Semi-annual ballast update:Part 2

Written by Jenifer Nunez, assistant editor
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Customer-driven focus leads to faster and more accurate ballast maintenance.

 {besps}August15_ballast{/besps} {besps_c}0|1ballast.jpg| A ballast dump of 30 cars per mile on a new construction concrete tie project from HRSI.{/besps_c} {besps_c}0|2ballast.jpg| Mounted on the same hi-rail vehicle, GREX’s Aurora and BallastSaver combine for tie and ballast inspection and assessment.{/besps_c} {besps_c}0|3ballast.jpg| Loram’s SBC 32 on a BNSF line in Duluth, Minn.{/besps_c}

Customer-driven focus leads to faster and more accurate ballast maintenance.

Ballast maintenance is constantly at the top of any railroad’s to-do list. Suppliers are offering flixible equipment for customized solutions and quick machines to fit tight track windows.

Brandt
Brandt Road Rail Corporation recently unveiled the RTB-130, Brandt’s hi-railed backhoe, which is mounted on a John Deere 710 base chassis and powered by a 130-horsepower engine and high-capacity hydraulics. The company says this ensures maximum power is delivered to the attachments, such as rotators, buckets, undercutters and tampers.

Brandt developed the RTB-130 hi-railed backhoe as it continued to watch a shift in the rail maintenance marketplace. Railroads requiring machines for small maintenance projects want a platform that is stable, versatile, reliable and productive, the company says. The RTB-130 was designed to fit that requirement by allowing a multitude of attachments and minimizing the manpower it takes to complete routine tasks, such as ballast maintenance and tie change outs.

Railroads are trying to accomplish more tasks with less equipment, less labor and less track time, Brandt says.

BTE
Ballast Tools Equipment (BTE) believes maximum flexibility is the key to quickly fixing ballast maintenance issues. No matter the cause or situation, from flooding to erosion, quickly fixing the problem and getting the track back in service is what matters most, the company notes.

“This approach is why BTE has developed flexible machines to handle any spot ballast maintenance situation in a variety of conditions,” explained Matt Weyand, sales engineer. “Our Hi-Rail Backhoes and Hi-Rail Excavators can handle a full array of ballast and track service attachments including undercutters, tampers, cribbing buckets, tie handlers and tie dragons, while operating on or off track.”

BTE has more than 40 years of engineering and fabricating experience. The company says that keeping proper ballast condition is one of the most important and challenging aspects in any maintenance-of-way program.

“Ballast conditions can vary greatly, even within small geographic areas and BTE’s fast and flexible equipment can handle a wide variety of situations, even in the same location with our quick-change attachments,” noted Weyand. “Our customers need to be productive, safe and operate at the highest value possible. BTE’s line up of machines, attachments and wear-proofed parts lets our customers be ready to operate in any ballast or track situation.”

GREX
Georgetown Rail Equipment Company (GREX) says its second-generation DumpTrain® for Curves™ overcomes the previous limitation of unloading in significant curvature by eliminating the single conveyor belt that spans the entire length of the original DumpTrain. The DumpTrain for Curves design employs a single belt per car, with each car passing its material to the proceeding car, regardless of elevation or curvature. This allows the DumpTrain for Curves to articulate to whatever degree curve it encounters and still deliver material to the stacker, where it is unloaded via a 35-foot boom capable of 180 degrees of motion perpendicular to the track.

The DumpTrain for Curves also gives railroads the flexibility of creating custom-sized trains that can be adapted to fit specific projects.

“The previous limitation in train length and overall capacity revolved around maximum belt length, but the new design is configurable in nearly any length devised,” noted Nate Bachman, vice president of marketing and sales. “Some customers may want long consists for projects that require large amounts of material, while others may prefer shorter consists that can easily maneuver situations where track conditions are limited due to derailment and washout.”

Railroads also have the option to couple DumpTrain for Curves cars with the original DumpTrain to create a hybrid train. Such a configuration would allow unloading of DumpTrain cars in tangent track into the DumpTrain for Curves and maximize the amount of material delivered while still utilizing existing DumpTrains.

The DumpTrain for Curves gives customers the ability to deliver ballast up to 2,000 tons per hour – even in significant curvature, the company explains.
In recent applications of GREX’s other ballast delivery technology solutions, Vice President of Engineering Greg Grissom reports that customers continue to implement the GREX automated ballast delivery solution to minimize the materials, manpower and time needed to carry out ballast programs.

“The solution starts with an assessment survey using our dual technology Aurora/BallastSaver® hi-rail vehicle collecting simultaneous tie and ballast condition data. The patented BallastSaver technology collects a 360-degree point cloud at 30 mph to identify ballast deficiencies, clearance violations and end of tie ballast defects,” he explained.

Grissom points to a recent 685-mile inspection of mainline track, which calculated a ballast deficiency of 1,112 car loads required to bring the ballast section up to the prescribed standard.

“Too often, railroads make a blanket assumption of two to three cars per mile,” Grissom explained. “In this instance, it would have resulted in a 258 to 943 car overage. That equates to five to 19 additional 50-car ballast trains, which are better served delivering at other ballast deficient subdivisions. To aid in identifying areas that may be prone to track buckles, BallastSaver also reports locations where the ballast shoulders are not providing lateral resistance to the track structure, including accurate GPS and milepost information of those areas. Similar to the advancements in automated rail and tie inspection over the past decade, ballast inspection technology will continue to improve safety and savings from an optimized allocation of the resource.”

Bachman added, “To streamline ballast delivery, the BallastSaver inspection data can be fed directly into GateSync® software that opens and closes remote-controlled gates on a customer’s existing ballast cars. Of course, if a customer doesn’t have remote-controlled gates, we can retrofit their ballast cars with our Solaris® electric-over-hydraulic conversion kit.”

Harsco
When ballast begins to lose its integrity, accelerated degradations of not only the track, but the surrounding region, can occur leading to costly maintenance issues.

For this, Harsco Rail points to MRail, an autonomous vertical track deflection measurement system, of which Harsco is the worldwide exclusive distributor.

“The MRail Vertical Track Deflection Measurement system has the ability to evaluate the degradation of the support structure over time by means of measuring exactly how much the rail deflects from its non-loaded position,” the company said. “With a sufficient measurement history, degradation models can be applied to the data to predict when the support system of a segment of rail will require maintenance due to reaching a pre-defined threshold. Not only can MRail outputs assist in managing maintenance scheduling, but the results of analyses can be used to prioritize maintenance locations and guide the types of maintenance required.”

In addition to the MRail track deflection system, Harsco Rail provides a product line of high-wear components for surfacing equipment. The company says tamping machines often degrade the ballast through the pneumatic vibrations that level the surface of the track and that the process of tamping will degrade the tamping tools and other high-wear components on the equipment.

“Harsco Rail’s JK Rail product line specializes in aftermarket high-wear components for our customers’ surfacing equipment,” noted the company. “Increasing the longevity of maintenance-of-way equipment extends the railroad’s overall investment, allowing them to best maintain their tracks.”

Herzog Railroad Services Inc.
“At Herzog Railroad Services, Inc. (HRSI), we examine what our customers convey to us and work tirelessly to transfer that desire into a tangible benefit for them,” explained Timothy Francis, vice president of marketing. “One constant that the railroads have always communicated to us is their desire to minimize their track and time footprint while optimizing production in a manner that is both safer and more efficient.

“Ballast delivery, by our GPS SMART Train, is one of those benefits that we offer. But the delivery of the ballast is just a small segment of the service we actually provide. Our advances in surveying, with the addition of inertial systems on each train, have produced a seamless survey that can now be completed through areas of GPS outage and through tunnels and mountainous areas where surveys were once virtually impossible and, at times, very time consuming to accomplish.”

Francis says that more robust surveys have provided HRSI the ability to furnish the railroads a quantifiable benefit. The company has been able to shorten the dump zones on the approach and departure of fixed assets. He notes that this allows for potential time savings when surfacing the track behind the project by reducing the time needed to pull and push the material over shorter distances.

HRSI’s trains are able to spread the ballast in either direction, regardless of which way the survey was completed.

“Set up time is minimal and can even be done in a siding or team track, which will again, minimize mainline traffic delays,” he said. “Once turned loose, the train will begin dumping as soon as the train reaches the first segment of the surveyed track. The addition of flow sensors allow us to confirm material is being dumped and reduces the possibility of cars becoming off balance due to material blocking a door. Herzog ballast trains dump from the first car to the last, which also reduces the chances for skips during the unloading process.”

HRSI continues to develop its SMART Train Fleet. At one time, Francis says, it was said HRSI would not be able to dump ballast without a person beating the doors of a ballast car open and closed.

“It is safe to say we figured out a way to do just that and what we are working on now, will continue to revolutionize this process,” he explained.

Knox Kershaw
Knox Kershaw, Inc., says it has continued to expand its inventory both domestically and in Canada to better serve its customers with fast delivery time. Additionally, adding more service technicians have allowed Knox Kershaw to expand its on site operator and maintenance training program to include all ballast regulator makes and models.

As it pertains to new products, Knox Kershaw has developed a folding conveyor for its KYC 550 Yard Cleaner that enhances its ability to be transported by truck.

The KYC 550 consists of a ballast broom, bucket elevator system and conveyor. Material is swept from the track into the buckets, then deposited onto the conveyor, which can deposit the material into a car that is coupled to the yard cleaner, or to either side of the track for deposit into an awaiting truck or onto the ground. A hydraulically-controlled side plow extends the reach of the machine several feet to either side for a total cleaning path of nearly 15 ft.

“The railroads are inquiring about switch and spot undercutters that are highway transportable,” noted George Pugh, vice president of operations. “They would like a machine that is easily transported to a problem location, can be placed on the rail, tow ballast cars, undercut the track or switch and replace the excavated ballast with the minimum number of people and support equipment.”

Loram
Loram introduced two new ballast products this year, the Shoulder Ballast Cleaner – SBC 2400 and the Undercutter – UC 1200.

“The SBC 2400 is the world’s most productive shoulder ballast cleaner,” explained Scott Diercks, director marketing and business development. “This machine has the ability to process more material within a shorter track window, allowing the customer to lower unit cost and cover more of their system.”

The machine includes enhanced machine automation; reducing labor needs and improving safety by eliminating ground personnel, he says. Loram’s design includes additional automation to ease the operation and enhance the safety to accommodate the higher operating speed.

The UC 1200 is an undercutter cleaner that utilizes wheel technology. Loram says wheel technology provides an innovative approach to undercutting through offering dual material discharge capabilities, self-supporting cut in and minimized tie disruption. The UC 1200 design provides customers increased productivity and the capabilities to reduce resources, the company notes.

“Loram’s customers continue to spotlight speed, performance and reliability when asking for equipment and services,” Diercks noted. “Railroads continue to pursue advancements in machine performance that will optimize productivity. Productivity gains allow our customers to complete more work during a season and reduce costs. In addition, new technologies are beginning to enter the market that assist with assessing and planning work needs. These tools allow our customers to use their budgets in the most effective and efficient manner.”

Railroads continue to see long-term sustainable benefits through increased budgets for ballast maintenance activities, Diercks says.

“Customers are working to maintain their ballast section in a preventative maintenance mode. Strategically, this allows our customers to cover more of their system rather than only focusing on problematic areas. In addition, it lowers overall costs, increases traffic throughput and provides more return on their investment,” he explained.

Loram has noticed a trend to coordinate equipment with system work gangs during major track outages. Diercks says utilizing work blocks in this fashion allows the company to provide optimal production and reduce lower overall cost.

Miner Enterprises
Miner Enterprises, Inc., says that it is continuously improving the design, and recently improved the performance/life cycle, of the linear actuators and electrical systems used in its Miner Electric AggreGate®, a stand-alone electric aggregate system. AggreGate enables independent operation of the car from anywhere within a ballast train, eliminating the need for grouping manual and automatic cars.

“Miner has been working on ways to simplify the application of the aggregate systems,” said Chris Gaydos, manager mechanical engineering. “We are making these changes to help car builders and car shops streamline the applications and reduce labor costs. They have been asking for a safe, durable, maintenance-free way to ballast that can be applied to new or existing cars and that is what the Miner AggreGate provides.”

During the past year, Miner has supplied twin-cylinder, remote-control operated ballast systems for cars built in and exported to South America. In addition, Miner is currently providing AggreGates to two Class 1 railroads for new cars and car conversions and Miner continues to supply various models for other car conversions and ballast car upgrades. Miner AggreGate is available in pry bar manual, push button or remote-control operations using pneumatic or electric power to operate the gates.

Montana Hydraulics
“Montana Hydraulics has made some minor improvements to our Center Mounted Bi-Directional Ballast Plow that extends further the expected time in operation before wear parts need to be replaced,” noted Della Ehlke, co-owner.

The company says the plow continues to gain popularity due to it’s versatility, safe operation, reduction in manpower requirements and heavy-duty construction.

“The need for our ballast car field maintenance and repair services continues to grow because of the increased amount of track construction and reconstruction,” she explained. “Montana Hydraulics’ 17 years of continuous work in ballast car field services provides railroads the knowledge and experience necessary for our field mechanics to be a valuable resource.”

Montana Hydraulics’ Center Mounted Bi-Directional Ballast Plow will be on display at Railway Interchange in Minneapolis, Minn., in October at the outdoor and indoor exhibits.

NMC Railway Systems
Product innovations from NMC Railway Systems in 2015 have come from the enhancement of its hi-rail product line, the company notes.

“Hi-rail equipment offers ease in accessing remote track lines for spot ballast maintenance and can move off track lines if needed,” explained Mark Anderson, sales manager. “Our hi-rail equipment delivers customized solutions that allow operators to work efficiently on- and off-track, with multiple tool functionality.”

Recently, the NMC Railway Systems team has seen a demand in requests for larger model excavators. Equipping a 320 Cat® Excavator with hi-rail gear and the ability to run multiple tools, increases the versatility of the equipment while promoting safety in maintenance-of-way projects, Anderson notes.

NMC Railway Systems’ 320 Hi-rail Excavator is able to run a 10-foot undercutter bar, which was designed to make ballast projects easier to combat. With its auto tensions system, bi-directional carbide chain, 360-degree rotation and spoil management system control, the 10-foot undercutter bar has the ability to tackle tight spot work, he explains.

“We’re continuing to build out our hi-rail product line,” Anderson said. “At the upcoming 2015 Railway Interchange show, we are excited to promote the launch of the NMC Railway Systems Hi-rail Backhoe. The machine allows for added flexibility when coupled with a Rototilt to run a variety of attachments, including a six foot undercutter bar, two-motor tamper and tie inserter.”

Anderson says that NMC Railway Systems continues to innovate and engineer solutions that best meet the needs of the railroads. Track windows for MOW projects are becoming shorter and the demand for equipment that can combat spot work with one multi-functional machine is increasing.

“NMC Railway Systems’ hi-rail product line is designed to exist on any non-crossing location to make way for oncoming train traffic,” Anderson said. “This allows full utilization of track-lines to ensure track traffic continues; our focus is to provide equipment that increases productivity. To ensure our equipment is always productive in the field, NMC Railway Systems has invested in more dedicated field support available 24/7, to fulfill Class 1 and railroad contractor’s service needs.”

Nordco
Nordco says its biggest innovation of the year is the RoadReady™ Tamper and RoadReady™ Ballast Regulator. They can be hauled behind any traditional type road tractor and deployed directly from road to rail without the need for a crane. It allows customers to get off the road and get to work much more quickly than with standard rail bound equipment, the company notes. The machines were designed with the department of transportation rules in mind, allowing travel to most locations without specialized permits.

“Nordco continues to grow our parts, services and rebuild offerings with continuing efforts to offer programs for our various customers,” explained Brian Cumbridge, surfacing product manager. “We provide a range of options from turnkey Nordco factory remanufactured machines to cost-effective running repairs. We also provide factory rebuilt components and a comprehensive component exchange program. Our on-time delivery and order-fill metrics continue to improve and provide best-in-class product support.

The development of Nordco’s RoadReady line of roadway work equipment was in response to requests from the railroads, says Cumbridge.

“Through our observations and discussion with the railroads, it became apparent that there was a need for equipment that could improve the reactive surfacing process,” he noted. “When there is a ‘hot spot’ on the track that requires slow orders, the ability to quickly travel to the work site and rectify this track condition improves train velocity and reduces expenses. The RoadReady Tamper and RoadReady Ballast Regulator will help the railroads eliminate more slow orders than with conventional rail bound equipment.”

Nordco recently launched an upgraded M7 Ballast Regulator that features upgraded on-road truck style drive axles, a new belt driven broom and improved operator comfort.

“Customers purchasing the RoadRead Roadway Work Equipment will also get Nordco’s NEXXUS control system for intelligent machine automation, allowing operators to intuitively navigate Nordco machine functionality, deliver high productivity and quickly troubleshoot all from the safety of the cab,” Cumbridge explained.

Plasser American
Plasser American says it understands the importance of maintaining ballast to achieve long-lasting quality track, as well as the processes required to do this, including ballast undercutting/cleaning, shoulder cleaning, sub-grade renewal and ballast management.

“Plasser works continually with its customers to supply them with the tools required to achieve this,” said the company. “Clean ballast is extremely important to maintain track geometry. Scheduled ballast undercutting-cleaning to create proper drainage and removing fouled material from the track is the first step to long-lasting track.”

Plasser supplies the RM80, which can undercut and clean plain track, as well as switches; high-capacity double screening unit machines, such as the RM2003 dual shaker undercutter-cleaner and the RM802 High Speed Undercutter-Cleaner, which works with pre-dumped ballast and the FRM802 Shoulder Cleaner.

Plasser’s latest machine, the URM700, performs ballast undercutting-cleaning on switches and plain track. The core component of the URM700 is its excavating unit in the form of a sword with a horizontally rotating excavating chain capable of cutting a width of up to 20 feet. The cleaned ballast is returned to the track directly behind the cutter bar. If necessary, new ballast can be added to the cleaned ballast.

In instances where the track quality cannot be maintained due to weak subgrade or continuous fouling from the subgrade, a subgrade renewal machine may be used to correct the problem, the company notes. Subgrade renewal machines remove the ballast layer, as well as the sub-ballast layer and replace it with a formation protection layer and a layer of ballast. The formation protection layer prevents material from coming up and fouling the ballast, prevents water from seeping down into the subgrade and distributes the load on the track over a larger area reducing the stress on the subgrade by increasing the bearing surface.

“One of the latest versions of these machines is the AHM 800 R Formation Rehabilitation Machine, which in one pass, can remove the ballast and sub-ballast, recycle the removed material and then, install a compacted formation protection layer and a ballast layer,” Plasser explained. “All work is performed without physically removing the track, allowing for shorter track outages.”

The company says the BDS100/200 Ballast Distribution System continues to be the ideal machine to accompany the high-speed 09-3X tampers. The machines are equipped with plows to profile the ballast, hopper and conveyors to distribute ballast as needed and double brooms to sweep up and store excess ballast and for final track dressing. MFS Hopper/Conveyor cars may be added for additional ballast storage and all work is performed in a “one pass” operation.

“Plasser’s PBR2005 Ballast Regulator continues to be popular due to its ability to plow, profile and broom in one pass,” Plasser said. “The unique design of the shoulder plows allow the machine to reach out and pull in ballast, which was previously beyond the reach of conventional ballast regulators. The machine is also available with an optional double broom. The PBR2005 is ideally suited to work behind two-tie tampers or tamper and pup tamper combinations where it can easily keep up with the tamper in a ‘one pass’ operation.”

Progress Rail
The Kershaw division of Progress Rail Services Corp. has recently launched its new Model 4600 Ballast Regulator.

“This machine addresses many issues that have been discussed with customers during product meetings,” noted Randy Chubaty, national sales manager. “The machine is designed utilizing a cab-forward design, offering enhanced visibility and improved operator ergonomics. The machine design also addresses many issues regarding component location and accessibility, making all components easily accessible for maintenance purposes.”

Progress Rail Services is also active in offering new designs of ballast regulators for the international market, including high-powered machines with hoppers for transferring ballast, sand fighting machines and single pass ballast regulating machines. Ballast cleaning and ballast reclamation is another area where

Kershaw has been working with customers to address concerns for new products. Kershaw recently delivered a new KSC2000 High Speed Shoulder Cleaner that is capable of cleaning the shoulder ballast, screening and spoiling the waste and returning the cleaned ballast back onto the shoulder.

“Our equipment leasing affiliate, Progress Rail Equipment Leasing, also has a full fleet of ballast maintenance equipment that is available for short-term rental or long-term leases,” Chubaty said. “Progress Rail Equipment Leasing offers customized leases based on each customer’s need and each lease can be customized to satisfy any requirement.”

RCE
Rail Construction Equipment Company (RCE) now has more undercutter bar sizes available to enhance the use of the excavator undercutting process and now supplies the 75G, 85G, 135G, 245G, 250G and 350G excavators with undercutter bars ranging from nine feet to 15 feet in size. By increasing these options,

RCE says its customers can perform undercutting with all the RCE models of hi-rail or standard excavators.

RCE is continuing to offer all of its track maintenance equipment either for sale, lease or rental, giving the customer the option of how they can outfit their projects with RCE’s equipment.

“RCE’s Railavator is a highly-versatile option that can be used in many maintenance applications,” explained Dennis Hanke, sales manager. “Whether it is undercutting, pulling rail, cutting brush, craning, tamping ties or just digging and trenching, the Railavator is a platform to do it all.”

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