Loram Rail Grinder on the Lehigh Line of Norfolk Southern

[EMMAWONDERLAND1]

What hell do that???

[Bigwill6363]

why would they grind away even more of the rail thats been ground away from all the trains???

[sad1eluvsme]

What is it trying to do?

[FurryFootBall]

one of these monsters just past near my house, it light a field on fire. but it got put out fast because it was next to the fire station.

[ivantrains]

what a hall&

[Reds15OO]

looks like a sci fi machine

[SuperchargedMustang5]

I'm guessing they do this to help keep the track smooth?

[gokceralp]

someone tell me what those big toys do on the rails? :)

[johnboy11182]

You should see the 2 newer models coming to NS. RG401 and RG405. Rg405 will be making NS's heavy haul routes soon. It left Loram's office last week. The fire systems we have contain fire foam as well. My machine (RG404 -CP rail) can hold 75k gal of water in it's 3 tanks. Considering we can grind the prairies of Saskatchewan at 20mph you can imagine we use a lot. Contractors follow behind the machines to catch smoldering ties etc that flare up after we pass. Great video!

[TheMotherOfChrist]

WHY?

[SittingMooseShaman]

@TheMotherOfChrist ...it reshapes the rail-head -so it's like new! The rail-head on both sides of the track-set must ever-so-slightly, slope in-wards in order to, 'true' the train. The train's wheels when made were machined at an angle to match this track geometry... These grinders look absolutely mesmerizing and fearsome when doing MOW(Maintenance-Of-Way) procedures after dark...even mystic when seen under a full moon... Say, "hi!" to Jeshuah for me when you see Him. Would you, please, Mom?!

[TheMotherOfChrist]

@SittingMooseShaman ahhhhha, and yes of course ;) thank you :)

[zuzulo56]

Nice clip here! Don't often see this toy in action. Did you know before hand that it was due? How did you find out?

My wife, the moon of my delight, once dropped the muffler/tail pipe off her '62 Chevy...and dragged them home (30+ miles) looking, sounding & smelling much like this.

[rollinswitch]

@zuzulo56 A friend was out by the railroad when it showed up and he called me.

[RailfanTube]

You didn't show the special caboose at the end where the spray water from... -_-

[rollinswitch]

@RailfanTube That and much more on the DVD.

[gizmotwadlebutt]

I am a firefighter and when the run these grinders though our area it can turn into a busy day for us.

[bfs1888]

this could give one nightmares fun tho

[9214923]

Whats the name of the song in the begining?

[Impalamark64]

I saw one of these in action on the BNSF tracks near my house in Olathe, Kansas. Not shown on the video, it had two water cannons on the tail, operated by two crewmembers to cool the rails.

[rollinswitch]

@Impalamark64 These are amazing machines, the water cannons are to put out hot clinkers that form and could cause a fire. Usually a hi-railer with water also follows up to check for fire problems and hot spots. That and a lot more is on the DVD I put out last year.

[rollinswitch]

@Impalamark64 You can also see some water cannon action on my night video of these -look on my channel under Night Grinder

[virginiatruckee]

That's amazing, out west here they would start a fire pretty quick! I guess out here they must have a fire truck nearby. Thanks for posting!

[rollinswitch]

@virginiatruckee They have fire suppression on board as well as a fire truck on rails that rolls behind them.

[ashtrey05]

@rollinswitch I saw one go by in memphis and they didnt spray water. The tiles were smoking from the metal shavings! I didnt know what that loud machine was at first.

[PereMarquette1223]

That had to have been LOUD!

[djcountry1985]

its like slammin in a mini truck but on trains

[Jaket2000]

How many does Darth Vader own?

[pianomanmaestro]

Does that smooth the tracks?

[randknu]

@pianomanmaestro It will reshape the head of the track and smooth it out. After years of wear especially in curves, all the flanges deform the rail head, This causes accelerated wear on wheels and a higher probability of derailment. Reshaping the rail head, can extend the life of the rail before it needs to be changed.

To save money some companies exchanges the outer rail with the inner in curves, thereby wearing them on both sides too.

[joelp888]

I would have loved to see this on the Lehigh Line.