page_title: Tamping machine
section_title: Types
hierarchical_section_title: Tamping machine / Types
caption_attribution_description: English: I took this picture of Amey Plc balast/track tamper train at Banbury station my self and release it for use in the public domain.
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: Tamper machines are built in many different varieties depending on their purpose:
  Plain line tamping machines: used on line sections which have no points or other complex track structures, commonly referred to as production machines, generally have fixed tamping head positions
  Duomatic
  Continuous action tamping machines
  Tamping Express
  Switch tamping machines: used to tamp switches, crossings and other complex track structures, have movable tamping heads with ability to isolate heads when required.
caption: An Amey Plc tamping machine
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