Method for putting into operation a clearing apparatus suitable for picking up ballast

A method for putting into operation a clearing apparatus suitable for picking up ballast and disposed in an endless configuration during employment so as to encircle a railroad track, the clearing apparatus having a lowering apparatus fastened to a machine frame, a rising duct, a return duct, and a horizontal cross-duct which, prior to a start of the employment, is intended to be positioned below the railroad track and connected to the rising duct and to the return duct of the clearing apparatus, wherein the cross-duct has a hinge for pivoting in a horizontal plane between the two connections and a detachable third connection to the lowering apparatus, and wherein an endless clearing chain having a multiplicity of chain members is accommodated in and guided by the cross-duct, the method which comprises the steps of:

• displacing ties of the railroad track in a longitudinal direction of the railroad track to create a tie gap;
• lowering the cross-duct through the tie gap between two rails of the railroad track and transferring the cross-duct, below the ties, into a working position extending crosswise to the longitudinal direction of the railroad track;
• and
• connecting the cross-duct to the rising duct and to the return duct.