I came upon something yesterday that looked like a large version of the Tasmanian Devil cartoon character. Once I got close, I figured out it was a machine fluffing up the ballast on the railroad tracks. It looked like an oversize John Deer riding lawn mower with a snow blower on the front and a street sweeper broom on the back. That thing could kick up some dust!
It seems to me that this machine fluffs the ballast and blasts all the dust out between the rocks. Doesn’t the dust settle back down into the rocks? Does another machine follow to rake or pack down the ballast? Would this be a routine maintenance procedure on most railroad lines, or simply done when you have a trouble spot?
I think one of the reasons this machine intrigued me is that since I was a kid, I have dreamed of some day running a street sweeper down a gravel road- sort of a dust Zamboni.[:-,] I know- my bucket list differs a lot from the norm.
The dust is entirely an afterthought. The purpose of the machine is to move any ballast off the tops of the ties down into the ‘cribs’ between them, and thereby keep stray rocks from bouncing where they shouldn’t go, etc. There would be little point in ‘blasting the dust out’ unless there had been serious fouling of some kind earlier – in which case a very different, and much larger, set of machinery has to be used to dig the ballast up, wash and size it, and return it - see this page for a discussion.
Might be interesting to have someone comment on whether snowmobile trail grooming on railroad rights-of-way benefits from a regulator ‘pass’ – I know we have at least one expert on grooming in the forum.
Ballast regulator…like the ubitquious Kershaw Model 46 pictured, rotary broom on one end and adjustable plow on the other, plus adjustable box scoops to carry & move ballast up and down the shoulders…The tamper, pup tamper and possible other parts of the surfacing gang (compactor/ vibrator/ etc) must be nearby.
You do not want ballast over the tie because you do want to avoid keeping moisture/water around the tie. You also want the shoulders against the tie to hold the track in place without overdoing it (wasting ballast) or underdoing it (triggering a sun kink)…
Fluffing??? [(-D][(-D][(-D] … some of the crews I have call 'em “rock throwers”
Ballast regulators have been known to have a snowblower attached to the broom end for use in yards, etc. They can still plow snow with the other end… While I have my doubts you’d see one on a mainline, it’s not impossible, but would be impossibly slow…
Definitely, seems like a case of ‘over-medication’ [#oops]
Hope Carl’s not out trying to ride his bicycle… It would really be bad if he got down by that Oak Lawn Station, and one of those engineers tried to run over him while he was laid out on " Da Lawn"— ‘Deminted’ [:-,][swg][swg][(-D]
Actually I should point out that this isn’t too far from wrong. “Ballast Fluffing” does have some basis in fact. A team of North American and British researchers embarked on a research program to look at ballast gradation (yes the distribution of rock sizes is a critical parameter) and tamper vibration frequency on the state of ballast compaction after tamping.
If one really looks at the function of a tamper it is to lift the track and squeeze additional ballast under the ties to fill the void. Vibration is applied to provide some level of consolidation to the newly introduced ballast. The problem is that in doing so the tamper tines disturbed the traffic consolidated ballast bed. Careful ballast density measurements indicated that they were 80-85% of pre tamping levels, so yes in deed tamping FLUFFED UP the ballast. This, if you think about it resulted is some uneven track not too long after surfacing especially if the track surface was quite irregular prior to surfacing.
The industry responded in several ways. In the UK they adopted something called “Stone Blowing” that injected stone under the ties(sleepers) without disturbing the traffic consolidated ballast bed.
Although Amtrak almost tried Stone Blowing on its inter lockers (a change in Chief Engineers to a technically clueless politically appointed one killed that).
In North America most roads adopted a device that Plasser developed in response to this research, the ballast consolidator. This beast has vibrating plates that slide along the shoulder behind the tamper to restore some degree of consolidation close to that obtained under traffic. ( there is a lot
And after the ‘fluffer’ does it’s job, the next job to be done is to put out the slow order on the ‘fluffed’ track until it can get settled into a continuing stable position from trains passing over the fluffed track.
Wonder if it runs a Fluffy Hemi? Carl’s meds seem to be working just fine, mine could use some work, though… (For those not familiar with the first line, there is a racing engine building company named Fluffy, at least one tractor pulling team runs Fluffy Hemis…)
It’s like “magic fingers” for roadbeds. And you don’t have to put in a quarter for 15 minutes. (Well, you need a lot a quarters up front, but that’s a whole other story.)
Sam, I’m under strict orders to stay off the bike for at least two months. And my “enforcer” heard that, and the date is marked on our calendar. (Oak Lawn is a bit out of the way for anything I normally do.)
I also can’t mow the lawn, or lift heavy weights (over 15 pounds). I am allowed to drive, as long as I’m no longer on the strong pain meds (Advil is working just fine now). But walking is highly recommended (and I got four miles in yesterday).
And world-class puns don’t often come from a medicated mind! [;)]
