Western Railroad Discussion > Heat Mitigation of Rails

In the UK they have begun to paint rails white to mitigate against heat in sensitive areas (no jokes about the British weather please....). This is to bring the temperature down..............

Does anyone have examples of this in the 'States where one would think that the problem would be more severe? Or any "quick" solution?

Cheers, Pete.

They have presented that to us in the US at one time. I think a few people tried it, but safer to just adjust the rail temps then play with paint.

How do you '...adjust the temperature of rails?"

One method to adjust temperature is a product called "Fire Snake," basically a rope impregnated with oil that burns to raise the temperature of the rail.

The "Fire Snake" in action at Small in the Sacramento River Canyon.

Robert Morris Photography
http://www.snowcrest.net/photobob/index1.html

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Actually the idea behind the white paint is to reduce the temperature of the rails (by up to 10C apparently) in high ambient temperatures.

Best, Pete.

here in the southwest, where it gets over 115F, don't think white paint would make any difference

We sell white paint, the rail thing sounds like a real sales booster.

Use white grease in the flange lubricators.
...Lorenzo

glcaddis Wrote:
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> How do you '...adjust the temperature of rails?"


you take the average ambient temperature of a particluar region since different areas have different average temperatures and use that as a neutral temperature ... neutral temperature is when the rail will not expand or contract at that temperature ... it's usually within a 15 degree heat range ... there are heat to increment measurement tables that are used as guides in the CWR sections of most railroad track inspection bibles ... ie. if a rail is to be replaced ... the temperature is taken by a rail thermometer ... in hotter temperatures cutting the rail shorter than the piece taken out or stretching or heating the rail in colder temperatures depending on the heat table ... if the rail is to be field welded then the rail needs to be cut enough to make up for the weld material will the fill the gaps usally a 1 inch gap on either side before field welding ... the biggest NO NO is too add rail after it's already been adjusted when it was installed ... rail in compression is not train friendly ... rail in compression is like electricity ... electricity wants to find the fastest way to ground ... rail in the heat wants to find the weakest point and push out ... examples are sections that are shy of ballast ... mud spots that are pumping ... fixed objects such as switches and non ballasted fixed bridges ... if the rail is to be replaced in the extreme cold the rail needs to be expanded by either hydraulic stretcher or heat ... temperatures and lengths of rail are recorded on a railroad documented form and given to the supv to keep track of all rail adjustements ... it's also mandated by the FRA for their inspection too ... what one doesnt want to do is install too much rail to the point where it will buckle in the heat range of the neutral temperature or above ... the theory is it's better to have a rail break apart in the winter cold then buckle in the summer heat ... reason being when a rail unless in dark territory is broken a section will light up as if a train is in that section showing the track is occupied ... although very slight there's always the chance that the rail could break from contraction under a train but it's the lesser of 2 evils due to the fact that most rails break under trains from a rail failure ... if a rail buckles and train comes upon it then it's more than likely going to be a disaster ... also rail anchors on wooden tie sections play a major role in rail expansion and contraction ... so when doing any of the work above rail anchors need to be applied according the specifications of the CWR table guide ... the golden rule is when working with rail keep it as close to the neutral temperature as possible ... what a lot people don't realize is that a moving train actually pushes the rail ahead of it by thermally heating the rail from the traction motors ... so controlling the rail movement is of the utmost importance for train movement ... hope this answers your question somewhat



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 07/01/11 02:29 by Out_Of_Service.