Working rail roads and their tracks.

[bcp]

West Branch Feather River Bridge

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=West+Bran...sb&atb=v169-1&iar=images&iax=images&ia=images

Bruce

 

[bcp]

Road-rail bridge in New Zealand

Bruce

 

[MossRoad]

Over the lake
South end shows tracks going under road bridge
View attachment 650556

North end tracks comes out tunnel at Rich Gulch. Lots of tunnels on that line.
View attachment 650559

Thanks. I didn't look that far north.

Google earth has a small problem with the south end of that bridge. :laughing:

But the north end shows it pretty clear.

 

[the old grind]

Moss, those pics resemble some of my scenery work on Bob's HO layout.

Yeah, there's something about pasting together satellite pics taken from different angles. They're even more noticeable when adjacent shots are from different times of the year. I can tell when my place was last photoed by what was parked in the yard and where. Big white truck gets parked in a different spot ever year.

Unfortunately there are no mine tracks left from the sand/gravel pit days here in the '70s and '80s.

 

[caver]

Part of an old rail spur for logging near St Joe Idaho. Note tree growing out of top of tunnel.

 

[Hay Dude]

Moss, those pics resemble some of my scenery work on Bob's HO layout.

Yeah, there's something about pasting together satellite pics taken from different angles. They're even more noticeable when adjacent shots are from different times of the year. I can tell when my place was last photoed by what was parked in the yard and where. Big white truck gets parked in a different spot ever year.

Unfortunately there are no mine tracks left from the sand/gravel pit days here in the '70s and '80s.

When I walk the old abandoned tracks in my little community, I notice an area where there are 50-100 LONG lengths of track just sitting in a pile.
What is the value of it and why doesn’t the railroad want to retrieve them? They are easily accessible

 

[ArlyA]

When I walk the old abandoned tracks in my little community, I notice an area where there are 50-100 LONG lengths of track just sitting in a pile.
What is the value of it and why doesn’t the railroad want to retrieve them? They are easily accessible

Dependents on who owns it and by that I mean if they feel like selling it or not, the price of scrap steel and its accessibility. Right now the price of scrap is close to zero.

 

[Hay Dude]

Dependents on who owns it and by that I mean if they feel like selling it or not, the price of scrap steel and its accessibility. Right now the price of scrap is close to zero.

Is track that’s been sitting for 45 years still useable? Or is that considered scrap? Also wondered why some abandoned rails are left there and some are taken up and reused? I’m guessing track that’s in below average condition isn’t worth picking up? I’m sure accessibility is part of it. Or maybe it’s the #/foot it weighs?
It looks pretty good. It’s not buried in wet ground.

Amazing that much iron would be left to rot into the ground instead of recycle or re-use!

 

[dfkrug]

Amazing that much iron would be left to rot into the ground instead of recycle or re-use!

Well, like a lot of public works projects (if that is one) there is no one incentivized to save money, or recycle unused or used materials. Same may be true for large corporate projects.

I got all my #9 rebar for my house build from piles of it left over from building the light rail in Santa Clara, CA. At 70# per stick it was heavy and difficult to load and transport. Steel scrap prices were low (as they are now), and handling costs were high. I think I got 2 or 3 tons.

In retrospect, I paid nothing for the steel, but I overpaid. If I did it over, I would have just ordered it from a steel supplier and had it delivered, as I did for the other rebar I bought.

 

[the old grind]

"When it costs more to cut up and haul steel than its scrap value .."