On our way to the lake house in Cuba this morning to do some maintenance repair, we went thru St. Clair and over the tracks downtown. I guess I have been away from the the real full scale trackwork for too long. When did they begin to put guard rails in b4 and after crossings? Is this something new for going thru populated areas? It just really caught my eye, even at 6 A.M.! [ coffee deprived!] Dan
Thats interesting isn't it? Maybe a string-line issue? There are a couple pretty good kinks in the MT rails looks to me. The guard rail kink doesn't really mean much, but those kinks in the MT can throw you out of the seat if you hit it too fast. Bill, get your gauge out, maybe a slow order should be placed in effect here.
Do you think it might be a replacement rail instead of a guard rail and simply spiked down to keep it safely in place until it is installed?
It looks to me to be a safety rail. With all the issues these days with automobiles running crossings, and as sharp as that curve is, it is possibly there to protect in the case of a train having to be thrown into emergency, as an effort to keep everything on the rails or as close to the rails as possible in the event of a derailment
Now thats the best explanation yet Joe. If you blow the pic up you can see the green paint on the MT rail where the replacement could be cut in... But when you blow it up you can see the kinks even better. I would bet you are right. That big of ribbon rail would not likely be used for a guard rail. Always interesting.
The only thing that I see spiked down is the very end of the ribbon. Remainder of the rail is just sitting on the ties, plus ... isn't it a little far away fron the track to be an actual guard rail?
Joe's explanation is correct. This is replacement rail for the "high" side of the curve. The tapered "end-caps" are in place to prevent the end of the rail from snagging a low air hose or other dragging equipment. It is difficult to tell if this is SH rail that has been cropped and welded or if it is brand-new rail. This demonstrates the lateral flexibility of rail, doesn't it.
Thanks for the photo Dan. I agree its probably a high relay. Little confusing though, never seen a rail threaded in, with end caps before. It almost like they plan to leave it like that for an extended period of time. There is probably a few spikes driven through, the loose rail, that may not be seen. I would be a little afraid to leave it for very long, what with the temperature changes, it would probably come loose for me. Its high risk and low reward, in that it only takes about 15 minutes to roll a ribbon in like that. I don't see the time savings although sometimes the rail won't stand up for you on a curve. It wants to flop over. My luck, comes loose, train hits it. Then: 1) That's it Bill, get your coffee cups and pencils and catch the next southbound. 2) From now on we just need you from the neck down, that's right, out of here. 3) Don't forget your dinner bucket, man your fired 4) Yep cut a trail, out of here. 5) Your going, straight to the top, for this one, Rip Track babe 6) Were going to put you in Bad Order status, right now. Best wishes from the set out track William Jackson
Now Thats Funny Bill Only a railroader would understand thatThe end caps of that rail, look like a pretty good ramp to me. And on a tight curve to boot. But again a re-lay is in progress apparently. "Hope you have good job insurance" cause that a ain't good enough excuse. "This ain't the NFL" and that means Not For Long, around here. But at least you cant say you were "In the toilet when all that happened" LOL
" I was down in the nose" no that won't cut it. "Gosh, man I just got sat down" "That lousy Conductor, went back to the third unit at least a hour ago" "He is no help at all". "Said he heard a funny noise" "WOW" Course the thing about that ribbon is that, it is not anchored or spiked. Unrestrained Rail contracts and expands one inch per ten degrees of temperature per quarter mile. Ninety in the day and Fifty at night means the ribbon will "move", about 4 inches. I've seen ribbons come up off the ground in the center, because of heat. My concern would be that the cool would pull the end of the rail out of the ramp, and then be loose. Course I don't have to worry. Nice photo though. William Jackson
As an update, the wife went thru St. Clair the other day, and the RR had the crossing closed, were working on the rails. It appears as though the idea of a new hi-rail [ outside rail] is what is going on.
Yup! Passed thru St. Clair coming back from Cuba yesterday, [again!], and here is what we saw. The Hi-Rail is the new rail!
