Western Railroad Discussion > Cutting Rail?

Does this photo show a track gang cutting rail, in the days before the use of torches? If so, it seems like a very long process to cut a rail by the use of chisels and sledges.

The photo is from the Larry Sax collection of hundreds of photos of railroads and mining at Bingham canyon, Utah.

Don Strack

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A comment on the Bingham Canyon History facebook group says that a common method to cut rail was to weld a bead on the rail then hit it with a maul and it would crack along the bead.

But it seems these guys are doing the hard way, or maybe the photo is old enough that there really was no other way.

Don Strack



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/12/18 09:19 by donstrack.

I was told by an old timer that, using a chisel to "score" the top (ball) of the rail, then with the rail propped up as shown in your photo, when struck with large sledge hammers, the rail will break off at the score mark.

Does look like the hard way as its probably before the day of the portable welder.  By splitting the edge of the foot of the rail it may cause the whole to break.. However it works its probably a long lost art.
RB

My Dad retired as a Track Foreman in 1972.  I know that that was the way
they cut rail.  They did not have a torch.  As I understand it, (open to correction) that
it is not good to cut rail with a torch as the heat makes the end of the rail brittle.
zr190

Yes, that method was used well into the 1970s.
I watched SP track gangs make repairs that included cutting 136lb rail with a track chisel. In addition to a groove across the top of the head they made a notch in both sides of the base.

This was much quicker than trying to start a gas engine on a below freezing night.

Posted from iPhone

Rail back then was way more brittle than today's rail.

Eng.Shadetree

> As I understand it, (open to correction) that it is not good to cut rail with a torch as the heat makes the end of the rail brittle.

According to the Speery book on rails, a cutting torch leaves untempered Martinsite. It also leaves a ragged cut, where stresses can concentrate, eventually causing a break or head and web separation.

Still long for The Good Old Days?

Bill Deaver
Tehachapi, CA

donstrack Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Does this photo show a track gang cutting rail, in
> the days before the use of torches? If so, it
> seems like a very long process to cut a rail by
> the use of chisels and sledges.
>
> The photo is from the Larry Sax collection of
> hundreds of photos of railroads and mining at
> Bingham canyon, Utah.
>
> Don Strack

Man that is some hard work. I assume the angle piece under is scoring the foot, then do they rotate the rail over to score the crown? Just trying to figure it out. Thanks

Posted from iPhone

Note the fourth man with what I believe is a long handled sledge hammer.  After the rail is appropriately notched, both top corners of the rail head, both bottom corners of the rail head, and a notch opposite each other on the base (below the notches on the rail head), the fourth man will whack the end of the rail solidly toward the other end.  Harmonic vibration the length of the rail will cause the rail to break at the notches.  Works better in cold weather.  The men are dressed for the cold.  I was told by an experienced man that in hot weather you had better luck if you could push down on the end to be broken off.  With the tools at hand, that meant lining bars hooked under a parallel track.  

Alex Huff      



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/12/18 19:12 by dsrc512.

Instills a lot of respect and admiration for railroaders "back in the day."  An operation where you damn sure want to "measure twice and cut once!"  Thanks for sharing.

I remember that well, had two man drill for the holes, if you had a drill, also used a hack saw.

HotWater Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I was told by an old timer that, using a chisel to
> "score" the top (ball) of the rail, then with the
> rail propped up as shown in your photo, when
> struck with large sledge hammers, the rail will
> break off at the score mark.

That's right, Jack.

Been there, Done that, when building the Como-Harriet Streetcar Line in Minneapolis, about 1961.

-John

An old friend that worked on the Great Northern, told me all about cutting rail with a chisel and sledge hammer.   I was in disbelief at first but it made sense afterward.   He gave me one of the tools of choice, called a "Cut Devil" .   It looks like a splitting maul for firewood, but is really a chisel with a handle on it.

Craig Hanson
Vay, Idaho

You see one of these in use in the photo.  Man at extreme right is holding one to the base of the rail, while man with spike maul across the rail from him is preparing to strike it.

Amazingly, he's wearing saftey glasses!

-John

hawkinsun Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> An old friend that worked on the Great Northern,
> told me all about cutting rail with a chisel and
> sledge hammer.   I was in disbelief at first but
> it made sense afterward.   He gave me one of the
> tools of choice, called a "Cut Devil" .   It
> looks like a splitting maul for firewood, but is
> really a chisel with a handle on it.
>
> Craig Hanson
> Vay, Idaho

You see this kind of back braking work, and hear about it..
Then you hear others whine about having to operate a rough riding locomotives or they hate operating the control stands in certain locomotives! 
Baffle's the mind..
I would be willing to bet, that the men swinging the hammers would gladly trade places??

David
Twin Falls, Idaho