Cutting Railroad Track

[clemsonfor]

for lack of knowing where this should be, either welding or rural living etc, i settled on the welding forum since this is read by metal guys.

I have a piece of modern CSX railroad track i want to cut down. Any suggestions, i have been told a torch and others have said that it would take a whole bottle of gas and you probly couldnot get it hot enough to cut. I though about one of those metal rental cutoff saws like stihl makes but the rental and disk were going to be like $40. A big plasma? A logger i know might have a cutter that will cut that size but not sure. What about an angle grinder i made an 1/8 cut in it testing it out and it seemed to cut with my 4'' grinder, i just think once i get to the thick part there my grinder wont have the oomph to get it, that and i will probly use up 20 disks or so.

So any suggestions besides getting CSX to use the hydraulic nippers on it.
Better yet any that have actually cut it?

 

[mustangsallysdad]

for lack of knowing where this should be, either welding or rural living etc, i settled on the welding forum since this is read by metal guys.

I have a piece of modern CSX railroad track i want to cut down. Any suggestions, i have been told a torch and others have said that it would take a whole bottle of gas and you probly couldnot get it hot enough to cut. I though about one of those metal rental cutoff saws like stihl makes but the rental and disk were going to be like $40. A big plasma? A logger i know might have a cutter that will cut that size but not sure. What about an angle grinder i made an 1/8 cut in it testing it out and it seemed to cut with my 4'' grinder, i just think once i get to the thick part there my grinder wont have the oomph to get it, that and i will probly use up 20 disks or so.

So any suggestions besides getting CSX to use the hydraulic nippers on it.
Better yet any that have actually cut it?

I've made a couple of anvils out of rail using an O/A torch and a #6 tip...cut fine...regulators set at 6 psi and 52 psi.

 

[Mark @ Everlast]

It should cut through fine.

Most any medium size torch will cut through that fine with a 5 tip or even smaller.

As for the gas settings, that is going to depend on your torch and torch model. My Smith will require about 10 psi and 40 psi on Acetylene and Oxygen respectively.

A Oxy fuel torch doesn't cut necessarily by getting something hot and melting it. Rather the torch rapidly oxidizes the carbon steel, once the metal has reached the ignition point. The can be done quickly at a localized point if the flame is held quite close so that the inner cone is washing down onto the metal.

 

[Egon]

Cutoff saw will work quite well. That's the same as the angle grinder.

 

[Bill_C]

14 inch abrasive cutoff saw ("chop saw") was gonna be my answer too, if I had to do it. Used mine a while back to easily cut a hardened steel shaft that just laughed at my bandsaw (and dulled the bandsaw teeth).

But I've seen 'em cut with a torch.

 

[sweettractors]

I made a anvil several years ago and used my acetelyne torch. It seems the hardest part to cut, was the first 1/4 inch on the top part of the track. I dont remember having any real problems cutting. 3 other guys in our shop made anvils the same day I made mine with no problem. Ken Sweet

 

[yomax4]

Most any Oxy Fuel Torch will lop off the RR track. I use a Victor Straight Cutter with the New Edge Regulators. I use Propylene Fuel Gas and have made dozens of cuts on RR Tracks at Shows. No Problem here, Just Cut it!!:thumbsup:

 

[gauthier]

Yeah,crank it up a little and have at it,if that don't work well crank it up some more,never tried to cut a rail before,but its all about preheat,you'll need to spend some time preheating cut area.

 

[Mark @ Everlast]

If you start on the edge on the bottom of the rail, you won't need much more than normal preheat. If you do, you don't have your flame right.

 

[firefighter jim]

Take it to a steel warehouse and have them cut in on a power hack saw. It will render a perfect clean and square cut. I've had several cut this way years ago.