What work it takes to keep the railroad running!! The use of different methods,materials and equipment to justify having a great network of rails to keep everything moving! It is a fact that the Union Pacific is Building America! You are amazing, love the UNION PACIFIC RAILROAD!!!!
I worked on a section crew for Soo Line RR in 1946 near Oshkosh, Wis replacing rails and ties- - -pumped our way to the site each day on a hand pumped small car riding on the rails. I marvel at the technology that has made the section hand job so much easier and faster. Lifting the ties and rails by hand was very hard work.pounding the spikes by hand to hold rail to ties took a bit of practice.after replacing the ties and rail the boss laid a long level across the rails and we tamped the ballast with a flat end shovel to level- -just plain very hard work but we kept the trains on schedule. This video brought back lots of memories of the crew and the job. I am 93 yrs old and still kicking- - thank the Lord. Bill Fisher
As seen in the video, a machine now drives in the spikes. Very little use of those old sledge hammers with very long metal heads. Those were very strange looking sledge hammers. The video did not show any of these being used as I had seen one summer of 1975 year in my town. Mostly college kids doing summer work had fun figuring out how to swing those strange sledge hammers. hee hee. Great comment Bill Fisher. I grew-up listening to old rail road stories from the rail road workers near me .
God Bless you, Bil Fisher , for your work and sharing your memories..My husband was a baby in his Mother’s arms when they rode the train from Idaho to the East coast to see his Daddy before he shipped out to Normandy. Your hard work kept the trains, crowded with soldiers, running. Mom said on every train, a soldier would give up his seat for her. and her baby. This younger generation does not fully appreciate the haard work and effort our Elders put in for the War effort, so that my generation could grow up in peace and security and prosperity and freedom.. If you are watching, pl;z say a prayer for our country writing in 2022 🇺🇸🙏 and Thank You. I really enjoyed this video 😎
Great video, especially for someone who's interested in working for the maintenance side of the railroad. Now I can share this video so people can actually see what I do when I'm on the job.
This was an amazing & awesome video. I had no idea that so much work & heavy machinery went into maintaining the railroad tracks. This is a superb video. I also liked the fact that there was not a whole lot of talking, the captions provided ample information. Thanks.
Very informative, excellent camera, clear annotions - Thank you! All that gear for about what, 1/4 mile of track? Yikes! Tho I guess 1/4 mi or 40 miles just means more/less days & diesel.
40 years working for the Southern Pacific/Union Pacific Railroad Locomotive Engr.and i never got the chance to see how much work went into replacing ties.Thanks for putting this video together.
Stumbled upon your video, and wanted to say Thank You! Fantastic to see all the equipment and to learn what each of them is doing. Even though it happens continuously this process is not something I have spent a lot of thought on, other than wondering about all those yellow machines being lined up in the middle of nowhere (here we have a lot of rural area and railroad lines going through dense forest). Appreciate the slow camera movements (no nausea inducing fast-panning) and that you refrained from putting background music. Greetings from Sweden.
I sure appreciate this video. Driving north out of Alexandria, Minnesota, I came across an operation that was fixing the ballast, inserting new ties, and laying and welding new rail. All under one combo of machines. This would have been in 1989, summer. I spent the day (I was on vacation) following along the operation. This was in the days before affordable video recording. It was fascinating seeing how all the operations were coordinated. That’s what I love about this one. Everyone in the operation was essential in one way or another. While the wind noise was loud and obtrusive, I simply turned down the sound. And yes, thanks for NO music!
The little bars as you call them are called rail anchors. Even though some of the names are incorrect it's nice to finally see someone show each machine of a system track gang and spend time with each machine explaining the function of each. The ballast machine is called a ballast regulator. The next machine with the man pushed cart is a lining and tamping machine, it lines up the track properly and tamps the ballast firmly under each tie to finish the track work almost, there are normally two of these machines working together and followed by a ballast regulator to clean up the track and make it visually appealing by no ballast on top of the ties and a nice even slope on each side of the track.
Remarkable. Excellent, restrained camera-work and explanations, nil voice-overs, 'music' or other such contempt for your audience. Bravo. Oh, and thanks also for resisting the obvious temptation to flip, roll and twist your drone about during filming. How refreshing.
You know the boss ain't your pal, when he makes you drive the porta-potty hauler. He's the most important guy on the crew. The others can't go anywhere without him.
I have lived along side a main railroad for nearly 45 years now and I have seen this done many time. Noisy as all get out but still really cool to watch.
What an operation!! Thanks for documenting this endeavor. I've seen a lot or railroads and a lot of model railroads but I've not seen many of the machines like in this vid. They would make a great subject for model rails. Thanks for posting this.
i worked on a tie gang back in the early '80's. it's quite a contrast seeing how some do it today as opposed to back then, yet some aspects and machines are very similar. thank you.
Its amazing how these simple components sleepers,fasteners,ballasters don't slide or the rails don't break off of them (with the train going over). Its amazing how automated the who process is in any case well done. I am just left with how hard it is to operate those machines
The first I've known how ties are replaced. Seeing the machines to the steps lets me now understand what I've seen in old photos of railroad gangs doing the same thing. All those crowbars holding the track up to change out the ties!
I'm actually amazed, how complicated and labor-intensive this method still is compared to almost fully automated tie exchangers they use all over the world. These dozens of single little vehicles seem to be a little out of date. Still a cool video and good explanations!
Waaay back when, I spent a summer working on a tie gang on the Canadian National. The gang had spike pullers similar to the ones in your video but the tie removal machine was a bit different in that after clamping itself to the rails, it would cut the tie in three pieces, raise the track, then extract the three pieces. All these automated/semi-automated machines are hypnotizing to watch.
Great vid ! Nevermnd the naysayers about the wind noise. There are always a couple of sour grapes that cant get off their asses to do anything but complain. My father worked fro th CNWRR back in the 50's and 60's for 18 yrs. As a youngster we, the family had a rail pass which allowed us to travel free on the trains. Many times we took the train to Chicago and I got to ride up in the cab with my father,the engineer and the fireman. Got to see all kinds of wildlife crossing the tracks at night. It is a whole different view way up in the cab. I also go to go with him to replace bearings on the cars that had "hot boxes" This was a VERY interesting vid in the fact that they are now replacing the ties near our house and I will pass on to my grandson on how it is done. Those machines are incredible ! Thanks so much for your contribution. I was glad for no annoying music and glad to hear the actual sounds of the job being done.
This is a great video showing the entire work sequence and importance of each machine. I recently joined a company that makes these machines so this is very helpful for me in coming up to speed. I did ask some funny but interesting questions to my boss "why can't there be one machine doing multiple things (spike pullouts, tie pullouts/installs, anchor spreading, tamping etc.) or at least have one machine that can do 2-3 tasks?" "Why do they need those huge diesel engines?" Can't these machines be powered off a renewable energy source such as solar panels or battery powered via the rail lines?" I know easier to ask than to implement but just threw in some random questions.
It is a fair question but from my understanding - the power requirement is simply too great for solar. Batteries do not have a high enough energy density and would make the machines 50% heavier and then you need to charge them but can't allow the down time or charge in the middle of nowhere. It is the same with construction machinery like tracked excavators; a 22tonne machine is 22tonnes for a reason if it were 33T it could not go where the 22T goes and would sink and use more energy. A 22T battery unit would have 2/3 the power and only be useable for 2-4 hours. Machines need to work for minimum 8 hours often double shifts to be economic. The 1st world talked about ending the use of fossil fuels and decided to burn wood pellets instead. Talked about carbon capture and decided to go electric because selling new cars means more taxes. People keep dumping litter, refuse and polluting the air, but almost nothing is done to clear up the mess. So sad.
Now is EXTREMELY informative!! ABSOLUTELY super in how all this is coordinated so that train traffic is not halted or interrupted, all the hard work & lifting done with obviously some sophisticated and expensive equipment. Talk about engenuity? This is top-notch!! By-the-way, OUTSTANDING cinematography. Great EXPLANATION of what is being done, how it's done and why. Overall, one SUPERB video of a complex and necessary operaton. Question: Are any materials, such as spikes or ties re-cycled or reused?
Spikes, plates and plate spacers seem to be reused. Not seen what they do with the old sleepers (sorry ties) yet. Surprised to see some operatives smoking on the job and a lack of ear muffs on the spiker machine but they could be wearing ear plugs I suppose.
This machinery is amazing and very efficient. Hydraulics power at it's best. They put a lot of men out of work though, but you don't have to pay a machine wages, provide insurance, listen to them complaining, feed them or worry about them not showing up for work. Great video.
I got to see a tie replacement machine in Ontario CA where they took out all of the wood ties and replaced them with cement ones. It was so cool to watch the upper machine grab a set of ties.
From 1895-1965, my grandfather and father's combined labor as track repair laborers steel driving men beat spikes in with a sledge hammer. Wow 😲 mechanization has changed a lot! This work was done by men with strong backs and powerful arms not long ago.
Someone designed all of this equipment and does'nt it show. No men are breaking their backs to make the system work, no one is screaming and shouting but it all slots together perfectly. Now the railroad will make big money and all the people can be employed in good jobs. Perhaps the men employed will say somthing different in bad weather but how efficent it all looks. A good video.
I haven't seen the whole video, but 'inefficiency' comes to mind. If you have a few ties damaged, may as well replace them all while crew is there. And what about replacing wood ties with concrete, which will last longer. Look at some of the Europe and Chinese methods that are very automated and efficient. Some have an entire section of new track and ties pre-assembled. Russians have one way where they pick up old section of track and ties and place on car with transport rigs on the cars. Totally awesome!
I've worked on the railroad right out of high school for 15 years.in tie gangs rail gangs switch gangs crossing gangs hump yard gangs .my head quarters was Toledo,ohio..It was the best job I ever had I miss all my maintenance of way Brothers..
We had a steam locomotive come by one time for train days and certain areas were off limits because the track was worn out and the locomotive is so heavy. The locomotive was carrying a BNSF engine for backup. The locomotive ran on fuel oil to be able to pass smog here in So Cal.
This makes you realize how in the old railroad days, the amount of manual labor it took to work on the tracks, before powerful diesel hydraulic machinery came along. Man those old-time railroad workers must have been some tough ornery buzzards
Hello, some few years, forgot what country, but they were installing CONCRETE SLEEPERS, , NEW WELDED RAILS & new ballast, you should have seen this 1 machine wow, CheersvFrom NJ, USA🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
At 23:00, Rail anchors or anti-creepers are spring steel clips that attach to the underside of the rail base-plate and bear against the sides of the sleepers to prevent longitudinal movement of the rail, either from changes in temperature or through vibration. Rail anchors are applied to the rail base directly and provide a large bearing surface against rail base and rail tie, preventing wear and cutting, and eventually to prolong the working life of the rail ties. According to specific rail weight and base width, anchors can be classified into two types: the Drive-on rail anchors and spring type rail anchor.
I work at a place in Charlottesville Virginia that has the main north/south two line run just across the street. I've seen the "carnival of maintenance vehicles" travel down the track. I've seen them do the tie replacement. But I was not able to see the full operation obviously because I had my own job to tend to. It was amusing to see the old tie yanked out and a new one shoved in. I had wondered how the support of the new tie was restored. Now I know. Oh and it was not long after that a Loran grinding platform drove through. In this video there were some views showing warped track around where the intersection of a crossing track took place. It made me cringe. It reminded me of a passenger trip from Winchester VA to Baltimore MD. 40 years ago. We used an old freight line to Harper's Ferry WVA. The track was so warped we were limited to 10MPH. Took us 3 hours to get from Winchester to Harper's Ferry. Then we got on good track and got to Baltimore in a short time.
At 23:00, they’re called anchors. And they’re there for the rail and ties. It also allows us to see if the rail is pushing and pulling with weather changes.
Let me tell ya, when I worked the railroad, we did it by hand. There we're no machine to pull out or put in, we used our hands with body strength. But I'm glad they got machine to do it We used to see how many times one can strike a spike into the plate tie. Usually it took 3 hits. Some ties were softer and nail it twice into. It was competition between us . But usually just doing it could take 4 or 5 hits into. We made a game outta it, while working, and getting paid ...
Slow pacing is interesting, but a few snips to speed up motion here and there might go from good to great. The visuals in some places are outstanding, especially after the fifty minute mark to about a point beyond the one hour mark.
How much of redundant machines and workers are due to union demands or are the doubled machines of questionable reliability and UP dictates two of certain machines to, in effect, have a spare on hand to insure that job will be completed in the time allotted? Who decides which hole in the tie plate to use? Who decides when to use all the holes? Apparently one of the reasons to replace a tie was that one or more of the spike heads had worked up from the rail. However at 12:22 to the left of a marked tie was an unmarked tie with a high spike. Is there a second tie marking inspector that wasn't shown? The caption didn't mention the spiker lowering any high spikes on unreplaced ties.
Absolutely very interesting video! Great historical imortance; I admire the engineers who designed these machines, they work so precisely, fast and reliably.. amazing. However, why are the ties not replaced by conrete ones? In Europe wooden ties are not used since the 80's.
Found the answer why no concrete ties were used here: www.caltrain.com/projectsplans/Projects/Caltrain_Capital_Program/System_Maintenance/Cross_Tie_Replacement.html
In parts of California you can still find clear all heart SEQUOIA RR ties from the old logging railroads. Probably 1870's to 1920's and light as a feather and not a touch of rot anywhere. Amazing wood all locked up in parks now.
spent many a day pulling spikes with the old push type bicycle handlebar style spikepuller on the CPR in the Canadian Rockies as a young man on the BC Tie Gang. Those were the days living in a boxcar(outfit car) in the middle of no where with not too many worries.
This is a good video, thanks for taking the time to get all of this and explaining how all of this is done. but later in this video the screen image gets very wavy.
I think the railroad union had those machines designed. With a little thinking and with our modern technology, designers should be able to incorporate many of those machine functions into one unit, therefore reducing manpower. Thanks for posting as I have seen these machines ride by the tracks in my city and have wondered what their purpose was.
There are machines, that compine all those functions in one, but they usually replace all ties and not single ones. th-cam.com/video/tMXfU8blPMM/w-d-xo.html
I would like to ask a question, with out sounding like I am insulting anybody and or this crew of workers, But First note, I enjoyed seeing this video and watched the whole things. Why is there in a few cases, double the machines? Yes, for me, I like seeing neat machines, and for this video, it was double the fun and double the time to watch them work.. but why, I am sure there is a logical answer that is far above my understand. I would like to take a stab at a possible guess? Is having double the machinery for when they get to a switch area, that goes from one set of tracks to a pair of tracks, for they can do both of them at the same time ? Or is this a redundancy thing in the event one of the units fail, they can keep on trucking along and finish on time with out messing up the primary train schedule? Thank you for sharing this. Having seen the videos of how those tough guys from the old school days had to do this work by hard manual labor and then to see these machines likely do it faster, more efficiently and safer, while still keeping things straight and level, while most importantly not breaking the backs of the workers, I assume? Heck, for all I know, those old school guys were just built that tough and heavy duty, that they didn't think this was back breaking work, or maybe it was, I don't know personally. But, I do now, the guys back in the old days were a whole different bread of men, as compared to today's men. with that said, the tough men of today, I am of the weakest of them, lol... so, even seeing these workers in this video, still have a longs days worth of work, in the loud environment of the machines, while the weather is likely no joke for them either. When it is hot out, it is really f'n hot out for them, like wise, for the cold. Is this a job that happens in the winter months? Neat video..
So the rock spreader neatly spreads the rocks around, only to have the laser guided rail riser with vibrating ballast prongs to come by and mess up the nicely groomed ballast. Does the ballast spreader come back for an inefficient second time? If there ever was a definition of inefficiency, it this video.
What work it takes to keep the railroad running!! The use of different methods,materials and equipment to justify having a great network of rails to keep everything moving! It is a fact that the Union Pacific is Building America! You are amazing, love the UNION PACIFIC RAILROAD!!!!
This work leads the way to get America back into training!
I worked on a section crew for Soo Line RR in 1946 near Oshkosh, Wis replacing rails and ties- - -pumped our way to the site each day on a hand pumped small car riding on the rails. I marvel at the technology that has made the section hand job so much easier and faster. Lifting the ties and rails by hand was very hard work.pounding the spikes by hand to hold rail to ties took a bit of practice.after replacing the ties and rail the boss laid a long level across the rails and we tamped the ballast with a flat end shovel to level- -just plain very hard work but we kept the trains on schedule. This video brought back lots of memories of the crew and the job. I am 93 yrs old and still kicking- - thank the Lord. Bill Fisher
As seen in the video, a machine now drives in the spikes. Very little use of those old sledge hammers with very long metal heads. Those were very strange looking sledge hammers. The video did not show any of these being used as I had seen one summer of 1975 year in my town. Mostly college kids doing summer work had fun figuring out how to swing those strange sledge hammers. hee hee. Great comment Bill Fisher. I grew-up listening to old rail road stories from the rail road workers near me .
In 1946! Wow how old are you young man?
@@Ashley_van_Schooneveld He said he was 93 in the last sentence.
Wow! And you got paid squat.
God Bless you, Bil Fisher , for your work and sharing your memories..My husband was a baby in his Mother’s arms when they rode the train from Idaho to the East coast to see his Daddy before he shipped out to Normandy. Your hard work kept the trains, crowded with soldiers, running. Mom said on every train, a soldier would give up his seat for her. and her baby. This younger generation does not fully appreciate the haard work and effort our Elders put in for the War effort, so that my generation could grow up in peace and security and prosperity and freedom.. If you are watching, pl;z say a prayer for our country writing in 2022 🇺🇸🙏 and Thank You. I really enjoyed this video 😎
VERY INTERESTING...............WOULD LIKE TO SEE THEM REPLACE A LONG RUN OF TRACK....
An unbelievable adventure! Thank you to the videographers who did an absolutely fabulous job of zooming in so that all detail was seen!
Great video, especially for someone who's interested in working for the maintenance side of the railroad. Now I can share this video so people can actually see what I do when I'm on the job.
This was an amazing & awesome video. I had no idea that so much work & heavy machinery went into maintaining the railroad tracks. This is a superb video. I also liked the fact that there was not a whole lot of talking, the captions provided ample information. Thanks.
Great video; the captions before each step were helpful, and thanks for not playing annoying music.
Wouldn't mind some dub step and slow motion cinematics.
How about the roar of the wind. This is crap!!!
I apriciate the fact that you weathered really cold temps and put together an awsome video,❤thank you
Best "How it's done" train video!!
Very informative, excellent camera, clear annotions - Thank you!
All that gear for about what, 1/4 mile of track?
Yikes! Tho I guess 1/4 mi or 40 miles just means more/less days & diesel.
40 years working for the Southern Pacific/Union Pacific Railroad Locomotive Engr.and i never got the chance to see how much work went into replacing ties.Thanks for putting this video together.
Stumbled upon your video, and wanted to say Thank You! Fantastic to see all the equipment and to learn what each of them is doing. Even though it happens continuously this process is not something I have spent a lot of thought on, other than wondering about all those yellow machines being lined up in the middle of nowhere (here we have a lot of rural area and railroad lines going through dense forest).
Appreciate the slow camera movements (no nausea inducing fast-panning) and that you refrained from putting background music.
Greetings from Sweden.
This was all entertaining to me. But what I'm commenting on is the trailer hitched rent-a-can. That's awesome!!!
I sure appreciate this video. Driving north out of Alexandria, Minnesota, I came across an operation that was fixing the ballast, inserting new ties, and laying and welding new rail. All under one combo of machines. This would have been in 1989, summer. I spent the day (I was on vacation) following along the operation. This was in the days before affordable video recording. It was fascinating seeing how all the operations were coordinated. That’s what I love about this one. Everyone in the operation was essential in one way or another. While the wind noise was loud and obtrusive, I simply turned down the sound. And yes, thanks for NO music!
The little bars as you call them are called rail anchors. Even though some of the names are incorrect it's nice to finally see someone show each machine of a system track gang and spend time with each machine explaining the function of each. The ballast machine is called a ballast regulator. The next machine with the man pushed cart is a lining and tamping machine, it lines up the track properly and tamps the ballast firmly under each tie to finish the track work almost, there are normally two of these machines working together and followed by a ballast regulator to clean up the track and make it visually appealing by no ballast on top of the ties and a nice even slope on each side of the track.
This is the best tie change video ive ever seen. Great job man😊
Remarkable. Excellent, restrained camera-work and explanations, nil voice-overs, 'music' or other such contempt for your audience. Bravo. Oh, and thanks also for resisting the obvious temptation to flip, roll and twist your drone about during filming. How refreshing.
You know the boss ain't your pal, when he makes you drive the porta-potty hauler. He's the most important guy on the crew. The others can't go anywhere without him.
long line of mow vehciles.. absolutly love the portapotty on rails. made my day seeing that
I have lived along side a main railroad for nearly 45 years now and I have seen this done many time. Noisy as all get out but still really cool to watch.
What an operation!! Thanks for documenting this endeavor. I've seen a lot or railroads and a lot of model railroads but I've not seen many of the machines like in this vid. They would make a great subject for model rails. Thanks for posting this.
I MARVEL AT THE SKILLS THESE WORKERS GET THINGS DONE
i worked on a tie gang back in the early '80's. it's quite a contrast seeing how some do it today as opposed to back then, yet some aspects and machines are very similar. thank you.
Its amazing how these simple components sleepers,fasteners,ballasters don't slide or the rails don't break off of them (with the train going over). Its amazing how automated the who process is in any case well done. I am just left with how hard it is to operate those machines
The first I've known how ties are replaced. Seeing the machines to the steps lets me now understand what I've seen in old photos of railroad gangs doing the same thing. All those crowbars holding the track up to change out the ties!
I'm only 20mins into this thing, but I find it really interesting and entertaining for some strange reason.
Nice stuff!
To think this was all done by hand years back, Excellent movie, 2 thumbs up for technology. Very enjoyable!!!
I'm actually amazed, how complicated and labor-intensive this method still is compared to almost fully automated tie exchangers they use all over the world. These dozens of single little vehicles seem to be a little out of date.
Still a cool video and good explanations!
I really like the scent of creosote ties in the summer. Hope the scent isn't toxic.
Imagine all the different ideas all coming together. Imagine all these machines minus any one of them.
Waaay back when, I spent a summer working on a tie gang on the Canadian National. The gang had spike pullers similar to the ones in your video but the tie removal machine was a bit different in that after clamping itself to the rails, it would cut the tie in three pieces, raise the track, then extract the three pieces. All these automated/semi-automated machines are hypnotizing to watch.
Great vid ! Nevermnd the naysayers about the wind noise. There are always a couple of sour grapes that cant get off their asses to do anything but complain. My father worked fro th CNWRR back in the 50's and 60's for 18 yrs. As a youngster we, the family had a rail pass which allowed us to travel free on the trains. Many times we took the train to Chicago and I got to ride up in the cab with my father,the engineer and the fireman. Got to see all kinds of wildlife crossing the tracks at night. It is a whole different view way up in the cab. I also go to go with him to replace bearings on the cars that had "hot boxes" This was a VERY interesting vid in the fact that they are now replacing the ties near our house and I will pass on to my grandson on how it is done. Those machines are incredible ! Thanks so much for your contribution.
I was glad for no annoying music and glad to hear the actual sounds of the job being done.
;;*,,
Those guys are damn good with those machines! Amazing process to watch!
Excellent production!
You have to listen to Big Railroad Blues while watching this...and then Let It Rock!
This is a great video showing the entire work sequence and importance of each machine. I recently joined a company that makes these machines so this is very helpful for me in coming up to speed. I did ask some funny but interesting questions to my boss "why can't there be one machine doing multiple things (spike pullouts, tie pullouts/installs, anchor spreading, tamping etc.) or at least have one machine that can do 2-3 tasks?" "Why do they need those huge diesel engines?" Can't these machines be powered off a renewable energy source such as solar panels or battery powered via the rail lines?" I know easier to ask than to implement but just threw in some random questions.
It is a fair question but from my understanding - the power requirement is simply too great for solar. Batteries do not have a high enough energy density and would make the machines 50% heavier and then you need to charge them but can't allow the down time or charge in the middle of nowhere. It is the same with construction machinery like tracked excavators; a 22tonne machine is 22tonnes for a reason if it were 33T it could not go where the 22T goes and would sink and use more energy. A 22T battery unit would have 2/3 the power and only be useable for 2-4 hours. Machines need to work for minimum 8 hours often double shifts to be economic.
The 1st world talked about ending the use of fossil fuels and decided to burn wood pellets instead. Talked about carbon capture and decided to go electric because selling new cars means more taxes. People keep dumping litter, refuse and polluting the air, but almost nothing is done to clear up the mess. So sad.
All the spikes from the ties they left in, pulled out 1/4 to 1/2 an inch out of them, while removing the old ones!
It was impressive, on paper.
Now is EXTREMELY informative!! ABSOLUTELY super in how all this is coordinated so that train traffic is not halted or interrupted, all the hard work & lifting done with obviously some sophisticated and expensive equipment. Talk about engenuity? This is top-notch!! By-the-way, OUTSTANDING cinematography. Great EXPLANATION of what is being done, how it's done and why. Overall, one SUPERB video of a complex and necessary operaton. Question: Are any materials, such as spikes or ties re-cycled or reused?
Spikes, plates and plate spacers seem to be reused. Not seen what they do with the old sleepers (sorry ties) yet. Surprised to see some operatives smoking on the job and a lack of ear muffs on the spiker machine but they could be wearing ear plugs I suppose.
This machinery is amazing and very efficient. Hydraulics power at it's best. They put a lot of men out of work though, but you don't have to pay a machine wages, provide insurance, listen to them complaining, feed them or worry about them not showing up for work. Great video.
Great video and I got to learn about how they fix the rails and change out the ties. Thank you!
I got to see a tie replacement machine in Ontario CA where they took out all of the wood ties and replaced them with cement ones. It was so cool to watch the upper machine grab a set of ties.
Cement ties are the answer for sure, look at European and Japanese railways.
Interesting to see such old tech still being used,and wooden ties? I thought no one still used those today.
On Us railroads they cheap out
Very cool. I love your commentary and I always wondered how they did all that
@ 44:45 and 55:40 it brings a whole new meaning to TRAIN CROSSING .
I love it!!!! Well shot. Thanks
From 1895-1965, my grandfather and father's combined labor as track repair laborers steel driving men beat spikes in with a sledge hammer. Wow 😲 mechanization has changed a lot! This work was done by men with strong backs and powerful arms not long ago.
Ferroequinology you have one of the best RR maintenance vids. Would like to watch RR vid laying new track and ties or building from scratch
Someone designed all of this equipment and does'nt it show. No men are breaking their backs to make the system work, no one is screaming and shouting but it all slots together perfectly. Now the railroad will make big money and all the people can be employed in good jobs. Perhaps the men employed will say somthing different in bad weather but how efficent it all looks. A good video.
Couldn't stop watching
It would be interesting to see what the machine operators see when they are doing their operations on the tracks.
Thanks for sharing!
Fascinating to see what aspects of the task still require human interaction and oversight.
A M A Z I N G surface on those jointed tracks. also, the drone was a nice touch.....
I enjoyed the hell out of this video, wished I had been a part of railroad work, I was a machinist.
I haven't seen the whole video, but 'inefficiency' comes to mind. If you have a few ties damaged, may as well replace them all while crew is there. And what about replacing wood ties with concrete, which will last longer. Look at some of the Europe and Chinese methods that are very automated and efficient. Some have an entire section of new track and ties pre-assembled. Russians have one way where they pick up old section of track and ties and place on car with transport rigs on the cars. Totally awesome!
Great job this was an excellent video - really, really a good job.. Thank you!
That spike puller machine gave me a good chuckle with its clumsy claw
Excellent video! Thank You.
That's really amazing! Nice captioning, too. Greg in TN
Excellent Video Thanks for answering so many questions.
the video is excellent - well worth the effort to mute/unmute or bypass the wind noise
I've worked on the railroad right out of high school for 15 years.in tie gangs rail gangs switch gangs crossing gangs hump yard gangs .my head quarters was Toledo,ohio..It was the best job I ever had I miss all my maintenance of way Brothers..
We had a steam locomotive come by one time for train days and certain areas were off limits because the track was worn out and the locomotive is so heavy. The locomotive was carrying a BNSF engine for backup. The locomotive ran on fuel oil to be able to pass smog here in So Cal.
Lol. Only in California.
The engineer's don't wave from the trains anymore, not like they did back in 1954 still get a tear in my eye when I hear an old train in the night
Love the porta pottie behind the spike puller. We had the same idea for a joke behind a private RR car.
This makes you realize how in the old railroad days, the amount of manual labor it took to work on the tracks, before powerful diesel hydraulic machinery came along. Man those old-time railroad workers must have been some tough ornery buzzards
That little Keyshawn machine putting the ties in place, shakes as bad as me with too many coffees in the morning.
Hello, some few years, forgot what country, but they were installing CONCRETE SLEEPERS, , NEW WELDED RAILS & new ballast, you should have seen this 1 machine wow, CheersvFrom NJ, USA🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
Excellent video. Now I know what all those guys do on the mainline by my home. I always thought they still did physical labour.
At 23:00, Rail anchors or anti-creepers are spring steel clips that attach to the underside of the rail base-plate and bear against the sides of the sleepers to prevent longitudinal movement of the rail, either from changes in temperature or through vibration. Rail anchors are applied to the rail base directly and provide a large bearing surface against rail base and rail tie, preventing wear and cutting, and eventually to prolong the working life of the rail ties. According to specific rail weight and base width, anchors can be classified into two types: the Drive-on rail anchors and spring type rail anchor.
Nicejob! Informative. Thax.
At 23:00 they are called anti-creeper bars and do that exactly to keep the rails from sliding when trains accelerate or decelerate when braking.
THANKS. I enjoy all 1:22:12 of your video.
I work at a place in Charlottesville Virginia that has the main north/south two line run just across the street. I've seen the "carnival of maintenance vehicles" travel down the track. I've seen them do the tie replacement. But I was not able to see the full operation obviously because I had my own job to tend to. It was amusing to see the old tie yanked out and a new one shoved in. I had wondered how the support of the new tie was restored. Now I know. Oh and it was not long after that a Loran grinding platform drove through.
In this video there were some views showing warped track around where the intersection of a crossing track took place. It made me cringe. It reminded me of a passenger trip from Winchester VA to Baltimore MD. 40 years ago. We used an old freight line to Harper's Ferry WVA. The track was so warped we were limited to 10MPH. Took us 3 hours to get from Winchester to Harper's Ferry. Then we got on good track and got to Baltimore in a short time.
At 23:00, they’re called anchors. And they’re there for the rail and ties. It also allows us to see if the rail is pushing and pulling with weather changes.
I love the little trailer with the porta potty on it that's classic it might be hard to use when it's moving though
I worked on the mark IV what’s the box in front of the spoons for never seen one
Thank you for the presentation, I enjoyed perusing all of it! I think I'm close to ready for the test! LOL
My mothers father worked for the B&O in Baltimore from 1900 to 1950.The last 10 years he ran the Baltimore Mount Royal Station.
Let me tell ya, when I worked the railroad, we did it by hand. There we're no machine to pull out or put in, we used our hands with body strength. But I'm glad they got machine to do it
We used to see how many times one can strike a spike into the plate tie. Usually it took 3 hits. Some ties were softer and nail it twice into. It was competition between us . But usually just doing it could take 4 or 5 hits into.
We made a game outta it, while working, and getting paid ...
Slow pacing is interesting, but a few snips to speed up motion here and there might go from good to great. The visuals in some places are outstanding, especially after the fifty minute mark to about a point beyond the one hour mark.
How do they line the machine up in the correct spot ?
Very good. Thanks for sharing.
Nice video never knew it took that much equipment!
Nice winter/night shot by the Arlington race track in IL.
How much of redundant machines and workers are due to union demands or are the doubled machines of questionable reliability and UP dictates two of certain machines to, in effect, have a spare on hand to insure that job will be completed in the time allotted?
Who decides which hole in the tie plate to use? Who decides when to use all the holes?
Apparently one of the reasons to replace a tie was that one or more of the spike heads had worked up from the rail. However at 12:22 to the left of a marked tie was an unmarked tie with a high spike. Is there a second tie marking inspector that wasn't shown? The caption didn't mention the spiker lowering any high spikes on unreplaced ties.
Absolutely very interesting video! Great historical imortance; I admire the engineers who designed these machines, they work so precisely, fast and reliably.. amazing. However, why are the ties not replaced by conrete ones? In Europe wooden ties are not used since the 80's.
Found the answer why no concrete ties were used here: www.caltrain.com/projectsplans/Projects/Caltrain_Capital_Program/System_Maintenance/Cross_Tie_Replacement.html
rail anchors: www.railroad-fasteners.com/rail-anchor.html
also do they have a machine/mothership to carry the machines to site?
In USA the wooden ties are used in steeds of the concrete ones . Are they better ? I don't rely know .
In parts of California you can still find clear all heart SEQUOIA RR ties from the old logging railroads. Probably 1870's to 1920's and light as a feather and not a touch of rot anywhere. Amazing wood all locked up in parks now.
Absolutely amazing video, editing and patience!!
spent many a day pulling spikes with the old push type bicycle handlebar style spikepuller on the CPR in the Canadian Rockies as a young man on the BC Tie Gang. Those were the days living in a boxcar(outfit car) in the middle of no where with not too many worries.
How about that vintage pickup about 29:23 though?
Wonderful video, thanks!
This is a good video, thanks for taking the time to get all of this and explaining how all of this is done. but later in this video the screen image gets very wavy.
Thanks for a very well done video one of the best I have seen great job
Agreed. Not sure what he does for living. But I can appreciate all the time spent filming and editing.
chartman4885
Beautiful ⛄️ snow ⛄️ storm at the rail yard
When I was a kid, I hopped on the back of one of the things at 51:48. The driver noticed me and honked, scaring the shit out of me and I ran off. lol!
I think the railroad union had those machines designed. With a little thinking and with our modern technology, designers should be able to incorporate many of those machine functions into one unit, therefore reducing manpower. Thanks for posting as I have seen these machines ride by the tracks in my city and have wondered what their purpose was.
The union that represents the track maintenance workers had nothing to do with the design of the machines.
There are machines, that compine all those functions in one, but they usually replace all ties and not single ones.
th-cam.com/video/tMXfU8blPMM/w-d-xo.html
I would like to ask a question, with out sounding like I am insulting anybody and or this crew of workers, But First note, I enjoyed seeing this video and watched the whole things. Why is there in a few cases, double the machines? Yes, for me, I like seeing neat machines, and for this video, it was double the fun and double the time to watch them work.. but why, I am sure there is a logical answer that is far above my understand. I would like to take a stab at a possible guess? Is having double the machinery for when they get to a switch area, that goes from one set of tracks to a pair of tracks, for they can do both of them at the same time ? Or is this a redundancy thing in the event one of the units fail, they can keep on trucking along and finish on time with out messing up the primary train schedule? Thank you for sharing this. Having seen the videos of how those tough guys from the old school days had to do this work by hard manual labor and then to see these machines likely do it faster, more efficiently and safer, while still keeping things straight and level, while most importantly not breaking the backs of the workers, I assume? Heck, for all I know, those old school guys were just built that tough and heavy duty, that they didn't think this was back breaking work, or maybe it was, I don't know personally. But, I do now, the guys back in the old days were a whole different bread of men, as compared to today's men. with that said, the tough men of today, I am of the weakest of them, lol... so, even seeing these workers in this video, still have a longs days worth of work, in the loud environment of the machines, while the weather is likely no joke for them either. When it is hot out, it is really f'n hot out for them, like wise, for the cold. Is this a job that happens in the winter months? Neat video..
So the rock spreader neatly spreads the rocks around, only to have the laser guided rail riser with vibrating ballast prongs to come by and mess up the nicely groomed ballast. Does the ballast spreader come back for an inefficient second time? If there ever was a definition of inefficiency, it this video.