs. My train ramble. Thanks for the vid . Trains are cool .
Nice 👍 great catch cool machine
I could eat chicken pot pies and watch this all day long
this is a very cozy comment :)
Yessir!
Great catches awesome capture and nice video hunter
Worked for loram on a ballast cleaner back in the day, always thought the grinders were a pretty cool machine
That farmers bullnose Ford still putting in the work at 4:30 😍
Wow what a catch very cool share never seen that in person Awesome captures thanks for sharing with us
I can only imagine how many times these rail grinders start a fire😂😂😂
That's a 400 Series grinder...worked on both, a 400 and 300 series as well as the the little S&C grinders (Switch & Crossings)...Super dirty, and hard work...but met some awesome friends there. One 400 I worked on, was the B.C. (British Columbia) dedicated machine, the other 400 did Albert through Ontario on CN. The 300 series was dedicated to CP at the time and would only do Ontario and some quick runs past some board lines down into the USA.
I don't miss changing the spark blankets...scratchy itchy stuff lol
why does it have a siren?
Them mow machines is awesome especially them grinders and undercutter
Rail grinder: train that keeps the tracks at an even level and between joints. For a smoother ride and maintenance of the tracks. The spray coming off the sides is herbicide. This keeps plant life from taking over the rails causing a derailment.
With the alternating ditch lights and siren, it might as well say "police" instead of Loram.
Lol
An unholy, terrifying machine from hell itself.
Great catch! I Love the Loram ❤🤙
I seen the primary grinder myself in person and at work. Oddly no switch grinder or hi-rails with it, which isn't good cause it started a fire. Video I took has sadly since been lost to time.
Minnie Pearl would be interested in how to turn it on and off. She was always talking about Grinder's Switch
Fo sho!
Galls Street Thunder siren, spectacular video.
What is the purpose of that to keep the rails flat or even or both
That is a serious piece of machinery.
I love this specific siren chirp.
What"s the point of this machine?
The rails have to have a certain crown and profile for the best fit for all the wheels that roll over them. That wears down as thousands of wheels go over them. A lot cheaper to grind the rail crown and profile back to original spec this way than to do a full rail replacement.
This really grinds my rails.
I saw a rail grinder yesterday on my way to work, never seen one until then
Jeeesz Loram, save some ditch lights for the rest of us.
What does the siren mean?
Fascinating to see. 👍
That's quite a setup!!
What kind of ditch lights are those?
Does this machine grind every foot of rail, just high spots, or what?
I never saw one of those before, it's pretty cool.
What's the purpose of the siren?
It’s cool.
It’s to get the other trains to pull over to the right….lol
Grinds the rails to their true profile. There are many videos that explain.
"I'm telling you he's a cop"!😂😂😂🎉
-The Fast and the Furious.
I feel like it was only because the engineer saw he was on camera.
I wonder why the nozzles are aimed so far out by default. Are they just assuming there wont be any fires closer to the tracks because of the gravel?
Nice Video !!
Is the smaller grinding rig for fine tuning or spot grinding the really bad areas?
Crazy how far upwind those sparks got on that first pass. Fire safety is serious kids.
Those LED ditch panel lights are certainly high lumen output.
The speed of grinding the rails looks like it has been tripled compared to what I have seen five or six years ago.
What was the first big combination doing?
what's the odd sounding siren used for?
Just on - off ditch lights...no "dwell time"... Pure LED...no wonder he got Noble prize for LED invention back in 2015?
So why are they equipped with a siren?
man we had one of these just out of my town in NSW, RFS turned up, wasent needed since they had already put it out practically, RFS cleaned it up, since rail grinders in Aussie have fire trucks that follow em! Nice catch
Very good video, like !
Holy Smokes lol that creosote would smolder like crazy
Interesting..I've never seen this done before
What interval(s) do the railroads use for scheduling a grind on their tracks?
I want to see what the rails look like before and after. :-)
Need one of those for my backyard.
what FIRE ?
saw a lot of spraying which I assume was ROUNDUP or some other kind of TOXIN
What are all the brake wheel looking things on the grinders?
Stupid thing to ask maybe but what is the siren for? In case of fire?
To warn people nearby there's a fire... so they can put it out... makes a lot of sense if you think about it.
Where was this at
The description in the gray bar below the vid states, Benson, NC.
What is a grinding team, or what is the purpose of the grinding team - please?
Basically track maintenance it grinds the rails to remove imperfections and smooths them out which makes the tracks last longer
Cool rig. Seen it 3x. But a longer variant.
Does anyone know the name of the siren noise.
I've seen one of these before. They were working on the CPKC tracks where I happen to be so I was able to film it.
I used to live near where they made these and I vividly remember a nightmare I had one night where I was walking through the woods and one of these came flying down the tracks throwing sparks and instantly lighting the whole forest on fire trapping me.
that actually happened but you have to work for them to know about it because they only show it for training purposes. It didn't light the forest on fire but they lost control and flew off the tracks.
Dry oily wood burns 🔥 great
Wow never seen anything like this in Australia, would be great to see but probably too risky our tracks on the side a really poorly manager littered with waste, grass and other stuff it would be too dangerous....great idea my dream job driving trains and fire locomotives
WHY ARE THEY STARTING FIRES?
So, This is the Lorax !😮
Why do you need to grind rails?
Over years of being in service, the rails get beat out of shape by the traffic - exactly the same way a blacksmith beats iron into shapes, just slower and not as easily visible. If you remember the childhood "Little Golden Book" called "Tootle", you'll know that sometimes young trains wander off across fields chasing butterflies and such, getting them in trouble. Grinding resets the correct shape, and helps deter "Exploration" by young trains like Tootle (and some older, forgetful ones) by helping keep their wheels locked properly in place on the rails, where they belong.
@@Ferd414 Thank you for the explanation.
When you see the sparks, it looks like a large amount of metal is removed.
I'm guessing this procedure can't be done too many times without risking weakening the rails?
@@EssexCountyPhoto You'd have to ask the folks involved in it. I only know the "why", not the "how many times can it be done" of it.
@@Ferd414 Cheers!
The sound the grinders make is pretty ominous.
Just so you know, that was basically pure PFAS the guys in the truck were spraying. Look it up if you don't believe me.
The delay in the crossing gates dropping doesn't seem like a safety concern
Don’t think I’ve ever seen or heard of one here in Australia, if there is it would absolutely have to have water suppression or the proverbial would hit the fan with the Fire services.
Well Im wrong apparently they’ve been here for 60yrs grinding rails 😵💫😁
Wut cind of train is that?
What kind of grammar is that?
2:42 just randomly pulls fire hose out of nowhere
They need them for the fires they cause by accident....
@@aidenplaysyt2613 well no crap
I’d love to work on a grinding train
WOW........I've never seen one before
I’ve never seen this train before, and was about to ask “what’s a Loram Grinder?” Lo and behold I just had to wait until 4:51 to see why it’s called a Grinder
The first one was just in the Kingston Ny yard not long ago.
I didn’t even know such a thing existed.
So why is this done?
It's to remove defects, fatigued metal and to restore the profile of the tracks.
Can somebody please explain to me what's happening in this video?
grinding the rails to reprofile them, makes the ride smoother and prevents wheel damage and makes the rails last longer
@@andreww2098 Ah thank you.
One would think they could add more protection from sparks
The short one does crossings switchesan other areas the big one can't get too
4:12. Is that some kind of sonar?
Nope just eching short alarms for fire crews, sonar is underwater and radar is radio waves
🤔Maybe wait for a wetter day to do something like that? Sort of how I don't burn trash or brush unless it is or just has rained? 🤷♂
Nice video!
seen these on CPKC and CN, every year
Let us see the rails before and after grinding. :)
Kereta aakah itu.?
Not a rail nerd, wondering what the purpose of doing this is?
the rails are ground to restore the correct shape of the rail. Yes, they wear down over time and become the wrong shape. Thats not only dangerous but also makes rolling on the rail inefficient and inefficiency wastes resources. This is basically a massive surface grinder on wheels.