I have a friend who works on the railroad running a machine that re-sets tracks. It's very cool to watch, and it was here just today, as well as Friday, working just 40 yards out the front door. I heard it come by, and when I heard it I went to take a look. This thing rides the rails of course, and it's real heavy! It has a boom that goes out the front to a cart that rides about 60 or so feet ahead of the machine. The cart has sensors in it and logs data back to the machine. As the cart is re-oriented, data is collected about what attitude the track has at the cart. Then, when the machine gets there, it can be fixed.
This machine can lift the tracks, put new ties underneath, pull the tracks in, push them out, move them sideways, up, down, twist, it can tilt them for banking, re-grind, and checks for cracks in the rail, all at I'm gonna say 20 ties a minute. This is pulling the spikes and replacing if need be too. He can do 1.5 miles of track a day. It is mind blowing how fast this thing goes. It has these arms that are vibrating, and they jam down into the stone and lift the ties, even putting new stone under if need be.
While talking to him some time ago, he mentioned that he was doing a job for a movie that was filming here in northern PA. Maybe a Denzel Washington flick? In any case, they had a high speed train scene that the track would not support, so he had to go in, fix a RR Crossing, and bank the tracks just for the movie. Then, when they were done shooting, go back and put the track back the way it was.
The machine belongs on modern marvels, cause its just hard to imagine that much power and precision at the same time.
Also brings me back to the railroad weed whacker I saw here once. They have this weedeater that rides on a train car, had a big arm with a trimmer end on it. It'll eat up 6" caliper trees like they're not there.
That thing throws wood chunks 150'!