Just remember in the day when these tracks first went down all of this was done by HAND Over weeks and months of physical labor to place these tracks so that we are able to enjoy All types of products from around the world and in the USA! In the 1800's most people would not travel More then 20 miles, you might cover 10 miles in a day, now you do that in minutes on the highway. it is amazing how the train systems Created inexpensive transport for both people and cargo.
Lived by the tracks for 7 years now & all I've caught a glimpse of is a track cleaner at night all lit up like a spaceship tipped & cruising along. This is really neat to see!
Absolutely without a doubt one of the most fascinating things to watch from begining to end.....I marvel at how they get these LORAMS and MOWs to do this fasscinating work....great video , very interesting
Years ago for a job in the summertime I was hired on with a Bridge Building Crew. It was a very hard job. Everything was done by hand with shovels and steak bars. then the fun of driving the track pins with a long nose hammer. I built up a strong sense of work ethics. Great for football in the fall when I went back to school.
Great video. I think the only think it is lacking is some kind of on-screen labeling of what is happening. Especially the many different passes dealing with the ballast. It would be interesting to know what each pass is doing. Looks like a lot of work, even with all the equipment...
As someone who works for csxt I'm amazed by the ignorance in the comments. To answer everyone's questions about why not concrete? First it doesn't do well in wet environments that freeze. Csxt can buy in bulk, so its there choice for their railroad. It's not determined by unions or anything of the sort. Second maintenance on concrete takes a whole set of different equipment. this way there entire railroad MoW is standardized. These guy work hard and are away from their families for sometimes weeks at a time. This is a traveling tie and surface gang.
+BaltimoreAndOhioRR Yes, its my understanding that have reasons for concrete ties in very specific areas. Some is long term durability testing, some is for other reasons. BTW your video is of great quality. I am by no means a "company man", but I don't like the ignorant comments I see from some of the people. People forget to that the railroad is privately owned and they can do as they please. The unions don't even have much of a say anymore.
@nemosdaddy: I stand corrected about which ties are replaced but alignment is maintained either way. Thanks for the freeze explanation--I missed that one.
+TheNemosdaddy there are many reasons for concrete sleepers. Durability, resistance to lateral displacement, easier to be reused, no toxic components... But you are wrong about wet areas and freezing. To modern, prestressed concrete sleepers that's no Problem at all. And "modern" means the last 50 years. As a matter oft fact -especially under more difficult conditions concrete proved to be the better and more sustainable choice.
+MrWomojo you are right, I am working for subcontractors of London Underground and their plan is to change all the wooden sleepers with concrete ones, but is expensive that is why in US they do not want to change them
CSX is replacing ties on the tracks between Florence and Lake City, SC right now. Even though I worked for a MOW equipment manufacturer and a DMU/Railcar manufacturer, I never got to see the equipment working close up. With this video I don't have to stand along side U.S. 52 and watch what they are doing. Well, maybe when they get to town I can stand along ACLine Street and watch. I always wondered what the cranes and other pieces of equipment were doing besides the tampers. Great video!!! Thanks.
21:04 LOL! Never knew they had a Zamboni machine for railroad tracks. Seriously though, I am amazed at how much this work has been automated through the years. I know some track workers now long retired/deceased who used to bust their butts doing all this by hand. They would be slack-jawed at this sight.
FERROVIA DE PRIMEIRO MUNDO É ESSA AI GOSTEI MUITO DE VER CADA MAQUINÁRIO FORA DE SÉRIE NÃO É ESSAS QUE TEMOS AQUI NO BRASIL NÃO, PARABÉNS CSX VOCÊS ARRASAM GOSTO MUITO DE VER ESSA FERROVIA NOTA 100.000 PARA VOCÊS PARABÉNS CSX.
I live across the road from the segment of the CSX that runs from Baltimore, MD to Hanover PA. I watched the gang move through when they redid the section near me in 2008. They prestaged the replacement ties and had inspectors mark ties for replacement before the equipment gang moved through. Once they arrived, they could do about a mile a day or so, replacing about 40% of the ties.
I so miss this kind of work did it for 7 years with Norfolk Southern railroad MOW rail gang I only quit bc I was away from home and didn't see my kids as often as I'd like
i worked around a coal preperation plant which in the past was called a tipple then we used to drop rail road cars loaded and un loaded the moat dangerous joj they could take in a hurry when the brakes failed.i have been around trains for 60 years and I still love to watch them,
A declare this video a winner. This gets an automatic 5 star rating ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 🎥 I'm very moved by this very construction of all this Maintenance Of Way equipment on the tracks of CSX. A great job by the Videographers & CSX. track crews making me also a model railroader very pleased. Thank you BALTIMORE & OHIO for presenting this. 👋👋👋👋👋 🚦🚦🚦🚦🚦🛤🛤
Awesome video I never seen them doing track work on the NS Lehigh Line they park the Norfolk Southern tie truck by the one office right by the road and I see it gone once in awhile but I don't know where they head to I would like to film this sometime it's pretty awesome
One way or another, this has been done many times in the history of The Old Main Line, including replacement of the rails. This line (now freight only) carried its first trains in 1830.
Great tie gang footage. I do wish there were few more shots that showed the entire machines. Pity that DynaCAT wasn't working. that is an amazing machine to watch.
I did this work b4,i worked for a company called C.R. CONSTRUCTION.(CLEAVLAND RAIL CONSTRUCTION)that first machine called the spike puller is were i put my lunch box first day on job,i however worked back at the machine replacing the tie,i marked the tie so operator new were to slide it under the track and i had to throw old busted up ties doen in jing weeds,well needless to say when break happened my first day i learned my lesson that these pieces of equipment can be mikes apart lest leaving my lunch about 3 miles away!!!😂and the guys took of me but ya it was a LONG GRUELING DAY USUALLY 12-14 HRS we were all from western pa and all the work seemed to be up around cold water and saginaw michigan at that time 2004 i made $18 hr labor rate and $36 prevailing wage jobs.on a norm we would do 15 miles a day if i rembered right,o and they encourage you to smoke weed, that way if you get n u do,they are free n clear of comp claims.surprisingly you would think this equipment breaks down alot and ours was garb but it always kept on a movin.the only thing i can honestly say i hated was when we had to fix a switch.manual spike driving in which I COULD NEVER FIG OUT!!!!ART IN ITS OWN RIGHT!!!!ANYHOW REALLY NEET TO SEE IT DONE ON HERE!!!!
I remember back in the 60 crews out of port Jarvis would weeks to get to otisville N.Y.. look on map and figure out mileage. All by hand. Good summer time job.
This is a great video, showing the huge efforts required for maintenance of the train tracks. It would take millions of dollars, a large complex and crew to just buy and keep these track machines repaired and maintained (a huge amount of moving parts!). Thanks for taking the time to put this together and share with us viewers. My entire career was in construction but I never thought about what it takes to keep a track system maintained! I would have enjoyed this as a career........I think. I hope to see more of this on your channel as I've subscribed. ....13
Magic... interesting. Sometimes hear these track guys at work here in Scotland 😨 .... one of your guys (on 2-way radio) sounds like a Scot' ... immigrant 😎
In my train travels through China I was simply amazed with the rail service and smoothness of the trains. I noticed their railroad ties are made of reinforced concrete which I have also observed in European countries. Seems like the US is way behind the times.
Because: If you pull all the ties out at the same time there is nothing to hold the gauge of the rails, therefore your machinery falls through and is derailed. Pretty simple. American railroads DO use concrete ties, mostly on heavily traffic main lines. There are also places where concrete deteriorates rapidly due to weather conditions, no point in using them.
Concrete ties are more costly and they don't hold up to damage as the wooden ones do.
10 лет назад
Bonjour cher ami Baltimore Magnifique Vidéo , Magnifique , photos imprétionnet image :-) de votre travail lol merci de ce bon partage mon ami Trés bon Week-End I liked (15 ♥ ) Salutation Gérard
Like#~3900! Exelent display of track machines and their work! Goes fast in harmony. Rail itself seems from 2010, and 136 is weight of the rail in lbs per 1 yard I assume? Why not installed concrete sleepers on the line? Great job 👍👌, you showed the whole process in tiniest details! Awesome 👍😎
In 1969 I worked for Norfolk & Western Railroad out of Moberly, Missouri on an “extra tie gang,” we took out old ties & put in new ones. It took 5 machines and 28 laborers & gandy dancers using tie-tongs, tamping bars, claw bars, picks/shovels, rail tongs, spiking mauls, & lining bars all day to do what I seen them do in this video, we did about a half a mile or so a day, it looked like the machines in this video did that much in just a couple of hours if not faster. Ah progress, the laborers & gandy dancers I worked with were like family, we ate together in our traveling dining car & slept in the bunk cars, we had a close camaraderie that I only felt in the Army. We busted our asses 10 hours a day, 5 days a week for a measly $150.00 dollars a week. But in 1969 that was big money. I miss working side by side with men sweating to get the job done, & feeling good about it afterwards, this video makes the job look so boring & robotic & monotonous! 👎
Another question... How are the units powered? Diesel Engine which powers hydraulics for propulsion, or are they chain driven I have seen both types. Kind of wish I had worked on a crew back in the day. I have always admired the tamping machines... All the brute force for a few millimeters or centimeters of adjustment... the tamper looks to be hydraulically powered... Gotta love the two guys on the roadbed with the sledge hammers...
This was on a Baltimore and Ohio RR. But I thought sure that I saw CSX in the machines. This looks like quite a operation with some rather expensive looking machinery.
The funny thing about all of this... a machine removes and replaces the whole railroad tie, a machine removes the spikes, another collects the spikes, another measures and centers the rails, another respreads the rock... but it takes an actual guy to put the spike plates back on the ties for the machine to replace spike or the whole process doesn't work. This must be what in the union they call job security.
Believe it or not, it's more efficient. Notice how the tie plates have to be precisely aligned over the tie? A machine can't align to that precision "on the fly" - but a human being can. If they weren't aligned properly, you'd have spikes being driven into thin air instead of into the ties - bad for your railroad. In this case it ain't union job security, it's because the railroad wants it that way. It actually gets done faster by hand then by machine, one of the few MoW tasks that do.
Captivant from 17:55 To min 35:55, it seems to make more fuel waste, all kinds of works of leveling and arrangement of stones over ties . after replacing ties .. But according Wikipedia = Concrete ties are cheaper and easier to obtain than timber and better able to carry higher axle-weights and sustain higher speeds. Their greater weight ensures improved retention of track geometry, especially when installed with continuous-welded rail. Concrete ties have a longer service life and require less maintenance than timber due to their greater weight, which helps them remain in the correct position longer. Concrete ties need to be installed on a well-prepared subgrade with an adequate depth on free-draining ballast to perform well. Concrete ties amplify wheel noise, so wooden ties are often used in densely populated areas. In more recent times, a number of companies are selling composite railroad ties manufactured from recycled plastic resins,[6] and recycled rubber. Manufacturers claim a service life longer than wooden ties with an expected lifetime in the range of 30-80 years, that the ties are impervious to rot and insect attack,[7][8][9] and that they can be modified with a special relief on the bottom to provide additional lateral stability.[7] In some main track applications the hybrid plastic tie has a recessed design to be completely surrounded by ballast. Aside from the environmental benefits of using recycled material, plastic ties usually replace timber ties soaked in creosote, the latter being a toxic chemical,[10] and are themselves recyclable.[7] Hybrid plastic railroad ties and composite ties are used in other rail applications such as underground mining operations,[11] industrial zones, humid environments and densely populated areas. Hybrid railroad ties are also used to be partly exchanged with rotten wooden ties, which will result in continuous track stiffness. Hybrid plastic ties and composite ties also offer benefits on bridges and viaducts, because they lead to better distribution of forces and reduction of vibrations into respectively bridge girders or the ballast. This is due to better damping properties of hybrid plastic ties and composite ties, which will decrease the intensity of vibrations as well as the sound production.[12] In 2009, Network Rail announced that they were to begin replacing wooden ties with recycled plastic ones made by I-Plas ltd of Halifax, West Yorkshire;[13] but then I-Plas went into insolvency in October 2012.[14] The Cable TV series Factory Made has a segment on the manufacture of plastic ties.[15] In 2012, New Zealand ordered a trial batch of "EcoTrax" brand recycled composite ties from Axion for use on turnouts and bridges.[16][17] In 2014 the KLP® Hybrid Plastic Tie of Lankhorst Engineered Products of Sneek, The Netherlands, won the Privatbahn Magazin Innovation Award in the category Track and Infrastructure.[18] [19] Ties may also be made from fiberglass.[20] Non-conventional tie forms[edit] Y-shaped ties[edit] Y tie track next to conventional track An unusual form of tie is the Y-shaped tie, first developed in 1983. Compared to conventional ties the volume of ballast required is reduced due to the load-spreading characteristics of the Y-tie.[21] Noise levels are high but the resistance to track movement is very good.[22] For curves the three-point contact of a Y steel tie means that an exact geometric fit cannot be observed with a fixed attachment point. The cross section of the ties is an I-beam.[23] As of 2006 less than 1,000 km of Y-tie track had been built, of which approximately 90-percent is in Germany.[21] Twin ties[edit] The ZSX Twin tie is manufactured by Leonhard Moll Betonwerke GmbH & Co KG and is a pair of two pre-stressed concrete ties longitudinally connected by four steel rods.[24] The design is said to be suitable for track with sharp curves, track subject to temperature stress such as that operated by trains with eddy brakes, bridges and as transition track between traditional track and slab track or bridges.[25] Wide ties[edit] Concrete monoblock ties have also been produced in a wider form (e.g. 57 cm (22 in)) such that there is no ballast between the ties; this wide tie increases lateral resistance and reduces ballast pressure.[26][27][28] The system has been used in Germany[29] where wide ties have also been used in conjunction with the GETRAC A3 ballastless track systems.[30][31] Bi-block (or twinblock) ties consist of two concrete rail supports joined by a steel bar. Advantages include increased lateral resistance and lower weight than monobloc concrete ties, as well as elimination of damage from torsional forces on the ties center due the more flexible steel connections.[32] This tie type is in common use in France,[33] and are used on the high-speed TGV lines.[34] Bi-block ties are also used in ballastless track systems.[33] Frame ties (German: Rahmenschwelle) comprise both lateral and longitudinal members in a single monolithic concrete casting.[23] This system is in use in Austria;[23] in the Austrian system the track is fastened at the four corners of the frame, and is also supported midway along the frame. Adjacent frame ties are butted close to each other. Advantages of this system over conventional cross increased support of track. In addition, construction methods used for this type of track are similar to those used for conventional track.[35] Ladder track In ladder track the ties are laid parallel to the rails and are several metres long. The structure is similar to Brunel's baulk track; these longitudinal sleepers can be used with ballast, or with elastomer supports on a solid non-ballasted support. Fastening rails to railway sleepers Various methods exist for fixing the rail to the railway sleeper. Historically spikes gave way to cast iron chairs fixed to the tie, more recently springs (such as Pandrol clips) are used to fix the rail to the tie chair. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Railroad_tie#cite_note-24
I was surprised to see the gauging and leveling machine not doing any work. The telephoto shots certainly showed some up and down. I'm guessing low man does the sweeping with all that noise and dust, even in a filtered cab.
My father in law worked for Amtrak. He worked for them like 30 plus years now he's retired living North Carolina miss him. My wife and i can't afford to go see him or her mom are son hasn't seen them either since he was like 5 years old and now he's 15 and it sucks.
I wonder?is there a lot of wrist and carpal tunnel damage done to the operators running wobble sticks and other levers in their equipment all day long?.
....Man this is great, whether man or machine...love to see and hear the machine,greasy/oily, I even smell the scene, rocks, oil, the dust,the cross tiers with that heavy oily burnt scent, it smells like heavy work, a man's thing...you know what I mean??
