This device, mostly below trak level, is used to refinish the train wheels. One set of wheels can be seen on the tracks and being held by the device. This mechanism slowly rotates and grinds the surface of the wheels to make the wheels all smooth and even. If you look carefully, you can see how the surface of the wheel that touches the track is bright and shiney after just having been refinished.
The photos in this slide show were taken in the mid-1990's by Steve Grande on his Amtrak travels throughout the nation. The size of the photos is purposely smaller as disk space was expensive and download speeds were slower at that time.
