Track Machines are Constantly Evolving at Norfolk Southern

Norfolk Southern is a long-time valued customer of the Fluid Power Group at Cross.  All materials and video are property of Norfolk Southern.

The Fluid Power Group at Cross works closely with Norfolk Southern’s Charlotte staff to provide hydraulic components, custom manifolds, electronic controls and system design assistance.  They are almost constantly involved in projects that help improve the design and function of the machines shown below.  In addition, FPG works closely with some of NS’s largest equipment suppliers to help them accomplish their mutual machine design goals.

Track Work Then & Now - Track Machines are Constantly Evolving

Norfolk Southern is an industry leader in the development of machines used to maintain railroad track.  With support from its Charlotte Roadway Shop, NS has been an innovator of roadway equipment, resulting in safer, more efficient, and more economical operations.

"We're looking for a better mousetrap every day with everything we do.  It's a never-ending process.  If we can't buy it, we build it" says NS chief engineer Mike Reid.  The railroad's push toward mechanization begain the 1950s by figuring out ways to automate labor-intensive track work.  An early success was a machine that removed and inserted crossties, a job that once required a crew of men to lift rail, drag out worn ties by hand, shovel ballast, and push in new ties.  Now, track equipment of all kinds operates across the system.



Below are examples of machines that NS gangs operate down a track in assembly-line fashion:

(A) Tie Handling Machine: cranelike machine equipped with a mechanical arm that picks up and moves crossties

(B) Spike Puller: pulls spikes out of crosstie plates

(C) Magnetic Spike Pick-Up Machine: collects uprooted spikes with revolving magnetic wheel that knocks rust and dust off the spikes before dropping them in a storage bin

(D) Anchor Spreader: spreads existing tie anchors to allow a new crosstie to be inserted under the rail and between the anchors, which are secured on each side of a tie to add track stability

(E) Tie Remover Inserter: grips and jacks up rail as an operator manipulates a hydraulic arm to remove or insert ties

(F) Tie-Plate Jack: grips and lifts rail so that tie plates can be properly positioned atop new crossties.  They are operated remotely by hand-held wands, which are used to position tie plates

(G) Tie-Plate Broom Cribber: sweeps ballast off ties and plates with a revolving "broom" of fingerlike rubber strips

(H) Nipper Spiker: pulls crossties tight against the rail and drives spikes through the tie plate into the tie.

(I) Ballast Regulator: sculpts ballast around ties and rail with front and rear plows and side wings

(J) Mark VI and Switch Tamper: tamp ballast in a honeycomb pattern under and around crossties with metal clawlike devices.  The Mark VI can lift rail and is equipped with a computerized laser system that enables the operator to set proper rail alignment and elevation.

(K) Anchor Adjustor: squeezes tie anchors into place

(L) Anchor Applicator: replaces broken or missing tie anchors

(M) Track Broom: fills any voids left in the track with ballast and gives the track a final sweep

Cross appreciates the opportunity to repost video & information from  Norfolk Southern.