http://www.railcarphotos.com/PhotoDetails.php?PhotoID=37951
What is this equipment is use for?
It said its a spiker but it looks more like a tie replacement and rail grinder all in one.
I googled Dyna cat and it is a Plasser American tamper rail maintenance machine.
Pete
its a tamper… used to tamp the road bed down to make sure the grounds is all compacted and solid after they replace ties so there isnt any settleing of the dirt and blalist under the ties that might cause a cross leveling or dips in the track…
csx engineer
Continuous Action Tamper (CAT-09) with a dynamic stabilizer (ie- vibratory ballast shaker, thus the “DYNA” label)…High speed tamper not ever likely to be found on a shortline (does not do well with major surface and allignment troubles, mud, cinders, etc.)…only capable of skinlift, crack & line …the DYNA side of the machine (to the rear) consolidates/ packs the ballast tighter so that the track can be returned to normal track speed much faster.
about $850,000+ worth of machine…usually not found around a tie gang (kind of a sign that more suitable equipment is not available…the thing indexes automatically and the machine operator in this photo must be going nuts with not being able to see the ties…not a very productive use of this particular machine…)
Thanks for the info.
What’s that little ‘cart’ out away from the machine do/for?
Front buggy for the wire-liner measurement system. (Typical plasser wire liner with hydraulic feeler…Jackson/Harscos use strobe lights with a shadow board and Canron tamper/Harscos use a light beam with a chopper motor and shadow board)…
IMHO - The Plasser wireline system (single or dual) is a major drawback. For a “smoother type” machine like a CAT-09 where no serious lining or profiling is done, I guess you can get by with it.