This Beast is what Irish Rail need

JeffK88

http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/2YFHVh/:bf_nzq$b:SFr+iE+R/dc132.file.qip.ru/flash/player.swf?file=http://dc132.file.qip.ru/img/135218468/cfbba8b3/dlink__2Fdownload_2Fx3UWWolQ_3Ftsid_3D20100723-132526-f1240c3b/preview.flv&image=http://dc132.file.qip.ru/img/135218468/cfbba8b3/aefc0a75_kak_kladut_relsi.flv&l/

Cookie_Monster

Would suit them alright

Flashy expensive new toy that would be under used and left to rot within half it's actual lifespan

foggy_lad

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

Would suit them alright

Flashy expensive new toy that would be under used and left to rot within half it's actual lifespan

Couldn't it be used as a lifting train when IE collapses?

Stinicker

Imagine if all those poor navvys who built all the railways with shovels and pickaxes saw this!

Judgement Day

The MGWR had an engineer called Bretland who invented a an early version of the above contraption known as the Bretland Tracklayer. It was based in Mullingar at what latterly became the CIE scrapyard see pic below from the O'Dea Collection of the National Library. The gantry in the pic was part of the track loading apparatus for the Bretland Tracklayer. Anyway, a salutary warning - after the formation of the GSR there remained an anti-MGWR bias and the Bretland Tracklayer saw service lifting various former MGWR lines and singling of much of the Dublin/Galway second road. Imagine what IE could do with a modern version.

newmug

I can never understand why they change out the ballast. Its not as if the stone compacts into dust. As I said before on this forum, a lad I know went along a stretch of track with his JCB every now-and-then, and took a scoop of ballast whenever he did. He eventually took enough to stone his driveway!!!!!

dowlingm

the longer the ballast is there (on an active track) the more the stones are worn off each other and round down, leading to drainage issues and the stones not interlocking with each other. Doesn't mean the stones are unusable for other purposes, just not a good idea to leave under the track as wet spots and other negative effects will become apparent.

Hilly Bill

Is that the same machine as in this one?

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056761561

murphaph

dowlingm wrote: »

the longer the ballast is there (on an active track) the more the stones are worn off each other and round down, leading to drainage issues and the stones not interlocking with each other. Doesn't mean the stones are unusable for other purposes, just not a good idea to leave under the track as wet spots and other negative effects will become apparent.

Indeed, dirty/worn ballast from higher speed lines can and is cascaded down to local/regional lines in Germany. Presume this is common practice around the world. They usually wash the ballast a couple of times before it's completely replaced though.

101sean

dowlingm is right, ballast does degrade with heavy use. It can also get contaminated from below with fines working up in to it, in the worst case leading to wet beds (London Underground has a bad problem with this). When total track renewal is carried out a layer of geotextile is usually laid under the ballast to stop fines migrating but still allowing drainage.

Was reading last week that Network Rail has a new 3000t ballast cleaning train that removes the ballast, cleans and grades it and places it back topping up with fresh as needed all in one pass.

There's a whole load of special trains in the UK, I worked with the Balfour Beatty Drain Train which was a track drain jetting and cleaning set up, company I worked for crewed it when it was in the London area.

stoneill

It's a train - on top of a train.
Trainception.