Hi guys i have my blue ticket for the 360 track machine and wanted to ask any other operators or staff what sort of work is it a driver expects to be doing? i am new to the industry but not to track machines, of cause on a building site your just doing footings/trenches ect but i can imagine the work on the railways is different can you advice pls?
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360 excavator driver looking for advice?
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The Snap
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Hi,
If you're looking for railway civils work that is track-based (ie: green field infrastructure projects), then a 360 ticket will be fine. The work will be very similar to what you've experienced elsewhere in the construction industry.
If you're talking about working on the railway as a 360 driver (so a road-rail machine), the work is a lot different. On a typical railway shift (which would normally be a Saturday night), 360 machines (road-rail) are often used on track for moving materials and equipment to a work site from an access point, usually by towing a trailer. There'll also be a bit of lifting (precast LOC bases etc). There are bits and pieces of excavations and the like but not in any real substantial amount, simply because there isn't the time. You don't tend to get possession until after 2300hrs, isolation after 0000hrs, then get your machines on track by 0030hrs. You then will be required off-track by about 0430hrs to allow for the hand back procedure. You don't get a great deal done in that amount of time!
Stuff like drainage renewals and ducting works would be done by 360 machine but usually on long possessions/blockades (generally 54 hour). But, you'll usually find those type of possessions are on bank holidays/weekends/festive periods.
In a nutshell, 360 machine work on railway infrastructure projects which are away from the existing live railway are very similar to what you'll have experienced previously. If you want to work on the railway on road-rail machines, brace yourself for weekend/night/bank holiday working. There are examples where you can work on road-rail machines during the day, such as the Reading remodelling, but even that will be shift based and you could be on days or nights.
If you do fancy the road-rail 360 idea, get in touch with Shovlin, Paul John etc.
Hope this helps.
If you're looking for railway civils work that is track-based (ie: green field infrastructure projects), then a 360 ticket will be fine. The work will be very similar to what you've experienced elsewhere in the construction industry.
If you're talking about working on the railway as a 360 driver (so a road-rail machine), the work is a lot different. On a typical railway shift (which would normally be a Saturday night), 360 machines (road-rail) are often used on track for moving materials and equipment to a work site from an access point, usually by towing a trailer. There'll also be a bit of lifting (precast LOC bases etc). There are bits and pieces of excavations and the like but not in any real substantial amount, simply because there isn't the time. You don't tend to get possession until after 2300hrs, isolation after 0000hrs, then get your machines on track by 0030hrs. You then will be required off-track by about 0430hrs to allow for the hand back procedure. You don't get a great deal done in that amount of time!
Stuff like drainage renewals and ducting works would be done by 360 machine but usually on long possessions/blockades (generally 54 hour). But, you'll usually find those type of possessions are on bank holidays/weekends/festive periods.
In a nutshell, 360 machine work on railway infrastructure projects which are away from the existing live railway are very similar to what you'll have experienced previously. If you want to work on the railway on road-rail machines, brace yourself for weekend/night/bank holiday working. There are examples where you can work on road-rail machines during the day, such as the Reading remodelling, but even that will be shift based and you could be on days or nights.
If you do fancy the road-rail 360 idea, get in touch with Shovlin, Paul John etc.
Hope this helps.
Rich, THANKYOU so much for such an in depth explanation! i really appreciate your time, what i am looking for is projects which are away from the existing live railways ive not got the RRV ticket yet i maybe offered it? tbh i cant see there been that much work around for a non live railway?? just looking at another thread ive created someone kindly said i would need to understand what a "OLE and track to label - contact wires, droppers, 4ft, 6ft" is..??? not got a clue??
Cheers bud your a star!!
Cheers bud your a star!!
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The Snap
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Hi,
Depending where you're based, there is project work out there. Morgan Sindall, BAM, Volker etc all have projects around the country for Network Rail doing stuff away from the live railway. There's plenty of work going on with plenty of companies, bit and small. There's also the labour agencies who will get you a start somewhere - ISS are a big player on the railway (although I'm not sure if they supply machine operators).
You won't be offered RRV tickets if you're working for an agency or for one of the civils companies I mentioned above. They wouldn't be interested in RRV tickets generally, as they normally hire machines and operators from other suppliers (like Shovlin etc).
As the for OLE, droppers etc...I wouldn't worry about that. You'll be told what each of these are in basic terms on your PTS course.
Depending where you're based, there is project work out there. Morgan Sindall, BAM, Volker etc all have projects around the country for Network Rail doing stuff away from the live railway. There's plenty of work going on with plenty of companies, bit and small. There's also the labour agencies who will get you a start somewhere - ISS are a big player on the railway (although I'm not sure if they supply machine operators).
You won't be offered RRV tickets if you're working for an agency or for one of the civils companies I mentioned above. They wouldn't be interested in RRV tickets generally, as they normally hire machines and operators from other suppliers (like Shovlin etc).
As the for OLE, droppers etc...I wouldn't worry about that. You'll be told what each of these are in basic terms on your PTS course.
Ploughman
Established Member
If you take a look at the site in the link here - http://www.ontrackplant.com/
You can see the types of machines used. especially on the Road Railers tab.
If using a 360 then Rubber tyred tend to get used for lifting duties, Tracked machines tend to get used for digging.
There are other Machines such as the Mecalec which are 270 machines but are very versatile.
You can see the types of machines used. especially on the Road Railers tab.
If using a 360 then Rubber tyred tend to get used for lifting duties, Tracked machines tend to get used for digging.
There are other Machines such as the Mecalec which are 270 machines but are very versatile.
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