Eastern Railroad Discussion > Laying Rail .... 23 September 2022

CSX Rail Train W312-23 laying out rail along the Mountain Sub at Dawson, MD

... More to Follow ...

 

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1) At the end of the curve, the rail is cut free from the rest of the ribbon.

2) With the day's work completed, the W312 heads est to tied down in Keyser, WV .... westbound on Bull Neck Curve in the Keyser Industrial Park.

Tim W.

 

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Very nice photo series showing the train at work.

Rich

Hopefully this investment represents some optimism - future - for this line in CSX’s eyes.

Posted from iPhone

Fun stuff, thanks Tim for posting. I don't believe I've seen rail dropped since about 1995 or so when SEPTA was replacing rail on their mainline in front of the building where I worked. I heard a great commotion and wandered into a lab where I could see the railroad. They were dropping rail and in the process had to cut it for a road crossing. A few dys later they were using a Kershaw tie handler with a rail handling attachment and it fell over. It was blocking both main tracks with the string rail. They had to torch the rail in many pieces to to clear the mainline for rush hour train movements. A costly blunder. 
I've watched Conrail and then NS around here. I don't believe they have replaced any rail on the straight sections of track in the 22 years I've lived here. But have certainly laid down and replaced rail on the many curves maybe every 5-6 years. Re-surface maybe 4-6 years over everything and tie gangs come around about 4-6 years and do maybe every third/fourth tie. Good ones get banded up and sold for reuse on shortlines or NS yards. No clue where the old spintered or crushed ties go. The old rails from the curves are chopped in pieces that fit a truck and leave on asphalt. Tie plates, spikes and any other metal debris are picked up with magnetic cranes and trucked away. And every few years the rail grinder makes a pass. All very interesting and I'm sure very expensive. The cost of maintaining a first class two track railroad.
Gonut



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/24/22 19:47 by Gonut1.

Yep all CSX does is "hogging curves" also hasn't been full rail replacement since Conrail
Michael t Kerner
Collinsville,IL

Posted from Android

Thanks for the pics...