Most of that is exactly the kit I used to work on! Because the public a large rarely see this type of work being done (it`s more commonly done at night) they don`t realise how it`s done, and how `easy` it is. (it looks to be going smoothly in that footage, but it can get a bit stop/start with various issues that creep up. Geek mode... The unit at the start is rarely seen or used in this country. Ordinarily all the pandrol clips are knocked out either by hand or with the machines the two guys use to put the new ones in at 2:42, then a road-railer (like that seen pushing ballast at 2:50) pulls the rails to one side, and a twin-jib crane on the adjacent lifts the old sleepers out 28 at a time and drops in new ones in their place. From 3:00 you`ll see the most fearsome bit of machinery out there; the Ballast cleaner. It digs out `the beds`(the main ballast foundations), cleans and separates the ballast and puts back any that`s re-usable and tips the spoil into the wagons behind it. The toothed chain is frightening to be near at full-tilt, and those crazy buggers seem to be running without a laser press-line! Next up (3:32) is the Ballast Regulator (commonly called The Brush) It shapes (regulates) the ballast into it`s correct position using ploughs and brushes. That`s the hopper-less variety. Ours had a large brush up front that could pick up the ballast into a hopper so it could be re-distributed correctly rather than using the road-railer to even it out like they do at 2:50. Then next (4.05) is the Tamper. This is the most specialised unit and it does the most critical work. It measures the relationship of each of the rails (height, width apart, etc) and alters it to the correct parameters making sure it`s all level and true or creates the transitions into and out of curves (highly critical as you might imagine). It lifts the rails to there desired heights, adjusts then left/right as necessary, then squeezes the ballsat under the sleepers to consolidate the foundations. That particular unit is the Plasser and Theurer 09-series with satellite tamping-banks (the bit you see travelling back and forth) meaning the whole unit can keep moving throughout the operation. On the earlier 07- and 08-series units the banks were fixed meaning it was constantly stopping and starting which is not conducive to the service tech. (ie; me!) having a kip! Then finally they dump a load more ballast in which seems odd since in this country we do that first, prior to shaping/regulating. This taking place in Belgium, BTW...
Awesome post Stu! Very informative. That's some pretty heavy lumps of mechanical metal in that vid, nice find!
