A rail line close to me is being pulled up very soon. I think most or all of it is 60 pound rail. I would like to get enough sections to park a hopper car. Are most sections 39 feet long? If so I will need 4 sections. I calculated that a 39 foot piece of 60 pound rail is 800 pounds. I’m not sure how I will bring it to my storage. Any ideas?
In a police car if you don’t do it right…be sure to check with the railroad people first. Yes, stick rail is usually 39ft sections. so each piece will weight about 780 lbs. No, you can’t pick it up yourself but two or more may be able to. How far do you have to travel with it? You might get by with a pick up and red flags for a short hop…anything more, see what you can do at Uhaul or Hertz… But again, be sure you’ve made firm arrangments in print with the railroad before you take it.
You won’t need a red flag if you haul that 39’ stick of rail in a standard pickup with an 8’ box. The 31’ sticking out the end will be dragging on the ground. The shower of sparks where the rail drags on the ground would be a lot more visible than a red flag.
If you’re getting this rail, no doubt you would be buying it from the company doing the salvage work. They, no doubt, have all the equipment for picking up and hauling rail. Ask them what it would cost to have it delivered for you. If you live fairly close, the cost might not be as much as you think. At the same time, it might not be a bad idea to inquire about cutting the rails in half. A 19-1/2’ piece of rail @ 390# rail, you might be able to move around with a small skidloader, or a half dozen of your closest friends, when it comes time to use it.
I would be PAYING FOR IT, not stealing it. I have an 09 Ranger and a little boat trailer turned into a flatbed with a 4x8 sheet of plywood on it. Whatever I rigged up still would be very long. The place I would store it at is 9 miles away.
Henry assumed you were buying it, but if all you do is get the ok from the scrap guys, and the railroad has no knowledge, if you’re out there with a bunch of buds hauling away rail the special agent might haul you away too…
Get whatever agreement you make in writing with a receipt.
Second, this stuff is heavy, real real heavy, so watch that you don’t kill your Ranger and trailer.
Last, Murphy had a good idea, cut the sticks in half, still heavy but manageable for a few guys.
Keep in mind that you can’t just plunk down a few ties, a few rails and set your hopper up, unless you prepared a real solid foundation, just like a road bed, with drainage and all that…if you just set it up without preparing, it will sink into the ground, pretty darn quickly depending on where it is at.
Good luck and we need photos of the work in progress!
It may seem logical to go after that rail because it is close to home and you are aware of it, but they may or may not be willing to sell some to you. If they do, I agree with Murphy that you should try to get them to deliver it. I can’t think of any convenient way for you to move it without a long trailer, and that would require a bigger truck. While it is heavy, you could haul one stick at a time if necessary. But the bigger issue is the length and the requirement to secure it to the trailer.
There are numerous DOT laws that cover moving loads on trailers. Even if you could extend the tongue on a small two-wheel trailer and move one stick at a time, you would probably be in violation of at least a dozen laws. I am not sure how you would legally secure a rail to a trailer that was shorter than the rail. Maybe you could bolt joint bars to each end, so you would have a place to run a chain that would keep it from sliding endwise. Then you wrap over it crosswise in a couple locations. It would require several chains and mechanical binders.
The fact that you are only going a short distance is a plus for staying out of trouble. But cops are really aggressive about enforcing the laws that apply to trucks and trailers in any application that appears to be commercial. People who haul Bobcats around have all kinds of horror stories about getting stopped and fined for things they never even realized were an issue.
I think the best idea is to have the salvage company move the rails to where you want to use them. Don’t forget you will need tie plates, angle bars and spikes, as the company will be pulling up all those things with the rail, now’s the time to get them. I would think they would charge scrap prices for them.
As a former M.O.W. employee a word of warning. Rail is HEAVY! It will smash your toes or cut your fingers off if you give it a chance. You don’t have the tools to handle it either. I’m not saying don’t do it, just be very very carfull when you do! 780lbs doesn’t sound heavy, but it is when it’s setting on your toes! A long heavy steel bar with one flat end(a digging bar or jack handle) is invaluable when handling rail.
Good luck and Be carefull out there!
Tim
Not that a few railroads haven’t tried…
When it comes to cutting rail - tools from Home Depot or Lowe’s - just don’t cut it - In comparison to the steel one routinely finds in todays world - Rail Steel is incredably hard and will burn out normal consumer grade tools and show very little progress in the cut.
Its the former Minnesota Zephyr rail line ROW which is now owned by the Minnesota DNR, including the tracks, ties etc. Salvage rights are owned by the Mn DNR. From what I have read all of the metal will go in to be scrapped. I have emailed the DNR a half dozen times about this in the last year. The salvage bid was awarded in July 2012. The contract for it states the work is to be done November 30th 2012. About 3 miles of the west half of it was mowed two weeks ago since weeds have covered most of the tracks for the last two years. There are lots of sticks along the tracks with pink paint on the upper 6 inches. Last week I parked by the Gateway/96 bridge and walked down to where this track used to cross whatever line the current Gateway trail used to be. I was stunned as to how many people I saw on the trail walking, running, biking, roller blading. I don’t own a RR car or have a place to put one on right now. I do rent space in some pole barns owned by a retired farmer.
Oops forgot this: It will be called the Browns Creek Trail. Website is www.gatewaybrownscreektrail.org . Browns Creek Trail will connect to the Gateway Trail. When it is all done people will be able to roll, run or walk all the way from St.Paul to downtown Stillwater and the St.Croix river. After a new bridge is built over the St.Croix river there will be a beltway trail crossing the river on the old lift bridge, going south on the Wisconsin side to the new bridge, come back to Minnesota and go back up along the river to downtown Stillwater.
I’ve often thought about doing the same thing- only using a caboose and/or a small locomotive. Assuming you are successful in setting up your display track, how do you plan to procure the car?
Boyd,
I assume you have spoken with your neighbors about this and gone to the local planning commission about permits? I knew a guy who bought a bunch of 2’ gauge mining cars and track. He put them behind his garage in the fall. Snow came and covered his stuff. The next spring, the neighbors saw his ‘junk yard’ behind the garage, and when they asked him about it, he announced that he was planning on buying one of the gas mine locomotives and setting up a loop in the back yard.
The county was involved within a week, and by the end if the summer he had a ‘drop dead’ date to get the junk removed from his residential property!
Jim
Like I already said. I don’t have a RR car, or a place to put a RR car. I rent where I live. I do rent some storage in some pole barns where I could store the rail but could not store a RR car.
60 lb. rail that old is probably only 33 ft. long, maybe 30 ft. (or less), and if worn may be only 55 lbs. per yard or so.
If you cut it, don’t forget to get some extra joint bars, too.
- Paul North.
If you can get a second pickup this would work. Park the two trucks tailgate to tailgate so that there is 40 or so feet between the rear of the cabs. Get a few really hefty sumo wrestler type guys to dump the rail in the back, one end on each truck. Then just drive to where you’re going, with the rear pickup going in reverse. Of course you gotta drive a little slow, but there’s no need for red flags or anything like that because nothing is hanging out the back. It works every time.
This all happens (of course) after someone has said “Hold my beer, watch this” [(-D][(-D][(-D]
So you want rail to display a hopper car you don’t have, and can’t get since you don’t yet own any property. You are facing a challenge to move some rail to a storage place, which means you will face the same challenges when it comes time to move it again if you do buy some property (or change storage facilities).
Sounds like putting the cart before the horse. Unless you have some personal attachment to this particular rail - there will always be rail available for a price. I just wonder if all this hassle is worth it for something that you may never use? Seems like the priority should be acquiring the site where you will use the rail, then getting the rail delivered to said spot.
I’d be able to load it with a 385 IH loader, on my 30ft trailer, pulled with my F-250, but why?
Adrianspeeder
Thanx Paul (Just got home)
-Boyd might also want to get his hands on the tie plates and related OTM (60# oval neck bolts are not that common and also sone 5 1/2 " industrial grade spikes, (the newer spikes may not fit in the holes of the tie plates)