Burgess COMMENTARY

Peter Burgess

Workin' on the Railroad - Norfolk Southern Railway System

Published on Jun 23, 2013

https://youtu.be/5M9umNpHPKo

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Published on Jun 23, 2013

Railroad track maintenance in the 90's on the Norfolk Southern Railway.

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Transcript English (Automatic Captions) 0:00are you all right 0:06in earlier times working on the railroad involved a tremendous amount of physical 0:18labor as demonstrated by this lining gang of gandy dancers using steel bars 0:24as their only tools 0:25the men sang songs to use their tasks keeping time to the music 0:29unified the gang as a team as they collectively muscled shifted rails back 0:33into alignment working on the railroad today also involves teamwork 0:39but the use of heavy equipment and computerization is make tasks much 0:42easier and a whole lot faster 0:44we'll be taking a look at the machines use today we're working on the railroad 0:48and the people who operate them will not only cover track work but also the 0:53construction of modern Cole hoppers two types of undercutting machines that are 0:57used to clean dirt and debris from the ballast a look at what it's like to be a 1:01dispatcher on a busy main line and an incredibly complex machine that lays 1:05concrete ties and removes wooden ones as its moved down the track will begin with 1:09a look at a modern work game and they're amazing parade of track machines timber 1:14and surface gang number one 1:16over southern elite core of highly experienced engineering and maintenance 1:20of way employees is working across southern Illinois 1:23these men are dedicated fast and excellent at what they do they take 1:28pride in knowing that they are the company's best outfit 1:30the gangs job is to replace worn times and then to resurface the life 1:36this means to tamp ballast under the ties to lift the track level and to 1:40smooth out the alignment to finish the job ballast is roomed into the classic 1:44look of a high-speed mainland 1:4628 and draining water away from the ties 1:52new crossed eyes have already been dumped along the line and the first 1:56piece of equipment to lead the procession of machines is at I crane the 1:59grain operator positions ties near the location where an old one will be 2:03removed the joystick controls respond to every movement the Machine seems to 2:08become one with the skilled operator extra ties are placed on one of the 2:13parts and a point down the line 2:15these ties may be needed at spots were too few have been dropped 2:24yeah 2:28following right behind the thai crane are for spike pullers these little 2:33machines pull spikes from the ties that are going to be replaced each machine 2:37pull spikes from just one side of the track 2:40that works both the inside and outside of that rail the first to spike Polar's 2:45will work a section and then leapfrog ahead to another section the trailing 2:50two machines will work the section passed over by the first two Polar's 2:53hydraulics make a quick job of actually pulling his fight with the operator must 2:59be skilled and placing the jaws of the fuller directly over the desired spider 3:03this is a task that often requires several attempts 3:07sometimes an operator gets in a groove and pull several spikes without a 3:11problem 3:12the little machines will ride along and in a good day at ens gank and cover 3:16several minds 3:22yeah 3:40removed spikes are dropped on the ballast and will be picked up by another 3:46machine 3:47the spike loader here we see the strange-looking fritter as it progresses 3:51along the line empty spike cans are stored on racks along the side of the 3:56machine for large magnetic wheels pick up the spikes a pair of wheels runs 4:01alongside each rail at the top of each wheel the spikes are for stock into a 4:06bin 4:06from there they ride into a rotating drum which cleans the spikes by knocking 4:11off dirt and debris from there they are carried on a conveyor belt to the rear 4:15of the machine where they are loaded into empty spike cans 4:18once again is loaded the operator uses be on board 4:22crane to lift the can on to the back of the cart the railroads today make a 4:26special effort to clean up all material and litter from a work site 4:30nothing will be tossed into the weeds or over a hill in today's world the process 4:37continues with the arrival of the anchor spreading machines the anchors our cliff 4:41that old rail longitudinally in place 4:44hydraulic press on this machine spreads the anchors apart to make removing the 4:48tie plates possible 4:51yeah 5:22a close-up shows the anchor spreader at work but it's difficult to actually see 5:27what has happened 5:28the end result shows the anchor located several inches away from the tie and 5:32type floats 5:33two of these machines work together much like the spike Fuller's each machine as 5:38I d'rahl expresses that work the inside and outside of each anchor on both rails 5:42at the same time I look down the line shows the next sequence of events that 5:47will take place at I removal machine is busy pulling out the old ties that will 5:52be replaced 5:53behind that are to tie cranes that are picking up the removed eyes followed by 5:57another crane placing new ties at the exact spot for the insertion machine 6:01the typo or latches onto and then lifts the rail to prevent ties to be easily 6:06pulled from under the rails the end of the fuller grasps the ties as the arm of 6:11the Machine drags them to the side of the road 6:37the entire operation is usually handled in just one movement but occasionally a 6:42difficult time forces several attempts to get away from the rails 6:46yeah 7:21behind the type over a couple of men on the ground use long books to move the 7:25tie plates out of the way the plates will be reused after the new ties are 7:29installed 7:49yeah 7:56yeah 7:57ok 8:22a crane operators job requires a high level of skill to work fast 8:27picking up the old ties and placing the mounted dump carts 8:30speed is an important part of the gangs overall objective to cover as much 8:34ground as possible each day 8:36notice how these guys are hustling to keep working at a steady pace 8:40you won't find these guys moving up on the job they know they won't be around 8:44long 8:44they can't keep pace with the rest of the crew 9:00yeah 9:26yeah 9:33a tie with a bone and gives the operator a bit of a challenge to get it stacked 9:37on the cart 9:521 16 times have been gathered the man on the ground bands them with metal 9:57strapping a spot is found with a bundle can be dumped without being in the way 10:01of the other machines 10:03the card is outfitted with a side dump platform and the ties are shoved onto 10:07the ground 10:08rest assured that they won't be left here however he picked up before the 10:12crew needs the area 10:22yeah 10:33ok 10:37the band doing the banding goes about his task as the type rain moves down the 10:42line to keep pace with the other equipment 10:51another type rain follows and its job is to place a new tie into position up 10:57against the rail for the tie insertion machine extra ties are carried along 11:01just in case the earlier operator missed a spot 11:19again note the skill required as the ties are placed in specific spots while 11:23the crane continues moving along the track we speculate that these brain 11:28operators are pretty good at handling a computer game joystick 11:39yeah 11:56ok 12:03when the machines get bunched up it makes for a neat-looking site as they go 12:08about their tasks 12:18- thai insertion machines work like the other pair of machines and leapfrog over 12:22a section while working the next part of the line 12:24these machines are near replicas of the tyra moving machine with one exception 12:29note that they do not lift the rail before inserting a time 12:32the powerful machine simply jams the tie under the rail to make a snug fit 13:38yeah 13:45yeah 13:50attract room follows to clean balance from the newly inserted time 13:54it's necessary to keep Brock off the time so it won't get in the way when the 13:58type late sorry inserted under the rail 14:11rotating rubber brushes under the Machine pick the rock off the time but 14:15also pick up clouds of deaths a man walking behind the brain controls to 14:20machine when necessary 14:21once the pace is set the machine requires little attention 14:24his primary path is the place pie plates in the position for the insertion game 14:29he uses a hook up with the task and handles just one side of the track 14:34another man will do the other side ahead of the insertion machine 14:46yeah 14:48now don't expect anything to elaborate of the plate insertion machine 14:54it's mostly another manual task the machine is there to lift the rail but 14:58the plates are manually positioned by the two men 15:05the Machine grasps the rail and then Jack's located on the bottom of the 15:10machine shut down on the time 15:12this action lift the rail so the plates can be inserted again coats are used to 15:17handle the plates to save on backbend and fingers that might get smashed in 15:21the process 15:22the trick here is to not get once told got under the rail 15:32with new ties and tie plates installed the next job is to spike everything down 15:37to automated spike drivers handle the task again this is one of the jobs that 15:42requires a great deal of skill to line the spike up with the hole in the 15:45pipeline 15:46one man rides on each side of a Spiker and is responsible for his side of the 15:51track one spike is placed on each side of each rail on campus track on curves 15:57of more than two degrees for spikes with you 15:59on severe curvature heavier plates and spikes will be installed to hold the 16:04rail in place 16:05yeah 16:23yeah 16:31the spike crew has stopped to reload procedure is much like loading a staple 16:38gun 16:38but on a much larger scale once full the spikes are lined up in the racks and the 16:43crew is ready to go back to work 16:55following the two automated spiking machines is a manual spike tried the two 17:00men assigned to this machine 17:02check the line for missed spikes and ones that are defective or not driven in 17:06all the way 17:32ok 17:46two more men on the ground walk behind the manual Spikers replace missing 17:51anchors on the rail 17:52they simply place an acre but don't have the equipment on the machine to press 17:56the launch of the rail 17:57this is done by another machine that comes along next it uses a hydraulic 18:01press to squeeze the anchors around the bottom of the range 18:22once this group has finished their work the track is ready to be resurfaced will 18:27return to the same location the next day recover the operation of those machine 18:31when a track gang on Norfolk Southern goes out to work in the field they go as 18:35a fully self-contained operation that resembles a military campaign 18:39the men eat sleep shower and watch TV or relax specially equipped truck trailers 18:45this is the kitchen trailer where all of the meals are prepared by a full time 18:49step one of the cooks is preparing soup for the evening meal . labor pouches 18:53from the steaming stock pots 18:58yeah 19:04and then eat well on these workings to this pile of buying steaks will be for 19:09the evening meal next to the kitchen is one of the trailers Housing and Dining 19:13home 19:16yeah 19:27the next morning we pick up where we left off watches a ballast regulator 19:31works the line 19:32yeah 19:38this regulator is piling ballast onto the track with the camera 19:43for tampers will work the line to squeeze ballast under the track 19:49lifting the level of the line two inches on tangent trap 19:52the purpose of this operation is to smooth the surface and to correct any 19:56misalignment the box atop the end of this tamper sends a high-intensity beam 20:01of light back to photocell receivers on the main portion of the temper 20:05this tells the machine operator how much lift has been applied to the track level 20:09as it works the line 20:16while the tamper continues working a westbound freight comes past the site 20:21it's fortunate for the crew and the tracking that they are working along a 20:25passing track 20:26otherwise either the train crew would be held up or the track gang would have to 20:30get in the hole somewhere to clear up the necessary time waster are all 20:34involved 20:35yeah 20:51the tapper sticks its vibrating tongs into the balance and squeezes the rock 20:56up under the time as it does this the tamper also grabs onto the rail in the 21:01system 21:02yeah 21:13these devices that look like lights photocell receivers for the high 21:17intensity lights 21:44the end of the freight passes as the parade of tempers and regulators 21:50continues to work 21:58the trailing ballast regulator has the job of dressing the line 22:02the last two tampers are smaller versions of the larger ones that do not 22:06operate with light control 22:14note that the second of the large tampers is working on just every third 22:17time that is not lifting the rail is intense 22:34the first of the two smaller tampers is also doing every third time and as you 22:39can see doesn't operate with the light-sensitive measuring equipment 22:42the fourth temper is only used to make corrections dispute x therefore does not 22:47always have work 22:48yeah 23:03behind this tamper is a man who checks for any further problems with spikes or 23:08ankles when he finds a spike that's not been driven in all the way you have to 23:12resort to manual labor to drive it 23:14now this is a task that takes us back to the earlier days of railroading 23:31yeah 23:39a machine called an anchor masher well as the last temper its job is to squeeze 23:44the anchors snug against the pie plates 23:50yeah 24:00a ballast regulator and out comes into view and piles a large amount of ballast 24:09up along the track 24:10the machine will make several trips back and forth to groom the ballast into the 24:14desired shape for proper drainage 24:43the machine now backs up to make another pass it will take several passes to 24:48complete the job 24:49the regulator will therefore 24:51a small section of the track at a time until the job is done in the meantime 24:55the man on the anchor measure has found Iraq trapped by an anchor and forces it 25:00out with the tool 25:08next pass by the regulator finds it piling a little more rock on the rail 25:12and grooming the lower part of the ditch 25:15yeah 25:39on the next pass the regulator has lowered its file blades to clear a 25:46portion of the rock out from between the rails 26:15yeah 26:43this time it will use the front late as a winch plow to get more rock off the 26:49track and shift more balanced over to the south side of the line 27:06coming forward again the blades have been adjusted to keep following rock to 27:11the south side 27:13yeah 27:40reversing what's more the rock continues to be shoved to the south side of the 27:44line now coming forward the blades have been formed into a wedge to evenly place 27:50rock on both sides of the rail beside blade smooth out some of the lumps along 27:55this side 28:28this just about does it for moving balance and now the unit rooms the rock 28:33as it backs up 28:38yeah 29:26one more pass with a broom as the regulator comes forward for the last 29:30time 29:30leaves the track looking pretty darn good however two more rooms will 29:34complete the job by making the line look well-groomed with all rock and its 29:38proper place 30:01this set of rooms has no operator on board but is controlled by a man on the 30:05ground 30:06each room has a specific purpose the first picks out most of the rock from 30:10between the rails 30:12the second room allows a channel of balance from the end of the ties and 30:16cleans the portion of the ties outside the rail 31:03once the dust has settled we get a view of the freshly resurfaced line looks 31:07pretty good and it's now ready for some high speed running 31:10just one more task remains to complete this job and that's to remove those 31:15piles of bundled ties especially outfitted hi rail truck with a crane and 31:20pulling a trailer now arrives to collect those old ties 31:40the operator swings the boom around and signals the driver to pull ahead to the 31:44next bundle 31:58the forks latch on to the next 16 ties and they're lifted the board the trailer 32:02to conclude our look at the operations of a temper and servicing game