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The striking, bright yellow train is hard to miss. At around 300 meters long, the machine looks like a technological behemoth. Section by section, the so-called recycling train works its way along the railway track... The principle behind it is as efficient as it is fascinating: ...

The yellow train, which is 1.4 kilometres long, is inching its way along the track towards Neuhof. This astonishing length is due to the numerous material conveyor silo wagons (MFS) that Eurailpool has brought along: at the front of the train, the bunker wagons are loaded with overburden material via conveyor belts and then pulled by a diesel locomotive to Baruth, where they are emptied and brought back to the construction site. At the rear ...

There are machines that are so colossal and yet so rare throughout Europe that it is not just engineers who are interested in them. The ÖBB is now using one such colossus to renovate the line to the Mattigtal valley between Steindorf and Friedburg on the border between Salzburg and Upper Austria. The engines of this huge machine on railway tracks ...

This machine excavates the old ballast from beneath the raised track grid. It is then transported via conveyor belts to the recycling washing plant. Last week, a 650-metre-long, 2,200-tonne mobile track-laying unit renewed the ballast bed and subgrade of the uphill section…

In total, the PM200-2R sub-base improvement machine, together with the attached hopper wagons and material wagons, is just over 1 km long. The PM200-2R has numerous tasks to perform here: clearing the ballast, clearing the sub-base layer, placing the ...

VORRA – Since Monday, the world’s largest track-laying machine, a ‘PM 1000-URM’ from the German-Austrian company eurailpool, has been in operation on the Pegnitz Valley railway line. The length of this ‘subgrade improvement machine’, including the material supply and disposal wagons as well as the two locomotives, is one kilometre. The “yellow behemoth” is positioned on a bend opposite the village of Düsselbach and is already making a hell of a racket even before work begins. The 20 or so workers are still waiting...

The shrill blare of the signal horns can be heard for miles, all the way to Harburg town centre. Whenever a train approaches on the adjacent track of the Harburg–Cuxhaven line – which happens almost every five minutes – the men currently working on the tracks between Buxtehuder Straße and Karnapp are warned by the acoustic signal. The volume pierces you to the core. Anyone who doesn’t hear it should see an ear specialist. But there’s more noise to come: ...

Pupils from the Mühlenschule in Holm-Seppensen were given the chance to see the machinery at the construction site and have it explained to them. 8,000 horsepower, 1,200 metres long, costing 50 million euros – the children from the Mühlenschule in Holm-Seppensen are thrilled and are taking in every detail. After all, with these superlatives, the ‘PM 1000-URM’ would be the undisputed star of any sports car quiz. Except when it comes to top speed: when the world’s largest track-laying machine is in action, it reaches...

The PM 1000-URM is no stranger to superlatives. The abbreviation stands for the world’s largest track-laying machine. Since 10 November, the steel, yellow-painted behemoth has been cutting its way through the track bed of the Heidebahn on the section between Holm-Seppensen and Suerhop. In four, perhaps five days, the section of track, some five kilometres long, is set to be fully refurbished.

Using the world’s longest track-laying machine, the company ‘Eurailpool’ is renewing the tracks between Bernau and Übersee on behalf of Deutsche Bahn AG. Over a stretch of more than eight kilometres, the subgrade will be upgraded and the rails replaced by early November. This is not a quiet process...

The ballast cleaning train is 1,200 metres long, has 7,000 horsepower and is currently cleaning the track bed in Westphalia (Kreuztal). At a speed of 120 metres per hour and with a great deal of noise, a yellow dragon is creeping through the Siegerland region in Kreuztal …

A spectacular piece of machinery is currently on display during track-laying work on the railway line between Littfeld and Kreuztal. At 850 metres long, it is not only the world’s largest track-laying machine, but also the most advanced piece of equipment currently in use for sub-base renewal. ...

Anyone passing along the railway line from Heigenbrücken to Wiesthal over the past few days will have heard the piercing sound of train horns on repeated occasions. Work is currently underway on this section of the line to replace the track bed and install 7,920 concrete sleepers ...

DB Netz is carrying out a complete overhaul of the track infrastructure on the line running along the Rhine between Schwörstadt and Brennet. The world’s most advanced and powerful track renewal machine is being used to replace the subgrade. The PM 200-2R operates round the clock in two 12-hour shifts …

Measuring approximately 200 metres in length, the PM 200-2R track renewal machine is the largest machine ever to leave a Plasser & Theurer factory. One of the engineering achievements lies in the organisation of the various material handling tasks that need to be managed within the machine: despite this, all material flow paths are clearly laid out and kept as short as possible.

The PM 1000 URM, a machine for track-mounted sub-base renewal with integrated material recycling, was delivered to Eurailpool in mid-2009. This machine, with a total length of 270 metres, is equipped with three excavating chains and the systems required for ballast recycling in accordance with standards. With the PM 1000 URM, Eurailpool is establishing a new technology for sub-base rehabilitation. The enhanced recycling process offers greater potential for savings in ...

Twenty workers in each of three shifts ensure that the machine runs at full steam 24 hours a day, explains site manager Thomas Schegerer. It’s hard to hear him: the “PM 1000-URM”, that yellow behemoth visible from a distance, makes a hell of a racket. On the other hand, the world’s largest construction train isn’t particularly fast; it travels between 40 and 100 metres an hour. The railway line that has been renovated measures exactly 6.8 kilometres, says Schegerer, who has been working in the industry for more than 20 years. ...