Grooved Tram Rail Cleaners, Snow Sweepers, Rail Grinders

[bill937ca]

I've recently come across various tramway rail cleaners used mainly in European cities.  It is usually a cleaning system that vacuums and washes the grooved rails.  Most places clean their points, usually on a daily basis, with a manual crew.  But the motorized cleaning is something new.  This should not be confused with snow sweepers which clean the snow out of grooved rails or rail grinding which removes corrugations in the rails.

 

 

 

Snow Sweeper in Hokkaido

 

 

Budapest snow sweeper

 

Rail grinding in Geneva, Switzerland

 

 

[Pashina12]

Somewhere in one of the boxes in storage I have some photos of such equipment used by the BC Electric on its streetcar and interurban lines in Vancouver in the 40s/50s... some of it rather bizarre looking. I kinda especially like the portable substations.

[cteno4]

Interesting, thanks bill. Wonder if these are used in japan? Assume they must do something like this. The fujimoto hs60 street sweeper from the heavy equipment vol 1 would pass for the one with the center track section only on the rails.

 

http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/image/10096570/20/2

 

cheers

 

jeff