Rail grinder - video

[PJs]

WhaaaaT! Wow and then some. That is Impressive.

[wizard69]

Speaking of speed captn, I remember a driving vacation I took years ago that had me driving out of Omaha towards Colorado. I thought I was going at a pretty good clip, probably close to 70mph when I looked out towards my right and saw this huge train running on parallel tracks about a mile away passing me. This wasn’t a train with a few cars either it was very long. I was most impressed that something that big and long could be moving that fast.

It would be hard to imagine the destruction such a train would cause if something went wrong.

Corrugation, a very interesting phenomenon indeed. The PDF that Frank S so kindly shared is chock full of interesting cause and effect theories. So many of them that they could be spot on right or DEAD wrong. The reason I highlighted dead is the results of mechanical failure on these or related to these behemoths is usually catastrophic. Many folks lose their lives and entire neighbourhoods are wiped out. The amount of weight that travels on two ribbons of steel is something to behold when all goes well. On the other side of the coin when all is not well, families are decimated and damages are pretty much otherworldly to see.

There are so many things that fall into play when we consider that the load bearing capabilities of the steel that these giants ride on are also subjected to numerous other factors that could change the very structure of the steel as it sits there on the tresseles. We see the grinding that these rigs do as real cool in the shown videos. we also seem to not really consider the reasoning of all this activity rather easily also. A section of track that does not receive this much needed grinding is more than likely doomed to failure. That said the results are always terrifying.

Years ago a train that was able to travel at top speed was most likely doing from 30 to 60 some MPH. Today a train travels at much higher rates of speed and with the amount of weight they carry and the stresses the tracks are subjected to the maintenance required is incredible. The evolution of the industry on mechanical terms is shamefully inadequate. A very good example of this is the horrendous accident that occured not so long ago in the next town over to where I live. People were blown to smithereens, burned to death and literally just disappeared. Granted this had nothing to do with the track conditions but did have everything to do with common mechanics. If common mechanics cannot be kept to date in an industry how could they ever begin to figure out the complexities of track corrugation? We must be more demanding of the people operating these types of large transportation industries if we are ever to hope to stop burying our loved ones over senseless industrial neglect.

rr

[Radioman]

In the OP are those all loco’s?

[Wildwilly]

Having supplied the water for fire control & for consumption for these rail grinders for many years I can answer...YES they are a specific train as they have a multitude of electric motors on each car that operate the grinding stones, a train will consist of usually 6 grinding cars each powered by it’s own engines, followed by a couple of tank cars for water for fire suppression, followed by 1 tanker for potable water, followed by 1 kitchen unit, then an office & supply car & a sleeper for the men. I’ve talked with a lot of the workers, maintenance of servicing the train & changing the grinding wheels when they are on a sideline waiting for another train to pass by & they informed me a unit train like this gets paid by the minute!
They grind the rails to a contour about for a contact patch about the size of a dime and this is for fuel efficiency. When the contact patch gets worn to the size of a quarter, they grind again, saying that this saves fuel immensely despite the fact of the enormous cost of the grinding operation.
I have seen these units operate at night & you would swear that a spacecraft was coming down the rails....it is just a huge ball of flame. Btw, there is usually a “rail fire truck” following after about a half hour to make sure there aren’t any smouldering fires.
I’m glad to have the the experiences.👍