I was working at home this morning and the CN was running a rail grinding train. What a cool (or hot, depending on your standing) train.
Who can give a little detail on the operation of such a train? I would appreciate a little info, including how frequent rail requires the service, what exactly is done to improve the rail, etc.
thanks
ed
I don’t know all the details, but basicly is that many metal disk, about a foot around, grind the rail into a smooth surface. A lot of times, if you go back to where they grinding the previous day you’ll find lots of these disk along the tracks. Also if you look on the walkway of the machine you can see stacks of these disk. The frequence really depends on how busy the railroad was, the CSX River line in New York (about 25 trains a day) was grinded once or twice a year. Hope that was helpful
Back in the early 90s my dad,uncle and I were railfanning at Walong (Tehachappi loop) where we met the forman for Loram’s RG-8. He was off duty and was railfanning the loop too. He told us to meet him at Tehachappi that night and he would give us a personal tour. So that night we met him in town and we spent three hours with him getting a tour and hanging out in the cab unit. I still have the Loram hat he gave me. At that time they were working at night grinding between the loop and town. Quite impressive. Unfortunatly I didn’t take any pics. While we were shooting the s&%$ the crew was changing grinding wheels and watering up the tank car (used to put out any fires from the grinding). Science then I have seen that same grinder working at Cabazon on the sunset route, and in Cascade Locks,Or. on the Portland line in the Columbia river george.
Seems like Trains did an article about rail grinders some time ago. Pretty interesting. Saw one working on the Ft Madison cam once.
Rail grinding is done to provide the optimum rail contour and to remove surface cracks and other imperfections before they have the opportunity to grow into issues that will cause broken rails and all the other forms of rail damage that get caused by wear.
The frequency of grinding on any particular territory is determined by the amount of tonnage the line handles. The more tonnage, the more wear, the more frequent grinding is needed to maintain the rail contour at its optimum level. Proper rail contour enhances the amount of tonnage an engine can haul as well as improve the fuel economy over the territory. With the tonnages that railroad handle as well as the amount of fuel that railroads require for operation…even minimal improvements in tonnage handled and fuel consumed and extended rail life will add up over time…add up enough to make rail grinding a successful economic strategy for the railroads.
I have seen pictures of a rail grinder that hit a stacktrain- wasn’t pretty!
If you can invest the time, track them down and see if you can observe them at night.
Watching the spark show they kick up at night is a fireworks display you won’t soon forget.
Seeing a rail grinder at work is awesome!! I saw one in West Conshohocken, PA on the former Conrail, now Norflolk Southern Harrisburg Division. What was really neat about the freshly ground rail was the sound it maked when a train rolled over them.
Here are some shots of LORAM RG310 and 311!
