Track cleaner , sweeper (obsolete name: cattle spreader , cattle spreader , cattle chipper from English cowcatcher , there is also a jargon skimmer ) - a device similar to a bulldozer blade, mounted on the front of the locomotive or the head train of the MVPS , for dumping any objects from the railway track : snow, logs, cars, etc., preventing them from falling under the rolling stock, which can cause damage to equipment under the bottom (especially brake ) or derailment .
Depending on the type of rolling stock and local conditions, the track cleaner can be made in the form of a grill or shield. On roads where tracks are subject to snow drifts , track cleaners are used in the form of a plow blade . At high-speed substations, the sweeper also acts as a fairing .
The archaic name that was used some time after the invention of this device is a cattle ejector, a literal translation of the English. cowcatcher - "cattle catcher". Although this name is still used in some official documents ( accident reports at level crossings ) and by non-specialists, it is not widely used.