I was out railfanning today and noticed the track here on the UP main line has spikes half way out of the wood. Is this normal? How often do secition crews check the track for problems? Here are the pictures I took of the track.
A lot of that depends on the class of the track, ie. what’s the speed limit. some spikes will loosen up simply because of track pumping (up and down movement of the track as the train passes over it). If it’s a low speed line, which is what the track looks like in the picture (tie condition for one thing), a couple spikes being loose won’t hurt anything.
Looks like they need to under cut, and replace the old ties…is that a main or a siding?
A few lose spikes are not a problem, as long as the tie plate is held in place and dosnt move side to side…
Like Tom said, the pumping will lift the spike, which is why they need to under cut and tamp the ballast there, to slow or stop the pump.
If its a main, it should be checked montly at least, if its a siding or a lead to an industrial track, once a year or so…
Ed
Loose spikes on the field side of the rail are not so much a problem as the forces from the trains are directed outwards. Gauge side spikes need to be well anchored, but even then a few lose ones won’t cause much problem.
I have seen loose spikes like that on UP’s Sunset Line and that gets inspected every few days.
dd
I see them on the NS St. Louis district. They run 50mph or higher.
ICMR
Happy Railroading.[swg][swg]
…I note the track condition of NS north / south line through here {a main line track}, has bolts {that is what they appear to be with a square head}, fastening rail tie plates down to ties…and it also has the spring clips holding the rail…It looks to me the bolt fasteners would stay tight better than a normal rail spike…Any comments on these type of fasterners…
As Ed says, a few loose spikes aren’t going to hurt much; as Hugh notes, field side isn’t quite as important as gauge side (provided you have shouldered tie plates – you don’t want to lose gauge!). They are almost inevitable – even on highly maintained track, there is some movement (it’s supposed to be that way) as a train goes over, which will eventually loosen the spikes.
Bolts do hold better, but they take a lot of time (relatively speaking) to drive. The spring type hold downs are great.
The ballast and cribbing in your photo look pretty good; the ties don’t, though… please tell us it’s a siding or a low speed line!
Of course I didn’t take these photos so I wouldn’t know for sure, but since the tracks are CWR, I am guessing its a main line.
Basically, a few loose spikes won’t hurt anything, several loose spikes could cause a problem.
CWR has worked it’s way down to Branch lines and yard tracks. CWR can be found almost anywhere.
…As I noted above in a post of what appeared to be bolts holding tie plates…I visited that very site again today…{near our trail…can look through the fence}, and noticed in addition to bolts and spring clips…the outside of the rail {on the ouside of the curve}, also has a plate that appears to be part of the tie plate that locates an edge of it on top of the rail flange to help keep the rail in contact to the tie plate and of course not pull up as a train travels over it…All this is located on the outside of a curve adjacent to the former depot…
Then I guess NS, CSX, NJT, etc. havn’t caughten up to the future yet in New Jersey!
It looks like those ties are “killed” and “plate cut.” it’s not really a big deal unless you have more than four in a row like that.
Those ties will definitely be replaced if a tie program were to occur.
Was this on main track or a siding?
You would be surprised at the condition of some “Mainlines”. The NJT Main here is actually in really good shape, and does have loose spikes, this is normal for a few here and there. I have seen lines where the ties are so bad that the condition of the spikes is of no consequence. I believe that the rule is that at minimum only one out of every 7 ties needs to be in good shape. I am not sure about that.
If I recall, according to a video I have, the main purpose of a spike is to hold the tie plates in line, not actually hold the rails themmselves, which is more the job of the rail anchors. Nowadays they have those springy things instead of traditional spikes, so the rules might be different, though I think these are utilized more often on curves.
I live near the UP coastline in the Los Angeles area and this is normal. On the coast there are about 10 Metrolink and 10 Amtrak (Pacific Surfliners) a day in each direction. Also 8 - 10 freight trains can be seen along the coast in both directions. Another 3-4 switchers also travel the coastline that tie up at Gemco Yard. I think it’s safe.
I see them all the time i even pull some loose ones out or i hammer them in.
No, its a fairly high speed main line, the closer one is where it splits into two tracks.
I agree with train1221 although I seem to remember being taught as a child that as long as 1 in 4 (or 5) ties are correctly anchored trains could run at trackspeed. It would be a bit of a bad ride at 60-70 MPH though…Think about it, in most cases (unless on the outer edgeds of curves) the train weight helps by pushing the rails down onto the roadbed.
“Follow the Flag”
Sic transit gloria mundi-There lies the road to progress
I’m not concerned. Seem to be looking at a square joint set that was recently boutet’ed . Deflection is max right at the square joint. Might be a good time for a few tie plugs and tamp the joint ties. Ties with loose spikes got most of it’s abuse before cwr got there. You are looking at where 4 strings of welded rail came together (look at the bolt holes set back from the joint where a six hole anglebar joint was, the bolt holes closest to the joint were not used which is typical practice) At track speed in compression, you won’t feel a thing.
Mike: I envy any roadmaster that has the luxury of cascading secondhand rail down into his yards and backtracks. His phone does not ring so often in the middle of the night.
By “springy things”, I assume that he’s talking about D-E (McKay) Clips and pandrols that take on the duties of anchors and conventional cut-spikes.
Hugh and Jamie are on the mark. Only one tie looks like it has a chance of being condemnable. (If it holds a spike, holds gage, is not excessively plate cut/split and if ballast can’t work its way through, it’s still a good tie per 49CFR213)[^][^][^][^][^]