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Amazing machinery but I was surprised that there still is some work done by hand.
Frank in dark, damp and cool SBA
amtrak92 Member # 14343
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I know at my local museum all of their track work is done by hand. Except for tamping the ballast
Mr. Toy Member # 311
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That was fascinating to watch. It looks very efficient. But is that the way it is done in this country? I notice it was a European video.
rresor Member # 128
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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.
rresor Member # 128
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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.
TwinStarRocket Member # 2142
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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?
Geoff Mayo Member # 153
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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.
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