File:DR 73944 - Plasser and Theurer Tamper-Liner - geograph.org.uk - 1754357.jpg

English: DR 73944 - Plasser & Theurer Tamper/Liner DR 73944 - Plasser & Theurer Tamper/Liner at work on the Reedham to Yarmouth line south-west of Reedham station. The machine arrived at Balfour Beatty in February 2005 and was built in 2004/05 by Plasser & Theurer who are based in Linz, Austria, where most of the parts used in the work units, hydraulic elements or bogies are being manufactured. For a view of some of its controls see > 1754366.

Tamping machines > https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1604048 are used by engineers on the railway to pack (or tamp) the stone ballast which supports the track. The ballast needs to be firmly packed to avoid unwanted track movements; however, even tightly-packed ballast allows some flexibility. Before the introduction of mechanical tamping machines, the job had to be done by manual labour. This only partly consolidated the ballast so speed had to be restricted over renewed track until the passage of trains had bedded-in the ballast: track which has been mechanically tamped can be operated at full line speed much sooner.

The line between Reedham and Cantley is closed over the weekend whilst a new track is being laid > https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1753536. The old rails and sleepers have been removed > https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1751738. They were replaced over night by a new track. Diesel locomotives such as the low emission Class 66725 'Sunderland' > https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1753545 have brought the required materials such as rails, sleepers, sand and crushed stone ballast to the section being presently worked on. The trains have also brought a crane, a digger that can move on rails > https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1754244 and a JCB. The men have been working day and night so as not to disrupt rail traffic for any longer than necessary and portable lights positioned along the lineside illuminated the track at night.