Railway Track & Structures - August 2008 - (Page 38)

due to larger maintenance requirements using cost-saving methods provided by our equipment designs.” disassembly and can be shipped worldwide in standard 40-foot containers. Knox Kershaw Inc. builds three different ballast regulators to satisfy the requirements of Class 1 railroads and transits, small shortlines and contractors. The KBR-850 ballast regulator is built with a 12-foot wheelbase and is easily moved to different jobsites. The KBR-875 ballast regulator is a longer version of the same machine and is designed to accept joysticks and a power shift transmission. The KBR-925, the successor to the KBR-900, has all of the KBR-900 features, with some key improvements, including increased visibility for the operator and improved accessibility for servicing. Knox Kershaw notes that the KBR-925 ballast regulator has been strengthened and now weighs 47,000 pounds, the heaviest and most-powerful ballast regulator available in the market. All of the Knox Kershaw ballast regulators are available with snow-ﬁghting equipment, including snow-curl attachments for the ballast plow, snow wings and a high-output snow blower that attaches to the ballast broom. These machines have recently been redesigned for easy Knox Kershaw Joe Ashley, marketing manager at Loram Maintenance of Way, Inc., notes that the company is working hard with railroad partners to determine best practices for ballast maintenance. “As a provider of undercutting and shoulder ballast cleaning, we are in a position to provide our customers with an assessment of their situation and to implement the approach providing the most impact based on budget and track time considerations,” said Ashley. He continued, “With tight work windows, equipment reliability becomes even more important to our customers; we work hard to maintain the most reliable ballast maintenance equipment in North America. When track time is available, we are ready to work. “Heavier axle loads are causing rapid deterioration of the ballast sections that are not properly maintained,” said Ashley. “The deterioration is evident in reduced time between surfacing cycles and more slow orders. The economic effects of poorly-maintained ballast are key areas of concern on the railroads, resulting in an attitude shift from viewing ballast maintenance as an expense to Loram an investment. “Budgets are increasing and will continue to increase as trafﬁc density increases. Beneﬁts associated with ballast maintenance such as reduction of slow orders and increasing time between resurfacing cycles become even more valuable as trafﬁc density increases,” said Ashley. Stoneblowing from a supplier: Harsco Track Technologies Harsco Track Technologies manufactures stoneblowing equipment in use on Network Rail and Queensland Rail. Harsco submitted the following comments regarding stoneblowing. “Stoneblowing was an R&D project for many years at the old British Rail Research. The objective back then was to automate measured shovel packing, which produced a more durable surface than tamping, but was extremely labor intensive. British Rail also wanted to reduce damage to the ballast created by tampers. HTT bid on the project to design and manufacture a practical machine in the early 1990s and won the contract. As of this year, 23 stoneblowers have been built and are all in service. “Stoneblowing has been in production service since the mid 1990s. We are receiving serious interest from North American railroads that want to minimize track occupancy for surfacing on high-tonnage rail lines. “Stoneblowing works on all types of track except for steel ties. “A stoneblower is now in regular service on Queensland Rail in Queensland, Australia. Queensland Rail is a heavy-axleload railroad and it is using the stoneblower principally on high-trafﬁc coal lines. “The stoneblower surface is at least two times more durable than surface by tampers. In addition, it greatly conserves ballast, eliminates ballast damage and delays the need for ballast cleaning.” “Regardless of budget ﬂuctuations, [the railroads] seem to be placing a higher priority on obtaining safe, efﬁcient and reliable high-speed ballast unloading systems,” said Richard Biehl, vice president of sales at Miner Enterprises, Inc. According to Biehl, railroads need to look no further than Miner’s AggreGate® ballast gates and automated unloading mechanisms, which have been providing reliable, low-maintenance service in North America for more than 20 years. The company recently supplied the Union Paciﬁc with 170 AggreGate solar-powered, remote-control ballast cars that can be operated without any train-line connections. The cars are also equipped with Miner’s new retractable ballast plow, which was designed and developed in response to railroads’ requests. According to Miner, it can safely plow the rock off of the rail regardless of which direction the car is traveling. “Use of the retractable Miner plows is intended to eliminate the practice of dragging loose rail ties in front of the wheels,” said Biehl. Miner Nordco, Inc., manufactures the Model G-2 ballast regulator, as well as the M-7 ballast regulator that can also be equipped as a snow ﬁghter. “Our M-7 snow ﬁghter helps keep the lines open during winter months to minimize delays and ensure the safe movements of trains,” said Greg Spilker, vice president of sales and marketing at Nordco. Spilker says railroad budgets are steady because ballast-oriented machines are essential components for the railroads. Nordco Plasser American Plasser American Corporation says it www.rtands.com 38 Railway Track & Structures August 2008 http://www.rtands.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Railway Track & Structures - August 2008

Railway Track & Structures - August 2008 Contents On Track Industry Today Supplier News AREMA News NRC News TTCI R&D Wish List: What Chief Engineers Really Want in M/W Machinery Keeping Ballast in Shape Amtrak Turns to Sophisticated System to Manage NEC Assets Supplier Profiles Products and Literature People Calendar Sales Representatives Website Directory Advertisers Index Professional Directory Classified Advertising Chicago Perspective

Railway Track & Structures - August 2008

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