What would cause this extreame case of sun kinks? I’ve seen couple of hard sun kinks but I think this is the worse case. Triple main in Nebraska somewhere (Not my pictures (Photographer unknown to me))
I don’t know, but I wonder if it had something to do with the temperature of the rail when it was installed.
Not a problem…the Centennial unit would straighten that stuff right out! [;)]
There is a roadmaster (MTM) and a Division Engineer (MTP) that got roasted over this. You don’t lay rail in near freezing temps without compensating the ambient temp of the rail, getting the rail somewhere near the target temperature and then carefully watching it for months. Very sloppy.
(Cannot repeat on this forum the comments from an old boss of mine. Mooks saw them - never saw cat fur turn blush red before.)
As CWR is laid in a cool environment, it is supposed to be heated to the “mean” temperature of the location. They apparently did not do this in this instance.
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Could an engine actually go down that track?
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Could they straighten the track and continue to use it or is some of the rail bent too sharp?
I remember once setting up Lionel 027 track curve sections with curves being L, R, L, R, L, R etc. The engine did make it down the track.
Yea, but it wouldn’t go very far.
Is this for real ?!? I too have never seen one - or as many - that bad, or as closely together, etc. Even crunching the numbers I have a hard time believing it - for a 100 deg. change/ increase in temperature, 100 ft. of rail will expand only 0.78 inch = 25/32" (= 100 deg. x 0.0000065 in. / in.-deg. x 100 ft. x 12 in./ ft.). While the internal forces are tremendous, that looks like a lot more ‘throw’ than what is needed to relieve just 3/4" of expansion motion or ‘strain’ . . . EDIT: . . . but, no - to relieve that motion completely would require the track to displace sideways about 3.6 ft. every 100 ft., which is about what it looks like, while allowing a little bit for some residual friction from the ballast and unreleased forces and motion, etc.
From the sharpness and even spacing of the kinks, it looks more like someone was attempting to shift the track sideways a few feet to a new alignment or location, but using just the bucket of a tracked excavator (“hoe”) or similar piece of equipment. But I also can’t conceive of who would approve doing that here, either.
- Paul North.
Yes, the rail could be straightened–you’re looking at a telephoto-distorted shot.
MC, I never heard about this (probably with good reason!). When would you say these pictures were taken? It must have been relatively soon after the track was (re)constructed (I say reconstructed because even the tracks that had existed prior to addition of the third main line got concrete ties and a shift to wider track centers). Somebody’s careless decision (you don’t chalk this up to ignorance) or willingness to take a shortcut cost the railroad a lot of money. I hope he was appropriately rewarded for his efforts.
Fearing a limited future for freight railroading, a major Class 1 railroad entered a joint venture with Six Flags Entertainment Corp’s Six Flags Over Omaha to develop and test new theme park rides designed around track with steel rails at 4’ 8.5" (ID).
The original email that was sent out was on June 11th and was titled “North Platte area this past weekend”. My Dads friend was the orignal recepient.
Maybe this is a new concept to counter “hunting” trucks???
Doesn’t look too much different than the C&NW Wisconsin Division main line in the '70s.
The ways this can happen? Here is one possible recipe. There are many variations to this basic theme.
First, lay the rail “cold”. That is well below the desired neutral temperature for this area, which is probably about 105 degrees or so.
Next, run a surfacing crew through it at night when the temperatures are in the 40’s or 50’s
Start running trains wihtout adequately compacting the ballast section. (Perhaps their dynamic track stabilizer was broken down)
Then, have a nice sunny, clear day with air temperatures reaching into the 90’s
There you wil have rail temperatures pushing 140 degrees and the large temperature swing from night to day (100 degrees or so) plus loosening the ballst interlock around the ties and that rail is going to go somewhere.
The forces involved in the thermal expansion of rail amount to about 2670# per degree of temperature change (Change in force = end area of the rail x 200 x change in temperature) so for 136# rail the end area is 13.35 sq in, 200 is a thermal force constant and the temperature change is 100 or 267,000 pounds increase in the force in the rail for a 100 degree change.
All of that change has to be held back by the track structure.
Aww, come on, Jim! There are lots of differences…concrete ties, welded rail, white ballast, good cross level, rails staying at standard gauge…
Does this Class as MOW Humor???
Not an expert on this by any means, but I thought continuous welded rail had to be laid in the summer, so the rail would be hot and at it’s max expansion. This of course wouldn’t apply to emergency repairs and such.
When I first saw this, I wondered if one or more of their 135+ car coal train had a UDE in this area earlier in the day.
UP has been laying and maintaining ribbon rail in all different climates for a long time, let’s cut them a little slack. By any chance did a private contractor lay this new main for UP?
rrb
[(-D] [tup] A horizontal roller coaster !
. . . except for the alignment, that is . . . . [:-^]
Perhaps the “appropriate reward” that Carl suggested above would have been a fast trip down that track in a motor car/ speeder or a hi-rail truck after too much of a greasy lunch . . . [+o(]
- Paul North.
You know, these photos remind me of the “MISTAKES” Demotivational poster, at: http://www.despair.com/mis24x30prin.html
“It Could Be that the Purpose of Your Life Is Only to Serve as a Warning to Others.”
I’d sure like to see and have a video clip of those kinks happening in ‘real time’ - from a safe distance, of course . . . . [swg]
Thanks for sharing these, Soo 6604 !
- Paul North.
When I was formatting the quoted reply in my tiny little brain, I was going to start out with a disclaimer for all the things you mentioned. But a few seconds later, when it came time to type my reply, those words never made it out.
I caught the “standard gauge” joke–very good!