Last night there was a massive noise on the railway outside my house which woke me up (like a consistent banging), I looked outside and it was a moving piece of machinery with sparks underneath it, it was quite long. I was wondering if anyone could shed some light on this, thanks.
It's a rail grinder Odd as it may sound, the running surface of steel rail can get rough and even corrugated much like a highway. There are special trains with grinding wheels that smooth and reshape the top (or ball) of the rail back to it's original slightly curved shape. When they are in operation there are several dozen wheels spinning as they reshape the rail, quite an impressive sight at night. EDIT: Derail, haha, yeahhhh, apparently it doesnt take much to be top contributer other than a ton of BS :-)
This could be a machine laying replacement rails. Today they lay Continuous Welded Rail (CWR) which would require a long vehicle, operating welding equipment close to track level. Most railway machinery is noisy.
The piece of machinery that you are talking about Sounds like a rail head grinder. Its used to smooth out the rails so when a train passes your hous it will seem quieter, and for the passengers the ride witll be smoother. The machine can also be used to cut out damanged pieces of track and fix a new piece in all at the same time hence the grinder to smooth out the welding. I hope that my answer helps. Joolz
I gotta go with the rail grinder. Grinding the rails reshapes them back to the profile they were when still new. This adds life to the rail when in the past they had to be replaced due to wear. Most often, the rail grinder is operated by a private contractor who owns the machine. It is usually in demand all year round throughout the country. I don't know what it costs to run that machine with all it does, the continuous maintenance, and the crew of men that operate it, but it must be thousands of dollars per hour. Still, it's cheaper than replacing rail. Whoa. Rango is a Top Contributor now.
What you saw was a rail grinder. Large spinning grinding wheels put a taper back on the rail. This helps keep the rail cars centered on the track as they move forward down the line. This process is very load and the smell is worse.
