Ballast cleaning machine

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Ballast cleaning machine "RM 900 - HD 100" from Plasser & Theurer , built in 2009, in the Aspang train station
Ballast cleaning machine RM 801 from Wiebe
Double screening plant of the ballast cleaning machine "RM 900 - HD 100"
Ballast cleaning machine Hubert RM 800 in action

A ballast cleaning machine is a - usually track-bound - working machine that the gravel in track beds freed from impurities.

Working method

After 25 to 30 years, a track bed is so polluted by gravel abrasion, brake dust and plants that it is no longer possible for the surface water to run off and thus dryness of the gravel is no longer guaranteed. The ballast must therefore be freed from these impurities. The ballast cleaning is usually carried out together with the conversion of tracks or switches .

There are three types of cleaning machines available for cleaning bedding:

  • Track cleaning machines
  • Two-way cleaning machines (can be driven on tracks or with a crawler track if the track is removed )
  • Flank cleaning machines

The working speed of ballast cleaning machines depends on the type of vehicle , the width and depth of the ballast to be cleaned and other external influences.

All ballast cleaning machines work according to the following principle:

  • Lifting the track yoke
  • Excavation of the ballast (for example with a scraper chain )
  • Transport of the ballast into the sieve compartments
  • Separating the ballast from the spoil on several sieve layers
  • Removal of the spoil
  • Transport the cleaned ballast to the leveling device and, if necessary, mix it with new ballast
  • Spreading the cleaned ballast
  • Leveling the ballast
  • Lowering the track yoke

The overburden is removed and the ballast is re -introduced using material conveyor and silo units . After the ballast has been cleaned, the track bed is worked through using a track tamping machine and a ballast leveling machine.

  • Work steps of the ballast cleaning machine RM900 S

  • Excavation of the ballast with the track yoke raised

  • Screening plant for separating gravel and overburden

  • Spreading and leveling the cleaned ballast

  • Compaction of the ballast

literature

  • Lothar Marx, Detlef Bugenhagen, Dietmar Moßmann: Working methods for the maintenance of the superstructure , Eisenbahn-Fachverlag, ISBN 3-9801093-7-2
  • Jürgen Janicki, Horst Reinhard: Rail vehicle technology. Bahn Fachverlag 2008, ISBN 3-980-80025-3 .

Web links

Commons : Ballast cleaning machine  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files
Commons : Hubert RM800  - album with pictures, videos and audio files

The program with the mouse "Track ballast washing system" - ARD media library