Steam Era Industrial Ballast Cleaner

Very nice

I suppose in steam days, there would have been a fair buildup of ash and clinker plugging up the ballast drainage and such problems. Any experts present?

Firewood posted:

I suppose in steam days, there would have been a fair buildup of ash and clinker plugging up the ballast drainage and such problems. Any experts present?

Probably not, as all steam locomotives were fitted with ash pans by then, so as not be be dropping hot/flaming coals/ashes on the track base. However, cinders expelled from the exhaust stacks would surely have been an issue.

Would  sanding contribute?

wb47 posted:

Would  sanding contribute?

Not that much out on the main line. Sand might be used when starting from a station stop.

Can you imagine the noise level?

And, I'd just love to stand on top of a pile of loose aggregate/dirt sticking a shovel into the workings of that conveyor/bucket belt.  Oh, yeah:  that's the job I want.

Great video, I never heard of that gizmo!

Hi all, If you do a search for "railroad ballast cleaning" , you can see the methods by which ballast is still cleaned today, and also explore why it is needed.  Don Francis

wb47 posted:

Would  sanding contribute?

Yes, on heavy ascending grades where locomotives were unable to make more than about 15 MPH pulling the train.  Engineers would commonly sand the rail continuously at those speeds.  Even though it caused the train to lose 1 MPH, the reduced wheel slippage was a good trade.  

However, locomotives built since the 1990's are designed so that continuous sanding cannot be used above around 5 MPH, and the fouling of ballast by sand is not the same today as it was when SD40's and earlier locomotives were used.  Continuous sanding is no longer possible with modern diesel-electric locomotives.

Mind boggling how much sand they got out of the ballast, I wonder if they recycled the sand and used it again?