|
It's kind of frightening standing next to a good TRIPP operator - they rip ties out on the order of 10 seconds per tie, including moving the machine to the next one. No subtlety in movements, whole machine kind of bangs around from the direction changes.
|
#
?
Jan 9, 2019 01:52
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 10, 2024 18:59 |
|
|
Is there any reason why the USA still uses wooden ties? I thought concrete was pretty much the standard every rail was moving to?
|
|
#
?
Jan 9, 2019 01:59
|
|
|
Fundamentally... it'd be a big expensive changeover both changing the ties and buying all new equipment to service it. There's some concrete stuff here and there but there's billions of wood ties in the US rail system.
|
|
#
?
Jan 9, 2019 02:11
|
|
|
CAT INTERCEPTOR posted:Is there any reason why the USA still uses wooden ties? I thought concrete was pretty much the standard every rail was moving to? Cheaper, absorbs noise better and actually performs better under a few conditions I can't remember.
|
|
#
?
Jan 9, 2019 02:21
|
|
|
Klaus Kinski posted:Cheaper, absorbs noise better and actually performs better under a few conditions I can't remember. Performs better for freight work, IIRC. Most of the Northeast Corridor is concrete though.
|
|
#
?
Jan 9, 2019 12:56
|
|
|
It really is almost purely because cheaper. Concrete ties are more than twice as expensive as wood (ignoring the fact they require different equipment to do) and only last about 30% longer on most climates. This in the context where there's all sorts of push by the class 1 railroads to cut operating costs. Also, actually looking it up, I wasn't far off - almost a billion ties in the United States.
|
|
#
?
Jan 9, 2019 14:38
|
|
|
I've also heard (6 years ago, could have been new developments) that track with concrete ties is more prone to shifting side to side because the ballast/tie interaction isn't there to lock them in place. Wood tie track, after a tie replacement or surfacing, will have speed restrictions until 1) enough trains with enough weight have passed, or 2) a dynamic tamper is run over the track (huge machine the size of a locomotive that vibrates everything). This is so the ballast stone has a chance to deform and press into the ties a little and lock them in place. Make two fists and push them together, knuckle to knuckle, so that they fit together like gear teeth. Now try to slide them across each other while pushing together. Not very easy, they're locked in place. This is why ballast stones are the size and shape they are, they lock together under pressure and lock the wood ties as well. Concrete ties won't deform like this, and have to rely on shapes or ridges cast into them to lock into the ballast. Steel ties rely on a sort of shovel edge to keep them from sliding sideways, too. e: here's a picture of old track taken out, you can see where the ballast was poking into the ties on the sides. (Ignore the tops of the ties - they shouldn't be worn down like that. They were sitting under a competitor's road crossing material.) 
NoWake fucked around with this message at 15:57 on Jan 9, 2019 |
|
#
?
Jan 9, 2019 15:49
|
|
|
I forgot about the track stabilizers but yeah, that's a point. They're still only around 50 tons - biggest thing on a surfacing gang but smaller than locomotives. Most of this stuff gets trucked to a siding and cranes into position so it's a pain to have it too heavy. There's a few companies working on road transportable surfacing stuff with semi type wheels that can be trucked a rail crossing instead but I don't know if they're in production anywhere yet. I just feel like if the money were in favor, concrete ties would happen pretty quick. Last gang I was doing testing with, the other track was all concrete ties whereas the one we were working were rotted to hell.
|
|
#
?
Jan 9, 2019 16:48
|
|
|
All the HSR lines I've seen have concrete ties. And once you've got the equipment wouldn't 30% increased lifespan be a pretty big improvement? I would be surprised if the cost of the ties was significant compared to the total cost of replacing them.
|
|
#
?
Jan 9, 2019 17:38
|
|
|
That's long term. Short term it costs enough more that it's not something anyone is going to risk their jobs by hurting quarterly numbers.
|
|
#
?
Jan 9, 2019 18:06
|
|
|
NoWake posted:I've also heard (6 years ago, could have been new developments) that track with concrete ties is more prone to shifting side to side because the ballast/tie interaction isn't there to lock them in place. Wood tie track, after a tie replacement or surfacing, will have speed restrictions until 1) enough trains with enough weight have passed, or 2) a dynamic tamper is run over the track (huge machine the size of a locomotive that vibrates everything). This is so the ballast stone has a chance to deform and press into the ties a little and lock them in place. If that was thought to be a big enough advantage, it would be possible to cast a textured pattern into the side of concrete ties that could help the ballast 'lock in'. There has got to be more going on with the decision between concrete or wood for laying track.
|
|
#
?
Jan 9, 2019 19:33
|
|
|
EoRaptor posted:If that was thought to be a big enough advantage, it would be possible to cast a textured pattern into the side of concrete ties that could help the ballast 'lock in'. There has got to be more going on with the decision between concrete or wood for laying track. I was told the opposite 15 years ago when I did an internship in a perway maintenance office; the extra weight of a concrete sleeper keeps it in position better than a timber one.
|
|
#
?
Jan 9, 2019 19:41
|
|
|
pointsofdata posted:And once you've got the equipment wouldn't 30% increased lifespan be a pretty big improvement? I would be surprised if the cost of the ties was significant compared to the total cost of replacing them.
|
|
#
?
Jan 9, 2019 20:19
|
|
|
evil_bunnY posted:That’s generally not how American businesses work. Exactly. The only thing most American businesses care about (and railroads are no exception) is how much money they've earned for the shareholders this quarter. If earnings are down in the short term, executives lose jobs, even if the short term slump turns into long term gains. In this environment the only railroads that would even consider an investment in concrete ties are the ones that want to run high-speed trains. Amtrak I think has tried to force the issue on the routes they run trains on, but at least locally they haven't had much luck. BNSF has what looks like a couple thousand concrete ties sitting in a yard along the local Amtrak route, but they've been there for years now and the railroad MoW teams continue to replace wood for wood.
|
|
#
?
Jan 9, 2019 21:46
|
|
|
Yeah, the concrete ties I've seen are on a line that gets used a lot for commuter rail.
|
|
#
?
Jan 10, 2019 00:17
|
|
|
PremiumSupport posted:even if the short term slump turns into long term gains. ...that the next executive gets credit for.
|
|
#
?
Jan 10, 2019 00:23
|
|
|
Someone caught dashboard video of a train derailing as it crossed a highway in Saskatoon. Pretty intense video. https://www.ctvnews.ca/hot-topics/Tags/Train%20derailment
|
|
#
?
Jan 24, 2019 01:32
|
|
|
Speaking of crossing fuckery, let's bring in a video which got hot around a month ago, but didn't seem to be mentioned before in here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x52EcdAz9Ig
|
|
#
?
Jan 25, 2019 00:54
|
|
|
Eric L posted:Speaking of crossing fuckery, let's bring in a video which got hot around a month ago, but didn't seem to be mentioned before in here There's an industry turnout just before the crossing that looks to get serviced pretty regularly. I'm sure there must be some sort of lockout to keep the gates from dropping each and every time a train occupies that block of track while the switch is thrown to the industry.  That the signals and gates actually drop once the train is past the turnout gives credence to the theory that some insulators or wiring had gone bad. The gates and lights themselves may have passed any testinf, but was the circuit that triggers them and the industry lockout ever inspected?
|
|
#
?
Jan 25, 2019 01:20
|
|
|
NoWake posted:That the signals and gates actually drop once the train is past the turnout gives credence to the theory that some insulators or wiring had gone bad. The gates and lights themselves may have passed any testinf, but was the circuit that triggers them and the industry lockout ever inspected? From the unofficial evidence, that seems to be exactly the case. Naturally, they are trying to hang at least one locomotive engineer for failing to call the defect in.
|
|
#
?
Jan 25, 2019 01:54
|
|
|
There was an intermittent short in the warning circuit.
|
|
#
?
Jan 25, 2019 02:45
|
|
|
I kind of figured it had something to do with the signal maintainer you can see in the shack at the end of the video.
|
|
#
?
Jan 26, 2019 18:58
|
|
|
He happened to be there for some other work.
|
|
#
?
Jan 26, 2019 19:21
|
|
|
https://twitter.com/Bkasparas/status/1088924929003831297?s=20
|
|
#
?
Jan 27, 2019 20:40
|
|
|
https://journalstar.com/business/local/up-sues-to-fire-engineer-who-defecated-on-train/article_b3abf7a7-b9b1-5de8-b79e-d266c01b4e40.html
|
|
#
?
Jan 29, 2019 14:58
|
|
|
B4Ctom1 posted:https://journalstar.com/business/local/up-sues-to-fire-engineer-who-defecated-on-train/article_b3abf7a7-b9b1-5de8-b79e-d266c01b4e40.html Ahhh management. Gets a defined set of rules on how to fire someone who is in a union, whines when they get told to follow those rules.
|
|
#
?
Jan 29, 2019 15:06
|
|
|
iospace posted:Ahhh management. Gets a defined set of rules on how to fire someone who is in a union, whines when they get told to follow those rules.
|
|
#
?
Jan 29, 2019 15:51
|
|
|
evil_bunnY posted:It's always loving hilarious when they can't follow the most straight forward formulaic procedure. Yup. They want to go "you're fired" without any other paper work (see at-will employment).
|
|
#
?
Jan 29, 2019 16:21
|
|
|
This engineer could potentially gently caress up union contracts. If UP wins the suit against the arbitrator, they're going to keep suing, and you'd better believe that they're probably going to throw out these kinds of lawsuits like candy if they really want to get rid of particular employees. On the other hand, if they lose, the engineer will go back to work with the world's largest target painted on his back. gently caress this guy.
|
|
#
?
Jan 29, 2019 20:15
|
|
|
https://ve.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_pluhtbgF9B1w5pr9j.mp4
|
|
#
?
Jan 30, 2019 03:16
|
|
|
Anyone still remember that UP is working to restore a big boy back to working duty? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Plt6UgVo9x4 They are apparently nearly done with the job now.
|
|
#
?
Jan 30, 2019 03:46
|
|
|
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6UZwqWw7REA What a crazy funny crazy thing to do...
|
|
#
?
Feb 1, 2019 00:23
|
|
|
Jonny Nox posted:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6UZwqWw7REA Loved their All the Stations series.
|
|
#
?
Feb 4, 2019 20:36
|
|
|
 Owner's Flickr Link
|
|
#
?
Feb 5, 2019 03:33
|
|
|
Wanna be a kid a huck rocks at them and help drive the decision in the future to have enclosed auto-racks
|
|
#
?
Feb 5, 2019 03:44
|
|
|
https://www.flickr.com/photos/nshorseheadsd70/31909589537/in/photostream/ kind of weird seeing a conrail motor without the logo. i guess its between two pc motors. https://www.flickr.com/photos/nshorseheadsd70/46095657004/in/photostream/ this is weird too. flexiflo is the nyc, later conrail, bulk transfer terminal company. maybe the only interesting/good thing that could possibly come out of this psr business(and a general lack of competition in other sectors of the economy), is for congress to do a little trust busting and force the big 4 to break up. it'd be good for employees at all levels below the c-suite and probably good for shippers. but, i'm not holding my breath.
|
|
|
#
?
Feb 5, 2019 04:26
|
|
|
vains posted:maybe the only interesting/good thing that could possibly come out of this psr business(and a general lack of competition in other sectors of the economy), is for congress to do a little trust busting and force the big 4 to break up. it'd be good for employees at all levels below the c-suite and probably good for shippers. but, i'm not holding my breath. I was under the impression that there were rumblings about UP and NS splitting up CSX?
|
|
#
?
Feb 5, 2019 18:24
|
|
|
TSB says train began to move on its own before fatal derailment https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/tsb-train-cp-railway-derailment-field-bc-calgary-investigation-1.5006374
|
|
#
?
Feb 5, 2019 19:33
|
|
Disgruntled Bovine posted:I was under the impression that there were rumblings about UP and NS splitting up CSX? hadn't heard that. i've heard that the up toured the water level route a few months ago but idk what the point was. i dont see how the two could split up csx and maintain some semblence of competition, even the facade of competition that shippers have now. you'd have rail shippers across the country lining up against the idea. -i think that splitting up the us class 1s, except for kcs, would appeal to shippers and employees. both groups are harmed by the present level of consolidation in railroads. -i also think that people, while they like the services that amazon/apple/google, are getting fed up with the outsize influence that they have over local/natl government in the us. -i know that people are fed up with income inequality. one way that this could be addressed is to split up some large companies. not holding my breath for this or anything. the economist has written a few articles recently about how regulators might reconsider the definition of competition, which hasn't really been addressed since att was broken up.
|
|
|
#
?
Feb 5, 2019 23:55
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 10, 2024 18:59 |
|
|
Class I employee here: I expect another big merger in the next fifteen years and a bunch of new short lines in the next five. As for who will be in on the next merger, it’s anyone’s guess, there’s loads of possibilities.
|
|
#
?
Feb 6, 2019 21:23
|
|