At least it was in a yard…
Very strange. Looks like some trackwork has been done here. But how did the head come off?
I am not a track inspector, and I am certainly not qualified to be one, but I suspect this section of rail was defective when it was first put down on the ties.
CANADIANPACIFIC2816
And no derailment? Looks like the break in the web and part of head (to the right) might be old and worked its way horizontally along between the web and the head. When the final break come through the head to the right the pressure then snapped off the rail head at the bars on the joint while bolt(s) held the web in place.
Mud Chicken?
It’s easy for me to understand how the head could have sheared off from the web. But there must have been significant forces in play to cause the head to shear off from the remaining head section, even with the joint plates helping to maintain some level of rail integrity.[%-)]
Was this an actively used track prior to the head removal?
Dont feel bad. I am sure that many of us have.
It’s just yard track that gets hammered and smashed every day. It gets loose, bent out of shape, out of gauge … gets tossed up and down back and forth … pounded by cars all the time. They don’t tighten it up cause after all its only a yard track and why waste time on that … unitl … snap … its all over.
Head-Web separation is very common in older OH rail. Probably was piped (rail termites!)as well …where the break turned and went down probably was where everybody noticed a problem…
Looks like failure was sudden and nobody ran over it after it failed. Heavy tonnage can also cause the rail head to “wobble” under load in lighter sections of rail.
I think they got their money’s worth out of that piece of old rail before it failed.
Another question (thanks to everyone for putting up with these questions):
If everything was intact except for the broken head, to what extent could a train pass over that track without derailing?
Does this happen to be CSX’s track?
Rail termites?
[(-D][(-D][(-D] Yeah, those pesky critters who eat a small circular path through solid rail (piped rail…
If the head of the rail is gone, you’ve lost another 1.5 inches of gage, you’re banging on nicks on a very thin piece of old steel and you’re dropping about 1-2 inches at the break. If the trucks are not falling-in, then you are breaking the rail or lifting and turning (cocking) a wheel. If you aren’t already derailed, you will be in very short order at any speed.
We had a lovely wreck a few years ago when a piece of rail suffered a splitting headache. A heavy load of soybean oil exploited the split between the head and the rest of the rail, and the head somehow went over the wheel. The tank eventually came to a stop at a better piece of rail (and/or a retarder), teetered, and went over on its side. That one took a while to clean up (just the car, fortunately–no loss of lading).
…why yes, yes you have.
Quite the scary picture.
If there was car sitting over that piece of rail when they noticed it had been decapitated, would they take that piece out and replace it with the car in place or risk moving the car over it?
You could probably spot weld the web enough to get one truck over it and then replace the rail. It is much easier to make the fix if a car is not there (Ever try spiking a tie underneath a car?).
However, if the MofW forman (MudChicken) didn’t think the weld trick would work, then you fixed it with the car over it.
There is one other trick that might work if the rail section is short enough so that the trucks are not sitting on the broken rail - and that is to replace the rail under the car without securing it, and then VERRRRRRRRY slowly pull the car over the “new” rail so that the rail settles slowly into the tie plate. The cars weight will keep it down and the sholders on the tie plate will keep it from going sideways.
Track conditions are sadly retreating to the way it was back in 1975, when Penn Central experienced derailments while cars were standing still. We can’t blame the weather, as the northeast is basking in temperatures normally not seen until march. Me thinks we’ll get a harsh dose of winter before long and there will be more derailments caused by undermaintained track.
Nope - A regional. Not to far from the CSX Chicago Line, though (a literal stone’s throw). There were no cars on that track at all at the time…
I recieved a nice photo essay, coffee-table type book, for Christmas. It was about western trains, and the author took a photo from the rear deck of a switcher that had just traversed a similar section in a yard, except that it was about three times longer than the one pictured above. As in that instance, our author’s switcher took it in stride, did not derail, and only after they felt the clunk did the engineer stop and have a look.
So, I would not say it is “common”, per se, but it happens, and the slow moving diesel is about as likely to negotiate the gap safely as not, if this statistical sample can be deemed credible.
Another trick that I have actually seen done is to cut a piece of scrap rail a couple of inches longer than the can - then flame cut a slot in each end of the web - and lay the piece on its side across the gap. The web of the scrap rail will support the flange of the car wheel across the gap to get the car out of the way.
dd