US2993451A - Ballast plow for use under railroad tracks - Google Patents

Description

July 25, 1961 N. c. PEPF'IN BALLAST PLOW FOR USE UNDER RAILROAD TRACKS Filed Jan. 6, 1959 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 July 25, 1961 c, PEPPIN 2,993,451

BALLAST PLOW FOR USE UNDER RAILROAD TRACKS July 25, 1961 N. c. PEPPlN BALLAST PLOW FOR USE UNDER RAILROAD TRACKS Filed Jan. 6, 1959 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 July 25, 1961 N. c. PEPPlN BALLAST PLOW FOR use: UNDER RAILROAD TRACKS Filed Jan. 6, 1959 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 /w/ N k m mv 51 w III N a Eli M mm H mill! om i x 1- 0 I N m m lllh lN No o IH L w & l IIHE: W @W h M 111 H O mm 8 w J7 N \m\ P 0w mm r A 5 mm mm 0% an United States Patent 2,993,451 BALLAST PLOW FOR USE UNDER RAILROAD TRACKS Neal C. Peppin, Delano, Minn., assignor to Mannix Co. Ltd., Calgary, Alberta, Canada Filed Jan. 6, 1959, Ser. No. 785,225 1 Claim. (Cl. '1047) This invention relates to under-track devices of the socalled ballast plow type.

Ballast plows are employed for removing fouled ballast from a railroad roadbed. A ballast plow is inserted between the roadbed and the ties to which the track rails are secured and is then towed along the track in this position by a locomotive. As the plow progresses, it raises the ties from the roadbed ahead of it, supports the ties and the rails secured thereto, as the device passes underneath, and finally allows the tracks to settle back onto the roadbed or sub-grade behind the device. The weight of the ties and rails supported by the plow is considerable, the plow is therefore pressed firmly down against the ballast. By providing the plow with one or more scraper blades, it is possible to separate a layer of ballast and displace this ballast to the sides of the track beyond the ends of the ties so that this displaced ballast can be readily removed when the ties resettle.

In a ballast plow designed for use on single track, the blades are arranged to displace the ballast to both sides of the track. On the other hand, a ballast plow for use on double track will require to have the blade arrangement such that the ballast will all be displaced to that side of the track being plowed which is remote from the adjacent track. Otherwise, some of the ballast would be deflected onto the adjacent track or too close to the adjacent track to facilitate its convenient subsequent removal.

Reference may be made to L. B. Franco and I. C. Stein US. patent application No. 460,789, filed October 7, 1954, for examples of ballast plows suitable for use on both double and single tracks.

The present invention is directed towards improvements in ballast plows generally and particularly to improvements in the double track type of plow, that is a plow which displaces all the ballast to one side of the track.

Double track is especially prone to become tilted during use. The reason for this is that the ballast that tends to be displaced away from each track by the passage of trains can move more readily towards the outside of the double track than towards the space between the tracks. Between the tracks the ballast may be built up level with the ballast underlying each track, or there may be a drainage ditch. Such a ditch tends, however, to become filled with debris and with ballast deflected from each track. The tendency thus is for there to be less difference of level between each track and the space between the tracks than between each track and the area on the outward side of each track, that is the side remote from the other track. This tendency is usually accentuated by the drainage ditches provided on both sides of the double track. The result of this effect is for each track to lose more ballast from its outside edge than from its inside edge with consequent outward tilting of each track. When such outwardly tilted track is plowed, the plow will tend to run with a similar tilt to the horizontal so that no correction of the tilt is efiected.

The principal object of the present invention is to provide a ballast plow capable of running without transverse tilt under a track that is tilted. This requires that the ends of the plow blades nearer the outside edge of the track should take a shallower out than the ends of the blades at the inside edge. In other words the blades, or

Patented July 25, 1961 at least the rearmost blade which will be set to take the deepest out should extend across the plow with its lower edge extending horizontally, notwithstanding the natural lie of the ballast.

The invention may be defined as a ballast plow for removing ballast from the surface of a railroad roadbed, comprising a generally flat framework constructed for drawing along between the roadbed and the ties while supporting the weight of said ties and a span of track, blade means projecting downwardly from the undersur face of said framework, a pair of shoe devices each including a horizontally extending plate, means mounting said shoe devices on said framework for vertical movement relative thereto in positions rearward of said blade means with a said shoe device on each side of the frontto-rear center line of the plow, the path of movement of each said shoe device including a position in which the plate of said device projects below the lowermost edge of said blade means, and control means for adjusting and maintaining the vertical position of each said shoe device relative to said framework.

The chief application of the present invention will be to double track plows, for the reasons explained above;

the invention may, however, be used with single track plows which are sometimes called upon to plow tilted track.

The various features of the invention will become apparent from the appended claim and from consideration of the under-track device illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawings. Because of the particular utility of the invention with double track plows, such a plow has been chosen to exemplify the invention.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 shows a plan view of a section of double track demonstrating the manner of use of a ballast plow modified according to the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is a side elevation of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a plan view of the plow shown alone on a larger scale;

FIGURE 4 is a side view of the plow seen from the lower edge of FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 5 is an underside plan view of the plow seen in FIGURES 3 and 4;

FIGURE 6 is a rear view of the plow on an enlarged scale seen in the direction VI-VI in FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 7 is a further enlarged fragmentary view taken on the line VII-VII in FIGURE 3 and showing a shoe device in a first position;

FIGURE 8 is similar to FIGURE 7 showing the shoe device in a second position; and

FIGURE 9 is a section on IX-IX in FIGURE 4.

FIGURES l and 2 demonstrate the manner in which the ballast plow 10 is towed by cables 11 from a towing bar 12 connected by further cables 13 to a mounting 14 which is slidable on a transverse bar 15 secured to the rear of a flat car 16. Control over the transverse movement of the mounting 14 along the bar 15 is effected by means of a screw-threaded rod 17 controlled by handle 18. The purpose of this transversely slidable mounting is to be able to move the towing bar 12 to one side or other of the track to compensate for curvature of the track to avoid the plow 10 tending to cut the corner on a curve.

This assembly is towed along track 23 by means of a locomotive 19. The plow 10 is being employed to skeletonize or plow out the track. Initially, in front of the plow 10 the ties 20 are resting on a layer of ballast 21 which in turn rests on the sub-grade 22. The advancing plow 10 slides along the sub-grade 22, raises the track 23 in advance of itself, and plows the ballast 21 out to the side of the track 23 which is remote from the neighboring track 24. Rearwardly of the plow the track 23 settles back onto the sub-grade 22. i

3 V I Also shown in FIGURES 1 and 2 is a liner device 25 of the type described in detail in United States patent application No. 650,111 of I. W. Christolf, filed April 2, 1957. This liner 25 is towed behind the plow by means of a cable 26 connected to the mounting 14 for this purpose. Alternative positions for securing the forward end of the cable 26 are the centre of the towing bar 12 or a suitable point at the rear of the plow 10.

As the track 23 settles back onto the sub-grade 22, the liner 25 effectively interconnects the inside rail 27 of the track 23 with the inside rail 28 of the adjacent track 24 just in advance of the position where the ties of the elevated track 23 settle back down onto the sub-grade 22. In this manner any tendency on the part of track 23 to become misaligned in relation to track 24 is prevented, track 24 providing a firm datum from which to line up track 23.

For details of structure of the ballast plow 10, attention is directed towards FIGURES 3 to 8. Referring firstly to FIGURES 3 to 6, the plow 10 will be seen to consist of a structure of rigid construction comprising a main plate 33 of steel, to the underside of which there are secured five curved steel moleboards 34, 35, 36, 37 and 38. These moleboards are curved in cross-section and extend rearwardly and parallel to one another towards the side edge 39 of the plate 33 from various points across the plate 33, the moleboard 34 extending only a quarter of the distance across the plow, the moleboard 35 extending half the distance across the plow, the moleboard 36 extending three-quarters of the distance across the plow, and the moleboards 37 and 38 each extending the full distance across the plow from one edge 40 to the other edge 39. A plurality of struts 41 extend between the undersurface of the main plate 33 and the rear surfaces of the moleboards 34, 35, 36, 37 and 38 to aid the rigidity of the structure.

Each moleboard serves to mount a scraper blade 44, 45, 46, 47 and 48 respectively. Each such blade is mounted on its supporting moleboard by means of a number of bolt and nut assemblies 42 that pass through holes in the blades and slots in the moleboards. By this means each blade can be adjusted in position relative to its moleboard to vary the cutting angle of the blade and, to some extent, to vary the cutting depth of the blade.

Wing members 75, 76, 77 and 78 are provided at the side 39 of the plow to act as extensions of the plow blades. These wing members fit into slotted cavities at the rearward end of each blade and project for varying distances outwardly of the plow.

Projecting forwardly of the leading edge 50 of the plate 33 are beams 51 and 52, the respective lower flanges 53 and 54 of which serve to define the leading under-running surfaces of the plow 10. The beams 51 and 52 taper towards their front ends and serve to support the leading ends of a pair of spaced upper runners 55 and 56 which extend the full length of the plow from front to rear to engage the undersurfaces of the ties 20.

Conventional towing ears 57 and 58 are secured to the forward side edges of the plow 10, such ears having holes 59 and 60 for receiving shackles on the ends of the towing cables 11.

The plate 33 is provided with weep holes 61 in the usual manner, although these holes may be omitted, part-icularly those towards the front of the plow. Note that no weep holes have been provided in advance of blades 44 and 45.

On each side, at the rear, the plow is provided with a keel. At the side edge 40, there is a depending plate 62 extending the full length of the plow and a keel 63 is bolted to the rear end of this plate 62 by bolts 64. The provision of a number of bolt holes in the plate 62 and the upper part of the keel 63 permits adjustment of the degree of projection of keel 63 downwardly from the lower edge of the rearmost blade 48. On the other side of the plow, at the edge 39, a similar keel 65 is provided which takes the form of a horizontal lower plate portion terp minating at each end in a pair of upstanding legs 66 (see particularly FIGURE 4), which legs 66 are each clamped between a pair of plates 67, being secured thereto by means of bolts 68. In this manner the keel 65, which is vertically adjustable in a manner similar to the keel 63, effectively straddles the moleboard 38 and its attached blade 48 to permit free access to the side of the device for the ballast deflected by this blade.

Two keels are also shown at the forward end of the plow depending from the beams 51 and 52. An enlarged sectional view of this structure is shown in FIGURE 9. Portions of the members 51 and 52 are cut away and plates 70 are positioned to bridge the gap thus formed in each of the members 51 and 52, such plates 70 thus defining a cavity into which a keel member 71 is inserted and secured by bolts 72.

At the extreme rear of the plow, there is provided a pair of vertically adjustable shoe devices 80. One such device is shown in detail in FIGURE 7 and will be seen to consist of a main flat generally horizontal plate 81 having a slightly turned up forward edge 82, to the centre of which plate is secured the flange 83 of a T-beam, the web 84 of which T-beam projects vertically upwardly and serves as a means for pivotally mounting the shoe plate 81 on the end of a downwardly projecting arm 85 secured to a plate 86 which in turn is firmly secured to the underside of the main plate 33 of the plow rearwardly of the moleboard 38. At its other end, the web 84 is pivotally connected to a link 87 which is pivotally mounted on the end of a piston 88 of an hydraulically operated, double-acting cylinder 89 the closed end of which is connected by bracket 90 to the plate 86. Pivotally connected to the link 87 is one end of a further link 91, the other end of the link 91 being pivotally connected to the plate 86. Each of the shoe plates 81 is fitted with a pair of transversely extending stiifening members 94,

FIGURE 7 shows the piston 88 in its withdrawn position and the shoe device 80 correspondingly in raised position. When the piston 88 is forced to its extended position, as shown in FIGURE 8, links 87 and 91 are moved rearwardly and into more vertical dispositions to push downwardly the rearward edge of the shoe plate 81. In this position the rearward edge of the plate 81 projects below the lowermost edge of the rearmost blade .48 which is in fact the lowermost edge of the whole blade assembly, since the rearmost blade will project downwardly the most of all the blades. The limit of this downward travel of the shoe device is defined by stop 92 against which link 91 abuts. Excess upward movement of the shoe plate 81 under pressure from the track ballast is prevented by stop 101.

FIGURES 7 and 8 show the left-hand shoe device 80. The right-hand shoe device is similarly constructed, although on this side the plate 86 is somewhat longer, since it projects back from a more forward part of the moleboard 38. Additionally, a strengthening strut 93 is provided to assist in the rigid positioning of the rearward part of the plate 86. The left-hand shoe device 80 has its leading edge sloped back at 100 to avoid contact with the moleboard 38, while the right-hand device 80 is rectangular.

Each cylinder 89 is fed through a pair of fluid lines 95 and 96 from a respective manually operable control cylinder 97 mounted on platform 98 that is fixed to the plow outboard of the edge 39. An upstanding barrier plate 99 extends along this edge 39 to afford protection to these control cylinders 97 from contact with the end of a tie.

As previously stated, the plow of the present invention is especially adapted for correcting the track tilt that is commonly experienced on double track. The lower edge of the rearmost blade 48 can be maintained horizontal, or at any desired inclination (on curves, an inclination may be required, but not necessarily the inclination at which the present ballast is lying), by vertical adjustment of the shoe devices 80 relative to each other. Usually with the plow being used to correct an outward tilt of the track, at the same time as plowing, the left-hand shoe device 80 will be lowered and the right-hand shoe device 80 will be raised, so that the lower left-hand shoe device holds up the left-hand side of the rear of the sled against its natural inclination to adopt a lower level than the right-hand side of the sled by reason of the tilt of the bed of ballast being worked. The structure of the plow, although generally rigid, is sufiiciently flexible to permit some twisting under the large forces that the plow experiences in operation, and the shoe device will normally only determine the inclination of the rearmost blade, and perhaps to a lesser extent the next rearmost blade. The front of the plow will normally be comparatively unaffected by the shoe devices 80.

The extent of depression of each of the shoe devices 80 can be varied immediately and readily while the plow is operating by an operator who walks alongside the track within reach of manual control cylinders 97.

I claim:

A ballast plow for removing ballast from the surface of a railroad roadbed, comprising a generally flat framework constructed for drawing along between the roadbed and the ties while supporting the weight of said ties and a span of track, blade means projecting downwardly from the undersurface of said framework, a pair of shoe devices each including a horizontally extending plate, means mounting said shoe devices on said framework for vertical movement relative thereto in positions rearward of said blade means with a said shoe device on each side of the front-to-rear center line of the plow, the path of movement of each said shoe device including a position in which the plate of said device projects below the lowermost edge of said blade means, and control means for adjusting and maintaining the vertical position of each said shoe device relative to said framework.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,329,543 Northon Feb. 3, 1920 2,725,016 Fogelberg et al. Nov. 29, 1955 2,769,172 Franco Oct. 30, 1956 2,921,390 Stien et a1 J an, 19, 1960

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