Work Car 1008 (Tamper "Big Joe") - Official Work Thread

[Stewart "Start" Rhine]

I have seen the new seat ... looks like Big Joe is gonna have a Big Mack attack 

[Mike Fox]

Well, here is a picture of the new (to us) seat.



Shortly after telling Dave that he is getting a new seat, he proudly posed for this picture.



Lets just hope that Big Joe turns out to be as tough as Dave appears in the above photo.

[Dave Buczkowski]

Good work Mike! I'll be by in two weeks for a test fitting. Does my new seat recline? Is it heated for those cold Maine October mornings?

[Hans Brandes]

Mike, great job on getting the seat. We should consider cup holders for Dave's new throne. Maybe we should get two, one for each hand as we don't know if he drinks with his left or right hand.

[Dave Buczkowski]

Hans;
I don't know what I'd do without you. I can drink with either hand if necessary. I can't wait to try it out.
Dave

[Mike Fox]

Right now it is guarding the front seat to Leons car. Didn't want to get it on and it wind up being in the way.

By the way, if you want a heated seat, eat a good dose of Freds beans at the Skinny Dipper Cafe. Only the Bare essentials will heat that seat.

[Pete Cairncross]

Gents,

Could someone post a few more pictures of "Big Joe" showing the drives view and the mechanics/controls. I have been watching the discussions regarding this build for some time and would really like to put soemthing together for our short line (just 1 mile) of 3'6' gauge here in New Zealand. Like all groups we are always challenged by what can be done with a small group of (unfortunately) aging members, so a bit of automation for this back braking task would be great.

Thanks

Pete
Auckland, NZ
http://www.motat.org.nz/collections/rail.htm

[Jason M Lamontagne]

Hi Pete,

The core of the idea was to use handheld pneumatic 'jitterbug' tampers by mounting them on a machine that is capable of controlling their movement to mimic what is done by hand.  Two jitterbugs face each other tamping both sides of a tie simultaneously and with perfectly symmetrical motion.

The two basic motions to be recreated are 1. up and down and 2. "squeeze."

To obtain up and down we started with a unit called a stacker- essentially a hand-pushed forklift used for standard pallets.  Our stacker was bought off eBay and was originally made by a company called "Big Joe."

The squeeze function was done by mounting each jitterbug on a substantially built pivot- about the center of the height of the jitterbug- and mounting a mechanism at the top of the jitterbug allowing the handles to be spread from one another- causing the toes of the bugs to squeeze towards each other. 

That's the basic need.  Perhaps someone has some photos they can post of how we accomplished that.  I'll write mroe later but gotta run for now...

Jason

[Stephen Hussar]

[Jason M Lamontagne]

Thanks for the photo Stephen.

You can see the jitterbugs mounted to pivots in the photo.  4 tampers are used on our rig- two per side.  Because the tie should be tamped both inside and outside the rail- we put each set of two on a carriage which rides along a crosswise rail system- allowing the pairs of tamping heads to be lined up inside or outside the rail, as desired.  The two carraiges have a rack and pinion arrangement so moving one also moves the other- keeping them symmetrical.  If we had a 'do-over,' I'd personnaly choose to use 8 tampers- requiring twice the compressor, but eliminating the cross-slide requirement and allowing for a much more rigid arrangment. 

The squeeze function went through a few iterations but ended up with a vertically arranged air cylinder pulling down on a pair of scissor arms connected directly to the jitterbug handles.  Look at the photo closely: you'll see the nearer set in the down position and the farther set in the up position.  There's simply a push button sending air to these cylinders when pushed; push the button just as the tamper toes touch the stone.  The constant air pressure on the squeeze will bring them in as they work down. 

If you have further specific questions- please ask! 

Jason

[Robert Hale]

Awww, what a nice looking couple!!! Make it self-propelled and you will have a true monster on your hands!!!

[James Patten]

I think self-propelling is nearing the top of the list.

The air compressor is a recent donation to the museum.  It's a Lindsay compressor.  Once the air leaks in the system get taken care of it should have plenty of capacity to keep the tampers going.  Because the stacker is battery powered, an alternator was put in to keep the battery charged up.

The red cylinder in the picture is a new gas tank for the compressor, the old one was too rotten to use.

[Wayne Laepple]

In my experience observing and operating tampers, it's better to allow the heads to drop and vibrate their way to the bottom of the tie before initiating the squeeze function. Otherwise, the squeeze is mashing the ballast against the relatively unyielding surface of the tie. Two insertions per tie seems to be the optimum to compact ballast beneath the rails.

[Gordon Cook]

Awww, what a nice looking couple!!! Make it self-propelled and you will have a true monster on your hands!!!

I think I hear Hollywood calling for Joe n' Lindsay to star in another MAD MAX movie....

[Dave Buczkowski]

Pete;
Note well that Big Joe will not work without a comfortable seat for the operator. It will work really well when the operator has a cup holder and some sort of sunshade. It is my understanding that the WW&F Skunkwerks (a/k/a Mike Fox) is working on these issues as I type. Best of luck to you.
Dave