Railway Track & Structures - August 2008 - (Page 39)

Supplier report has worked together with the railroads to ﬁnd innovative and efﬁcient solutions that increase ballast management capabilities. Among the achievements, the company includes the Ballast Proﬁle Measuring System offered on Plasser Track Recording Cars, Plasser’s Ballast Distribution System used to manage existing ballast, reducing the need to unload new ballast and working with high-speed tamping machines and the PBR-2005 Ballast Proﬁling Machine used to proﬁle ballast behind tamping machines in a one-pass high-speed operation. The company notes that with the cost of ballast increasing, Plasser’s wellproven shoulder plow used on the PBR2005 Ballast Proﬁling Machine and BDS 100/200 Ballast Distribution System is a way to save ballast that has been lost over the shoulder. Plasser says the long reach of the shoulder plow gives the machine the ability to reach far out on the shoulder and reclaim ballast that would otherwise be left on the shoulder using conventional ballast regulators. These machines may also be used to pull in shoulder ballast in front of ballast-cleaning operations so that as much ballast as possible is reclaimed. Plasser points out that the demand for conventional and high-speed undercutting/cleaning continues to grow, driven by the increase in trafﬁc and tonnage. The company says higher-speed undercutting/cleaning machines are becoming even more in high demand due to track work windows at such a premium. According to Plasser, track that has been undercut and has a clean ballast section requires less maintenance and increases the life of track components. Plasser notes this is especially true for track constructed with concrete ties. 46-2, Model 46-6 and Model 46-60 ballast regulators. “The Model 26 ballast regulator, although smaller in size and power than the Model 46 machines, remains a mainstay on shortline railroads and for railroad contractors,” said Randy Chubaty, national sales manager at Progress Rail. “Work windows are getting smaller and railroads can not afford machines that can not perform 100 percent of the time when required to. There has also been a shift to machines with higher horsepower and increased travel speeds in order to take advantage of the smaller work windows. Ergonomics and machine functions have also been improved to allow the operators to perform their work more easily.” Chubaty points out that dust raised by the brooming process is becoming a bigger issue, due to environmental concerns and Kershaw is actively pursuing solutions to this problem. He notes that systems such as mechanical dust collection, water mist and others are being actively investigated. Progress Rail’s Kershaw division says its customers are asking for bigger, more-productive machines and a focus on quality and machine reliability. In order to meet those demands, the company offers the Model 26, Model Progress Rail www.rtands.com Railway Track & Structures August 2008 39 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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