That is some serious expansion, good catch Steve.
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| Posted by Pierre on November 1, 2013 | |
Hi,
My question is : How come there is no expansion joint anymore on railroad tracks. For many years, it was standard procedure to have gaps every 40 feet, now no gaps at all.
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Welded rail is stretched before installation. How far it's stretched is determined by the average temperature expected at that location. Instead of expanding in the heat, the rail simply eases that constant tension, and tenses up again as it cools. It has to get much hotter than average for welded rail to get kinked like this photo. Snapped rail due to excessive cold is another concern.
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| Posted by Pierre on November 1, 2013 | |
Thank you Erick, that subject has been on my mind for a long time. I will sleep much better tonight!
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When I looked at the thumb my brain jumped to "Do Gandy Dancers have a Rule G?"
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25 years ago when that photo was taken... and I guess even now... would a train coming up on that have any advance warning? Especially if that happened in the daytime and no train came through until after dark?
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| Posted by Ricky J on November 1, 2013 | |
I seen sun kinks on jointed rail before, But never anything quite like that on welded rail.
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No advanced warnings for these puppies.
They are still called "sun kinks" on the track gangs.
My foreman and I "chased" one on jointed rail for about a mile until we could find a few joints wide enough to take the expansion of the rail.
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