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Railroad Tie Extractors/Inserters

Please note that the images here depict general railroad MOW equipment, not tie extractors/inserters.

Railroad tie extractors/inserters (since the machine can both pull ties from beneath the rail as well as re-insert new ties) have greatly improved the efficiencies by which railroads can maintain their infrastructure and replace ties. Tie extractors/inserters have been in use for several decades now and today come in a wide range of models, depending on what type of job they are being asked to perform. For instance, there are small, singe-operated models to do quick maintenance work while very large models are available to replace and relay ties very quickly (usually these are employed when entire section of main line is being overhauled).

Railroad tie extractors/inserters almost always work as some kind of mechanized gang, usually as part of a tie gang (which today normally consists of an army of machines, not men). Today's tie gangs includes such machines as spike or rail anchor pullers (which pull the spikes/anchors clear of the tie), tie cranes (which remove the railroad ties once they are free of the rails), tie extractors/inserters (different from a tie crane these machines work vertically to remove or replace the railroad tie from underneath the rail), and spike inserters (as you might have guessed these machines use hydraulics to quickly drive spikes down in the tie plate and tie itself).

If very heavy work is being done other large equipment will be used such as a mechanized tie relaying machine (which is essentially a type of railroad tie inserter) and/or even a rail train if new rail is to be laid. As it is, tie gangs may look like machines simply heading off to work in an elephant line. However, they are actually very coordinated work details with each machine and accompanying operator assigned a very specific task to get the work done as quickly as possible. The reason for speed and hastiness in finishing a maintenance job is simply, to keep the trains and goods moving. Delays are quite costly and avoided at all costs because if the freight isn't delivered the railroad's don't get paid!

Railroad tie extractors/inserters, like most maintenance equipment used in the industry, have little symmetry to them and all of the working parts are exposed and on display for all to see (which do make them interesting to watch as an observer). Using hydraulics to accomplish the heavy lifting and pulling a single-operated tie extractor today can remove as many as seven ties a minute. Compare this to the days when railroad maintenance required armies of men to remove spent ties using tongs and shovels, and everything was done by hand.

To remove a used today today, typical railroad tie extractor, even a small model, will apply nearly 40,000 pounds of force to the rail (lifting it so the machine can free the tie) as well as nearly 20,000 pounds to the tie itself to pull it free. If the job is small the same machine will replace the tie but if a large section of main line is being overhauled the tie relaying machine will be employed.

For more information about railroad maintenance equipment you may want to consider picking up a copy of Brian Solomon's book, Railway Maintenance: The Men and Machines That Keep the Railroads Running. I have a copy of the book and not only used it for reference in covering all of the railroad maintenance equipment featured on this site but also found it very interesting as I learned much about a subject of the industry I had known only little about before. If you’re interested in learning more about the maintenance aspect of railroading you will definitely enjoy this book. If you're interested in perhaps purchasing it please visit The Railroad Diamond by clicking the tab in the menu to your left marked "TRD Store".

Also, for even more information about railroad tie extractors/inserters, spike pullers, ballast cleaners, railroad undercutters, ditch diggers, and other MOW equipment please click here to return to the main menu.

For more reading about tie extractors 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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