Railcar movers (Trackmobiles, Shuttlewagons, Rail Kings, etc.) are purpose-built machines that allow industrial facilities to move railcars within their site without relying on a mainline railroad locomotive or crew. For operations such as mills, terminals, refineries, grain elevators, and transload facilities, railcar movers provide significant operational and financial advantages.
Railcar movers allow facilities to control their own switching operations rather than waiting for mainline railroad crews.
This allows sites to:
For many facilities, this can remove hours – or even days – of operational delays.
Railcar movers are significantly more cost-effective than using locomotives or contracting switching services.
Benefits include:
Many facilities recover their investment quickly through avoiding switching charges and improved logistics efficiency.
Railcar movers are designed to operate on both rail and pavement, making them highly flexible for industrial sites.
Operators can:
They also allow precise positioning of railcars and can operate on lighter or uneven industrial tracks.
Railcar movers are specifically designed for safe industrial switching operations.
Safety features often include:
These features help reduce coupling incidents, uncontrolled railcar movement, and employee exposure around moving rail equipment.
Modern railcar movers can move significant numbers of railcars depending on track conditions and grade.
Typical capabilities include:
This allows a single operator to efficiently break up inbound trains, build outbound trains, and reposition cars during loading cycles.
Railroads closely monitor how long railcars remain on site. Delays in loading or unloading can lead to demurrage charges and missed switching windows.
Railcar movers help facilities:
Railcar movers can scale with a facility’s growth.
Railcar movers can scale with a facility’s growth.
Typical progression includes:
This allows companies to expand rail operations without major infrastructure changes.
