Anybody actually watched guys weld rail? It is remarkable how they have got it down to a quick and efficient method. The materials come in one box. They can make it look so easy. It is amazing how the thermite materials generate liquid steel that fills the joint and bonds to the heated ends of the rail.
Welding railroad rail
- Thread starter oldcodger
- Start date
No more clickity clap sound like the old days...also the train travels much smoother now then the old days..back then you could see them wooble from side to side...
We used a similar process for welding 4/0 copper wire onto ground rods in substations .
Back in the 90's I worked next to a double Class 1.
One year they replace the roadbed and ties. A few days later came three self powered cars. The first car had a leading car with a load of new rail. The first car would grab a new rail and weld it to the previous rail they laid. The second self powered car would set the track gauge and the third self powered car would pound in the spikes.
It was truly a marvel to watch.
One year they replace the roadbed and ties. A few days later came three self powered cars. The first car had a leading car with a load of new rail. The first car would grab a new rail and weld it to the previous rail they laid. The second self powered car would set the track gauge and the third self powered car would pound in the spikes.
It was truly a marvel to watch.
I was going to post the thermite video but you beat me to it.
I don't know the science/engineering behind it but I'm sure there's a lot. Even then, things go sideways (pun intended) sometimes.
A group I used to belong to took a trip on Amtrak's Empire Builder in 1988. That was a very hot and dry summer for those who weren't around or don't remember.
The train wound up derailing in Montana due to a sun-kink. Friends who were on that trip told me that the engineer said that he saw the tracks shift out of place about 100 yards before the train hit it, so there was no time to stop. IIRC the theory was that the vibrations from the approaching train caused the track to shift the built-up tension sideways.Similar threads
