page_title: Tamping machine
hierarchical_section_title: Tamping machine
caption_attribution_description: English: Running south through Keighley is a Matisa B41UE - Volker Rail Plant, Tamper. No.DR75401. It has just worked off the Keighley &amp; Worth Valley Railway and is running to Ferryhill Soutth Jnc on 3rd February 2017.
context_page_description: A tamping machine or ballast tamper is a machine used to pack the track ballast under railway tracks to make the tracks more durable. Prior to the introduction of mechanical tampers, this task was done by manual labour with the help of beaters. As well as being faster, more accurate, more efficient and less labour-intensive, tamping machines are essential for the use of concrete sleepers since they are too heavy to be lifted by hand. Whilst also available as a plain tamper with no lifting or lining function this article will focus on the multi function machines.
  Early machines only lifted the track and packed the ballast. More modern machines, sometimes known as a tamper-liner or tamping and lining machine, also correct the alignment of the rails to make them parallel and level, in order to achieve a more comfortable ride for passengers and freight and to reduce the mechanical strain applied to the rails by passing trains. This is done by finding places where the sleepers have sunk from the weight of the passing trains or frost action, causing the track to sag. The tamper lifts each sleeper and the rails up, and packs ballast underneath.
context_section_description: A tamping machine or ballast tamper is a machine used to pack (or tamp) the track ballast under railway tracks to make the tracks more durable. Prior to the introduction of mechanical tampers, this task was done by manual labour with the help of beaters. As well as being faster, more accurate, more efficient and less labour-intensive, tamping machines are essential for the use of concrete sleepers since they are too heavy (usually over 250 kg (551 lb)) to be lifted by hand. Whilst also available as a plain tamper with no lifting or lining function this article will focus on the multi function machines.
  Early machines only lifted the track and packed the ballast. More modern machines, sometimes known as a tamper-liner or tamping and lining machine, also correct the alignment of the rails to make them parallel and level, in order to achieve a more comfortable ride for passengers and freight and to reduce the mechanical strain applied to the rails by passing trains. This is done by finding places where the sleepers have sunk from the weight of the passing trains or frost action, causing the track to sag. The tamper lifts each sleeper and the rails up, and packs ballast underneath. When the sleeper is laid down again, the sagged rails now sit at the proper level. In cases where frost action has caused adjacent rails to rise higher, ballast tampers can raise rails above their original level to make the line level again. "Lining" rails doesn't involve ballast tamping, it merely ensures the rails are perfectly parallel and straight as possible. Combining tamping and lining into a single machine saves time and money, as only one machine needs to be run over the track to perform both functions.
caption: Running south through Keighley is a Matisa B41UE - Volker Rail Plant, Tamper. No.DR75401. It has just worked off the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway and is running to Ferryhill South Jnc on 3 February 2017.
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