Hulcher Undercutting Track with Cat 325F

Watch as Hulcher undercuts track. This machine is Totally Awesome to watch in action.
Undercutting is a perfect way to rehabilitate poor track ballast conditions. However,
it does take some considerable down time for not having trains running. There
are always down ties to fix after undercutting. Then the track must be cribbed
up to allow heavy ballast cars and ballast dump trucks to go over it to
dump the ballast. Next comes a lot of tamping then more ballast dumping,
then more tamping then more ballast dumping.
We do not do a lot of undercutting here on our railroad simply because we
do not have the amount of dead track time. We do a lot of cribbing ties to
get rid of mud which we can do and keep a train running at the same time.
#Undercutting#UndercuttingTrack#Cat325f

[@danielrongo2367]

Interesting video

[@danielrongo2367]

Very nice job

[@ccrx6700]

Thank you very much Daniel, glad you enjoyed the video today my friend.

[@johnkelley9877]

This was great! I never seen a excavator with railroad wheels on it! Thanks for sharing this.

[@ccrx6700]

Your welcome John, glad you liked the presentation. That excavator is pretty cool isn't it! Big bucks to buy but it does a great job. Very much appreciate your taking the time to watch and write in my friend.

[@johnkelley9877]

@@ccrx6700 Your right, that is very cool!

[@danielrongo2367]

Wow keep them coming

[@ccrx6700]

Very pleased to hear you enjoyed the video Daniel. We do appreciate the nice comment and for watching sir.

[@artillerest43rdva7]

it always amazes me how special tools are designed for all different applications. like the narrow scoop to dig out between the ties, the ‘chain saw’ on steroids to dig under the tracks. just like the spiker unit, the old tie remover and replacer for the new ties. i am amazed with the tamper unit how it levels and straightens the rails as they compress the stones around the ties. and of course the spiker, I could not imagine doing that all by hand.

[@ccrx6700]

All those machines and tools are amazing, they used to do all that tremendously hard work by hand, but they had hundreds of workers back then also. Appreciate your thoughts today my friend

[@jimzeirke1127]

I remember the Hulcher guys I worked with used to call it “Hulcher University”. One of the foremen told me that they’ve trained more guys to use a torch and run equipment than most tech schools.

[@jimzeirke1127]

And back then most of the guys they hired were farmers and farm kids. No need to develop a work ethic. It was already there,

[@ccrx6700]

Jim, awesome, you think about it, they are probably right. It's hard, demanding work, on call 24/7 and when they go out it's for however long it takes, not a good job to be home raising a family, but those guys from Hulcher I know are very good at what they do and they take a lot of pride in their work. Appreciate you writing in and watching

[@derrickanderson4932]

Nice Video Dave.

[@ccrx6700]

Thank you Derrick, glad you liked it

[@jasonoliver5388]

another great video

[@ccrx6700]

Thanks Jason, glad to hear your enjoyed sir, appreciate your viewing

[@jasonoliver5388]

@@ccrx6700 always glad to see hard work on the railroad.

[@ccrx6700]

@@jasonoliver5388 👍

[@jasonoliver5388]

@@ccrx6700 got to keep them trains rolling

[@ccrx6700]

@@jasonoliver5388 😊

[@PrenticeBoy1688]

Your videos ... they do not suck.

[@ccrx6700]

Thank you very much. We do appreciate your watching and writing in my friend. Glad to hear they don't suck.... :-)

[@garybrown6897]

I would guess that that is in your Christmas list this year. Would definitely help you crib ties faster. As always keepem on the rails.

[@ccrx6700]

Would be fun to have one here Gary. Hulcher is expensive when they come with this. $40,000 for 1 week. But to do this you also have to have some dead track time. At least with cribbing I can do that while the train is running. Thanks so much for visiting with us and taking in the undercutting action my friend.

[@TsunauticusIV]

Awesome machines

[@user-ci2gh7ov5l]

👷いつも、線路の保線のお仕事お疲れ様でしたーいつも、貴重な映像ありがとうm(_ _)mございます🙇

[@ccrx6700]

Thank you for taking the time to visit with us and check out the undercutting video my friend.

[@chrisadams628]

Heh. Galesburg. There's no place like home.

[@MoMonde]

Back in the day we were working with a switch undercutter and our relatively new college educated Assistant Division Engineer was telling everyone to stay back and he fell in, and cut off his heel! The Operator immediately cut off the machine saving His life and the Company gave the Operator all seniority in all classes from that date!

[@stretchlimo7275]

Wow pretty cool machine, just like a horizontal Ditch Witch👍🏼

[@artillerest43rdva7]

always so interesting showing aspects in taking care of all of the issues that creep up on rail lines. thank you for all the wonderful informative videos. keep up the great job, enjoy your day!

[@ccrx6700]

Your welcome and thank you very much for the really nice comment and for watching the video, it is a pleasure to be able to share some of what we do out here with your guys

[@154Colin]

Interesting pieces of equipment 👍❗

[@lewistodd9242]

Great video. I had never seen or even knew there was a piece of equipment to do undercuts of the rails. Thanks for posting it.

[@ccrx6700]

Your welcome Lewis, really glad that you enjoyed my friend.

[@jamescrego5904]

Very few people get to actually see this operation. However, your explanation is perfectly well stated! Thanks for sharing!!

[@ccrx6700]

James thank you for nice comment, glad you enjoyed watching

[@teamrose2134]

It’s all about CATERPILLAR Tractors and EMD power

[@Steven-bs6tp]

We've had Hulcher in our plant a few times assisting with derailment problems. We also use Trac occasionally, or RJ Corman for some big jobs.

[@ccrx6700]

We;ve been pleased with Hulcher here over the many years. Have had Corman in also, but Hulcher is closer and thus cheaper and they do good work. They are always ready to please us. Appreciate your writing in and for watching my fellow railroader.

[@ocsrc]

You would think they would have a machine like this that had a suction nozzle and a hose going up to a dump truck or to a rail car so they could cut out the ballast and suck up everything into a real car and then have a ballast car dump new ballast as it progresses along and do it all as one fluid movement

[@ccrx6700]

Loram does make a vacuum train that is amazing, here's a video from my friend over at Baltimore & Ohio RR to see it kzbin.info/www/bejne/g6KWd4djablnr5Y NYCT has a vacuum train they use similar to this one to clean out their tunnels. Tunnels there get a lot of debris and with the 3rd rail there are always fires in the tunnels so they bought a vac train.However the first time they used it, it sucked up so many rats it plugged the tubes up and no one would volunteer to clean them out. True story. I have a friend who is an engineer for the #7 line on the New York City Transit system. (don't know if you know what 3rd rail is or not, but it's electrified to provide power for the loco)

[@tucobenedicto109]

Just saw this one. sometimes they bring out the wonder wheel. And undercutter with a wheel to clean the sides and clean the stone. It eats switches and cables for a breakfast!

[@ccrx6700]

LOL, sure wish we had an interchange with another RR Tuco so we could have had that one in here, man what a difference that would have made over the years.

[@tucobenedicto109]

@@ccrx6700 I thought i saw a smaller ballast cleaner, than the big machines. Not sure how it would travel on the road? (I.E.. oversize and DOT?) but this guy is moving rail equipment for service. And I think landoll or traleze has a trailer with rials embedded in it that he might have gotten. Midwest truck Towing. kzbin.info/www/bejne/nnSyoqCnh5qsia8

[@lestergillis8171]

That's exactly what I was thinking, looks like a mutant killer chain saw.

[@rakasome]

What a GREAT video, Dave. Amazing!!

[@ccrx6700]

Thank you Ray, i,'m glad you enjoyed watching it

[@MusicByWinston]

I looked up your railroad on Google satellite. Your rig working on cribbing ties can be seen in the image, so I surmise that cribbing is a constant battle. I'm curious... approximately how long does it take for fresh ballast to become so clogged with coal dust that it creates the waterlogged mess you have shown? In this video they only made a few ties' progress in 9 minutes, so looks like pretty slow going. Wouldn't it be a wise idea to take the coal cars to a shop and have tighter doors placed on them? I'm sure there will always be some leakage, but it looks like this is a pretty expensive problem for maintenance. I'm sure you have many other responsibilities besides just cribbing, but it does appear from the bulk of the videos I've seen that cribbing takes up most of your time.

[@ccrx6700]

Good question with no positive answer. It all depends on the amount of coal that is spilled in the track. If a car door opens and a whole lot of coal gets dumped and doesn't get cleaned up fairly quick, then every rain just pushes the coal deeper into the ballast until it gets saturated. If only fines drop out of not too leaky car doors then it takes many, many years to foul the ballast so it won't drain. Cribbing is a good part of what we do for sure, and a vital part. Our cars are worn out, they get extreme use, common car only gets dumped once or so a week on other RR's, here they get dumped 6 times per day, 7 days a week, that is extreme. Our mechanics are constantly working on these cars, however we do not have a dedicated car repair crew. These 4 mechanics here are also responsible for a plethora of other mechanical things here at our harbor, all the belts, all the electrical, machines, water treatment plant, etc. We need new cars and they are supposed to be in the process of purchasing at least 10 much newer hoppers.

[@MusicByWinston]

@@ccrx6700 WOW. I had no idea they made 6 trips a day. That's a lot of miles!

[@ccrx6700]

@@MusicByWinston 😊

[@shirleyharrington-moore9657]

What do the "teeth" look like on that hulcher machine, Dave? It apoears to work like a chain saw. Do you have a video that shows the cutting bar? I wonder how long one of those chains lasts

[@ccrx6700]

That is the best video I have of the undercutter Shirley, they are big teeth, rounded with a sharp point end. These machines are very high maintenance.

[@wayneakins7850]

Good job

[@ccrx6700]

Thanks Wayne

[@trainjunky247]

Thats real RR'ing lol .. i live along the csx kanawha sub wv, huge track equipment and fast pace! Lol

[@gunsaway1]

Neat machine

[@dangercloseusmc6902]

@ccrx6700, I just recently found your channel and I've spent several hours bingeing your videos. lol Very interesting and your positivity is very refreshing. You clearly love what you do and it shows. In addition, the videos are interesting and show the behind the scenes stuff most people don't think about but I love to learn about. Thanks for doing these, and I hope you keep it up!

[@ccrx6700]

Thank you sir, glad you are enjoying the show, stay tuned

[@awizardalso]

I think they should put ties under the rails to the track under the ties to keep the track from sinking when they dump ballast into the empty area.

[@ccrx6700]

Yep, sometimes they do when cutting under longer sections. It a common practice. Thanks for watching 👍

[@donaldwittmuss6079]

How do move your cribbing excavator up and down the line, with limited access points...

[@ccrx6700]

The one you are looking at has hi rails, my kubota mini excavator i have to tram alongside or on top of track roadbed

[@danilorainone406]

what material is being dug out from the track bed? coal?

[@ccrx6700]

Ballast contaminated with mud and coal fines. When the mud and coal get into the ballast and plug it up, then track surface will not hold, so by eliminating the fouled ballast we can put in all good stuff and keep the track surface up to grade. Thanks for watching the video today danilo.

[@melperry3576]

is that another track in the background against the retaining wall at curve 50?

[@ccrx6700]

No sir, we have all single main

[@davidbass7593]

Wow I was wondering how that was done

[@ronaldpiper4812]

No noise in illinois

[@ccrx6700]

Not being from there I didn't know that, so apologize for improper terminology, but your not the first to mention that Ronald, but that's how I learn. Appreciate your writing in and watching my friend.

[@michaelpass2176]

Good morning to you.why the undercut?

[@ccrx6700]

To get rid of a big mud hole Michael. Undercutting is great but takes a lot of time and since we don't usually have much dead track, we don't undercut a lot but rather just dig the mud out between the ties, it's not as effective but we can do that and keep trains running. Hope that helps.

[@RenaissancePeopleNYC]

and WHAT is the purpose?

[@ccrx6700]

Ballast under the track was polluted with coal fines and mud, so we are clean out all that bad stuff to replace with new

[@greggszyp7371]

Great info, great content, I really enjoy your videos. FYI for the proper pronounciation of Illinois the “s” is silent.

[@ccrx6700]

Okay thanks Gregg on the silent. Remember i'm from SW Pa...LOL Thanks for watching

[@dangercloseusmc6902]

After reading some comments, I see this operation is done to remove contaminated ballast. What does contaminated mean? Compacted, broken, etc? What makes ballast contaminated? Please forgive my ignorance, I'm just learning about this and it's incredibly interesting.

[@ccrx6700]

We have bottom discharge hopper cars so first way ballast gets contaminated is by leaking coal fines from gapped doors, that plugs ballast up. 2nd if ballast is plugged, water won't draim away, so when train goes over that area, it pushes water down into sub grade, then when train passes the ties come back up acting like a pump bringing mud back up. Repeated cycles of this further make the problem worse. Remedy is dig all the bad stuff and put new ballast in so water drains away. Mechanics try to kerp doors tight also. Hope that short exp. Helps sir

[@dangercloseusmc6902]

@@ccrx6700 That's fantastic and makes perfect sense. Thanks for explaining it so a layman could understand. I completely get how drainage is super important. I would imagine regular dirt would do the same thing on little-used lines and spurs and such.

[@jeffshisler2508]

Great video keep them coal trains on good track

[@ccrx6700]

Jeff, thank you very much for the very nice comment, glad you are enjoying watching

[@Swahnod]

Great video, but I will Echo Carl's question. Why are you doing this?

[@ccrx6700]

Don, the track bed ballast is plugged up with coal fines and mud, so there is no drainage. With a plugged up ballast, track surface won't hold very good, the track moves up and down as train loads and unloads. We undercut to remove all soiled old ballast, then fill in with new. Thank you for your comment sir, hope that helps

[@mikefightmaster]

Have you tried a bobcat with a screener to recycle the gravel. A screener will separate gravel from coal, then you can reuse gravel immediately.

[@ccrx6700]

Mike, pretty cool idea, we sure do lose a lot of gravel this way, am gonna do some research Thanks for the excellent suggestion

[@mikefightmaster]

On second thought a screener on an excavator or front loader might work better, depending on terrain. You'll figure it out

[@ccrx6700]

@@mikefightmaster Mike 👍👍gonna run that idea by them, thanks again

[@josiahhorner6705]

What does undercutting do?

[@ccrx6700]

Josiah, clean out contamnated ballast under track. Watch vid i made on Hulcher Undercutting Track to see it in action

[@michael-dm2bv]

@@ccrx6700 contaminated?

[@nmccw3245]

@@michael-dm2bv - from coal dust that drops from the hopper cars.

[@bhproductions1061]

Y did u put a cat 345f in the title when it’s a Cat 325F hybrid in the video

[@ccrx6700]

Yep Blaine, you are right, it been a long day. It a 325F

[@jimbos3421]

Minus the excavator, thats the same gizmo used to undercut the face in the salt mine I worked in for 13 years. Basically, a giant chainsaw!

[@ccrx6700]

Jimbo, interesting comment, thanks for sharing

[@ralfie8801]

You pronounce Illinois like "Toy", forget the "s" is on the the end, it's silent.

[@ccrx6700]

Sorry, i,m southwest Pa. I don't know any better, but am a learnin. Lets blame it on my grade school teachers, they shoulda taught me better 😏 do thank you for watching

[@ralfie8801]

Hey, you're good! I'm not offended, I'm from Texas! It just seems you should know some of those things so you don't sound like a goober on your videos. Keep up the good work, and be safe, from another RR worker. I was a MOW work equipment mechanic for a while, used to build some ballast regulators from kits supplied by Kershaw in our shop.

[@littlewingpsc27]

It cost $20K just to load two machines on a trailer and drive them from Illinois to SW Pennsylvania? Tell me that included the rental of the machines too for the week, and not just the transportation fee. Seems like it shouldn't take so long to clear that out.

[@ccrx6700]

Hukcher owns the tractors, no rental. Mobilization costs are exhorbitant! But remember they had to buy permitting for 3 states also, yes the costs are unreal, but thats what it is. Nothing on railroad is cheap anymore, just adds to operating costs and ultimately you and i the consumers pay

[@bluegrassman3040]

@@ccrx6700 Ive been told RJ Corman is expensive. When I worked at a chemical plant in Henderson, KY, we had to have them come out and re-rail some tank cars. They had to use two side booms cranes, which was neat to watch.

[@ccrx6700]

@@bluegrassman3040 weve had Corman here before a few times, Hulcher mostly, i think Corman was more expensive. They both did good work. Yes it is neat to watch them work

[@bluegrassman3040]

@@ccrx6700 I could see where they would be. They came out to my previous employer, about 5 or 6 years ago. At the time it was something astronomical an hour labor charges, and the clock starts when the phone call is made.

[@ccrx6700]

@@bluegrassman3040 yep you right in that, we always said the phone call is $10,000

[@tomharrington1393]

🚂🚂

[@SonnyMcDonald]

This machine is slow if you’re going to shut down your tracks you need a lot better cutter

[@bradfordthompson8326]

Hey are we supposed to enjoy this ......We are concerned.....only ...Because ...we enjoy "The smiling exculator operator"......YES ""SUPER DAVE 😀".......IF THIS IS OK....WITH Dave "?....(DAVE, WHICH IS BETTER CRIBBING ,OR THIS OPERATIONS 😀 OF UNDERMINING....IF DAVE EVER RUNS OUT OF TRACKAGE TO CLEAN........WE SURE COULD USE "SUPER DAVE 😀" EXPERIENCE " ON LAKE WHATCOM RAILWAY " IN BELLINGHAM WASHINGTON STATE.... 3 MILES OF TRACK ......IF YOU VISIT WE BRING YOU ON A MOTOR CAR RIDE....WE CAN SHOW YOU SOME BEAUTIFUL NORTHERN PACIFIC RAILWAY PASSENGERS CARS AND A 1907 O-6-0 L-9 STEAM LOCOMOTIVE AND A 1941 ALCO S2 DIESAL ....OH DAVE WE LOVE YOUR FUN INSPIRATION VIDEOS LONGER THE BETTER.....WE THICK "SMILES DAVE" FORGETS THAT HE INSPIRATION SOME WONDERFUL IDEAS FOR US ALL....THANK YOU FOR "LETTING US ALL RIDE ALONG ....YOU DO BEAUTIFUL TRACK WORK....EXTREMELY IMPRESSIVE.....YOU MAKE IT LOOK EASY ....IT SHOWS YOUR EXPERIENCE...WOULD LOVE TO GET YOUR SUGGESTIONS ON OUR TRACKAGE???....HOPE IF YOU AND YOUR WIFE IS EVER IN WICKERSHAM WASHINGTON..NEAR BELLINGHAM ABOUT 28 MINS ....BE A EXCITING VISIT FOR ALL OF US....

[@ccrx6700]

Thank you for your very kind words Bradford. Undercutting is a superior method of mud elimination, however it requires a lot of dead track to do. Cribbing can be done while they are still running a train. Cribbing is far less expensive also, 1 week for an undercutter to come in is over $40,000. Very much appreciate your dropping by and taking in the video today my friend.