HOW DO YOU CLEAN DIRTY TRAM TRACKS? - with Sadie the Scrubber Truck of course!

This week Schony747 is featuring Sadie - It's the Yarra Trams Scrubber Truck which is used to clean the tram tracks. Autumn is problematic for trams as leaves fall onto the tracks which in turn creates a slippery layer on top of the track. Trams do slip more and in some cases trams take longer to stop.

Yarra Trams has a fleet of track cleaning trucks to overcome this problem. How Sadie works is al,l explained in this video.

Have a great week - Brenden S.

New Uploads Weekly - Trains, Planes, Trams
Filmed September May 2023 Yarra Trams Melbourne
Filmed in 4K Canon C\anon XA60, Samsung Galaxy S22 Handheld

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Want to see more on Schony747? Check out these playlists -

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Follow me on Social Media -

Email Enquiries:

[darylcheshire]

there used to be scrubber trams, they looked like a big cylinder with a wooden driving compartment at each end. They were much smaller than the W class trams. I dimly recall that some of them were former Sydney trams.

[andrewpalm]

Thanks for this introduction to Sadie! I've seen videos on UK Network Rail leaf removal trains and something similar on New Jersey USA commuter lines, but nothing similar for trams up to now. And cleaning girder rail in pavement is also more challenging. It would be cooler if Sadie were a work tram, but the improved flexibility of using trucks is understandable. I do wonder if making Sadie a high-rail vehicle would make keeping alignment with the rails a bit easier. But the rail wheels would take extra time to raise and lower them, and they would add weight. Thanks again, and the more support equipment and infrastructure you show, the better (in my opinion). Cheers from Wisconsin!

[AndrewCastlemaine]

Thanks for posting this. Really interesting to see it in action 👍

[aussiejohn]

I found this fascinating and interesting to know that falling leaves combined with rain was the cause of 2 Sydney tram runaways on the Athol Wharf line between Taronga Zoo top entrance and the ferry wharf. I worked with the driver of the last tram runaway, which thankfully was running special and was not carrying passengers when it ended up in Sydney Harbour. I do believe speed may also have been a contributing factor.

[TheAxelay]

I miss the old yellow Scrubber Tram track - cleaning car engine of 35 years ago but it probably couldn't handle leaves of now. But it was iconic sigh....

[neilforbes]

This kind-of puts a new slant on the old Johnny Farnham hit, "Sadie"!
Sadie, The Scrubber Truckie,
Cleaning tramway tracks 'round Melbourne
(with apologies to Gilmore, Madara & White who wrote the original lyric). 😁

[therealsammyvee]

This is pretty fascinating and something I'd never even thought of until now. I'm guessing Metro and V/Line would have something similar for trains too?

[yrrr]

An idea just popped into my mind.
Why not just make the whole cleaning thing into a trailer that has both steel and rubber wheels, then use a tram as a locomotive to pull it on the tracks, simutaneously providing electricity powering it as the tram uses the overhead wires. When the job is done, they can either pull it back to depot with the tram, or switch to rubber wheels and tow it with just a normal truck.

[nicholasanderson]

JUST like the model railway got to clean the track

[patrickbryant]

The scrubbers sure have their work cut out for them in the CBD.

[malcolmone]

, , why do they not fit it out with rail wheels as well, much better

[joenuts]

In Portland Oregon this is the equivalent to Jesus walking on water. They never clean any of our street running rail track. Absolutely filthy and gummed up, amazing the trains can even get any traction