stntylr
OBS Chief
Construction has just started on a commuter train from running from Denton County into Dallas.
Denton County commuter train
Denton County commuter train
Ity is called a rail train, or CWR train. (CWR = continuously welded rail) You need to get out of town more often. Been done this way for about 50 years now.Seriously, though- something I just thought of, that has little to do with this specific line. Which is: how the heck do you actually transport 1600-foot long lengths of rail? Indeed, how the heck do you transport 1600 feet long anythings over land?
The only dumb question is the one that should have been asked but was not.*shrugs* I don't know everything, or claim to. I just usually keep my mouth shut when I don't know enough to open it- or rather, don't think I know enough to open it. I do occasionally open it thinking I know what I'm talking about mistakenly.
Thanks for the info, George. So those rails can actually bend that easily?
Doesn't that eventually weaken the metal, though?It is now standard on most systems and for all but the smallest turnouts to have the switch rail welded to the rail between switch and frog, so when the switch is thrown you really do "bend the iron".
Considering its size and the amount of bending, yes, over a very long time.Doesn't that eventually weaken the metal, though?It is now standard on most systems and for all but the smallest turnouts to have the switch rail welded to the rail between switch and frog, so when the switch is thrown you really do "bend the iron".
Actually no, because you do not go beyond or even near the yield point of the steel, so there are not fatigue issues. Even if there were on the smallest turnouts, the wheel wear on the point would normally result in condemnation of the point first.Considering its size and the amount of bending, yes, over a very long time.Doesn't that eventually weaken the metal, though?It is now standard on most systems and for all but the smallest turnouts to have the switch rail welded to the rail between switch and frog, so when the switch is thrown you really do "bend the iron".
Aloha
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