Loram

[edblysard]

For those of you who have not seen one, this is a Loram, rail grinder.

Not a complete set like you see working a main line, (see below) but one used in smaller applications like yards and industrial areas.

We are having my switching lead ground again.

Transposed the rails in 2000,, had them ground about 4 years ago, this will be the last go round for them, I hope....

[railfan619]

I have seen those in action before it is really cool to. See it moving at a slow speed cleaning the tracks making them look all shiny it goes so far and then it comes back again then moves on to the next section of track. Some where in the train they have guys standing on a tank car spraying water on the grass so it does not catch fire from the sparks. Coming from the Cleaners

[Murphy Siding]

     I can understand rails getting worn down on a busy, heavy haul rail line.  But why in a switch yard?  Everything (I would hope), is done at a farly low speed, why does that wear the rails out so quickly?

[jeaton]

     I can understand rails getting worn down on a busy, heavy haul rail line.  But why in a switch yard?  Everything (I would hope), is done at a farly low speed, why does that wear the rails out so quickly?

Some people are just extra hard on the machinery?

[CShaveRR]

Speed is not the factor that wears the rails down, Murph.  You get the same density on a yard lead that you do on the main line, with possibly a bit more wheel slip and slide (and the associated sand), and sharper curves to boot.  And if you think getting Track and Time on a main line is tough, try losing a yard lead for the time necessary to do work such as this.

Kudos to the PTRA, Ed!

[G Mack]

Hello,

The one and only time I've ever seen a rail grinder at work was on my first trip to Rochelle, Illinois. I got to the rail park in the late hours of the night, there were only one or two other cars there. It was a still summer night and had just finished raining, and a fog was hanging low to the ground. I parked and walked down to the entrance of the park to buy a soda at the vending machine. The crossing gates for the UP line are just a few feet away and they lit up and began to lower. I assumed it was a westbound UP freight coming, so I walked over to watch. Geez...what a stunning sight to see on a dark night! The grinders looked like something out of Dante's Inferno! Along with the all the pyrotechnics from the grinders was the full-blast roar of numerous diesel powerplants. As it went over the crossing, the skirts would automatically raise and lower along with the grinders. At the end was a fire suppression car, spraying water along the right-of-way. The whole thing was maybe eight cars in length, and as it went by, I didn't see a single person on it. The rail grinder slowly went over the diamonds and out of sight and the night returned to silence. It was a surreal, like something out of a sci-fi movie.

Gregory 

[JSGreen]

Thanks for the Photos, Ed.

[cordon]

Hello,

The one and only time I've ever seen a rail grinder at work was on my first trip to Rochelle, Illinois. I got to the rail park in the late hours of the night, there were only one or two other cars there. It was a still summer night and had just finished raining, and a fog was hanging low to the ground. I parked and walked down to the entrance of the park to buy a soda at the vending machine. The crossing gates for the UP line are just a few feet away and they lit up and began to lower. I assumed it was a westbound UP freight coming, so I walked over to watch. Geez...what a stunning sight to see on a dark night! The grinders looked like something out of Dante's Inferno! Along with the all the pyrotechnics from the grinders was the full-blast roar of numerous diesel powerplants. As it went over the crossing, the skirts would automatically raise and lower along with the grinders. At the end was a fire suppression car, spraying water along the right-of-way. The whole thing was maybe eight cars in length, and as it went by, I didn't see a single person on it. The rail grinder slowly went over the diamonds and out of sight and the night returned to silence. It was a surreal, like something out of a sci-fi movie.

Gregory 

What a fine page of prose!  I've read it three times, to absorb and enjoy the imagery. Thank you.  Do you think you could add another 299 pages like it to make a novel?  I'd buy it in a minute.

How many of you fans have noticed the low-pitched hum the trains make for a few weeks after a grinding?  I believe it comes from the tiny crosswise scratches that the grinder leaves on top of the rail.

 

 

[Poppa_Zit]

Hello,

The one and only time I've ever seen a rail grinder at work was on my first trip to Rochelle, Illinois. I got to the rail park in the late hours of the night, there were only one or two other cars there. It was a still summer night and had just finished raining, and a fog was hanging low to the ground. I parked and walked down to the entrance of the park to buy a soda at the vending machine. The crossing gates for the UP line are just a few feet away and they lit up and began to lower. I assumed it was a westbound UP freight coming, so I walked over to watch. Geez...what a stunning sight to see on a dark night! The grinders looked like something out of Dante's Inferno! Along with the all the pyrotechnics from the grinders was the full-blast roar of numerous diesel powerplants. As it went over the crossing, the skirts would automatically raise and lower along with the grinders. At the end was a fire suppression car, spraying water along the right-of-way. The whole thing was maybe eight cars in length, and as it went by, I didn't see a single person on it. The rail grinder slowly went over the diamonds and out of sight and the night returned to silence. It was a surreal, like something out of a sci-fi movie.

Gregory 

In March, 2005, the operator of a rail grinder going west on the UP at Rochelle wasn't  paying attention and it ran smack into a moving eastbound BNSF intermodal train on the C&I line at the diamonds. The BNSF train didn't derail, but several containers were thrown off and landed trackside. I remember there were photos posted at Trains.com because the webcam recorded the entire incident.

[edblysard]

Thanks Carl...

Murphy,

Think about this...

Main line seeing say, 10 trains a day at 100 cars per train, so you have 1000 cars a day passing over a given section of track at speed, or 365,000 cars annually.

 

PTRA switching lead, three tricks per 24 hours, switching average 250 cars per shift, plus swinging those switched tracks out of that lead and into another yard.

I average 500 cars over my lead on the morning shift alone.

You could add in bringing those cars out of the receiving yard and shoving them into the holding tracks, that's another 250 cars worth, or the fact that we go back and forth a lot, so the same cars pass over the same spot several times.

The only time something is not moving on the lead is the down time between shifts.

So, with just the switching, and none of the additional work like bringing the cars around in the first place, you have three switch shifts for a total of 1500 cars in a day.

So that's an additional 500 cars worth of traffic above the main line traffic in a 24 hour period.

1500 times 365 days equals 547,500 cars annually or 182,500 cars a year more than the main.

 

Trust me, 500,000 cars shoving through a curve is tough on track!

 

Plus as Carl noted, switching is hard on track...hard braking, kicking cars causing wheel slip, sliding wheels and sand, all at the worst speed possible, around 10 mph.

Oh, and my lead is curved, so one side wears out faster than the other, which is why we transpose the rails about every five years.

 

The above photos show a section of CWR being replaced...note the wear on the rail to the right of the weld...the ball of the rail is flattened, lots of dings in the top, and see the fatigue fractures on the inside of the rail?

That's really the old rail head that has, for want of a better word, squished over the edge of the ball.

Sharp as a razor, it will slice your ankle, or leave a nice cut in your boot.

The second photo shows the wear a little closer....those are the same weight rails, the one of the left is new, note the thickness of the ball or head, the clean, square edge?

The one on the left shows how much rail has worn away in 11 years or so...they welded the rail so the heads or tops matched, next they will shim up under the old rail for the transition, making up the difference in height due to the rail wear.

 

On a calm sunny day, you can actually see the metal dust floating in the air, worn away from both the rail and the wheels.

The old grease in the switch points has a silver sheen to it from the stuff sticking to it.

 

They will grind on Monday night from 10 pm to around 6 am Tuesday morning, because that is the slowest or least busy shift in the week.

If they need to grind a yard track, they will do it under traffic and red flag protection for that track alone.

[edblysard]

Try riding a car right after they replaced a wheel set...freshly machined wheels hum also, and sound exactly like a single engine small air plane buzzing you!

First time I heard it, I kept looking up trying to find the Cessna!

Hello,

The one and only time I've ever seen a rail grinder at work was on my first trip to Rochelle, Illinois. I got to the rail park in the late hours of the night, there were only one or two other cars there. It was a still summer night and had just finished raining, and a fog was hanging low to the ground. I parked and walked down to the entrance of the park to buy a soda at the vending machine. The crossing gates for the UP line are just a few feet away and they lit up and began to lower. I assumed it was a westbound UP freight coming, so I walked over to watch. Geez...what a stunning sight to see on a dark night! The grinders looked like something out of Dante's Inferno! Along with the all the pyrotechnics from the grinders was the full-blast roar of numerous diesel powerplants. As it went over the crossing, the skirts would automatically raise and lower along with the grinders. At the end was a fire suppression car, spraying water along the right-of-way. The whole thing was maybe eight cars in length, and as it went by, I didn't see a single person on it. The rail grinder slowly went over the diamonds and out of sight and the night returned to silence. It was a surreal, like something out of a sci-fi movie.

Gregory 

What a fine page of prose!  I've read it three times, to absorb and enjoy the imagery. Thank you.  Do you think you could add another 299 pages like it to make a novel?  I'd buy it in a minute.

How many of you fans have noticed the low-pitched hum the trains make for a few weeks after a grinding?  I believe it comes from the tiny crosswise scratches that the grinder leaves on top of the rail.

 

 

[Modelcar]

.....Ed....your photos fit right in with Loram's add in the current TRAINS mag.

[Anonymous]

Since it is assumed that trains wear down rails, it seems counter intuitive that grinding material off of rails would prolong their life. But as I understand it, the manganese steel used in rails is rather plastic in nature.  It is tough but not brittle.  So the surface of rails develops ripples similar to a washboard road.  You can see the ripples reflected in back- lighting.  The ripples impede the rolling wheels, thus causing more resistance to trains, and that extra resistance further contributes to the disruption of the rail surface.  So grinding off the ripples restores the smooth surface and eliminates the rolling resistance.  It is like grading a washboard road. 

[mudchicken]

Rail Corrugation is the proper term for those "ripples". Grinding is life extension for rail.

....BNSF had a Harsco/Fairmont version go by us Tuesday headed from Denver to Sterling, grinding switches and crossings as it went.

Ed and Carl, if you had seen the private yard where I was this week, you'd be thanking your lucky stars to be where you are.

[edblysard]

Murphy,

These are shots from today.

As you can see, there is a lot of wear on the inside of the rails.

If you look closer, you can see this piece of rail was rolled in 2006, it is less than 2 years old.

In fact, it is the rai being replaced in the first photos I posted.

All the grey "mud" you see isn't mud at all, but steel dust from the wheels and rails.

Here is the lead curving away to your left...

and here is where it leads to.

[JoeKoh]

Ed thanks as always for the pics.
stay safe
Joe

[Murphy Siding]

     What did ralroads do before rail grinders were invented?  Some areas must have seen new rail put down every other year.

[tree68]

I just missed seeing a grinder in action.  Saw it on a siding, but I had an official visitor from work, so I couldn't goof off and wait for it to move again.  Darn!

The shape of the railhead is important for proper running as well, as is the shape of the wheel tread.  IIRC, the wheel manufacturers have changed the shape of the tread on new wheels due to discovering that they rolled better after they'd been in use for a while and had acquired that profile.

 

[Modelcar]

.....Is that your car parked next to the light colored pick up Ed.....?

[edblysard]

Yup, sure is...

I have everything I need within walking distance...the lunch room/locker room, with the coffee pot, water fountain and A/C, the toilets and all that.

Plus my locker, with extra radio batteries and my rain gear.

Don't have to go far to get anything out of my car either...my lead is the second track to the right; I switch right next to the tower, where that photo was taken.

.....Is that your car parked next to the light colored pick up Ed.....?

[CShaveRR]

Ed, do you have any sort of rail/flange lubrication in your yard?  Two years to wear out a rail is pretty short, I'd think.

[edblysard]

Carl,

Yes, we have one on the lead, just around the curve...the photo dosn't do justice to the degree of curve that lead has...I will try and get a few more photos tomorrow.

Remember, this place was built in 1924, before radios and such, so switch cuts were only as long as the engineer could keep the ground guys in sight...plus they had 0-6-0 steam switchers so I would guess 20 cars at a time max...now days its common for me to start switching holding on to 30 or 40 cars....so the track in the curve is always getting hammered.

[derailedtrainofthought]

See this outfit all the time out here in southern CA. They help save the service life of the rails by reprofiling the head of the rails. If you really want to get some out of the world pictures try taking photosa of the grinder in action at night it looks outerworldly. I have been able to talk to a crew from loram while waiting on track and time from the dispatch. The grinding stones weight alot and have to be changed out often. Its a dirty job, noisey, long hours, and long assignments on the road. Its a typical all around railroad job lol. Their website contains a lot of neat info on how the operation runs if you have never seen one before. Best bet to catch em is to be near a high traffic line such as the BNSF transcon, etc. The more wear on the rail and tonnage over it the higher the fequency that they have to come out to reprofile the rails. So its by chance to catch em in action but its worth the wait