The Comprehensive Manual of Track Maintenance VOLUME 1

By Bernhard Lichtberger

As a standard reference work, The Comprehensive Manual of Track Maintenance Volume 1 describes all aspects of track maintenance in theory and practice in a clear and concise form. It reflects the current status of maintenance methods, supplemented by an outlook on foreseeable and ongoing technical developments.
The Comprehensive Manual of Track Maintenance is published in two volumes. This 1st volume comprises the following chapters:
•History of the mechanization of track construction
•The track from a systemic perspective
•New construction and conversion of ballasted track and slab track
•Loading of the track - wheel-rail interaction
•Supervision and monitoring
•Rail defects and rail treatment methods
•Track geometry correction - Tamping

• Language: English
• Publisher: tredition
• Release date: Oct 27, 2023
• ISBN: 9783384047564

Bernhard Lichtberger

Bernhard Lichtberger studierte Technische Physik an der Kepleruntiverssität Linz. An der TU Graz folgten Doktorat und Habilitation auf dem Gebiet des Eisenbahnwesens. Aus seiner Feder stammen die Bücher Unser Planet im Klimawandel, Handbuch Gleis (in 8 Sprachen übersetzt), Praktische Digitaltechnik und Meß- und Prüfgeräte selbst gebaut. Er forscht und publiziert seit über 40 Jahren über die Eisenbahn und ihre Instandhaltung und entwickelt Oberbaumaschinen für die Gleisinstandhaltung. Mehr als 130 wissenschaftliche internationale Veröffentlichungen zum Thema sind zu nennen. Er war mehr als 30 Jahre Forschungschef und technischer Direktor bei einem der weltweit größten Hersteller von Bahnbaumaschinen. Er ist Mitbegründer und geschäftsführender Gesellschafter der Firma System7 rail support GmbH die sich mit der Entwicklung, dem Bau und dem Vertrieb von Gleisbaumaschinen beschäftigt. Er ist Erfinder von mehr als 120 Patenten. Bernhard Lichtberger studied technical physics at the Kepler University in Linz. He went on to complete his doctorate and habilitation in the field of railroads at Graz University of Technology. He is the author of the books Unser Planet im Klimawandel, Track Compendium (translated into 8 languages), Praktische Digitaltechnik and Meß- und Prüfgeräte Selbst Gebaut. He has been researching and publishing on railroads and their maintenance for over 40 years and develops permanent way machines for track maintenance. He has published more than 130 international scientific papers on the subject. He was head of research and technical director at one of the world's largest manufacturers of railroad construction machinery for more than 30 years. He is co-founder and managing partner of System7 rail support GmbH, a company specializing in the development, construction and sale of track maintenance machines. He is the inventor of more than 120 patents.

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1

History of mechanical track maintenance

SUMMARY

Mechanical permanent way maintenance is a success story that began in Switzerland through the Scheuchzer company. The first tamping machine and the first ballast cleaning machine in the world were developed and built by the Scheuchzer company. The know-how of was acquired internationally from the Matisa company and distributed worldwide by the machines. The history of mechanical track maintenance runs parallel to that of industrial revolutions. Manual track maintenance, which is costly in terms of personnel, has become so economically obsolete that manual methods are nowadays only used in isolated cases, above all when the use of machines is not worthwhile.

In 1953, the Franz Plasser company was founded in Austria. It has become the absolute world market leader thanks to its willingness and power to innovate[17] Important development steps in mechanical track maintenance were the construction of turnout tamping machines, multiple-sleeper tamping machines and finally continuous-action tamping machines. A significant achievement was the development of large-scale machines such as ballast cleaning machines with capacities up to 1,500 m³/h, formation rehabilitation machines and combined machines for ballast cleaning and track renewal.

In 2002, a new mobile rail processing technology enters the market through the Linsinger company’s rail milling technology. In 2014, the company System7 railsupport interrupted the principle of the eccentric shaft drive for the first time by inventing and developing a fully hydraulic tamping drive. For the first time, this allows statements to be made about the ballast bed properties during tamping by measuring the forces and compression energy as a base for the fully automatic adjustment of the tamping parameters for optimum System? automatic tamping. The universal tamping machine Universal Tamper 4.0, which was launched by System? in 2018, is fully in line with the possibilities of the 4th industrial revolution thanks to its large number of sensors.

1.1 Industrial revolutions and their impact on the development of track maintenance machinery technology

The development of the mechanisation of track maintenance work began in the age of the 2nd industrial revolution and continues to use its technical possibilities for its further development to this day. History shows:

▻ Above all, it is ground-breaking innovations that trigger and enable a wealth of further developments.

▻ It is the findings of science and researchers that make the emerging technological advances possible.

▻ Humanity does not consider the consequences of its actions sufficiently. Industrialisation has led to a steep increase in greenhouse gases and exploitation of resources that endanger the livelihood of people on earth.[9]

Industrial revolutions describe technical change based on scientific knowledge (▻ figure 1.1). They are driven in a commercial sense by financial growth in savings, capital accumulation, social change and growth in demand.[8]

Figure 1.1: The four stages of the industrial revolution; source: author based on [13].

The use of mechanical machines by means of water and steam power is seen as the 1st industrial revolution. The invention of devices, machines and appliances replaces the naturally limited human forces. Here began the unbridled subjugation, exploitation, pollution and poisoning of planet Earth.

The 2nd industrial revolution was the age of the use of electricity. It was characterised in manufacturing processes by piecework and assembly line work. Around 1860, Benz and Daimler’s internal combustion engine was widely used. Aviation developed, radio waves were used and the first steps towards globalisation (crossing the oceans) were taken.

The mechanisation of track maintenance machines used the internal combustion engine for propulsion and electricity for control systems and lighting.

The transistor and the miniaturisation of electronic circuits made the age of the 3rd industrial revolution possible. Transistors replaced the tube systems that had been common until then. This era led to automation, the invention of the laser, solar cells and an explosion in globalisation and individualised mobility.

The invention of the transistor and integrated circuits enabled improved lifting and lining systems on maintenance machines. Instead of using simple shutdown systems when certain lifting values were reached, analogue sensors could now be used for the control of servo and proportional valves for fine control. This greatly increased the accuracy of track geometry correction. The miniaturisation of circuits made it possible to use analogue computing techniques (via operational amplifiers). These were used to compensate for systematic measurement errors of the chord systems in transition curves or in ramps. These include the systems RVA (Richtverstellwertautomatik = Automatic lining adjustment value) and ÜVA (Überhöhungsverstellwertautomatik = Automatic superelevation value adjustment device). The further development of electronics towards the widespread use of microcomputers and personal computers was reflected in the GVA (Generelle Verstellwertautomatik = Automatic geometry value adjustment device), the first system to work digitally with microcomputers. This was followed by the ALC (Automatischer Leitcomputer = Automatic guiding computer), the use of a personal computer for compensation and control of track maintenance machines with regard to track geometry.

The rapid progress of electronics in this era also led to the use of systems that came from automation technology – freely programmable controls with field bus systems.

Very early on, lasers were used to guide track-laying machines on straight tracks. The rapidly developing sensor technology led to the automatic monitoring of the locking status of working units and to precise distance measuring systems (odometers).

In the beginning, measuring trolleys used touching wheels and bars equipped with sensors to scan the tracks. As electronics advanced, they were replaced by non-contact scanning using laser sensors. Early on, engineers used inertial measurement systems still based on classic gyrometers (fast-moving inertial masses with cardan suspensions) to also detect long-wave track defects by means of electronic track measuring cars. These systems, which required a basic vehicle speed, were characterised by large drifts and provided only relative signals. The transition to the 4th industrial revolution achieved a leap forward in inertial navigation systems where the gyroscopes are characterised by acceleration-insensitive light-fibre gyroscopes with low drifts. In addition, these navigation systems are equipped with precision acceleration sensors in the three spatial directions. As a result, these modern systems provide absolute angle changes and in combination with precise satellite data, even absolute coordinates are obtained.

The 4th industrial revolution observed today is called the digital revolution. It is characterised by the complete digitalisation of formerly analogue technologies. It includes the application of machine or artificial intelligence systems, on-demand product manufacturing with mass-produced product costs, 3D printing, computing, the Internet of Things, digital twins, smartphones, automatic self-driving and self-powered cars, sustainable energy systems, the Human Genome Project, the penetration of electronics and data collection into the most private and personal areas of human beings. It ranges from pattern recognition methods and quantum computers to Big Data, Augmented Reality and Smart Factory.

The possibilities of the technical development brought about by this 4th industrial revolution are also being used in the development of permanent way machines. This can be seen in the application of artificial intelligence in the evaluation of recorded measurement data. The machines are no longer just track robots, but also data acquisition machines. They collect work data, data about the infrastructure (such as the condition of the ballast bed being worked on), data about the condition of the components used on the machine (trend-based condition monitoring). Machine technology is developing towards machines that work autonomously. Sustainability is playing an increasingly important role and is reflected in the form of alternative drive systems to diesel technology.

Drones with LiDAR systems and high-precision satellite measurement systems are now replacing complex and costly track surveying tasks.

The history of mechanised track maintenance begins at the beginning of the 19th century with simple compaction equipment. Until then, track work was costly, labour-intensive and was primarily carried out with muscle power. The ballast was driven under the sleeper in a cross-cut with picks. The height of the track is fixed by lifting jacks and the track direction is corrected using track rams.

The principle of the railway is a young one. It emerged at the beginning of the 19th century from the combination of wheel-rail technology, which was already centuries old, with mechanical drive systems. The weight of the mechanical drive systems and the requirements for a smooth track initially led to iron-clad plank tracks, later to the use of iron rails on stone blocks and finally on wooden sleepers laid crosswise. This is also where the German term Eisenbahn or French chemin de fer, literally iron way comes from. The beginning of the history of the railway is the year 1804, when Richard Trevithick put the first steam locomotive into operation. Within a few decades in the 19th century, the railway developed into a networked means of transport, drastically reducing travel times in Europe and North America. It was one of the driving forces of the 1st industrial revolution; it not only created the infrastructural conditions for the development of heavy industry, but also generated a huge demand for iron, steel and machinery. Modern bridge and tunnel construction was developed to make possible the railway lines.

Unlike road traffic, rail traffic is track-guided. The rolling movement of wheel on rail – steel on steel – has a very low resistance. However, the railway struggles with the comparatively lower coefficients of friction than those that occur in road traffic between the road and the rolling air-filled rubber wheel. This requires a correspondingly high level of technical effort in terms of utilising the static coefficient of friction when starting and braking. The contact forces between wheel and rail are also far higher than those in road traffic. Trains run according to a timetable; a traffic jam cannot occur. The direction is determined by the track and the setting of the points. Railway lines do not permit steep gradients and require large curve radii. Due to the elaborate safety equipment, accidents on railways are very rare. Operating speeds on high-speed lines today exceed 300 km/h, the world record on railway track is 574.8 km/h, set in France in 2007 by the modified TGV-POS unit 4402. The operating speeds on high-speed lines would be completely unthinkable for individual transport on the road for safety reasons and would also be difficult to achieve due to the high rolling resistance.

The road is constructed as a solid track, the railway track is mainly built as a floating track grid in ballast bedding. Naturally, therefore, the construction and maintenance methods of road and rail differ considerably

Note

Industrial revolutions describe the technical change based on scientific knowledge. Technological innovations open up previously unknown possibilities. The result is a rapid triggered development of technical devices and machines based on this new technology, which ultimately have a great influence on human society.

1.2 Manual track work

Before the First World War, maintenance work consisted mainly of replacing parts that had become unusable. In Germany, scheduled and continuous track maintenance began in 1912, mainly involving the replacement of fishplates and bolts. After the First World War, funds were scarce and therefore attempts were made to extend the service life of the permanent way through scheduled and regular maintenance. After the Second World War, due to further limited funds, ways of mechanising the work were sought. Until then, tamping work was done manually with a tamping pick. Quote: Tamping is indeed an art that needs to be understood and well-practised. It is quite astonishing what fine work can be achieved with the coarse tamping pick.[1]

Figure 1.2: Tamping pick (left picture) and working with the tamping pick (right picture); source: Egon Schubert.

This statement can be applied today to the highly mechanised and automated tamping machines. Here, too, with all the automation of tamping, lifting and lining, the accuracy and knowledge of the machine operator are still important for the quality of the overall result. However, in order to assess the progress in the efficiency of mechanisation, it is worth mentioning that a manual tamping gang consisted of 16–20 men, with 8 men tamping, 4 at a time at one sleeper (▻ figure 1.2). The other workers did the preparatory and finishing work (lifting, clearing, lining, ballasting). The gang worked about 5 m per man and day with a track lift of about 5 cm in medium-heavy train traffic.[4] The first improvement was the use of power tampers, although a tamping gang still consisted of 18 men, 8 of whom tamped at the same time. The output of this tamping team was 220 m per day.

From 1931, the first track tamping machines were built and put into operation in Switzerland by the Scheuchzer company. Even at that time, the height of the track was still corrected by levelling and track lifting winches used in the track before machine tamping (▻ figure 1.3). After the first tamping pass, the tracks were levelled manually by means of levelling rods or levelling irons, the instructions being transmitted verbally. After the second tamping pass, work had to be carried out using the track ram.

Figure 1.3: Mechanised tamping using a track tamping machine and track lifting winches; source: Egon Schubert.

In modern tamping machines of current design hydraulically operated automatic lifting and lining tools are meanwhile an integral part.

From 1918, the first hand-operated power tampers were built and used. Around 1930, the manual tampers were replaced by the first tamping machines. These were built by Swiss companies and, from 1945 onwards, they were also exported. August Scheuchzer was the pioneer who built and operated the first track tamping machines. Using the Scheuchzer patents, the Matisa company followed. The first Plasser tamping machine was built in 1953 and used on Österreichische Bundesbahnen (ÖBB) tracks in Austria. The working speed of this machine was 80 m/h.

1.2.1 Manual track work today

In cramped conditions, where the use of large machines is impossible or out of the question for cost reasons, manual track work is still in demand today. Persons working on the track are accompanied by look-out men helped by acoustic warning signals. Typical manual track work includes welding rails using the thermite method, site preparation for large machines, repair or maintenance of rail fasteners, tamping using power tampers on smaller construction sites. Thermite joints are ground using small manually operated grinding machines. In addition, rail pulling equipment, rail heating equipment for closure welds, rail and sleeper drilling machines, rail cutters, as well as power wrenches are used.

Note

The railway, one of the major developments in the history of the 1st industrial revolution, was largely maintained manually by legions of workers until the 1940s. As technical innovations progressed, machines increasingly replaced the various manual tasks.

1.3 History of the mechanisation of track work

The following table gives a comprehensive summary of the most important development stages of track construction machines.

1873–1929

Age of the 2nd industrial revolution –

Phase of high industrialisation

1875 Robel Company

In 1875, Georg Robel founded the company in Munich as a file factory.

In 1901 it was taken over by Karl Langhammer who expanded production to include hand-operated track maintenance machines.

1916 Pneumatically operated power tampers on the Prussian State Railways

Figure 1.4: Pneumatic power tampers¹ in use; photo: WikiCommons CC0 1.0

1917 Scheuchzer Company (Switzerland)

August Scheuchzer founded the Scheuchzer company in 1917. Scheuchzer is the pioneer of the mechanisation of track maintenance.

1927 First ballast cleaning machine in the world (Scheuchzer)

Figure 1.5: First ballast cleaning machine; photo: Scheuchzer

Figure 1.6: Detail of first ballast cleaning machine; photo: Scheuchzer

1931 First track tamping

in the world (Scheuchzer)²

Figure 1.7: First tamping machine; photo: Scheuchzer

1938 Track tamping machine Scheuchzer system

Figure 1.8: Tamping machine; photo: Scheuchzer

1935 Matisa Company (Switzerland)

In 1935, August Ritz acquired from the Scheuchzer company the licences to manufacture and distribute ballast cleaning and tamping machines outside of Switzerland.[5] In 1945, he founded the Matisa company together with Constantin Sfezzo[6]. Matisa brought the first track tamping machine onto the market in 1945.

1948 Matisa ballast cleaning machine

Figure 1.9: Ballast cleaning machine 2ST 5; photo: Matthias Müller

1950Matisa track tamping machine[7]

Figure 1.10: Matisa track tamping machine – in operation in Austria by Bahnbau Wels (BBW); photo: Egon Schubert

1953 Plasser company

Franz Plasser founded the company as an oil stove and machine importer.

He saw Matisa’s track maintenance machines and was fascinated.

With Theurer as a design engineer, he started to build his own tamping machines in the Linz shipyard. In 1972 he generously gave the outstanding mechanical engineer Josef Theurer, who was responsible for the designs, a 20 % share in his company on a voluntary basis. Theurer worked as a design engineer at the Linz shipyard for four years until he was employed by Plasser as technical manager in 1952.

Unfortunately, the great entrepreneur Franz Plasser passed away on All Saints’ Day 1972. The business was continued by the commercial director Kurt Eichinger, who had been appointed by him. The universal heiress was Erna Plasser – who gave the management a free hand.[14]

From the very beginning, the Plasser company was characterised by a high degree of innovative strength. Within a short period of time, this led it to a dominant position in the market, which it still holds today (in the meantime renamed Plasser & Theurer).

1954 VKR01 – First tamping machine from Plasser for ÖBB³. Performance: 80 m/h

Figure 1.11: VKR01 Track tamping machine; photo: Egon Schubert

Figure 1.12: VKR01 Tamping tines in cantilever design; photo: Egon Schubert

1954 VKR02 (Plasser)

Figure 1.13: VKR02 Track tamping machine; photo: Egon Schubert

1955

Figure 1.14: Demonstration of track tamping machines on 27. 9.1955 in Petershausen (Munich-Ingolstadt line); from left to right: Machine factory Meer (D) – RMC Railway Maintenance Corporation (USA) – Matisa (CH) – Plasser (A); photo: Egon Schubert

1872 Gebrüder Meer Maschinenfabrik

The factory was founded in 1872 by the brothers Michael and Peter Meer in Mönchengladbach and taken over by the Mannesmann Group in 1926.

1955 Meer AG machine

Exactly when the machine first went into operation is not known (but before 1955). The squeezing was carried out by spindles, while the tamping arms each had their own eccentric drives for the vibration.

Figure 1.15: Photo of a demonstration of the Meer machine in 1955; photo: Egon Schubert

Figure 1.16: Tamping unit of the Meer machine; photo: Egon Schubert

1955 RMC Railway Maintenance Corporation (USA, Pittsburgh)

1955 McWilliams Multiple Tool Tie Tamper, manufactured by RMC. It is not known exactly when the machine was first produced (but before 1955)

The work units operated with compressed air. The pneumatic power tampers were inserted into the ballast via slides and the compaction tools moved diagonally crosswise under the sleeper.

Figure 1.17: McWilliams Multiple Tool Tie Tamper; photo: Egon Schubert

Figure 1.18: McWilliams Multiple Tool Tie Tamper; photo: Egon Schubert

1955 Matisa tamping machine

at a demonstration in Austria in 1955

Figure 1.19: Matisa tamping machine; photo: Egon Schubert

1955 VKR03 Plasser tamping machine at the 1955 demonstration. Tamping machine with track lifting device in front of the tamping units. Until then, the track had to be brought to the desired height manually using liftingjacks before tamping. Performance: 350 m/h

Figure 1.20: VKR03 remote-controlled track tamping machine with hydraulic sleeper crib compactor (in the picture the chief designer Wilhelm Praschl); photo: Egon Schubert

Figure 1.21: Pendulum measuring device on the VKR03; photo: Egon Schubert

Figure 1.22: VKR03 with sleeper crib compactor⁴ (Josef Theurer in the picture); photo: Egon Schubert

1956 VS 798 (DB) Rail inspection trolley with ultrasound

Figure 1.23: Deutsche Bahn’s VS 798 rail inspection vehicle; photo: Taschenbuch der Eisenbahntechnik Elsner 1978

1956 ORT188.0 Catenary maintenance wagon (VEB Waggonbau Görlitz [VEB WBG]).

Catenary maintenance wagon with measuring current collector, mechanically rotating working platform, folding ladder on the roof up to a height of 9 m above ground level, with sanitary unit, sink, toilet and coke oven.

Figure 1.24: ORT188.0 trolley car; photo: Ingo Wlodasch

1957 SV51 Ballast distributing machine (Plasser)

Figure 1.25: SV51 Ballast distributing machine; photo: Egon Schubert

1958 GLR120 Trackless cleaning machine (Plasser)

The shovel was used to pick up the ballast and throw it overhead onto the screen. A conveyor belt deposited the waste material to the side.

Figure 1.26: GLR120 Trackless cleaning machine (in the middle of the picture the company founders: Franz Plasser on the right and Josef Theurer on the left); photo: Egon Schubert

Figure 1.27: GLR120 Trackless cleaning machine – screening unit; photo: Egon Schubert

1959 VKR04 Tamping machine (Plasser)

In 1959, Plasser learned that the Swiss competitor was building a new type of levelling tamping machine. The VKR04 was developed at record speed. It was a big sensation at the Frankfurt railway exhibition.

This machine could perform the work of a lifting and levelling crew of 30 men.

For the first time, a lifting machine with levelling device was developed with wire cables and electrical cut-off boards. The wire cable was stretched between a leading trolley and the machine and served as a lifting reference. This was preceded by attempts to carry out the lifting with a machine running ahead. Performance: 400 m/h

Figures 1.28 and 1.29: VKR04 Track tamping machine; photo: Egon Schubert

1960 SVM52 Ballast distributing machine (Plasser)

The machine could:

– distribute ballast

– clean ballast shoulders

– profile the ballast

– produce verges or drainage ditches

Figure 1.30: SVM52 Ballast distributing machine; photo: Egon Schubert

1961  WE75 Turnout tamping machine (Plasser)

First turnout tamping machine with a laterally displaceable tamping unit. The tamping unit was already equipped with tilting tamping tines.

Figure 1.31: WE75 Turnout tamping machine; photo: WikiCommons CCC BY-SA 3.0, Griedel

1961 BN60N Tamping machine (Matisa)

Tamping machine with ballast support lifting system – with levelling system

Figure 1.32: BN60N Track tamping machine; photo: Dieter Pleus

1961 GLR123 Trackless cleaning machine (Plasser)

Figure 1.33: GLR123 Trackless cleaning machine; photo: Egon Schubert

Figure 1.34: Machined track behind the trackless cleaning machine; photo: Egon Schubert

Figure 1.35: Excavation chain of the trackless cleaning machine; photo: Egon Schubert

1961 Speno Company

After successful presentation of the first grinding train for plain track, Speno becomes the dominant company in the track grinding sector.

1961  URR 28 Grinding train (Speno)

Equipped with a grinding machine, a centre carriage and small grinding disks for grinding turnouts

Figure 1.36: First use of the Speno grinding train URR 28 on the Munich underground; photo: Speno

1962 VKR04R Tamping machine (Plasser)

This tamping machine was equipped with a lining device for the first time. Until then, track lining was done with lining rams. Performance: 400 m/h

1963 WE275 Turnout tamping machine (Plassermatic)

With two independently movable tamping units

Figure 1.37: WE275 Turnout tamping machine; photo: from DB technical book on turnout maintenance

1963 Grinding train for track (Speno) at the DB

1963 Robel Supermat Tamping machine

With a packing ram instead of tamping tines

Figure 1.38: Robel Supermat Track tamping machine, Robel company; photo: Klaus Wedde

1963 VKR05E (Plasser)

The chord of the levelling system was replaced by infrared transmitters and receivers. For the first time the track superelevation is controlled by an electric pendulum. Performance: 500 m/h

Figure 1.39: VKR05E Track tamping machine; photo: Egon Schubert

1963 AL202 Lining machine (Plasser)

First automatic lining machine with two-chord method devised by Dr. Schubert

Figure 1.40: AL204 Lining machine; photo: Egon Schubert

1963 FEV BP104 Bedding edge plough

(AW Schöneweide)

Figure 1.41: Bedding edge plough FEV BP104; photo: Jörg van Essen

1965 BNRI 80 Double sleeper tamping machine (Matisa)

About 100 units of the successor type of the sound-insulated machine were delivered for the Japanese market.

1965  USP3000C Ballast distributing and grading machine (Plasser)

With continuous ballast intake

Figure 1.42: USP3000C Ballast distributing and grading machine – face and flank plough; photo: Egon Schubert

Figure 1.43: USP3000C Ballast distributing and grading machine … sweeping brush, steep belt conveyor and hopper unit – rear view; photo: Egon Schubert

1965 Duomatic 06–32 Tamping machine (Plasser)

A tamping unit for tamping two sleepers was presented for the first time.[12]

The output was now the centre of attention. The machine was equipped with an automatic lining device – the 2-chord measuring method⁵.

Performance: 800 m/h

From 1967, the Mainliner 06–32 SLC came with automatic lifting and lining, spacious cabins, an infrared levelling system and lateral adjustment of the tamping units in curves. Performance: 1,100 m/h

Figure 1.44: Duomatik 06–32 SLC Double sleeper tamping machine; photo: Egon Schubert

Figure 1.45: Duomatik 06–32 SLC Main machine; photo: Egon Schubert

1966 VDM800 Sleeper crib consolidator (Plasser)

Figure 1.46: VDM800 Sleeper crib consolidator; photo: Egon Schubert

1967 UP1 Track renewal train

(Plasser)⁶

First DB track renewal train. Performance: 2,000 m/shift in a 9 hour shift with 51 men

Figure 1.47: UP1 Track renewal train; photo: Konrad Naue

1969–1970

Age of the 3rd industrial revolution –

The phase of electronics and information technology begins.

1970s

Integrated circuits conquer the market, the analogue operational amplifier dominates analogue computing technology.

1960–1970  1960 Theodore Maiman builds the first working ruby laser. 

In the late 1960s, the bipolar transistor was widely used.

The age of miniaturisation and automation technology begins.

1971 First radio-controlled helium-neon laser for directional control

(Plasser)

Figure 1.48: HeNe laser radio car; photo: Johann Fischer

1971 Mainliner Duomatic 07–32 SLC Plain line tamping machine (Plasser)

The first machine built as a regular vehicle, thus able to be incorporated in train formation. Lifting and levelling between axles. First introduction of an error-proportional levelling system. First use of radio direction-finding equipment. Performance: 1,100 m/h

Figure 1.49: Mainliner Duomatic 07–32 SLC Plain line tamping machine; photo: Heinrich Priesterjahn

1972 EM50 Electronic track measuring car (Plasser)

1972 07–275 SLC Turnout tamping machine (Plasser)

The concept of standard railway vehicle design is applied analogously to the turnout tamping machines.

Figure 1.50: 07–275 SLC Turnout tamping machine; photo: from DB reference book Maintenance of turnouts

1973 IPC Input Calculator

A novelty: the use of digital technology for the calculation of lining adjustment values. Prototype that did not catch on due to temperature problems. This technology came too early.

Figure 1.51: IPC Computer prototype; photo: Klaus Riessberger

1973 Track renewal train (Matisa)

Figure 1.52: Matisa Track renewal train; photo: from Global Railway Review, 9, 2020

1975 Dynamic track stabiliser DGS (Plasser)

First dynamic track stabiliser exhibited at the permanent way conference in Frankfurt (prototype)

Figure 1.53: DGS32 Track stabiliser; photo: Egon Schubert

1975 DLT Design Lining Terminal

(Plasser)

Prototype that applied integrated circuits.

Figure 1.54: DLT Design Lining Terminal; photo: Klaus Riessberger

1975 RVA Automatic lining value adjustment device (Plasser)

Analogue computer system allowing the correction of system errors of the chords in the transition curve.

Figure 1.55: RVA Automatic lining value adjustment device; photo: author

1975 ÜVA Automatic superelevation value adjustment device

(Plasser)

Analogue computer system for automatic guidance of tamping machines in track ramps.

Figure 1.56: ÜVA Automatic superelevation value adjustment device; photo: author

1976 08–32 Line tamping machine (Plasser)

Vibration-damped cabins, compact sound insulation, single-axle integrated trailer. Performance: 1,200 m/h

Figure 1.57: 08–32 Duomatic; photo: WikiCommons, CC0, Vaganyszabalyozo

1976 B-133 Turnout tamping machine

(Matisa)

With the later B-200, Matisa introduced its first tamping machine with bogies.

Figure 1.58: B-133 Track tamping machine, Matisa company; photo: DB reference book turnout maintenance

1978 Unimat 08–275 Turnout tamping machine (Plasser)

The principle of the 08 plain line tamping machines is applied to the turnout tamping machines.

Figure 1.59: Unimat 08–275 Turnout tamping machine; photo: Sven Kreibig

1978 GVA Automatic geometry value adjustment device (Plasser)

Microcomputer system for guiding tamping machines in track geometries

1979 K355 APT Mobile flash-butt welding machine (Plasser)

Figure 1.60: K355 APT Mobile flash-butt welding machine; photo: Coenraad Esveld

1979 RM 80 Ballast cleaning machine (Plasser)

Figure 1.61: Ballast cleaning machine RM 80; photo: Franz Piereder

1979 Driver – Driving by external reference – laser guidance in curves

System for the Dutch railway for guiding the tamping machine by means of laser in curves

Figure 1.62: Driver System Netherlands; photo: Coenraad Esveld

1982 09–32 Tamping machine (Plasser)

The world’s first continuously advancing tamping machine.

The working units are located on a satellite that operates cyclically while the main machine advances continuously. This is a leap in work output.⁷

Maximum performance: 1,500 m/h

Figure 1.63: 09–32 Track tamping machine; photo: WikiCommons CC BY-SA 4.0, Chen Melling

1983 Introducing Matisa’s 42 Hz elliptical tamping concept 

1983 First turnout grinding machine from the Speno company

Figure 1.64: Turnout grinding machine; photo: Coenraad Esveld

1983 PM200 Formation rehabilitation machine (Plasser)

First formation rehabilitation machine

Figure 1.65: PM200 Formation rehabilitation machine; photo: Hermann Jahn

1986 Stoneblower (British Rail)

Mechanisation of shovel packing (shovel method). Instead of tamping, smallgrain gravel is blown under the sleeper.

Figure 1.66: Stoneblower, British Rail; photo: Coenraad Esveld

1986 EMSAT Machine for measuring the track (Plasser)

with self-propelled satellites with laser and electric drive. On the machine there is an XY cross slide with camera. The front window is shaped as a Fresnel lens. The laser point is detected by a PSD semiconductor (Photo Sensitive Device).

Figure 1.67: EM-SAT 120 track measurement car; photo: WikiCommons CC BY-SA 3.0, Norbert Kaiser

1987 RM 800 Ballast cleaning machine (Plasser)

Ballast cleaning machine with two screens. Cleaning capacity: 800 m³/h

Figure 1.68: RM 801 Ballast cleaning machine; photo: WikiCommons CC BY-SA, Straßenwärter

1988 08–275 3S Unimat Turnout tamping machine (Plasser)

With additional lift in the branching line of a turnout⁸.

The system allows turnouts with concrete sleepers to be lifted without damaging the fastenings of the load-bearing sleepers.

Figure 1.69: 08–275 Unimat 3S; photo: WikiCommons CC BY-SA 3.0, Straßenwärter

1990 ALC Automatic guiding computer (Plasser)

Personal computer for geometry guidance of track-laying machines with target track geometries

Figure 1.70: ALC Automatic guiding computer; photo: author

1990 B50D First continuous action tamping machine from Matisa

1990 Unimat 08–475 4S Universal tamper (Plasser)

The Unimat series was expanded with four-rail tamping. The tamping units were designed to be divisible – this meant that tamping could be carried out in the branching line with one half of the tamping unit. Tamping using power tampers for holding and fixing the branch line was no longer necessary.

Figure 1.71: Unimat 08–475 4S Turnout tamping machine; photo: WikiCommons CC0, Alf van Beem

1990 09-Dynamic All-in-One-Machine (Plasser) Continuous action tamping machine with dynamic track stabilisation, sweeping, ploughing and profiling equipment

1993 NEMO Matisa introduces the NEMO optical measurement system. 

1995 →

Age of the 4th industrial revolution – Age of Digitalisation, Internet of Things, Big Data, BIM, Digital Twin, Artificial Intelligence

1996 09–3X Tamping Express (Plasser)

The world’s first continuous action three-sleeper tamping machine Maximum performance: 2,000 m/h

Figure 1.72: 09–3X Continuous action three-sleeper tamping machine; photo: WikiCommons CC0, Renardo la vulpo

2001 09–4X Four-sleeper tamping machine (Plasser)

The world’s first continuous action four-sleeper tamping machine

Maximum performance: 2,400 m/h

Figure 1.73: 09–4X Dynamic continuous action track tamping machine; photo: WikiCommons CC BY 2.0, Miroslav Volek

2002 The Linsinger Company

The company was founded by Ernst Linsinger in 1946.

In 2002, the company entered the field of mobile rail machining (milling technology) by acquiring from Jenbacher Motorenwerke the technology for building rail vehicles.

2003 B66UC Continuous action universal tamping machine (Matisa)

Figure 1.74: Continuous action universal tamping machine for tracks and turnouts; photo: Matisa

2004 SF03-FFS Rail milling train

(Linsinger)⁹

Figure 1.75: SF03 Rail milling train; photo: Linsinger

2004 RU800S Combined ballast cleaning and track renewal machine (Plasser)¹⁰

Figure 1.76: Combined ballast cleaning and track renewal machine; photo: Hans-Peter Kurz

2007 Rail-Road-Truck (Linsinger)

First mobile milling machine for machining metro and commuter rail tracks

Figure 1.77: Rail-Road-Truck rail milling machine; photo: Linsinger

2008 PM1000URM Formation rehabilitation machine (Plasser)

With three excavation chains, ballast recycling and installation of an intermediate layer

Figure 1.78: PM1000URM Formation rehabilitation machine; photo: Torsten Kelber

2013 The company System7 railsupport

The company was founded by Bernhard Lichtberger, Hansjörg Hofer and Hans-Jörg Holleis. The company produces permanent way machines and equipment for the railway, offering new technologies in many functional areas.

2014 Fully hydraulic tamping drive

(System7)

Figure 1.79: Fully hydraulic tamping drive; photo: Reinhard Land

2015 Tamping unit with fully hydraulic tamping drive

With implemented measuring technology to determine the ballast bed properties (System7)

Figure 1.80: Tamping unit with sensors; photo: author

2018 INFrame web platform

For displaying infrastructure data collected with tamping machine (System7)

Figure 1.81: Web platform INFrame – infrastructure database; source: System7 railsupport

2018 Universal tamper 4.0 (System7)

Tamping machine as track and work data acquisition machine

Figure 1.82: Universal tamper 4.0; photo: System7 railsupport

2019 APPRec

First approved acceptance recorder system based on an inertial navigation measuring system (System7)

Figure 1.83: IMU measuring trolley; photo: author

2020 First ballast bed acceptance report online

on the machine (System7)

Figure 1.84: Ballast bed acceptance report; source: System7 railsupport

2020 First hydrogen-powered mobile rail milling machine (Linsinger)

Figure 1.85: Hydrogen-powered mobile rail milling machine; photo: Linsinger

Note

The pioneer in the production of tamping machines and cleaning machines was the Scheuchzer company. With the patents of the Scheuchzer company, the Matisa company followed, producing machines for the international market. In the mid-1950s, a new market player entered the scene with the Plasser company. Thanks to its great innovative strength, it eventually became the dominant competitor. Today, Plasser is the world’s largest manufacturer of permanent way machines and the only one to offer all types of permanent way machines for maintenance and construction. In 2014, another Austrian company, System7 railsupport, entered the tamping machine market with its innovative solutions.

1.4 Periods of mechanisation of track maintenance

1900 until 1965

The first period of mechanisation of track renewal and maintenance coincided with the era of the 2nd industrial revolution – that of high industrialisation, driven by electrical engineering and its new possibilities.

Essentially, it brought the mechanisation of the heaviest work – this was the tamping work and the cleaning of the ballast bed. Previously, the tamping work had been done by 20 to 30 workers with a tamping pick, which was now accomplished by a single machine of the early days. However, the first machines were still very primitive. They required a gang in front of the tamping machine to lift the track to the desired height before the tamping machine fixed the track at that height. Behind the first machines, which had neither lifting nor lining devices, another gang worked to straighten the track.

At the end of the fifties, the first machines were built with their own lifting device. Lining units followed at the beginning of the 60s. At the same time, shut-off systems for the lifting units were introduced. In the beginning, these consisted of taut cables that were stretched from the machine to a wagon placed further ahead (up to 70 m away). While the machine worked along the cable towards the trolley, the distance covered was measured and the sag compensated. At the lifting device there was a linkage that carried cut-off boards at the top. The machine lifted until the switchboards touched the electroconductive cable.

At the beginning of the 1960s, infrared transmitter and receiver systems became popular. The light beam was chopped by a rotating perforated disc, the cable was replaced by an infrared (IR) receiver with a horizontal slot. The cut-off panel interrupted the light beam. The IR receiver consisted of a frequency-sensitive amplifier set to the chopping frequency of the transmitter. This made the system less sensitive to environmental light. The IR transmitters were located on a transmitter trolley pushed in front of the machine via rods. This solved the cable sagging problem.

At the beginning of the sixties, the first tamping machines were built specifically for tamping turnouts. A tamping unit was positioned on a transverse sliding frame and moved with the operator. Later, two sliding tamping units were used, each of which was operated by an operator. This increased the tamping speed. The tamping units already had tilting tamping tines.

1965 until 1970

In the mid-60s, the focus shifted to working speed. Double sleeper tamping machines were developed and increased the machine output considerably.

At the end of the 60s, there was a breakthrough in renewal or new track construction services with the help of track renewal trains. Until then, renewal was mainly carried out according to a cyclic method consisting of three work cycles: The track dismantling, the production of the ballast subgrade and the track laying. The most common methods were the relaying method according to Donelli and the Karlsruhe methods.

Revolutionary new in quality and performance was the assembly line process that became established within a short time. With this method, all work was carried out simultaneously under the track renewal machine. In the front section the track was removed, in the middle section the ballast bed was installed and at the end of the train the new track was laid.

On the tamping machine sector there was a trend towards multifunctional machines. The lifting and lining of the track was integrated into the machines. Previously, a large number of workers lifted the track to the correct height using hoists, aligned it manually before the tamping machine passed and then fixed it at that height. Behind the machine, another gang was working. The savings in personnel and the increase in work output were enormous.

1970 until 1990

From 1970 onwards, the 3rd industrial revolution – the era of electronics and informatics – also made itself felt in track maintenance machinery. Transistors and integrated circuits were widely used. Freely programmable controllers replaced hardware wiring and relay technology. Field bus systems replaced thick multi-conductor copper cables. Microprocessors, microcomputers and personal computers conquered the market. The new technology created unimagined possibilities. A new branch, software engineering, took its first steps and literally exploded in its applications. Laser technology became cheap and widely applicable, both in control, measurement and in metal processing technology as a precise cutting instrument.

As early as 1971, helium-neon lasers with light-sensitive photocells as receivers were used to control tamping machines in straight track. Transistor technology leads to proportional controls of the lining and lifting processes. Control panels and infrared measuring devices were replaced by proportional measuring versine and levelling sensors. Electric pendulums were built and used for superelevation measurement and cross level control.

The first machines were built as standard railway vehicles. This meant that they could be transferred to the site of operation in a fast self-propelled mode (80 km/h) or be integrated into trains, implying fewer operational hindrances. Bogies were increasingly used as running gears. Buffers and draw hooks became standard.

First attempts with digital technology such as the Design Lining Terminal DLT (1975) or the Input Calculator IPC (1973), intended for the automatic calculation of compensation values in junction curves and full curves failed due to temperature problems. The technology was used too early. However, devices designed with operational amplifiers were successful in analogue computing technology. The RVA (automatic alignment value adjustment) and the ÜVA (automatic superelevation adjustment) contributed to a significant increase in the quality of track geometry correction. In 1978, the analogue computer technology of the ÜVA and RVA was replaced by a microprocessor-controlled device, the GVA (automatic geometry value adjustment device) with a screen, still in cathode ray technology.

Further areas of track maintenance were taken over by machines. The first mobile flash-butt welding machine K355 is introduced in 1979. Until then, flashbutt welding was only found on stationary equipment. Flash-butt welding delivered higher welding qualities than the thermite welding process, which had been used exclusively in the field until then. The welding head itself was developed