The expectation: maximum efficiency with minimal downtime.
The reality: MOW crews are always up against things they can’t control, like weather and weather-related damage, and they’re often dependent on equipment that isn’t specifically designed to withstand the rigors of railroad work.
Challenges are part of the job. But equipment is one thing we can control. And equipment that’s purpose-built for railroad maintenance and construction, like BTE’s specialized hi-rail equipment, can make it easier to manage the demands of keeping rail infrastructure safe and operational.
ROI is an obvious draw, and specialty maintenance equipment can quickly improve track time utilization and reduce operational costs. The biggest benefit of working with machines and attachments that are engineered specifically for railroad applications, though: enhanced safety features that ensure your people—your most important resource—are better protected.
The Evolution of Railroad Maintenance Equipment
We’ve come a long way since the days of manual track gangs with spike mauls, lining bars, and muscle. But the industry also had a ton of ground to make up, particularly when it comes to worker safety. In the early days of railroads in America, railyards were so perilous they needed their own railway surgeons to keep up with injuries.
“People were being asked to work in dangerous situations,” Mike Esbester, a senior lecturer at the University of Portsmouth, told travel company Atlas Obscura. “The companies, which were profit-oriented, didn’t have the same concept of safety culture as we do now.”
Modernized, electric-powered equipment, mostly designed for highway construction, started making its way to the rails from the 1940s-1970s. These machines were more efficient than manual labor, but they weren’t optimized for the unique demands of railroad work. Which meant rail workers still had to compromise on both efficiency and safety.
The specialized hi-rail equipment available today, from modern hi-rail excavators to specialized tie handling attachments, shows a radically different approach. Companies like BTE can custom-engineer machines and attachments specifically for railroad applications, basing everything from design to material choices on solving challenges that are unique to these needs.
The rise of specialized equipment, combined with enhanced safety regulations and improved on-the-job practices, prompted dramatic increases in productivity, track quality, and most importantly, employee safety. Even just since the turn of the century, on-duty railroad employee injuries have decreased nearly 27% (according to Association of American Railroads data).
Where Specialized Hi-Rail Equipment Excels
Every railroad maintenance and construction application benefits from specialized equipment. When tools are optimized specifically for the job, you get the most out of every man hour.
But when it comes to the applications that require the most precision or that have the highest potential for danger, purpose-built equipment changes everything.
A few key examples:
Tie Work
Concrete ties are dangerous to manage and tough to unload, handle, space, and place. BTE’s tie work solutions, engineered with upgrades like 360-degree rotation for precision and tungsten carbide-tipped jaws for a more secure grip, simplify and streamline the process. Using BTE’s Tie Dragon, railroad contractors are reaching production rates of 1,200 concrete ties picked, spaced, and placed in a single shift.
Bridge Work
Bridge maintenance applications can put railroad crews in precarious positions. Specialized equipment takes the instability and uncertainty that comes with the territory into consideration, and integrates solutions.
The BTE-308 Hi-Rail Excavator includes an optional bridge tie configuration with Bridge Mode, which alerts operators to unstable and unsafe positioning and limits risky movements until both the machine and boom are completely secure. Roller Rail Clamps offer more stability by ensuring the machine and rail are properly coupled.
By extending boom reach, visibility, and lifting power, BTE bridge work attachments, including the Trackjack and Panel Lifter, make tasks safer and faster, with crews completing as many as 200 tie changes an hour.
Emergency Response
When MOW crews are responding to washouts, derailments, or storm damage, every minute counts. Specialized equipment means faster response and recovery.
Optimizing for emergency response means solving for efficiency while minimizing crew involvement. With BTE’s Hi-Rail Excavator and Panel Lifter system, operators can manage necessary movement from the cab, picking panels, maneuvering them into place, and quickly switching attachments as needed. Crews can move up to 20 track panels in 45 minutes, getting repairs done and rails operational faster and easier.
Undercutting and Tamping
With one operator, a BTE Hi-Rail Excavator and specialized BTE fouled ballast solutions, MOW crews can remove ballast and debris faster and easier while protecting the track’s rails and ties. The drop in maintenance hours and downtime alone can carry the ROI.
Finding the Right Specialized Hi-Rail Equipment
Moving more track panels in 45 minutes, changing more ties per hour—every one of these efficiency upgrades contributes to how rail maintenance operations showcase success.
Specialized hi-rail equipment helps cut track outage times, translating to more traffic and more revenue. It lets smaller crews who don’t have the luxury of extensive work blocks get more done, faster, and it helps ensure proper installation of track components, leading to longer service life and maintenance cycles. Equipment that’s made precisely for what you do is almost all upside.
In a perfect world, every rail crew, from large railroads to short lines, would have access to specialized equipment for every application. But more often, MOW directors and managers have to balance getting the right equipment at the right time, based on a range of individual budgetary and project-planning factors.
Things to consider in that balancing act:
Flexibility and Compatibility
Hi-rail machines that are specialized for rail construction and maintenance allow MOW crews to maximize the versatility of both the machine and the team.
BTE Hi-Rail Excavators, for example, are outfitted with the proprietary Automatic Tool Recognition system, which makes rapid changes between specialized attachments fast and error-proof. A single BTE machine can adapt to almost any maintenance task a railroad operation faces, from tie handling to undercutting to rail threading, in a matter of moments.
The mobility of specialty hi-rail equipment adds another layer of flexibility and value. Machines that can travel on-rail and on the road make it easier and faster for crews to transport equipment between work sites.
Total Cost of Ownership Calculations
Specialized hi-rail equipment often carries a higher cost up front, but when you consider total cost of ownership—looking beyond purchase price to calculate lifecycle costs—purpose-built machines come out on top.
True ROI factors in improvements in productivity, reduced downtime, extended component life, and lower maintenance costs.
Short and Long Term Needs
Every operation has a different blend of ongoing maintenance needs and planned projects. By adding short-term or long-term leasing to your equipment equation, you can upgrade or downsize on a more flexible timeline.
BTE offers leasing and purchasing options for our hi-rail machines and attachments (along with flexible financing), because we’ve optimized our business—not just our equipment—to align with what railroad operations need.
Explore BTE Machines and Attachments
Whether you’re looking to improve your crew’s abilities to respond to emergency repair needs or planning major capital improvements, BTE’s hi-rail machines and specialized attachments are designed to deliver the performance, reliability, and efficiency that rail operations demand.
And since we’ve been focusing on this industry exclusively for more than 50 years, we get the unique challenges railroad operations face.
If you have questions or want to discuss how BTE equipment can benefit your crew, please reach out. If we haven’t already designed the solution to your specific problems, we can custom-engineer it.
