Ballast Cleaners, Maintaining Proper DrainageBallast cleaners, also known as shoulder cleaners, are complicated looking machines that perform a basic but very important task, keeping ballast free from debris and dirt so it can most efficiently drain water away from the track structure (ties and rails). Early shoulder cleaners date back to the steam era and interestingly they haven't really changed all that much over the decades, although today they are somewhat larger and more efficient.
If you are unfamiliar with what ballast is it is another important part of railroad infrastructure, and usually comes in the form of crushed stone. Although it may just look like plain ole gravel this stone plays a vital role in acting as a support base for the ties and rails as well as allowing for proper drainage of water away from the rails (which is why the stone is always sloped downward and away from track). You may be wondering how such a term came to define the stone which supports the track structure. Interestingly, it has its roots dating back to early times when stone was used as ballasting for sailing ships. Of course, while crushed stone (often limestone or quartz) is the aggregate of choice for today's railroads in years past everything from slag to cinders has been used (always resourceful years ago railroads would use whatever they could find). Some light density branch lines would appear jet black as nothing but burnt coal cinders were used to ballast the route.
The newest mechanical ballast cleaners of today typically work by removing the soiled stones about 2 to 3 feet away from the ties and roughly six inches below the track getting as close to the ties as possible without possibly damaging them. By doing this shoulder cleaners can usually reach about 30 or 40% of the ballast, leaving of course that which is under the ties and rails. However, railroads are willing to accept this as cleaning the ballast along the rails most effectively restores proper drainage to the track structure by allowing the silt and debris caught up under and around the ties and rails to then wash away. The amount of ballast which can be cleaned depends on what the machine's trailing hoppers can hold. If it wasn't for this fact ballast cleaners could work indefinitely, rumbling along at just 1 or 2 mph scooping up material. In any event, once the hoppers are full work must be stopped until they are emptied and returned on site. While railroads sometimes still do ballast work themselves (and will even build their own custom-made equipment, something the Southern Railway was famous for) often times today they will contract it out to companies like Loram, which also does a number of other maintenance jobs like undercutting, ditching, and rail grinding.
For more reading about ballast cleaners you may want to consider the book Railway Maintenance Equipment: The Men and Machines That Keep the Railroads Running from noted author Brian Solomon. Throughout the book's 128 pages Solomon covers all types of maintenance equipment from tampers and undercutters to Jordan Spreaders and rotary snow plows. I own this book myself and have used it as reference material for this site many times. It's a great read on an often little understood area of railroading. If you're interested in perhaps purchasing this book please visit the link below which will take you to ordering information through Amazon.com, the trusted online shopping network.
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