Model Railroading > Track repair in the big scale

We had a section of track begin to wear and also kink.  Trains coming from the bottom of the photo (1) come down grade through a crossover.  Over time the rail wears at a pressure point. It is at the kink.
We take out the the bad rail and replace it with a new section.

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Here we are adjusting the steel and aluminum rail joint.

The last photo shows grinding a raised joint bar (welded) that was causing an issue at a siding we use to get ballast.

WWM will have a smoother ride in August.

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Where is this?

Railbaron Wrote:
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> Where is this?

Goo question. I would have put a larger gap between the rails at the joint to make sure the expansion of therails do not cause anymore kinks.

IIRC, this is the Indiana Live Steamers operation in the  Johnson County Park, about 40 miles south of Indianapolis.  The OP has posted about this organization several times on TO.

Bruce
 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/26/19 19:17 by BCutter.

CPRR Wrote:
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> Railbaron Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
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> > Where is this?
>
> Goo question. I would have put a larger gap
> between the rails at the joint to make sure the
> expansion of therails do not cause anymore kinks.

The gap is at the other end of the rail.  We usually have no gap at the steel aluminum connection.

Here is my train popping off after a long climb up the hill at Indiana Live Steamers in 2017. 
Its a pretty steady climb to the top and a lot of fun getting there.  

Track condition there was excellent in 2016 and 2017.  I missed last years event, but hope
to make it in August this year.

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mmmmmmm
mixing steel and aluminum is not a good join for they create a fusion problem
just like in the U50c locos and the joint melts

So how hard was it to bend that aluminium rail for that curve? And what kind of a tool would you use?

You don't need to bend the rail on  a curve of that radius..  It is plyable enough that making it curve is no problem.

PHall Wrote:
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> So how hard was it to bend that aluminum rail for
> that curve? And what kind of a tool would you use?

We do have a rail bender we set for 60 foot radius.  When we make 10 foot panels we use the rail bender.  However, in this case the rail is flex able enough to easily bend.  Also, the outside rail was still in place and the fish plates were still attached at one screw point in most cases.

snoopy51 Wrote:
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> mmmmmmm
> mixing steel and aluminum is not a good join for
> they create a fusion problem
> just like in the U50c locos and the joint melts

We have steel switches and we do not have that option.

After replacing the rail were you able to realign the curve to remove the kink?

That sure looks like a short S curve in the first photo, bound to cause trouble with longer wheelbase equipment.
 

ChrisCampi Wrote:
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> After replacing the rail were you able to realign
> the curve to remove the kink?

Yes.

trackplanner Wrote:
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> That sure looks like a short S curve in the first
> photo, bound to cause trouble with longer
> wheelbase equipment.
>  

It never caused any problems.  We have several 3 axle locos over it all the time.  The "S" was taken out.