This company builds special trackwork. This pic shows a 3ft switch with metal ties. https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-IBndgpSty94/Tym7Q50kFZI/AAAAAAAAIcs/VDvmOcdleEI/s800/_MG_9548.JPG This pic is the switch stand in the middle of the switch. https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-eEjYOSpujEI/Tym7psREOPI/AAAAAAAAIc0/wHnSZYqm1jw/s800/_MG_9545.JPG It has some straght track on top. Curtis
Any idea where this track would be used? I wonder if it might be used where wood is not available and rust is not a problem like deserts.
Those don't look like ties to me, they look more like spacers, holding the parts of a switch (turnout) together in a maintenance yard somewhere. Alan
I know metal cross ties are fairly common in parts of Europe, but I haven't heard of them in use in the US anywhere yet. When I was still in the business, we had a 13 mile long tie replacement/tamping job, a good portion of those ties were 40-50 years old. Some where even older hand-cut oak ties from the early 30's, according to their date nails, and they were still in reasonable shape! Would steel cross ties last that long? How about concrete? I wonder if the likelihood of broken rails would go up with stiffer cross ties such as concrete or steel since the rails wouldn't be able to transfer the flex, run or other dynamics of traffic. (just rhetorical questions) The rail appear to be of a somewhat "light" rail, like 90RE or 100AS, etc. These couple be for a municipality light rail project, especially with the switch pod in the middle of the points.
Seems to me, from what I read and have seen on line from time to time is that these would be for a temporary bypass. Or a temporary spur to get a large item such as a generator or refinery item to a company. Or to make a temporary spur for staging of rail cars with equipment that is to be used for major track work. Also looks a lot like the switches with switch pod in the center used in interurban railways, such as trolleys or light rail. Or maybe none of the above.
A lot of switches are made off-site and they use metal ties to hold the rails/points/frogs in place with metal ties, these are removed when the switch is put into place and regular ties are pushed underneath to replace the metal holding ties. The switch machine in the middle is a pneumatic switch machine which is operated remotely from a different location - usually the yard office.
Thank you for this information. Metal ties which are removed on site after installation make for lighter transportation and easier installation, rather than shipping a section of heavy panel track complete with all ties in place as was done during the upgrade of our local branch.
We have steel ties in service in the Spiral Tunnels. They were installed during the late 80s when the floor was lowered to allow for doublestack containers, to make it less of a maintenance headache. (20-25 trains a day, single track, try finding time to replace ties in a long, cramped, damp tunnel!) They're shaped a bit differently from wood and concrete ties, and here's a photo I found on the manufacturer's site: http://www.narstco.com/images/Spiral_Tunnels_045.jpg If you're wondering, the photo appears to be taken from the upper portal of the lower spiral, looking towards Cathedral mountain.
Matthew, are those ties solid metal? In your photo they appear to be layered with two different materials, possibly metal atop concrete.
Okay guys, I talked to someone at the company, they said the metal ties stayed on. They were going to a coal mine. Didn't give me a location,didn't want to press it. Curtis
When I was riding the Hill Country Flier earlier in the year I noticed that the Austin & Texas Central Railroad was using a lot of steel ties to replace old wood ties along the line. Also when the KCS was rebuilding the old Macaroni Line they used them alot for temporary sidings.
lot's of steel ties over here in switzerland. talked to a friend who develops track alignment machines. steel ties are actually specially formed profiles. more or less u-shaped. here are some of the pros : - use less storage and transportation space - less shrinking/warping than wood - do not crack as concrete does - less floating on the roadbed due to their u-shape profile - cheaper - ice and water does not crack steel ties as it can with wood/concrete most of the steel ties are used in mountain areas over here.
The steel ties are a stamped sheet product. The design allows them to be placed on ballast, and the shape underneath acts like a pocket to help hold the ties and track in place. When the CSX engine facility in Willard OH was redone in the early 1900s, they used these steel ties in various locations in the facility. They didn't seem to last long because they were gone within 5 years. The new North Baltimore (OH) intermodal terminal makes extensive use of steel and wood ties throughout, and the interlockings on the mains at each end have been laid with concrete ties. So 3 different types of ties can be found within a few miles of each other around North Baltimore.
I made a comment about steel ties about a year ago to one of the Roadmasters around here, not knowing he was as opinionated about them as he is. We have a few under switches in the yard. Apparently this Roadmaster really hated them because he said it was impossible to get the track surfaced properly with them. From what it sounded like, in his description, they tend to shift more as trains pass over them, and so they have to go out and surface the tracks more often. Of course, they gave up in the yard decades before I was born. He made it sound like steel ties were a lot more work to maintain.
