Loram ballast cleaner SBC-35 in action

6/5/20
On a beautiful summer day, I stumbled upon a Loram Shoulder Ballast Cleaner: SBC-35. These machines are quite complex, and work to remove dirt from the shoulders of the track. The large digging wheels pick up the ballast from the shoulder, and the conveyor belts move it to the screen. The screen shakes out the ballast from the dirt by separating them based on particle size, with the dirt being sent away from the track using another conveyor. The plows are then used to reshape the track profile. Though these machines are slow, they are very mesmerizing to watch! The first scene shows the machine moving towards the Detroit Lakes Subdivison on the Paynesville Subdivision, while the rest show the machine working in Vergas, Minnesota. Also included is a CP ballast train passing through Vergas with three GMD SD40-2s. More on that to come.

[@carrollcameron7472]

How could anyone think-up and build, that set of machinery, is beyond me. The same with the rail grinder and it's 862 grinders, each with a different angle to grind (I may have exaggerated the 862 grinders, it just seems that way with all the sparks and smoke lol). Anyway, thank you for posting this. I had never saw a ballast cleaner in action before.

[@baminibaum1301]

I think the same thing. Who in the hell conceives the machinery. I watched a machine come along the rail line the first part pulled spike out of the timbers, then almost at the same instance latched on to the old timber vibrated it out, and vibrated another one in and replaced the spikes securing the new rail timber into place. then it moved on to the next old timber that was marked and repeated the process. It was almost an instantaneous operation.

[@kleetus92]

What I was surprised with in the first clip is how much material was being discarded vs the amount of ballast going back in. Maybe the lighting was making it look less, but I'd swear that 75% of the material picked up was being discarded, whereas on the second mainline clip, it looked a whole lot better only discarding maybe 10% of material. Great video!

[@wrandowc]

Depends on the track some rock is dirty

[@ocsrc]

The ballast is cleaned to provide for drainage. If you have a coal line, all the coal dust clogs the ballast and the ties rot because they can't drain away the water

[@jessiemcfarland3666]

@ocsrc that makes sense. I couldn't imagine why they were cleaning rocks.

[@stephenrice4554]

Puts me in mind of the cleaning jobs we had on the mainline , ballast cleaner , with a rake of spoil wagons on the next road , then a stone train and a tamper to finish it off . Long job but saved a lot of shovel bashing . 👍🇬🇧

[@dennisb-trains23]

Ahhhhhh look like a beautiful hot summer day. Cool video.

[@ratdog3055]

Interesting to watch, but someone telling the why and how the equipment works would be a great help in understanding the operation

[@roberthenry9319]

Absolutely.

[@kleetus92]

The how isn't super complicated, it's a screening system that separates finer, lighter material away from the track ballast, much like you'd have at any gravel quarry. The why is to extend the life of the track and ties... by removing the fine material that invariably fall from other hopper cars traveling the line, it allows water to better drain from the roadbed so the ties do not rot. This also helps in keeping mud from forming which along with rotting the wood ties, can also cause the roadbed to get soft and not maintain a level surface for the train to travel over. This reduces the flex on the rail and prevents rail cracks and defects. Also by eliminating undue flexing like that, higher speeds can be ran to deliver product faster. What's missing from this particular system is ballast cleaning from between the rails and ties. That process is a lot slower and requires a lot more work. This is a good first or interim step before doing major track refurbishment.

[@markg.2501]

@@kleetus92 Thank you very much....I appreciate your explanation.

[@digitalmoviedv]

Interesting and complete report! Great scene and camera work. Greetings from Italy. Ciao, Stefano.

[@nancylynch6045]

Those poor guys working with all that dust! I hope they had masks on. Amazing machine.

[@dafterite]

2:05 - Those two guys in front must be showing it where to go. 😁

[@pureblood8427]

Using that porta shitter while moving has to be an experience.

[@chrisstromberg6527]

Yes the workers are human, who would have guessed.😒

[@kkoch666]

Looks like a maintenance nightmare

[@KhangLuRailVideos]

I actually worked on a machine like this last summer, SBC-17. It wasn't bad at all!

[@floodedcar123]

Pretty cool

[@brandonharrischannel7516]

Never seen those before

[@geneva760]

HA - who would have thought that watching stones get 'cleaned' was so enjoyable - HA - a great find indeed - probably a 'once in a lifetime' rail watching experience - thanks for sharing. Just a thought for the workers though - they should have proper dust masks on - I am sure that there is a high risk of silicosis of the lungs from that type of dust. Forgive my ignorance - but why do they "clean" the ballast//stones? HA - did anyone notice the dragonfly entering the view at around 10:58? Have a safe and nice day all. This was a NEATO video - thanks again. CHEERS from AUSTRALIA.

[@davep6977]

they clean the stone for better drainage. Stone stone with sand and dirt holds water and rots the ties + dirt can't handle the weight of the trains

[@user-jh5gg1dz8n]

Frecherylb 24❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤happy

[@brandonharrischannel7516]

That’s fast

[@CosgroveNotts]

No dust suppression?

[@donl3248]

Where do you go for parts when there’s a breakdown? It not like there’s a NAPA in every town for track maintenance machines.

[@madtrucker0983]

I assume they keep many spares of the parts in store that need servicing the most often.

[@tigerofviolet]

That’s baby lol. It’s my fiancé’s machine 😊

[@mikekline7299]

Who’s your fiancé, cuz it ain’t old balding

[@tigerofviolet]

Nope his name is Nick.

[@mikekline7299]

Not nick, I always thought he was gay! He would always try to cuddle me in my room. Huh who knew.

[@tigerofviolet]

Lmfao desperate times call for desperate measures I guess 😂

[@mikekline7299]

Tell my butt hole that

[@saintswillwin1013]

Around the 9:00 mark the left broom isn't down.

[@chrisstromberg6527]

They were about to cross a grad3 crossing at that point.

[@Steinstra-vj7wl]

Those man walk all day in that dust without masks - terrible.

[@thomascrowell3835]

Why clean ballast?

[@volvotgb9999]

Dirt, debris etc. reduce the stability (interlocking) of the ballast. See here a German one with explanations (use subtitle). kzbin.info/www/bejne/aZXHmqqhqNWLrqc

[@madtrucker0983]

It separates the gravel from dirt mostly from coal trains to improve drainage. If they don't the railroad will become waterlogged.

[@jonnie2bad]

a machine that cleans dirt ........ why is this a thing?

[@richardholte1859]

Taking movie in the shadow! Bad

[@bendover9411]

Why clean rocks lmao 😂

[@residivisblongkiri]

🙄

[@trappenweisseguy27]

A solution in search of a problem.

[@Andrew-vo9ev]

LORAM COMPANY SUCKS 👎

[@williambryan9087]

so do you, cupcake