Yesterday along BNSF’s Beardstown sub in Franklin, IL I noticed a long consist of flat cars with what looked like a continuous series of rails stacked on top of each other. It looked like BNSF was installing new rails. BNSF sure took their sweet time on this job since the lead SD40-2s appeared to be stopping, then moving again at a snails pace to the next section of track. Here’s some pictures that I took yesterday.
It’s been going on for a while on the Bakersfield to Barstow route as well, last year over Tehachapi pass and this year from Mojave east.
Gotta keep the plant in good shape.
You cannot go fast unloading rail through the threader cars. Any faster than 5MPH and you do NOT want to be the guy in the birdcage on the threader cars (up against the engine). Any faster than 2-5 mph and the unloaded rail starts flailing around. The stopping and starting is most likely a new string being pulled by the unloaded string through the power ramp and threader cars (3 cars in front of the engine)…
You also start and stop to cut rails at road crossings and switches.
MC question.
How is the used ribbon picked up off the side of the roadbed? Is it cut and stacked on flats or picked back up onto the cars the new ribbon came off of? (I think the answer is in one of my old Trains mags in the boxes, but why not take advantage of muddy feathers’ agreeable nature?) Thanks in advance for the answer.
Take the three ramp cars off, cut-in a power threader car and an idler car (flatcar).
With a cable winch and stabber chain, pull the rail (CWR or JTD) up and through the power threader.
Disconnect the cable & stabber chain, bolt the needle nose wedge to the rail, engage the threader and guide it through the rack (using the locomotive push when needed) and shove the rail up on the rack. (I’ve unloaded rail too many times to count - Loaded rail with a power threader twice. Dragged away used rail w/ 2 front end loaders for many miles to use on a siding or backtrack many times if I could scrounge up the plates)
Repeat as many times as required.
If it’s scrap rail (torch + Burro crane + gon…get busy)[:D]
Thanks, mud, a question answered that I have asked myself several times after paralleling a line that has just had its rail renewed. It was pretty much how I figured it could be done, building on the innovation of getting the rail off of the racks in the first place.
Thanks again.