For a long time, the few things that could easily move around heavy machinery was trains. So lets say that there’s a train on a track, and its broken down and it either needs repairs, extra parts, or a replacement engine. Right behind it are several other trains, because this is a busy line.
How does a train bringing repair or extra engines deal with this? Its not like they can go right up to the broken down train because there’s other trains in the way. How do they get rid of the broken engine and the other carriages, because they’re on top of the tracks, and there’s no other tracks for them to move onto.
In: Engineering
In most cases the solution is to just put the locomotive in neutral and push or pull it with another locomotive. In fact with modern multi-unit trains that have several locomotives it is not that uncommon for a locomotive to break down while under way without the train stopping, the broken locomotive will just carry on to the destination where it can be put into a shop.
There are some types of breakdowns where you can not put them in neutral as a wheel locks up. But steel wheels on steel tracks offer very little friction, especially if you put down some grease on the tracks. So you can easily push a locomotive or car into a siding so other trains can pass. Later on they can show up with a crane or some jacks and swap out the truck. These are entire complete units that can easily be swapped out even on the side of the road. For locomotives they have idler trucks without motors that they use to transport these broken down locomotives. It is also possible to use a big crane to lift the locomotive onto a rail car so it can be transported to a shop.
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