Albany & Eastern Fairmont TKO Tie Remover/Inserter

This is a Fairmont TKO Tie Remover/Inserter belonging to the Albany & Eastern Railroad. It uses rail clamps and jacks to lift the rails to allow an old tie to be removed and a new tie to be inserted with minimum disturbance to the track. On one side, a telescoping tie remover/inserter boom with an articulated gripper head helps to remove old ties and pick up new ties from trackside and guide them into position.

Fairmont Railway Motors, Inc. was founded in 1905 by Frank E. Wade as Fairmont Machine Company, a small machine shop in Fairmont, Minnesota. Fairmont began producing small single cylinder engines in 1907, and was incorporated in 1909 and began to manufacture handcar-like rail vehicles powered by the two-cycle engines. Fairmont Railway Motors became Fairmont Gas Engine and Railway Motor Car Company in 1915, and then became Fairmont Railway Motors, Inc. in 1923. Fairmont acquired Mudge & Company of Chicago, another railway motor car business, in 1928. In 1940, Fairmont developed HY-RAIL® attachments to allow automobiles and trucks to be used on rails as well as roads, developed the first hydraulic spike puller in 1953, and acquired the railcar interests of Fairbanks-Morse in 1955. In 1979, Fairmont was acquired by Harsco Corporation, a company based in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, with a history that dates back to 1853, when it was founded as the Harrisburg Car Manufacturing Company. Under Harsco, Fairmont became a major supplier of tie replacement equipment and other track maintenance equipment. In 1992, Harsco Corporation acquired the Tamper Corporation, which was founded in Canada in 1934, creating Fairmont Tamper. In 1999, the Pandrol Jackson Company was merged with Fairmont Tamper to form Harsco Track Technologies.