Can someone please give me information on protypical usage of cement ties? More specifically, are they used in yards or mainline, or both? Thanks!
Aaron, these day’s Railroads usually use cement ties on their Main Lines,as it does not rot or need a lot of maintenance like the timber ones do. However, in my experience I’ve ever only seen class1 Railroads and their affiliates use cement ties ie;BNSF,UP,CSX,CP,CN.
The first time I saw concrete ties was along the Burlington Northern main line through southern North Dakota, specifically in Medora, ND. This is a very busy line with some pretty long and heavy coal trains. The one place I saw a turnout along this line it was still constructed with wooden ties. There was also a flange oiler near this turnout which might make an interesting detail to model. Other than that, the only other places I’ve seen them is along the new mass transit lines in Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas.
Concrete (not cement) crossties are almost exclusively used in main line applications, Their advantage is twofold. First, with their greater weight, the track is more stable under heavy loads, reducing fuel consumption. Second, in areas of heavy traffic, much longer expected life greatly exceeds the additional cost as compared to wood ties. Problems have been experienced, however, on sharp curves and approaches to open deck bridges with broken fasteners. Their additional cost is not justified for yard trackage.
For what its worth down in Blair NB, there is a siding to an ethonal plant that has cement ties.
The Apalachicola Northern has almost 90 miles of concrete ties in its 96 miles of main line track. Tne Florida East Coast main line from Jacksonville to Miami is almost entirely concrete ties, so it is not just the big railroads.
AMTRAK’s Northeast corridor-- Boston to Washington DC, 4 tracks.
Metro North commuter trains in New York use cement ties in various sections alongs it’s mainlines. There are sections that are still wood though.
Actually not all four tracks of the Northeast corridor are on concrete. At least through Philadelphia up to Trenton, only the two center tracks (used primarily by Amtrak) are on concrete ties. The two outer tracks (used by SEPTA, and CSAO(former Conrail)are still on wooden ties.
The Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) in the San Francisco Bay Area uses concrete ties.
Like almost everything, there is no black on white answer with Concrete Ties.
First of all, some railroads which use concrete ties use wooden ties under switches (supposedly because it’s easier to built and align the switch with more mallable wood than trying to drill out holes for plates in concrete on the site). Second of all, some environments apparently are not kind to concrete ties (apparently very humid ones), and the concrete ties there do not have a significantly longer life span than wooden ties (which means, due to the greater cost of concrete ties, that concrete ties are not cost-benifical). Third, plastic tie technology is slowly coming along, meaning that rather soon plastic ties will have the durability of concrete ties coupled withthe flexiblity, mallability (meaning you can spike anywhere in the tie), and cost of wooden ties (one more side benefit - anti-rot protection without creosote, so nothing for ill-informed people to freak out about)
Aaron, from what I have seen locally here in the NW, concrete ties are an upgrade to existing mainline trackage. That’s why you see both concrete and wood in use. Spurs and yard use seem to be secondary on the upgrade list.
One exception is when there is a new spur/siding being built within a stone’s throw of the concrete tie plant (CXT). I was out railfanning on foot Sunday and noticed this new siding being laid with concrete ties. The switches in the area are still over wood ties, as brought up above. I took some pics of the track-laying that I’ll have ready soon.
Do concrete tie turnouts even exist? I know the Hiawatha Light Rail around here uses wood ties under the turnouts, and it sounds like the other places use wood for turnouts, too.
Yes: http://www.cement.org/transit/tr_cs_crossties.asp
However, as I posted above, railroads feel it’s easier to use wood ties under switches since
a.) Trains usually go slower over them, so less strain and wear
b.) Easier to spike rail into wood ties at different places (since switches involve complex curves) than to drill holes into concrete where the connectors will be needed
Also, a lot of the turnouts around here are brought in by track panel cars ahead of time. They look like giant atlas switches. I imagine that that concrete ties would signifiganly increase the weight and make the loading, unloading, and inserting much more difficult.
Turnouts are being made with concrete ties/sleepers, see photo and info at
It seems they must be custom made in the exact lengths and spacing of fixings to suit the turnout geometry, so manufacturing is more complex than for plain track.
My last train trip Washington DC to Portland ME I saw more concrete ties than before and preparations for more. It looks to me like Amtrak is upgrading all their track in the NE.
Enjoy
Paul
I only saw mention of BART and DART for light rail (BART is sort of light rail). Many light rail systems use concrete ties. Where there are ties on the Sacremento light rail system, it is all concrete. (Correct me if I’m wrong.) Also I believe the LA system uses concrete ties, but I can’t recall. The Baltimore light rail system uses some, but I don’t know if they also have wooden ones also because I haven’t been there for a while. I really haven’t actually seen to many mainlines railroads using concrete ties, except in more urban areas. Out in the “wilderness/desert” I only see wooden ties. That’s all I have to say right now. Hope that helps.