On the CN / GTW tracks through Michigan it is clear that as few spikes as possible are hammered into the tie plates.
The total cost of spikes must be great if only two are inserted into tie plates that have openings fo eight spikes.
Tons of iron can be saved by minimalizing spike use.
Does it make the tracks any less safe?
US Army and Air Force Technical Manual - Railroad Track Standards dated April 1991 - Two spikes per tie plate, straight track and curves less than 4 degrees. (total 4 spikes per tie) On curves 4 degrees and greater 3 spikes per tie plate (total 6 spikes per tie) - Spike patterns shown on page 6-2
http://armypubs.army.mil/eng/DR_pubs/dr_a/pdf/tm5_628.pdf
CSX Standards - Tie Patterns page 36 and 37 Two to Five spikes per tie plate
Union Pacific Two to Six spikes per tie plate
UP Specifications Manual webpage with pdf links
http://www.up.com/customers/ind-dev/operations/specs/track/index.htm
Its not the cost of the spikes its the damage to the ties from driving the spikes.
I had kinda assumed that the unused holes were “spares”, to be used when the original holes in the wood became wallowed out and loose, but the army pdf mentions plugging and re-using the original holes. They call for a treated plug. Is this plug wood or something else? (Plastic or whatever?)
I recall seeing wood plugs among the track gang’s store of materials in the local C&NW depot in the 1960s.
Dave Nelson
The plugs are wood or sometimes a granular resin.
The number of spikes used are generally based on the curvature of the track, the more curvature the more lateral forces, the more spikes are needed to restrain the tie plate which restrains the rail.
Plugs are, for the most part, cut from a semi soft wood, like basswood, and shaped like a headless spike, same size as a spike.
Recently observed a local yard track that a tie gang had recently ‘serviced’. New ties placed every 3rd or 4th tie, tie plates in place - NO SPIKES.[oops]
perhaps they are going to change the rails out and will use the new ties for gaging. just a thought
They make 1 pattern of tie plate to accommodate all of the different combinations of spikes required for track at different locations. Otherwise they would have to make tie plates with 2 openings, 3 openings, 4 openings, etc. and maintain a larger inventory of tie plates. As long as the required number of spikes for the location are used, the track is safe.
Well, you know, business has been slow and we’ve had to cut back.
Jeff
Both - most common is a pre-cut plug that splits when a new spike is driven in it. (think of all those matchsticks crammed into an old screw or nail hole when the screw or nail no longer holds in place.)…tie hole filler (synthetic) is a liquid compound that dries after applied, still not yet completely perfected (Original foam stuff was re-classified as a hazardous material, next generation broke down chemically, third generation was too flammable/volatile (Speno trains set the stuff on fire); current poly-urethane version seems to work better (SpikeFast, etc) and can be machine applied whereas the earlier stuff was hand applied with a cake decorator/glue gun tool.
You fill the hole regardless of whether you are gonna drive another spike in it. The goal is to stop decay by filling the void (keep water and bugz out of the heart of the tie/ keep the fiber material in the wood from getting punky/rotten)-secondary issue is to create holding friction between the wood and the spike.
Rectangular hole = “spike killed” tie
Untreated wood decays in a heartbeat. Tie plugs are treated just like a treated tie, hopefully filling any holes/voids with preservative instead of air/water that would start the decay process.
The trick is to balance the holding power of the cut-spike with the effective structural life of the fibrous tie as it survives the repetitive mechanical action of spikes, sharp ballast and tie-plate friction. Dense hardwoods and softer pine firs are placed in curves and tangents respectively because that t
(1) tree killer (shorten the effective life of the tie for NO additional benefit)
(2) money waster - (Give me all your money before you throw it away!.. those extra spikes won’t be doing much, especially out in the tangent) Trackmen know the difference between anchor spikes and gage spikes. The tie plates have a purpose in their design, much of which has been gained by years of practical experience. If all the holes are filled, there is something terribly wrong, you lost all of your maintenance flexibility and your ties must be in serious trouble.
Appearances and practical reality seem to have gotten confused. (railroads waste way too much on those shiny things running on top of the rail - the local roadmaster could do wonders with a lot of that wasted capital)
(3) Somebody bought into all that anti-CN crap propaganda…hook, line & sinker.
I am not against CN.
There are a few long straight sections where a few of the original spikes are not driven in fully.
There are thousands of spikes in the ties between Battle Creek, MI and Schoolcraft, MI.
Few loose spikes are left laying around after mainenance these days.
[:-^] James J. Hill - the “Empire Builder” of the Great Northern - was supposedly a stereotypical parsimonious Scotsman.
One day while walking along a track during an inspection trip, Hill found a new spike laying loose in the ballast. Picking it up and with fire in his eye - he was also notorious for firing employees for the slightest of reasons - Hill headed for the track foreman, who was nearby.
The track foreman - who had to be one of the fastest-thinking men around - beat Hill to the punch by greeting him with:
“Thank God you found that spike, Mr. Hill - I’ve had 3 men looking for it for a week !” [swg]
(Shamelessly lifted from either Holbrook’s “The Story of American Railroads”, Harlow & Botkin’s “A Treasury of Railroad Folklore”, or Jensen’s “American History of Railroads in America”.)
[(-D] Good one, Jeff ! [bow]
FRA Track Safety Standards for Class 1 track - poor condition, 10 MPH max. speed, etc. - allow the distance between “good ties” with adequate spikes in tangent track to be as great as approx. 100 inches = 8.3 feet (5 good ties every 39 ft. = 468 inches, with at least 1 under any joints; 6 ties in curves over 2 degrees). That’s roughly every 4th or 5th tie. For Class 3 track (40 MPH freight speed), it’s 8 ties per 39 ft. (4.5 ft. average center-to-center spacing, roughly every 2nd or 3rd tie) in tangent and curves up to 2 degrees; 10 ties per 39 ft. for curves over 2 degrees (4 ft. average spacing, practically every 2nd tie).
In tangent track, if the ties are providing good vertical support/ bearing for the rail (so it won’t twist or roll outwards), and the rails are fairly large (so they won’t twist or bend sideways too much), spikes in every 4th or 5th tie are all that are really needed for a minimum operation (low speeds, not too many trains, etc.). When constructing new track, that’s how it’s done (though every 3rd tie in curves) - then the intermediate ties are spaced and spiked, before the ballast is dumped in. The rest of the ties and spikes are to distribute the train forces and loads over more ties and provide more support and margins of safety - which is also more economical because the lower loads extend the life of the ties - so that the tie gang doesn’t need to come rushing back as soon as a couple of ties deteriorate, but they are not absolutely essential to safety.
I have on occasion joked that you could build a section
Why don’t we use track bolts as many railroads in the world have for years?
Bolts?
He must be talking about screws. (insert pun here)
Bolts have a “necking problem” that has yet to be conquered in the high tonnage US market. They also have a commonality problem that so far makes them not very economical when it comes time to remove the screw years later. (camcar, torx, domehead bits have a way of not being there when you need them…but the trusty crowbar is always there.)…different types of expansion/ spring pins have also failed the test of time…
OK. The point is not using spikes, at least on modern installations with concrete ties.
http://www.vossloh-fastening-systems.com/en/produkte_2010/betonschwellen/w_14/w_14.html
or Pandrol.