Innovative Parts & Solutions

Innovative Parts and Solutions (IPS) has served rail and industry with speciality tools, parts and equipment. These include rail tongs, precision wear measuring devices, replacement parts for ballast regulators, tampers or other track maintenance of way (MOW) equipment.

The company aims to provide a responsive service and high-quality products, in order to maximise the safety of the tools and parts supplied to customers.

Track tools for the railway industry

IPS machines and fabricates a wide range of speciality rail tools, including rail tongs, heavy-duty rail threaders, 25t rail pullers and rail-wear measuring devices. The company’s designers continually test and develop new tools to maximise safety, quality and withstand the demands of everyday field use.

IPS also supplies hand tools, including:

IPS manufactures and repairs a wide range of insulated and non-insulated wheels and assemblies, including axles and bearings, for both bore and multi-hole hub-mounted wheels.

IPS maintains an inventory of stock rail carts for immediate shipment, and designs and manufactures a wide range of custom carts.

The 25t Cyclops II rail puller uses a unique camlock design to prevent slippage while pulling long lengths of rail in 85lb to 141lb profiles.

IPS manufacture four and six-sided adzer machine cutting heads in 16in, 19in, and 21in diameters, as well as both round and rectangular adzer cutting bits and fastener kits.

Collector pans prevent environmental damage from spilled liquids and fuel in loading and unloading areas.

The unique high-performance Jefferson rail threading tong has four mounted heavy-duty rollers and bearings to thread continuous rail efficiently.

IPS manufactures a number of rugged rail tongs, including the 8t Big Dawg rail tong, the 5.5t Rail Dawg and the 3.3t Little Dawg truck crane tong.

The IPS Uni-Gage precision measuring instrument has been designed and calibrated to accurately measure wear on a wide range of rail profiles.

At 95lb, the Hound Dawg threader provides 5t of heavy-duty performance in a lightweight unit. Hardened rollers with protected bearings provide long-term reliability.

IPS offers 6in and 7in-wide complex carbide nose skids for Nordco, Kershaw and Knox Kershaw ballast regulators, as well as grader and plow blades.

• Lining and nipping bars
• Pandrol clip pullers
• Drift / tie plug punches
• Claw bars
• Rail forks
• Sledge hammers
• Spike mauls
• Drift pins
• Spike lifters
• Switch brooms
• Track adzes
• Aluminium tie and timber tongs
• Replacement non-slip hickory handles

All tools meet the American Railway Engineering and Maintenance-of-Way Association (AREMA) standards and are supplied with high-carbon or Grade B alloy steel as required.

Rail maintenance of way equipment

IPS stocks a wide range of replacement parts for MOW equipment such as ballast regulators, tampers, cribbers, spikers and tie inserters.

The company also provides:

• Ballast regulator wheels, regulator nose skids with carbide overlay, and broom elements and clamps
• Round and rectangular adzer cribber bits
• Four and six-sided adzer cribber heads
• Long and short-tamper pivot shaft and pins
• Tamper hook inserts: single and double bump
• Single, double and Lewis spike claws
• Spike jaws
• Tamper squeeze cylinders

All parts are designed for compatibility with other brands such as Harsco, Nordco, Kershaw and Knox Kershaw.

IPS also carries a variety of devices for rail gauge maintenance and clamp assemblies.

Customised and standard rail carts

IPS designs and manufactures custom and stock carts for a wide range of applications. Carts offered include varieties such as light-duty, for toilets, heavy-duty push carts, people movers, tool cribs and the aluminium ‘TrakRat’ system.

All carts can be supplied with air brakes, draw bars, oscillating axles and safety hitch pins.

Wheels and wheel rebuilding for rail carts

As well as stocking new wheels, IPS also specialises in rebuilding and profiling old railway wheels back to OEM standards.

IPS machines custom wheels with diameters from 4in to 32in.

Rail and tie-mounted flag stands

IPS supplies a wide range of tie-mounted and rail-mounted flags stands, as well as a wide range of commonly used flags.

Steel collector pans for railway pollutants

IPS Collector Pans provides full pan protection for the area between and outside the rails with a system of steel pans and cross drains, which are easily installed on new or existing tracks.

Cross drains installed between the ties at right angles to the pans carry pollutants such as spilled diesel fuel, greases, chemicals and toxic liquids into tanks for treatment. IPS Collector Pans are ideal for fuelling stations, loading areas, and washing and cleaning operations.

IPS conducts detailed surveys to create design drawings for customised pans, so they precisely match the existing geometry and minimise field cutting during installation.