Maintenance of way

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MOW redirects here. For other meanings, see MOW (disambiguation).

Maintenance of way (often abbreviated as M of Way, MOW or MW) refers to the maintenance of railroad rights of way. It can include procedures from the initial grading of the right of way to its general upkeep and eventual dismantling. See also Track Maintenance and Right-of-way (railroad)

Maintenance equipment

As with any construction or maintenance work, M of Way work has its own set of specialized equipment.

Maintenance of way equipment in Italy.

A tie replacement train in Pennsylvania.

Ballast cleaner; see also: Track ballast
Ballast gondolas and hoppers; see also: Gondolas and Hopper cars
Ballast regulator
Clearance car
Crane
Crew car
Ditcher
Dynamometer car
Flanger
Handcar
HiRail truck
Inspection locomotive; obsolete, replaced by speeders and HiRail trucks
Pile driver
Rail grinder
Rotary snowplow
Scale test car
Speeder; obsolete, most being replaced by HiRail trucks
Rail car mover - some of which resemble HiRail trucks.
Spiker
Spreader
Tamper
Tie inserter
Tie crane
Tool car
Tower car
Track geometry car
Weed sprayer; see also: Herbicide

Some of the small tools used in maintenance of way service include:

Rail spike
Spike hammer

Maintenance jobs

Specific maintenance functions are carried out by maintenance of way workers. On modern railroads, the workers are often associated with a particular piece of equipment, but in the past, they held jobs that weren't always obvious from their titles. The following maintenance jobs are specific to the railroad industry:

Bridge inspector
Gandy dancer
Length runner
Railway lubricator
Section gang
Signal maintainer
Track inspector

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