sykop8ntballer (Wednesday 12th of November 2008 11:05:50 PM)

Howcome the tracks are welded together? I figure that spiking the tracks to the ties would allow them to expand and contract a little with a gap between tracks. Any insight?

jilcainessa (Tuesday 18th of November 2008 01:12:04 PM)

this is aluminothermic... inside of the"bucket" there's a moisture of termithe with aluminyum kind of.... get it?... the gap betwind the 2 rails, are +/- 2.5/2.6cm and the molds are ins sand... so we have to get them hot... this way the rail and the mold don't get cracked.... the aluminothermic moisture gets to 2800º in less then 37sec... and get inside the molds. filling all the gaps... with the frenchsystem of railtech is more simple, becasue after we weld,we have the machine t cut the mold

railrider2000 (Thursday 20th of November 2008 08:34:17 PM)

There's many reasons for welding the rails, but eventually there does need to be the gap. Reasons include: fewer joints to check bolts in, smother ride for the train wheels, more uniform stress over all of the ties, helps relive wheel stress in curves, etc. The welded rails usually get heat stressed as they are being spiked, so the gap at the ends is just enough to allow expansion and contraction.

sykop8ntballer (Friday 21st of November 2008 12:05:08 AM)

Gotcha, I've always wondered why tracks were welded. Thanks!

motonegros (Wednesday 12th of November 2008 10:11:06 PM)

Fascinating and interesting.

Tallshipdreamer (Thursday 6th of November 2008 04:53:31 PM)

After getting certified in jersey, I thought I would never get the chance to do this. But I did it with R.P.I. , it is so cool.

Blo0daXe (Wednesday 5th of November 2008 12:17:05 PM)

i never learned this type of welding at school, or heard about it. sweet shit

soccergurl7295 (Saturday 25th of October 2008 06:07:19 PM)

hey what is your guys on track safty warrent and where is that track dogs vest ha ha hello from the ann arbor rail road

tekkag13 (Saturday 11th of October 2008 01:25:29 AM)

actually have to agree with matmill, on our railway we have to wear our safety high vis clothing also the welder in this video does not have all required ppe gear on, well in Australia anyway, also your closure looks wrong, why weld a closure with bolt hole in it??

SnOoPs994 (Friday 10th of October 2008 01:46:20 PM)

ooo nooo the trains coming hurry!