Today BNSF is laying down new track in Hanford, CA. This replaced track from 1970. When they laid the rails down it was jointed rail. It had been like this for months. However today they are beginning to pull up the jointed rail and lay down welded rail. What was the purpose of the jointed rail? Would it haven been quicker to lay welded rail in the first place?
You weren’t specific enough. Did BNSF lay heavier jointed rail to replace the original stuff before the CWR went down?
Usually rail gets laid, then a tie gang goes through, followed by a surfacing gang to fini***he job. If you changed the ties first, then they would get “spike killed”. It’s not a good idea to pound spikes into a tie more than once.
Yes they placed heavier rail however the CWR is even heavier. I’ll try to get more information.
Jointed rail dates back to the first iron rails used for railroads. The standard length 13 yards (39 feet) was based on the standard size flats and gondolas of the time, 40 feet. The lengths would fit inside a 40 foot gon. I think it’s still a standard size today for stick rails.
Installation of CWR was a lot more expensive in the short run (initial costs) but newer methods and equipment have brought that cost down considerably. Plus the fact that the specialized equipment (like the train to transport it), once paid for, is usable for many years.
When they laid the “new” jointed rail, was it strictly a rail replacement, or was it laid in the form of panel track? UP just did something like that in front of the depot here in Lombard–cut the welded rail, put in a bunch of new panels with new ties and fasteners (no spikes), and later relaid or welded the rail.
Before the jointed rail was laid it was in the form of panel tracks. These were then laid and ballasted. This stayed like this for months. Now they are pulled up just the rails (not the ties) and putting CWR down in its place.
Carl’s questions are VERY justified. Lots of things in play here.
…and kfuztv partially answered his own question. Part of the issue is speed of replacement and part of it also is economics. It also sounds like there were subgrade issues as well. BNSF may very well have laid asphalt underneath as well. (Parts of Hanford used to be giant mudholes and ballst pockets were are common)…
You can increase weight of rail over 119#/yard (119-131-132-133-136-140-141-144…pick a section) without changing the tie plates because all share the same rail base width (6 inches) …The old ties may all have been plate-cut and worn to the point that adzing/dapping the ties and changing out individual ties would not be economic or create spike killed ties (correctly noted per NARguy) that won’t effectively hold a spike under load. Also if you lay panel track and then you slide one rail to avoid square joints, you save time as opposed to rebuilding the railroad in stick-built fashion which keeps the operating bubbas happy in the Ft. Worth NOC.
There are lots of things you are not seeing here, including the roadmaster ordering panels with larger tieplates for the larger welded rail that comes eventually, the known fact that rail deliveries are behind because of rail mills (the three surviving ones in the US) are going full out to deliver rail and the Russian/German/British/Japanese imported rail takes a long time to get here from the day they were ordered, ties going to failure faster than delivery of the new rail, trying to beat California monsoon season, holiday rush and so on…
The jointed rail from 1970 was some of the last main track jointed rail relays ever done on old Santa Fe and that was partially because the old Valley Division was a backwater location at the time in the days before the TOFC/COFC/doublestack steamship container boom of the early 1980’s.