How not to put cant on a curve with the Plasser KMX tamper. (please read description)

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Phillip Carl Roberts

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Published on April 27, 2024 12:09:37 AM ● Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPGbhX8al4o

Duration: 1:44

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I used to operate this machine during the construction of phase 4 between Rhyd Ddu and Porthmadog, me and a colleague tamped every sleeper from Rhyd ddu to just the other side of Pont Croesor, I had received training in how to use the machine...clearly these guys have not.
I am not sure if the guy is pretending to put cant on or if he genuinely thinks that the machine can lift the track to the desired cant without even putting the lifting gear down/ also the cant wont be accurate if he does not keep the level with the big dial...these guys look absolutely clueless from my experience.
It was actually a great machine when they got it but a lot did not understand it, they tried using it themselves and decided it was broken, but they all saw that it did actually work when I was in the front cab, the thing that got me is that it was a really easy machine to understand, almost 15 years after I left the place and they still don't understand it.

I really tried explaining it to a few people when I was there but they simply did not get it, trying to explain it became frustrating, I explained it to one of the managers that thought it was broken, he had brought someone he knew with him because this specific manager had been trying to use the machine himself for months but with no joy, his friend who was an electrician understood what I was explaining because he told the manager "he is right", the manager asked me to allow both him and his friend to talk in private, so I did...All I could see was the Electrician trying to explain it to the manager and the manager shaking his head, I wont name names because either he genuinely did not understand the machine or it was sabotage.
(it took me less than a minute to explain it to the electrician)

About a week later the manager started playing with the electrics (his electrician friend was not involved in the modifications) before you knew what was happening they had ruined a great machine....circuit boards and everything were shorting out.
this can only be down to them being too dumb to understand that you really had to use the big dial too keep the track level or it was sabotage. (I do specify them because there was more than one person involved but the fore mentioned electrician was not to my knowledge)
the manager in question did say "this machine either gets it spot on or nowhere near" so there is a massive chance that he simply did not understand it despite my efforts...it was like trying to explain the rules of chess to a dog it really was.

He thought the levelling was automatic but it really wasn't, I had to ensure that the levelling dial was in the correct place for every sleeper, the dial fluctuates but its not a difficult thing to understand however if you neglect it the machine will seem like its broken.

I am more than happy to explain to this team how the machine worked when it was fully functional, I know there have been rogues that have messed with it.

I am not sure how well this functions now with half the tamp head missing...what a waste.




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