posted
I know at my local museum all of their track work is done by hand. Except for tamping the ballast
Posts: 465 | From: elgin (s-line) | Registered: Dec 2008
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posted
That's a Plasser Track Laying Machine (TLM). Amtrak has had one since the 1970s. It just finished replacing track 1 between Landover, MD and the south end of the Baltimore tunnels. There are several more in North America, run on a contract basis to do major track renewal for the Class Is.
Posts: 614 | From: Merchantville, NJ. USA | Registered: Aug 2000
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posted
Okay, I watched a bit more of the video, and it also shows people putting clips on the rails (note that insulators must be placed by hand), as well as a ballast undercutter. All these machines and techniques are widely used in the US. It's not like it used to be when I was a track laborer in the early 1970s. We did A LOT of stuff by hand, including lining track and spiking ties.
Posts: 614 | From: Merchantville, NJ. USA | Registered: Aug 2000
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posted
How do we compare today to the 10 miles and 56 feet of track laid by hand in one day (12 hours minus an hour for lunch) by a single crew in 1869 on the first transcontinental railroad?
Posts: 1572 | From: St. Paul, MN | Registered: Dec 2002
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quote:Originally posted by TwinStarRocket: How do we compare today to the 10 miles and 56 feet of track laid by hand in one day (12 hours minus an hour for lunch) by a single crew in 1869 on the first transcontinental railroad?
Hard to compare as (a) most of it's automated compared with 4000 pairs of hands; (b) standards these days are stricter than back in 1869.
However, the Australian Alice Springs to Darwin project a few years ago stated that 2km of track were laid per day (1 1/4 miles) per team, good for 115km/h or 71mph. This may have been limited by getting materials to site fast enough though.
-------------------- Geoff M. Posts: 2426 | From: Apple Valley, CA | Registered: Sep 2000
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