What type of train was this?

Question

I saw it at night passing above the highway I was driving on ( I-81 in W.V.). There were bright lighted spot lights all over the cars, which appeared to be box shaped. There seemed to be quite a few cars on this train as well.

Answer 1

Loram Rail Grinder

http://www.krunk.org/~joeshaw/pics/loram/

Grinds the rails to even out the wear..

Answer 2

The gentleman above is quite correct. Spino also farms out a rail grinder.

By grinding the rails, often with no more than 65/1000's of an inch, the "pits"s are removed. These pits retain moisture and will hasten rail decay due to oxidation. This in turn can lead to metal fatigue, even when speaking of "carbon steel", which is usually found in track rails in curvature, then usually on the outside rail.

The machines are serviced at night, for the next day's activity, including replacement of grinding wheels. This is why they are well illuminated and draw attention after dark,

Answer 3

Maybe it was The Love Train

Answer 4

This could have been a ballast tamping machine which vibrates the ballast under the sleepers ("ties") to avoid dips in the track. They usually work at night when traffic is reduced.

Answer 5

You saw a rail gang, performing program maintenance on track, judging from your location, it was a probably a CSX (or Norfolk Southern) rail gang.

Answer 6

midnight train to Georgia

Answer 7

could it be the fabled "Train to Glory"?