The question of MOW equipment, usage and operations was started on another thread over in the Garden Railway section, but I feel it’s a great topic that should be shared with our smaller scale siblings. So with the caveat that I am not an expert, and that I want to learn as much as possible, I start this thread with my own humble knowledge of track repair and maintenance, staying mentally open to other views, opinions and facts.
Operationally MOW activities throw a huge wrench into train scheduling. After all, you can’t run a train on dilapidated track, but you also can’t afford to foul your mains with work crews. So the question becomes a matter of letting the track deteriorate until your speed limits are reduced to such that it becomes necessary to make repairs, then rescheduling around the work crews all the while trying to slip a train or two down the line anyway. Dispatchers are screaming about back ups, track engineers are hollering about making repairs to the right of way, and mechanics are pulling out their hair over time for maintenance of everything. It’s a delicate balance that I have never, ever not once, seen duplicated on any model railroad operations.
Old timey MOW (about pre 1955 give or take) is not automated and is very simple really. There would have been a crane car obviously for lifting heavy loads such as rail sections, tie bundles etc. There would have been one or more flat cars, gondolas or box cars for moving the ties, rails, spikes or ballast as required. There would have been a cabin car for the work crew to sleep in, a kitchen car for meals, and a mobile office of some sort (modified caboose or perhaps a Pullman). Since this type of MOW work is manual labor intensive, the equipment used is sparse, little more than hand tools really, but the people are not. I’ve never seen an old time MOW model scene that had the 30 or so workers required to do the job.
This is an interesting little piece of equipment I found next to the Mississippi river in Chester, Ill. Looks to me like the number one (and two) most important thing a maintenance crew can have on site.
Actually “old timey” MofW would consist of nothing more than a hand or motor car, a trailer or two and a gang of men with hand tools. That’s all you need to maintain track. All that train with rails etc might be used for derailments or major damage, but not for regular maintenance. The section gang would do most repaires under traffic so there would be little or no impact on train traffic.
If you are doing post-1950’s then you get into the equipment on the rails.
The ‘huge gang and a crane’ would usually indicate that the railroad infrastructure had taken heavy damage, possibly from a derailment but also possibly from a washout or forest fire. More typically, a dozen or so men would use crowbars, shovels and hand tampers to replace rails and/or ties one at a time, always keeping the line as open as possible. The materials would be distributed along the ROW ahead of time - bundles of ties, lengths of rail, little casks of spikes… (No pilferage problems back then, I guess.)
Track maintenance crews worked under orders, like extra trains, and were protected by orders issued to all trains that would be passing through the work zone. These days, the MW gang and its machines are issued a track warrant, so they ‘own’ that stretch of track during the warranted time - and are required to clear the rails before the warrant expires.
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964 - with track maintenance preparation modeled)
That’s more of a 1960’s era or newer operation. In the 1950’s and before crews worked under flag protection or did work in such a way that they didn’t have to take the track out of service. Tamping track or replacing ties can be done without affecting the train traffic. You just post flagmen/lookouts that warn the crews to get out of the way. When they signal, you drop the jacks, move out of the way, then go back to work after the train passes.
For planned maintenance a Form B bulletin (not warrant) is issued to protect men and machines on the track. It puts a speed restriction on the track and the trains have to reduce speed while passing through the limits of the bulletin. If the “'Stop” column is checked then the trains have to stop before entering the the limits of the bulletin and get permission to enter after contacting the employee in charge. From the 196o’s to the mid 1980’s the train order equivalent of the Form B bulletin was the Form Y train order.
Many times foremen will get warrants for protection, especially when patrolling. Many times I have had to stop and wait while a foreman clears up. Or I have to wait 5-10 miles away from where they are changing out a broken rail. Not too bright where the track is 10 mph. [banghead]
Some railroads use “Planned Work”, which shows up in the paperwork a crew recieves before heading out. If something pops up, a “Track and Time” is issued, to MOW foremen and to trains if needed. Usually Track and Time is issued between control points in CTC areas.
The June 08 issue of “Railroads Illustrated” (White River Productions publisher) has an excellent 10 page article, “Work Windows”, that details today’s maintenance proceedures. It is indeed a very sophisticated system. Recemmended reading!! My [2c]
Technically those aren’t for “protection” they are authority to occupy the main track. “Protection” is afforded by a Form B bulletin. Under GCOR in block signal territory (ABS ) trains get warrants and track inspectors get “permits”. In CTC track inspectors get “track and time”.
Track and time is only issued in CTC. Permits or warrants are issued outside CTC.
I finally got my new layout started and plan on having MOW equipment well represented at the locomotive service shop area. Of course, the current prototype Plasser unit was only a fantasy back in the 1960s, but does anyone know what type of automated track repair equipment was being used during that time period?
Also would enjoy seeing more pictures of your MOW equipment and “critters” posted.
This is a BDS-200 under cutter. Its purpose is to recycle and clean the ballast. The ballast is moved along a series of conveyors that basically washes, shapes, and mixes the old ballast with new. Clean ballast is important for drainage and track stability. This unit is at the Amtrak shops in Wilmington undergoing repairs, so only a portion of the machine is here. Orders of magnitude better than 5 guys with shovels!
This is for all you wire junkies. MTW 100 catenary repair vehicle. The machine is equipped with a telescopically raised and lowered work platform that rotates and a telescopic crane mounted lift bucket
interior work area
palfinger crane
pantograph and work platform. Very dangerous area in which to be careless. There are 12,000V here during normal repair operations.
work platform with lights
This is a junker. Hey, not all of your model MOW needs to work [;)]
Right on V&AL, hopefuly there is a lurker (or two) that will use some of these photos and commentaries to break ground on a model. I am in tentative planning for a G scale Dyna-CAT, but with a family and a house and a job…who has the time for that? I’ve got 5,000 incomplete projects as it is
Wow, 1955 is “old-timey”! I’ve been modeling the 1895-1912 time period for 40 years, and I wonder what Jack thinks that is? [:D] Seriously, until the powered equipment came along, some of it as early as the '30s (power adzing machines), track maintenance was fairly simple: the regular section crews handled it as an everyday part of their job. A pump car, or speeder if they had one (I’ve seen photos of cars from the early part of the 20th century!) with a trailer to hold the tools, moved to the area needing attention. Someone (Section Foreman? Track Inspector?) will have ordered new ties and/or rails be dumped next to the track in question, and the crew went out and did the job, mostly by hand, with picks, shovels, hand adzes (if the area for the tie plates hadn’t already been cut into the new ties), wrenches, pinch bars, and tamping bars. They didn’t interrupt traffic any more than necessary, as they were armed with the timetable, etc., and probably the train crews were issued slow orders for the time required.
“Old timey” I guess is anything you have to do manualy and without air conditioning [swg]
Don’t forget to leave some remains behind in the model scene. These crossing pieces have been laying by the track for some time.
Not all MOW equipment is directly related to rolling down the tracks. This little back hoe has a blade and a pincher claw for moving ballast and track ties.
