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Mecalac's largest railroad excavator still compact and agile in confined spaces

A railroad excavator drives down the rails
A Mecalac 216MRail railroad excavator Mecalac

Mecalac has introduced the next-generation 216MRail railroad excavator for North America. The 216MRail is a dedicated railroad excavator for railway construction and maintenance. It offers new features, such as dual drive, along with a power-to-weight ratio that offers the performance of a much larger railway maintenance machine. While designed for heavy applications like towing rail cars and handling equipment and materials, the 216MRail is still compact and flexible so that it can perform in confined areas like tunnels or below catenaries. Mecalac says that the 216MRail is ideal for light-rail, metro systems and tunnel applications.

Mecalac will exhibit at the Railway Interchange 2023, October 1 to 4 in Indianapolis, with Superior Sales and Service, their dedicated railroad dealer for North America. Product experts will be on hand at booth 5034 to discuss the 216MRail and the other machines in Mecalac's innovative railroad excavator line.

"The 216MRail is a new alternative for heavy-duty rail equipment," said Peter Bigwood, general manager for Mecalac North America. "The machine's power for heavy applications, combined with the boom's flexibility and the safety of the double cab, highlight Mecalac's commitment to providing innovative machines for efficient and safe railway work to the rail industry."

The 216MRail is based on Mecalac's MWR wheeled excavator series and can be operated as a wheeled excavator off the rails. It's the largest machine in the MRail series weighing in at 44,902 pounds (20 tonnes) and is designed for heavy lifting, towing, and working with large buckets, mowers, grapples, and more.

Dual drive provides operators with the choice of placing the machine's wheels directly on the rail for increased traction, or completely off the rail for less wear and tear on the tires and to prevent damage to equipment along the track. Like the 106MRail and 136MRail models, the 216MRail is equipped with a hydrostatic transmission, enabling the machine to be propelled without the road wheels, leading to considerable savings on tire replacement. Operators also prefer the hydrostatic transmission for its smooth movement on the track.

The upgraded 216MRail, like the original model, features a rail-dedicated boom specifically designed for the rail industry. It offers the lifting capacity of a much larger machine – up to 8.5 tons (8 tonnes) on rails over the front. Its Mecalac articulated boom design provides compactness and an ideal range of motion by allowing it to extend almost entirely straight or fold back on itself. For some larger machines, working below catenaries or in tunnels can be awkward and inefficient due to limited boom angle adjustments. The operator must completely unfold the boom and work at maximum reach, losing force, compromising stability, and taking longer to complete the task. Thanks to the extraordinary flexibility of the boom, the 216MRail easily handles heavy-duty tasks even when there is limited space to maneuver.

The 216MRail also improves safety with anti-drop safety check valves, load sensing, and flow sharing. A double cab allows space for a second crew member when accessing the job on rails. The cab also has windows on all sides and a low-height hood behind the cab, providing operators with 360-degree direct visibility.

The 216MRail uses a seven-inch colour display monitor that is easy to read and configured to provide useful data in real time. Driver-assistance functions, such as rail mode, are available with a simple switch.

A pneumatic braking system for rail trailer and rail car brakes and an automatic hook for towing are additional optional features on the 216MRail.

Company info

Parc des Glaisins 2 av. du Pré de Challes
Annecy-le-Vieux,
FR, F-74940

Website:
mecalac.com/en

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