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Railcar progressors (also known as railcar indexers) are stationary hydro-mechanical devices that are used to index a string of railcars across a fixed point by pushing or pulling them. Unlike a winch or cable puller the progressors do not require a person to attach anything, like a hook, to the railcars. The progressor is designed to engage a railcar, push it forward one car length, then disengage and move back to engage the railcar behind it, in order to repeat the process. Progressors can be designed to be single or dual directional. Single directional units are less expensive and thus more common. Progressors are safer than winch or capstan railcar pullers in that they do not require the use of a wire cable or a rope. Progressors are efficient, inexpensive to operate and maintain, and are highly reliable. They are also quiet and clean. They operate at speeds of zero to 50 fpm and are normally hydraulically driven. The primary use of these devices is for loading and unloading. Progressor systems can handle strings from 2 to 150 loaded railcars. Drawbar capacities range from 8,000 lbs. up to 300,000 lbs. They can be controlled manually, semi-automatically, or by radio remote control.

Progressors are not usually designed to push continuously. A progressor normally indexes the entire string one railcar length and stops. Then it reverses to the starting point, leaving the string of railcars stationary during this time. Then it repeats the process using the next railcar, and so on until the entire string has been indexed. With unit trains reaching up to 150 loaded railcars and up to five line locomotives the progressors can be an excellent solution for handling strings of this size without having to use the serving railroad's motive power. Progressors are not designed to engage with locomotives. To do so can result in damage to the progressor and perhaps the locomotive. Therefore, the motive power should be disconnected during this procedure. If this is not possible then it is the sole responsibility of the facility owner to insure that none of the locomotives are ever located such that the progressor could come in contact with any part of them whenever that progressor is operational or the pusher mechanism is not fully retracted and parked.

Progressors may be used alone or in conjunction with a locomotive or mobile railcar mover owned by the facility. It is especially helpful when the facility uses a mobile railcar mover to bring strings of cars to the progressor and then take them away when the loading or unloading process is completed. If there is complicated switching required the loading or unloading operation is not stopped waiting for the mobile railcar mover to return in order to index the string. For example: if a unit train of 90 railcars is broken into six fifteen car strings then the mobile railcar mover can move the railcars between the storage tracks and the progressor in about 20 minutes and the swap out will take about ten minutes. Thus the switch takes about 30 minutes from start to finish. This involves six switches; so without the progressor it will take an additional 120 ( 6 x 20) minutes to unload the train. If the unloading rate is 4 railcars per hour then the total unloading time would be 22-1/2 hours for the actual unloading and an additional one hour for switching using the progressor. Without the progressor it would be three additional hours instead of one. This saves two hours of unloading time and 20-1/2 hours of wear on the mobile railcar mover per train. Thus wear and tear on the mobile railcar mover is reduced by 96%. The cost per hour to operate the progressor v. the mobile railcar mover is about $7.00 (electricity and maintenance) per hour v. $27.00 per hour ( labor + fuel + maintenance). Assuming two trains per week that is a savings of 41 hours/week x 52 weeks/yr x $20.00/hr = $42,640 per year in savings. In addition the useful life of the mobile railcar mover will be significantly increased due to much less wear and tear.

Even for facilities that have a good locomotive it may have more than one function. In some large plants there are several progressors, a locomotive or two, and even some mobile railcar movers all working together. In a large plant to tie up a locomotive and its operator for long periods of time doing indexing is probably not cost effective. Its far better to use progressors for indexing and use the locomotive or mobile railcar mover for general in-plant switching. That is the better use of capital and labor.

The two drive systems employed on the first three types listed above are the hydraulic cylinder and the hydraulic motor. The hydraulic cylinder is normally used on low dog and axle progressors. The hydraulic motor powers a chain drive that is attached to the dog carriage. The hydraulic motor drive is normally used on the low dog, and high dog progressors. An advantage to the hydraulic motor is that it can be mounted below ground in a pit or above ground. The motor does not pose the problems of hydraulic fluid leakage that the long hydraulic cylinders do. There is much less chance of a failure and if there is damage to the progressor the cost to repair it will probably be considerably less.


Calbrandt Low Dog Dual Side Above Ground Progressor	Calbrandt Low Dog Single Side Below Ground Progressor