Ballast treating method

A method of treating ballast with an apparatus moving on a track including rails fixed to ties resting on a ballast bed and defining cribs therebetween, comprising the steps of

• 1. lifting a section of the track between a forward and a rear end of the apparatus;
• 2. removing ballast from the bed underneath the lifted track section;
• 3. conveying the removed ballast to a ballast cleaning station;
• 4. cleaning the removed ballast at the cleaning station to separate the removed ballast into cleaned ballast and rubble;
• 5. conveying the cleaned ballast from the cleaning station in a conveying path to a storing station;
• 6. selectively depositing portions of the cleaned ballast in a crib remote from the lifted track section and in the bed underneath the lifted track section;
• 7. conveying the rubble to a selected one of the apparatus ends;
• 8. selectively delivering supplemental clean ballast to the storing station;
• 9. selectively adding supplemental clean ballast delivered to the storing station to the cleaned ballast at the storing station and selectively storing portions of the cleaned ballast at the storing station.