There are various types of construction machinery operating on railways

There are various types of construction machinery operating on railways
With the continuous development of construction machinery, there are more and more construction machinery used for railway construction and maintenance. The railway track itself provides a good walking channel, so many machinery also take advantage of this by installing wheelsets and maneuvering on the railway track. Here are some introductions for everyone. However, it should be noted that the following discussion does not include railway specific construction machinery, only modified construction machinery.

Since it is walking on railway tracks, the biggest difference between natural and ordinary construction machinery is the walking system. Except for a few devices that have completely switched to railway chassis, most machines are only equipped with devices that can move on the rails, achieving a dual-use state. After all, if a railway chassis is switched to, it cannot get off the rails.        However, the seemingly similar walking system is actually different. The simplest and most common type is actually just a simple wheelset, without driving ability. The front and rear wheelsets only serve as guidance, allowing the equipment to walk on the railway tracks. When walking on the railway track, lower the wheelset to the height of the railway track and still use the chassis drive system of the equipment itself to drive, for example, a wheeled excavator still uses the wheels to walk on the railway track. When working, you can continue to lower the wheelset and raise the body. At this time, the wheelset is equivalent to the support legs of a wheeled excavator, but it does not necessarily have to
be raised according to work needs.

The benefits of wheelsets without a drive system are obvious, as they do not require hydraulic motors and corresponding hydraulic pipelines, and their complexity and cost are well controlled. But the disadvantages are also very obvious, with high requirements for the equipment itself. Wheeled excavators are more suitable, and the wheel gauge needs to be in line with the railway gauge. This method is not suitable for other situations where the wheelbase is not suitable or the driving requirements are relatively high. Some devices will add an intermediate shaft, which can be used to indirectly drive wheelsets with minimal cost and complexity increase. It is simple but effective. However, it is more common to add hydraulic motors to the wheelsets to become true driving wheels, which greatly increases cost and complexity while achieving optimal maneuverability. At this point, the limitations on the equipment itself are only limited to the limits of the railway system, and if the size exceeds the limit, it is still not possible to board the railway. Engineering machinery that can be used on railways is already very common in foreign countries. In addition to wheeled excavators, tracked excavators, two end busybodies, loaders, and even dump trucks can be modified. Some manufacturers also provide railway versions of their products, which is equivalent to official modifications. Of course, among them, wheeled excavators are the most suitable for railway transportation, followed by tracked excavators, which can be more troublesome to use with loaders
Therefore, it is rare for someone to modify the working equipment.