Tamping machine


A tamping machine or ballast tamper is a machine used to pack the track ballast under railway tracks to make the tracks more durable. Prior to the introduction of mechanical tampers, this task was done by manual labour with the help of beaters. As well as being faster, more accurate, more efficient and less labour-intensive, tamping machines are essential for the use of concrete sleepers since they are too heavy to be lifted by hand. Whilst also available as a plain tamper with no lifting or lining function this article will focus on the multi function machines.
Early machines only lifted the track and packed the ballast. More modern machines, sometimes known as a tamper-liner or tamping and lining machine, also correct the alignment of the rails to make them parallel and level, in order to achieve a more comfortable ride for passengers and freight and to reduce the mechanical strain applied to the rails by passing trains. This is done by finding places where the sleepers have sunk from the weight of the passing trains or frost action, causing the track to sag. The tamper lifts each sleeper and the rails up, and packs ballast underneath. When the sleeper is laid down again, the sagged rails now sit at the proper level. In cases where frost action has caused adjacent rails to rise higher, ballast tampers can raise rails above their original level to make the line level again. "Lining" rails doesn't involve ballast tamping, it merely ensures the rails are perfectly parallel and straight as possible. Combining tamping and lining into a single machine saves time and money, as only one machine needs to be run over the track to perform both functions.

Functions

Tamper machines are built in many different varieties depending on their purpose:
The tamping process from any type of tamper consists of the following basic steps:
  1. Lifting, lining unit moves rail and sleepers under tamping unit into correct vertical and horizontal position
  2. Tamping units drive vibrating tines into the ballast on both sides of the sleeper until squeezing depth is achieved
  3. Vibrating tines are pushed together to pack ballast under lifted, lined sleeper to ensure it holds position when released by the lifting, lining unit
  4. Tamping unit retracts to rest position slightly above railhead, track is released by lifting, lining unit
  5. Machine moves to the next sleeper and begins a new cycle

    Standard tamping machine arrangement

The basic principles and functions of a tamping machine remain the same regardless of manufacturer with only minor differences in design.

Drive

The majority of track machines are powered by a diesel engine. This provides power to the driving wheels via either a hydrostatic circuit or cardan shaft, allowing the machine to propel itself to and around a work-site. The engine also drives a hydraulic pump to provide power for the various tools.

Lifting Lining Unit

The lifting lining unit of a tamping machine is used to lift and hold the track in corrected position while being tamped. All types of units require the following components to achieve this task:
The lifting lining unit is usually secured to the main machine chassis via an hydraulically length adjustable trailing arm, The arm is adjustable so that the unit can be moved clear of small obstructions such as insulated joints or wires.

Tamping units

The Tamping units of most Tamping machines will consist of:
To generate the vibration needed for penetration and consolidation there are two leading methods commonly used:
A less common method more often seen on tamping head attachments for excavators is to use a motor driven vibrator assembly that is directly bolted to the support frame.

Specialist tamping machines

Continuous Action Tamping Machines

A Continuous Action Tamping Machine can pack between one and four sleepers at a time, with outputs between 320m/h and 2600m/h generally anticipated.

Dynamic Tamping Express

The 'Tamping Express' is a machine developed by Plasser & Theurer, and in the UK & Europe is referred to as the 09-3X. This machine consists of a conventional CAT stylish satellite with tooling for 3 sleepers in continuous succession, along with a full DTS stabilising unit suspended from the rear most vehicle in the machine.

DGS / DTS (Dynamic Track Stabilising)

Tamping and cleaning operations have the adverse effect of reducing the resistance of the track to lateral movement. The resistance gradually recovers with the passage of trains, but may require a speed restriction imposed for the duration. This 'consolidation' can be achieved faster and in a more controlled manner using mechanised equipment known as the Dynamic Track Stabiliser.
A DTS will normally be used only after a stretch of track has been tamped and aligned.
D.G.S. has a vibrating unit which holds the track in position and applies a horizontal vibration and vertical load to simulate the passage of trains. The track parameters, before and after stabilising, can be viewed through bogies in the front and rear.
Dynamic Track Stabilising has the following advantages, resulting in enhanced safety:
The stabilisation achieved by one pass of a D.G.S. is equal to that achieved by 100,000 tonnes of traffic, and allows a speed restriction of 20 km/h to be relaxed to 40 km/h
Dynamic stabilisation is usually avoided on bridges or around overhead structures since there is a risk of damage to foundations.

Tamping and track layouts

The appropriate tamping procedures and tamping machine depends in part on the track layout.
On plain track everything is fairly straight forward and any brand and model of machine can be used.
But through tunnels and bridges with no ballast to tamp, special measures are needed to transition from the ballasted track to the unballasted track. An example would be the Glenbrook Tunnel
Turnouts require a more complicated tamping machine with extra and adjustable tongs to cater for the extra rails and variable spacing of the sleepers. Similarly for dual gauge such as between Perth and Northam.
Ideally turnouts and diamond crossings should be some distance apart so the each component can be tamped without having to immediately tamp the other components. However a majority of track components are right next to each other so that these components need to be tamped as a group in multiple small stages.
Track centres determine whether one end of a crossover, consisting of two turnouts, can be tamped one at a time, with train traffic still running on the other track.

Brands