Irish Rail Ballast Cleaner visits NIR

pointsman

Engineering Work: Poyntzpass – Newry
May 2013


Translink NI Railways have began rail engineering safety work between Poyntzpass & Newry carried out from Monday 20th May until Saturday 25th May 2013.

Oliver Watts, Project Manager, Translink, said, “This work will see the removal, rehabilitation and replacement of the track ballast (stone) along the railway line between Newry and Poyntzpass.

“To complete this work we are trialling an On Track Ballast Cleaning Machine on hire to us from Irish Rail. This innovative machine removes the ballast stone from underneath the railway sleepers, extracts unwanted materials and smaller stones through various screens and filters and finally reinstates the suitably sized stone ballast on the track bed underneath the railway sleepers.

“Where required the track is topped up with new stone ballast to replace the old inferior stone removed from the track bed. This method of working will help to avoid the requirement for full track removal and relay operations and potentially greater disruption for residents and passengers.

“For health and safety reasons this work will need to be completed at night. The works will be undertaken in a sequential manner over the course of one mile. We will be starting approximately ¼ mile south of Poyntzpass Train Station and will be working in a southerly direction towards Newry over a five night period.

IE Ballast Cleaner No.781 ran from Dundalk to Poyntzpass on Monday 20th May 2013 arriving just before 2300hrs. From then, A possession was taken from PD 20 to PD 6 covering UP Line from Poyntzpass Platform 1 throughout to Newry Platform 1. After the Ballast cleaner carries out it's work, GM 113 & 6 Hprs follow out afterwards and lay ballast for where there be some low spots after the cleaning. Following the GM is T/L No.O8. Once the Tamper completes its work, GM 113 + 6 Hprs return again to lay any necessary stone again.

Bi-Directional working over the DOWN line operates from Tuesday 21st May (0600hrs) until Saturday 25th May (0600hrs)


http://chrisplayfair.smugmug.com/NetworkUpgrades/2013-Net-Upgrades/IE-Ballast-Cleaning/29563164_GckM56#!i=2533597179&k=QjhnPqX

AlekSmart

Is'nt it somewhat incredible to consider that somewhere an individual sat down and thought-up a contrivance such as 781...then put it all down on paper and got somebody to build it....:D

Captain Chaos

AlekSmart wrote: »

Is'nt it somewhat incredible to consider that somewhere an individual sat down and thought-up a contrivance such as 781...then put it all down on paper and got somebody to build it....:D

What's incredible is that there is a version across the water over 10 times longer.