Rail roads and their tracks.

dodge man · Mar 26, 2020

I took a railroad safety class for work once and the told me the rail gets a little fatter or thinner for expansion and contraction. He also explained railroad workers get hit by trains an amazing amount of time, usually they think they are on a clear rail an the parallel rail is active when it’s the opposite. He gave an example of workers getting hit cutting expansion joints on a curve, so I guess the expansion and contraction is more of a problem on curves.

Cub 7274 · Mar 26, 2020

It is a problem with ribbon rail in the heat ..they used to be called sun kinks and speed restrictions would be in place when it got really warm

Hay Dude · Mar 26, 2020

What happens with continuous rail?

dragoneggs · Mar 27, 2020

MossRoad said:
I have another habit of counting cars on trains. Most are right around 100 here. I've had as high as 180. If you count container trains, many are over 200 double stacked (400 containers). However, many of those cars are 5 cars that can't be separated.

If you're sitting on the west end of town and the trains are heading west, they go by pretty fast, picking up speed. However, if they are going east, you're gonna be sitting a while, as they are usually braking to slow down through town.

Yep a hundred plus/minus a few seems normal. I get a bit of ribbing from my wife is we are in a restaurant as I immediately tune out to count cars. I get frustrated if I lose count or can't finish the 'task' for whatever reason. :laughing:

ArlyA · Mar 27, 2020

Hay Dude said:
What happens with continuous rail?

Continuous and ribbon rail is the same thing, just a different name. Steel on that plane, doesn't expand and contract much.

ArlyA · Mar 27, 2020

Do you guys know the difference between the Big Boy #4014 and the UP #844?? The 4014 was the pinical of steam power design on standard gauge RR tracks, at least here in North America.

MossRoad · Mar 27, 2020

dragoneggs said:
Yep a hundred plus/minus a few seems normal. I get a bit of ribbing from my wife is we are in a restaurant as I immediately tune out to count cars. I get frustrated if I lose count or can't finish the 'task' for whatever reason. :laughing:

There's a DQ here that has seats that are perfect for watching trains. :laughing:

My wife will sometimes count cars with me, if it's a train with different types of cars. The container trains, oil trains, coal trains, etc... are pretty boring.

MossRoad · Mar 27, 2020

Besides double drivers, articulation, wheel size, etc...? There's a bunch of differences.

ArlyA · Mar 27, 2020

The limiting factor to steam locomotive size, ak power, is the size of the boilers. Once its becomes X size, a longer boiler no longer fits onto locomotives frame and you can still do corners. I believe the #844 was at its max design length. To get more power, the 4014 boiler is indeed longer and its drive trucks were made to shuttle left and right, to accommodate corners. In the photos or movies, you can see the 2 drive trucks on it. But how did they get 300 PSI steam to them?? Which is quite powerful and dangerous to contain. They designed spherical steam joints to the lines on the way to the trucks. These allow the power trucks to move about, as this wonderful machine negotiated corners. Getting this machine to stay on the tracks and have the largest boiler ever on rails, was a design feat. I do love my industrial history..