Thank you Alan, wish that kind of stuff didn't occur here, but it does and it's what we deal with, so appreciate your nice comment. If we ran tankers or box cars only we wouldn't have this, but that's railroadin here, we are unique, really glad you are enjoying these
I don't remember if it was UP, BNSF, or which railroad, but they ran into a HUGE issue with coal fouling of track.... railroad A had been hauling coal over their line for some number of years at a particular price. The customer looking for a better deal starts poking other roads to see if they can get a better deal. All of a sudden railroad B shows up at some cost that was ridiculously lower than A had, and all the others.... so they get the contract and start hauling coal. Some years go by and now the problem surfaces... all the lines that had coal service on them are having track defect issues out the wazoo... here what happened was all the other railroads had a higher price for coal service because they recognized that the ballast would have to be removed and cleaned at some interval greater than standard freight... Railroad B that undercut everybody else never factored in their track maintenance costs, and when they came back to the customer with a rate increase, customer said no way, you're contracted X tons for so many years at the agreed upon rate, it's not our problem... I think it was UP... this was about 15 years ago.
@@kleetus92 very good comment kleetus! And that's exactly the way it goes. You can get away with a lot for awhile, but sooner or later it catches you. Thanks very much for sharing that story 😊
The rail road I work for had coke (not cola nor caine) and alumina ore all over our yard it is still a mess, but were are slowly getting it all worked our since we no longer do the processes that was used for.
@@kleetus92 similar is fixing to happen to another rail road that is undercutting everyone else on shortline rail roads. It will bite then sooner or later!
I work in the Boston Transit (MBTA) system using a Plasser Metro 4X4 tamper. Because we move people the geo truck does our entire system twice a year every year. The X-ray truck does it once a year. I have broken a few rails in my time generally in the winter when the rail is under tension. Another good video.
Very interesting and thanks for sharing. I've never been around a Plasser, i've heard guys say they love them and others say they hate them, but I guess you'll have that with everything. I went to their web site and watched a video on it, looks very heavy duty, since i'm used to the 6700 with the light system, how does this machine know how much to lift and line rail? I know it's computerized but does the computer work off a geo report? Harsco's newest tamper can do that where the computer suggests corrective lifts and throws reading the geo report ahead of it.
Thanks for sharing. I am learning so much watching your videos. I'M not a railroad worker don't much about it but my grandfather worked for the railroad for over 40 years and remember him telling me about it he loved it.
Very interesting! I have not seen a break before. Lord knows I have seen rail move up and down a lot, but this is fascinating! New rail it is, so one less section to worry about. It is eye opening how much maintenance there is.
Glad to hear you enjoyed Brian! 17 miles of jointed track and hopper cars that leak a lot of coal out their doors, this is a maintenance nightmare for only 2 people
After boarding a family member on a train several years ago, I was walking by the engine and heard the engineer say into his radio, "we're not going anywhere. Track is broken up ahead!" It was on a holiday so, according to my conductor friend, they couldn't get a welding OR even a maintenance crew to repair it, and it was pouring rain. The rail yard was shut down except for this one passenger train. After about 30min, several cars pulled up. When the guys got out the conductor chuckled, "Gosh, those guys are managers, NOT maintenance techs." Using long pry rods, they worked together to put a metal brace under the broken rail, and then the 6 of them held that rail in proper alignment using those rods as they moved one wheel at a time VERY SLOWLY over that broken joint. It was unbelievable to watch this quick engineering but they got that train loaded with passengers out of the station without too much delay. The conductor said the heavy coal trains just crack the rails from time to time. I was impressed with the broken rail workaround but then highly concerned about the overall safety of the rails themselves.
That part about who the a/c is for really says a lot. Ain't that the truth about so many things? Great video and I hope you can find time for cribbing there. Never ending job! 😳🙂
Oooh that's a solid break! And I know exactly what that sounds like too, the shotgun sound you mentioned. I've only ever heard it once when we hit a sudden sun kink at 50 MPH with a 18k ton aggregate rock train. Thankfully it was also the inside rail that broke and it managed to maintain gauge for the 8000 ft of train and two engines on the back pushing to get us over it. Had it been the outside rail, well let's just say we would have added 17.5 k tons of new ballast to that curve. Stay cool and stay hydrated! Thanks for sharing!
Oh dear, now that's a story! Thanks for sharing. I'm sure you've seen some pretty weird things happen on the RR. WE had a rail break last winter as the lead truck on the loco went over it, was on midnight shift and scared the operator pretty bad, he did get the whole train over the break, it was in tangent track, we really lucked out on that one too
6th 12 hour shift in a row? Congrats and more power to ya! Nice to see people with a work ethic. Hope you're compensated well enough. It's always a pleasure to hear a man who is well educated in his field speak...and you speak well. Were I anywhere near ya I'd buy you a beer....or soda pop.
On a somewhat related. My grandfather was in a section gang and when a non-railroad man wanted to cut some rail to fit a project, he started to hacksaw it. But my grandfather showed him how to lift the rail on a spare crosstie, notch it, and strike it with a sledge. Cleanly breaks off the rail. So yeah, when the conditions are right, you can snap a rail pretty easy. Good luck, hope you get some rest soon.
Thank you for sharing this. My great uncle and my father's cousin worked and retired from Kansas City Southern. I get to see them about once every other year so watching these types of things helps me understand what they did from a system-wide point of view more than just driving trains around.
Thanks for the in depth report of what caused the rail to break and of the steps to repair it. Thanks for your years of railroad service Dave! I'm viewing this from the 1st state of DELAWARE!
I know your railroad is landlocked from the rest of the rail system and you can't get a traditional undercutter/ballast cleaner in there (not that you guys would even have the time for that either), but seeing all of the continuing problems that the coal fines are causing for your RR, I wonder if sometimes you wish for coal gondolas and a rotary dumper, instead of the rapid discharge hopper cars? I remember reading back in the 2003-2005-ish timeframe, that the UP and BNSF were having a lot of trouble in the Powder River Basin with coal dust and fines clogging up the tracks there. It was critical and needed immediate attention. Your RR is just a smaller version of the PRB with coal trains running like "streetcars" as the saying goes. Thanks Dave for showing us exactly what coal hauling roads have to do to make it. And sorry for another long-winder! :)
Powder River did have their problems with coal! not sure if they ever did find a good solution there. Our founding fathers at the mine never envisioned what a mess that could be created by bottom discharge hoppers leaking coal, perhaps if they had then they would have used the rotary and gondolas.
U.K. Never seen a track as bad. I'm 100 yeards from a quiet branch line built during WW1, often pop down to watch the odd train. Pretty boring but once or twice we get a steam train on an outing. It can't give you much job satisfaction knowing the ballast is crap. All down to $ no doubt. Never mind who knows you might have stopped a derailment or even worse. Thanks for the video, down to earth and no fluff. Take care - Regards.
Hello sunshine!! Nice to see your smiling face today!!! It's sad that you broke a rail, but it's also a nice time for it to break. No traffic on the rails, and now you can help fix it before the trains start again. If a train ran over that and it broke, then you may have another derailment. I know it's frustrating, but I'd rather see it break while there's no traffic running through. Keep up the great work, and never stop teaching us dummies what is done behind the scenes in the railroading industry. Most of us wouldn't have had a clue what happens after a derailment, as most media will only show the derailment itself, and the clean up, but not the fixing part. Thank you!!!!
Thank you Dana for the very nice comment and really great to hear you are enjoying the videos. You are absolutely right in that if a rail was going to break, this was the ideal time, and far better for me to break it than have a passing train do it
Always look forward to your videos. I learn something new every time! Thanks for making these and bringing us along with you as you work. I hope that your AC got fixed.
Glad you caught this before a train ran over it ! Hope they get your A/C fixed soon;99 degrees is too damned hot! Really enjoy watching these vids. Blessings to you and yours!
Thanks again for the cool video. I had to chuckle when you were talking about the heat..I just got to a new overseas post and it was 126 the other day! I’ve never known this type of heat! Keep the videos coming though, they are a nice getaway!
Knowing there is an issue and not being able to address it until it becomes an emergency is never fun. Keep at it, those 12 hour days will pay off for you and the road bed!
These poor wonderfull people, working hard so we can get to places and have food and supply’s delivered. I feel bad when I see he’s safety vest. I also subscribed to support what he is doing.
I'll pray that your days will go better so you don't have to work 12 hour days. Get some rest my friend. Take care and thank you for sharing this. Great video.
Great to hear you enjoyed Valerie, thank you for the nice comment and actually I'm really lucky and thankful I can still be out here, just can't do physically what I used to do and that upsets me sometimes.
@@ccrx6700 I’m getting there too. It’s hard to keep up with the young guys anymore! Also, 12 hour days are a fact of life on the railroad, “Because that’s railroadin!”
@@ccrx6700 I definitely understand that, I experience that too, your mind says that you can do whatever, but your physical body says no you don't. LOL Isn't getting older so fun. Have a great weekend my friend.
Welcome to our group here, great to have you with us, and thank you for the kind compliment. Got a lot of RR videos on the channel already made and a whole lot more coming out so stay tuned!
Good thing that section of rail broke with just the tamper, that could have been ugly if an Engine or coal hoppers would have crossed that rail and it broke then especially after just cleaning up a derailment!!! Great video Dave as always!!!!
You are absolutely right my friend, much better for me to break it during down time than a passing train and another derailment, we lucked out again, thanks for watching
Use to operate a Plasser & Theurer "Double bank "tamper. I feel your pain! That rail head looks nearly totally worn. lol I was gonna say no ultrasonic inspection? Bed could do with a ballast clean to get the coal dust out to a minimum and avoid future what we call wet bed voids under the ties due to the train wheels create a pumping action compressing the dirt where ballast should be and lead to crippled rail later on
Interesting Bob, I've never been around one only other than watch some in tube videos, i've heard they have a lot of computer stuff controlling everything? But guess so do the new Harsco tampers, one guy told me he can actually be outside his tamper while it goes down the track and does it's thing. And yep this whole curve needs ballast rehab and we have started on the other end and working our way down to this spot, never ending battle against the coal fines and mud
Thanks for the update Dave, the section of rail that broke must have been on special offer, Buy one get one free! Do you know why the ultra sonic didn't detect the flaw in the rail by any chance? The air conditioning in my fuel tanker packed up the other week as well, I'll try your argument with my manager to get it fixed..... It might work although the weather is comfortable here at the moment so it's not switched on. Take care and thank you again for your time to explain. Rgds.
Thanks Peter, glad you enjoyed my friend. Hope you get your AC fixed soon! And, sometimes the ultrasonic testers do miss things, it's not always 100% accurate. My guess is they just missed this one this time
Doggone rail termites! I hate when that happens. Hey Dave, if it was easy, everyone would be doing it. Good job as always and thank you sir. Stay safe friend!
Seems like everything on the RR is a whole lot of work...LOL helps having good equipment and the right equipment, hydraulics are much better than all that hand work! Appreciate your watching Brian
The ultrasonic rail detector sometimes misses one. Odds are, this was weakened already, and add in a few heavy freights and a couple weeks wear and tear, and you found a broken rail. We used to follow a detector car twice a year, spring and fall, in central Wyoming. One winter in January, we requested a detector car. An eastbound had gone through about 4 AM, 40 below zero, with an overloaded car with flat spots on one axle. We picked up 120 broken rails in 100 miles, and for the next week averaged 2 or 3 per day between the track inspector and the section gang walking track. Luckily the weather warmed up.
Wonder if installing vortex generators under the cars would help create an air flow that would blow the fines out the sides... create a horizontal wind funnel. I installed them across the rear roof of my car to reduce drag at highway speeds... my car doesn't feel the buffet from large vehicles in opposing traffic.
@@ccrx6700 Speed is a factor for the vortex generator. Maybe rig a squirrel cage fan with a wide discharge to blow between the rails, on the end car and ratio powered from the axle to get a high volume at your track speeds. I can tell that this a real annoyance for a person who loves what they do.
Thank you Matt, glad you enjoyed sir, it's a never ending battle to do ballast rehabilitation here, but we are making progress, limited man power and track time, but that's railroadin!
You've done pretty well only to break so few rails in all those years. Surfacing gang is good at "finding" broken rails, joints and ties. I had my guys work the area the surfacing crew worked fixing all the newly broke stuff "that was there beforehand". 🤣😉
@@ccrx6700 yes, it is! It was a lot of fun. In many ways, I wish I was still out there swinging that maul. I loved every minute of being out there on the rail, keeping those trains rolling.
i an a electrician by trade. Where I worked back in the 70's, we were hired to help an engineer and his company (Dowel) with their wiring. They were experimenting with a spray chemical for the tops of filled coal cars to mitigate coal dust. I never did find out the outcome. Seemed like a great idea at the time. There are still several coal generating power plants. One of the plants near by (500 mw) burned 100 coal cars a day.
I believe they had such a problem with coal blowing off the cars in the Powder River Basin and tried that there too. The coal was plugging up the track and they figured on every unit train, they lost about 1 car of coal. I'm not sure how that spray worked out tho for them. Thanks for sharing your comment with us
You're doing a great job of showing us what it's like to maintain and work the rails. Your railroad is very interesting, is it possible to show us the loading of coal and the offloading of coal on to the barges or ships? Working for a large corporation may make that impossible and that is well understood.
Thank you Mack, great to hear your enjoying. I made a video long time ago of them loading the cars, it was one of my way early ones and isn't real great but if you'd like to see it here is the link. I will do a future on barge loading sometime ua-cam.com/video/C6HdAzs5Tq0/v-deo.html
When you're down for Six days and working your butt off, you would think that someone would take some time and Wash Those Engine's take some Pride. Your Railroad has some Nice Engine's and the paint isn't that Bad yet, but if they would just Wash them what a HUGE difference it would make. NOW I'm not saying No one has Pride in your Railroad it's just a figure of speech. Awesome video as always
Thank you Kenny, glad you are enjoying. Sure would be nice if they did some some cleaning. They did buy a $7,000 pressure washer several years ago and did used to keep them half way clean, but the pressure washer broke and it hasn't gotten fixed, sadly.... I understand about taking pride in your work and what you work with, but again, not everyone thinks like you and me
@@ccrx6700 Yeah You are So correct that's what wrong with these Companies today year's ago they took Pride in there Companies and there employees not anymore Thank You for Replying Appreciate it Very Much Love your Video's
@@kennyspry5189 your so right Kenny, sure ain't like it used be. Some of our past owners did take good care of the employees and took pride in what they had here. Our last owners were pitiful. We were bought in January of this year by new guys who are putting much needed money in this track, after the derailment they realized they better keep transporation system in good order, and they are now doing it, very encouraging and a very welcome change
@@ccrx6700 Thank God that's really good to hear if You don't take care of your Employees and Company Equipment you will never succeed in business I'm glad you finally have people that care
In the 70s I worked at Colorado Fuel & iron, Pueblo, Colorado. One of the mills made 20' and 40' high test rail which was used on the switches. Interesting to watch the Charpy(??) test when they dropped a weight from about 20' and cutter onto a piece of rail to see if it would break. I liked working in that mill as the tonnage money was pretty good. Part of the rolling process was a 22,500 hp steam engine, largest west of the Mississippi.
Wow, that steam engine must have been awesome to see and be around, I'm jealous! I've never heard of how they test rail, will have to do some research. Did that mill turn into Rocky Mountain steel?
@@ccrx6700 Don't know about the name change. I spent 7 months working in the steel mill as a motor inspector a/k/a maintenance electrician and worked in almost all the mills from ore prep to finished product as coat hanger wire. The rail was rolled between rollers and shaped. The rail was actually cut to length by a 100 HP DC motor-driven saw which sat on a carriage, clamped to the rail, and sawed the rail as it moved on a carriage. We could change out the motor in about an hour as I had to do that one night. One night I watched the transfer of an ingot between rolls move too far and the rolls took toq big a bite. The steam engine was caught at 90 degrees and sheared the mechanical fuse which is a steel spool about 2' in diameter. Lot of interesting stories. The rail was used to make the short pieces that made up the switches and took a beating due to the change in direction of the train.
Once in awhile Jon we get Hulcher to come in with their big undercutter, Can't do that with a train running, here's a link to a vid I made some time ago of Hulcher here undercutting ua-cam.com/video/y8CJwHd6EwE/v-deo.html
Correcting a break in the rail probably involves attention to several details: excessive strain from stress - which inadequate support will exacerbate, and/or internal (structural) defect in the rail itself. As the system ages, these may become more froquent.
Definitely Robin, metal fatigue over the years takes it's toll and as you say will certainly increase in the future years, and again you are right, inadequate support has to be corrected or we will find more of this happening. We are working on it, just takes time and with limited track time, it's not always easy to get everything done that needs it, appreciate your comment and for watching good sir
Tuff break Dave… the 6700 has a strong jack beam…I believe it’s stronger then MKIV,,, Dave if you ever need parts for your computer etc let me know I’ve got some here as well as connections for parts ,,great videos
Really? That surprises me to hear that Mike about the jack beam, I do have a smaller engine than the Mark 4. We had an old short cab 6700 in here as a rental bout 10 years ago and it actually had more ass than my 6700, but that was before mine was rebuilt. I have QNX Windows 6.10, it was put in 17 years ago. If you have cards for that I will certainly remember that! Harsco doesn't want to sell those old cards, they want you to upgrade to a Jupiter
@@ccrx6700 Dave most 6700 of that age that I know have 5.9 Cummins the MKIV has always had an 8.3 … it’s not the power it’s the geometry of the clamp frame I find,,,,, I may have to come for a visit once this COVID shit goes away😉😉
Thanks Dave, you are right most of us have not seen a broken rail before close up. Thanks for the post, the finale result looked great, are the rail anchors going to be put back or no, is that something you do or someone else. Thanks again for another great post, you need to take ice water with you. Stay hydrated.
Is there any way to get a basic route map for the Cumberland Mine R.R.? It would be great to be able to visualize where the numbered curves, bridges, sidings, etc. are. Thanks Again...
Great question Alan, and I have no idea hard copy, I have a track chart, but that is totally unhelpful for you. Google maps has a views of the entire RR but they don't have curve numbers or bridge numbers, if you happen to see a Donald Wittmas on the comments, he is really into charting the RR out and he will be able to add more info on how to see all this online
Thank you and welcome to our community here. Really glad you are enjoying the videos, there's a lot more RR videos on my channel if you happen to have time to watch some of them
Yes to me too, but they are not always 100% perfect and do miss one now and again, no doubt in my mind there was an internal defect there, but I'm not Superman with x ray eyes either...LOL
Dave! I think we probably could have found that with a experienced operator. The only to know with more certainty is to see the ends of the rail where it broke. Sorry it took couple days. I’ve been in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan with little to no signal. We took the old C&O Railroad Ferry the SS Badger across Lake Michigan then spent a couple days driving back home.
I almost said that in the video, If you had been here! There was a round spot on top of the rail head, a bit off color of normal where it broke, but guess when we get the "other guy" to test that what you get...LOL hope you had a good trip my friend
Very interesting Dave. I see why you like to lift track only a couple inches at a time. You used that term “relay rail” again. Why is it called that? I’m amazed at how powerful the tamper is and how flexible the rail is. All the curves the railroad has had me wondering about replacing rail in a curve. I had been meaning to ask if you had to order rail already bent to the correct degree. I’m now thinking it comes straight and is bent during installation. That would make a great video. I don’t remember how I stumbled upon your channel but I am hooked. All I know about railroading I’ve learned from you. Thanks Dave. Heh heh! I’m loving it!
Thank you Russ for the really nice comment. Relay rail is rail that has been used but can be re laid. There are 4 grades of relay, the FRA has specs on how much wear is allowed for each grade. Also since we are a class 2 track, we can put relay in main lines that a higher class RR would only be allowed to use for sidings or such. All our rail comes straight and is bent by hand using lining bars. We put joint bars on one end, then use the lining bars with a sharp pointed end and stick that into a tie plate hole, then leverage the rail into curved position. Then we spike it down as we go in order to hold curvature. On sharper degree curves it usually takes 2 guys on the bars to do it. Colder temps can have to use more muscle. On some transit track with insane curvature the rails can come pre bent
Interesting. Both of my suppositions were correct depending on the degree of curvature. But I’m amazed again. I never thought you could bend it with hand tools. I figured some kind of a machine was used.
Hey Dave !! Didn't see any ""Dandrol "" rail clamps on that "NEW"" rail ??? Saw they were still on the old rail that you took out & what was the age on the broke rail ?? Anyhows,, Yepper ,, gets pretty ""HOT"" in those machines when they are working !! Have a good week & Thanks for your time !! ""KEEP IT SAFE ""!!
Thanks K B, you know this was taken about a month ago and I really forget what year the rail is, will look tomorrow if I get up that way, and try and not get stopped on those bridges...LOL
I like how educational your videos are and I have some idea of the hours you have worked. The worst hours I ever worked were 8 on and 8 off and back for another 8. No real rest in between. Probably equal with that was 3rd shift and double over thru 1st shift and back on 3rd again. EXTRA BOARD. Later under FRA rules 8 on and 15 or 16 off guaranteed. Lots more rest. RR is great work but at times very difficult.
I taking a guess that those ties that have “moved” didn’t provide any support in that space and like you said the movement over time, the steel just loses its tensile strength… trying to pick up some knowledge
You are correct Kevin, the ties offered no support and were moving up and down as the train passed. No doubt there was also an internal defect that was just then at the point where it didn't want to be kind to us anymore. Really appreciate your visiting with us and writing in my friend.
Dear Dave, it feels like you are spinning your wheels - tamping and cribbing ballast that is so muddy and contaminated. Looks great after you “do your thing”, but if the ballast got properly cleaned, the track would remain much more stable…the rails would stop breaking…and you could do fewer of those 12 hour shifts! Stay safe out there! 🚀🚀
@@ccrx6700 I bet we both have been spending less time on VR …now that there’s much to do outdoors…plus you are pulling too many 12 hour shifts to get online much! I enjoyed your winter video on the hot bearing that got caught by the detector and then set out. I’m trying to find your territory on Google maps…what’s a couple towns your RR passes thru? (So I can locate)
@@la023711 RR goes from the mine near Kirby Pa. And goes to river barge loading facility at Alicia pa. Doesnt pass thru any town, although it parallels Garards Fort mid way. 17 miles of track.
No electric current on our rails here Johnny. Some transit systems do employ a 3rd rail which carries voltage to power the trains. Some RR; have an overhead catenary which the locos have a pantograph to collect the electricity from. A lot of trolley systems in the past used the catenary and pantograph system.
Query: How's your inspection schedule? And who checks the quality of your rail and other metals before you install it? Finally, what's up with that BUC?
We get our rails from Steelton, they do the metallurgical checks on every batch of rail they roll. Track inspections are done weekly per CFR Title 49 regulations. BUC?
And now you know Eric, just plugs everything up and water can't drain away, that is why we are constantly cribbing ties out here to get rid of this garbage and put in good clean ballast
Yes it does, I never get to be outside the tamper cause I'm the only one that can run it or I would make a video of how it jacks rail. We did get a contract tamper in here on our shutdown and was able to film part of that, so when that video comes out you will see how the rail gets lifted
I've gone years and years without having a broken rail, then all of a sudden we get a bunch of them, go figure. They all started happening when I started making videos! Is that a coincidence? Or, just the railroad's way of giving me more content.... ponder that ...LOL
Yes fouled ballast, ng. I think a truck mounted rail vac would help, in front of that gang. then they do replacement. come back with fresh stone tamp, and sweep. I think it would make cribing faster but when you can get track time. nice video.
We've tried Hulcher vac truck for cribbing ties before, it works fairly well as long as it's easy loose stuff, the harder stuff they have to break up with an air wand and it takes forever, and Hulcher isn't cheap to have come out either...LOL
Yes sir! we are diligently working our way forward on this curve, the whole curve is like this and we have started on the other end and so far have done over 200 feet, good progress working live rail. thanks for watching
That's got to be about the best way to break a rail, with no collateral damage. Is there any chance Sperry can get one of their hi-rail trucks in there for ultrasonic/magnetic sensing?
@@ccrx6700 bring your tamper, we'll use it on the mine railroad. Show gets bigger every year. More track to build. Sorry you'll miss a good time but try for the spring Show. Take care. Let you know how things turned out.
Great video. Do you make the call for a geometry car based on your experience and your observation of the rail condition? Is it required periodically? That nasty mud. Is that wet coal dust? Seems like you have so much ballast above the ground that mud wouldn't be a problem. Thanks so much for your expertise.
Our new owners of the mine decided to spend the $10,000 on getting a geo truck in, it was a wise choice of dollars spent. That stuff will hold track surface for awhile, at least until we get a lot of rain.... and ballast does look decent on top, but the rains have washed the coal fines down into the ballast there. We have been getting ultrasonic testing for the past 20 or so years as an annual and often semi annual
Since the rail head was chipped out, best thing was just to replace the rail Tony, and I'm not sure if since it broke that the welders would guarantee their weld either
Just think Dave, thanks to you there are thousands of us who know why the coal dust mixed in with the ballast is a bad thing. You are a teacher!
Thank you Alan, wish that kind of stuff didn't occur here, but it
does and it's what we deal with, so appreciate your nice comment.
If we ran tankers or box cars only we wouldn't have this, but
that's railroadin here, we are unique, really glad you are enjoying these
I don't remember if it was UP, BNSF, or which railroad, but they ran into a HUGE issue with coal fouling of track.... railroad A had been hauling coal over their line for some number of years at a particular price. The customer looking for a better deal starts poking other roads to see if they can get a better deal. All of a sudden railroad B shows up at some cost that was ridiculously lower than A had, and all the others.... so they get the contract and start hauling coal. Some years go by and now the problem surfaces... all the lines that had coal service on them are having track defect issues out the wazoo... here what happened was all the other railroads had a higher price for coal service because they recognized that the ballast would have to be removed and cleaned at some interval greater than standard freight... Railroad B that undercut everybody else never factored in their track maintenance costs, and when they came back to the customer with a rate increase, customer said no way, you're contracted X tons for so many years at the agreed upon rate, it's not our problem... I think it was UP... this was about 15 years ago.
@@kleetus92 very good comment kleetus! And that's exactly the way it goes. You can get away with a lot for awhile, but sooner or later it catches you. Thanks very much for sharing that story 😊
The rail road I work for had coke (not cola nor caine) and alumina ore all over our yard it is still a mess, but were are slowly getting it all worked our since we no longer do the processes that was used for.
@@kleetus92 similar is fixing to happen to another rail road that is undercutting everyone else on shortline rail roads. It will bite then sooner or later!
Varied audience for sure!! I’m a classical musician and can’t get enough of these videos, you’re a real rail guru for sure!
Well that is a very interesting profession! Glad you are expanding
your horizons with us! LOL Thanks very much for watching sir
Another day on the railroad.....
Another good t-shirt!!!!!!
Have a good day sir!!
Glad you enjoyed Shane, thank you
While the broken rail was indeed a bummer, better you find the weak spot that way then after the derailment. Thanks for the great videos!
That is certainly true Sean and great to hear you are enjoying the shows
I work in the Boston Transit (MBTA) system using a Plasser Metro 4X4 tamper. Because we move people the geo truck does our entire system twice a year every year. The X-ray truck does it once a year. I have broken a few rails in my time generally in the winter when the rail is under tension. Another good video.
Very interesting and thanks for sharing. I've never been around a
Plasser, i've heard guys say they love them and others say they
hate them, but I guess you'll have that with everything. I went to their web site and watched a video on it, looks very heavy duty,
since i'm used to the 6700 with the light system, how does this
machine know how much to lift and line rail? I know it's computerized but does the computer work off a geo report?
Harsco's newest tamper can do that where the computer suggests
corrective lifts and throws reading the geo report ahead of it.
Thanks for sharing. I am learning so much watching your videos. I'M not a railroad worker don't much about it but my grandfather worked for the railroad for over 40 years and remember him telling me about it he loved it.
your welcome and really great to hear you are enjoying, we do
appreciate your watching
Absolutely love your enthusiasm about your job and RAILROADING! Thank you for sharing with us, always!!!! Have learned so much.
Your welcome Johnniekelly, thank you for the nice comment and
for watching sir
Very interesting! I have not seen a break before. Lord knows I have seen rail move up and down a lot, but this is fascinating! New rail it is, so one less section to worry about. It is eye opening how much maintenance there is.
Glad to hear you enjoyed Brian! 17 miles of jointed track and hopper
cars that leak a lot of coal out their doors, this is a maintenance
nightmare for only 2 people
@@ccrx6700 And how! 2 people? That gives me new perspective on how hard you folks work.
@@brianhickey5949 👌
After boarding a family member on a train several years ago, I was walking by the engine and heard the engineer say into his radio, "we're not going anywhere. Track is broken up ahead!" It was on a holiday so, according to my conductor friend, they couldn't get a welding OR even a maintenance crew to repair it, and it was pouring rain. The rail yard was shut down except for this one passenger train. After about 30min, several cars pulled up. When the guys got out the conductor chuckled, "Gosh, those guys are managers, NOT maintenance techs." Using long pry rods, they worked together to put a metal brace under the broken rail, and then the 6 of them held that rail in proper alignment using those rods as they moved one wheel at a time VERY SLOWLY over that broken joint. It was unbelievable to watch this quick engineering but they got that train loaded with passengers out of the station without too much delay. The conductor said the heavy coal trains just crack the rails from time to time. I was impressed with the broken rail workaround but then highly concerned about the overall safety of the rails themselves.
That part about who the a/c is for really says a lot. Ain't that the truth about so many things? Great video and I hope you can find time for cribbing there. Never ending job! 😳🙂
Thanks Jeff! We'll get to it, lot of other stuff to deal with going
on too, but that's railroadin! LOL Appreciate your comments my
friend
Oooh that's a solid break! And I know exactly what that sounds like too, the shotgun sound you mentioned. I've only ever heard it once when we hit a sudden sun kink at 50 MPH with a 18k ton aggregate rock train. Thankfully it was also the inside rail that broke and it managed to maintain gauge for the 8000 ft of train and two engines on the back pushing to get us over it. Had it been the outside rail, well let's just say we would have added 17.5 k tons of new ballast to that curve.
Stay cool and stay hydrated! Thanks for sharing!
Oh dear, now that's a story! Thanks for sharing. I'm sure you've seen some pretty weird things happen on the RR. WE had a rail break last
winter as the lead truck on the loco went over it, was on midnight shift and scared the operator pretty bad, he did get the whole train over the break, it was in tangent track, we really lucked out on that
one too
6th 12 hour shift in a row? Congrats and more power to ya! Nice to see people with a work ethic. Hope you're compensated well enough. It's always a pleasure to hear a man who is well educated in his field speak...and you speak well. Were I anywhere near ya I'd buy you a beer....or soda pop.
Thank you for the very nice comment! very much appreciated sir and
I will take you up on the beer! LOL
Stay safe out there. Love watching these videos. I learn new stuff every time
Thank you Robert, great to hear you are enjoying them sir
On a somewhat related. My grandfather was in a section gang and when a non-railroad man wanted to cut some rail to fit a project, he started to hacksaw it. But my grandfather showed him how to lift the rail on a spare crosstie, notch it, and strike it with a sledge. Cleanly breaks off the rail. So yeah, when the conditions are right, you can snap a rail pretty easy.
Good luck, hope you get some rest soon.
Thanks Mike for the nice story. Amazes me how rail is so tough and
at the same time so brittle. Your grandfather was right
Nice video, Our tamper operators used to break angle bars on the smaller rail all the time so I am not surprised to hear of this. Nice video.
Have broken a few joint bars myself. thanks and glad you enjoyed Steve
@@ccrx6700 You are very welcome.
Thank you for sharing this. My great uncle and my father's cousin worked and retired from Kansas City Southern. I get to see them about once every other year so watching these types of things helps me understand what they did from a system-wide point of view more than just driving trains around.
Your welcome, great to hear you enjoyed and we do appreciate
your watching
Thanks for the in depth report of what caused the rail to break and of the steps to repair it. Thanks for your years of railroad service Dave! I'm viewing this from the 1st state of DELAWARE!
Your welcome Richard, great to hear you enjoyed sir
@@ccrx6700 hi Dave, was wondering if you have access to CSX shirts. I'm a disabled Delawarian and live off a tight budget.
I know your railroad is landlocked from the rest of the rail system and you can't get a traditional undercutter/ballast cleaner in there (not that you guys would even have the time for that either), but seeing all of the continuing problems that the coal fines are causing for your RR, I wonder if sometimes you wish for coal gondolas and a rotary dumper, instead of the rapid discharge hopper cars? I remember reading back in the 2003-2005-ish timeframe, that the UP and BNSF were having a lot of trouble in the Powder River Basin with coal dust and fines clogging up the tracks there. It was critical and needed immediate attention. Your RR is just a smaller version of the PRB with coal trains running like "streetcars" as the saying goes. Thanks Dave for showing us exactly what coal hauling roads have to do to make it. And sorry for another long-winder! :)
Powder River did have their problems with coal! not sure if they
ever did find a good solution there. Our founding fathers at the
mine never envisioned what a mess that could be created by
bottom discharge hoppers leaking coal, perhaps if they had
then they would have used the rotary and gondolas.
I'm sure if they had great foresight, they would have gone the gondola and rotary dumper route. Thanks Dave.
Hello Dave, keep up the great work railroading!
Thank you Michael and yep surely will my friend.
U.K. Never seen a track as bad. I'm 100 yeards from a quiet branch line built during WW1, often pop down to watch the odd train. Pretty boring but once or twice we get a steam train on an outing. It can't give you much job satisfaction knowing the ballast is crap. All down to $ no doubt. Never mind who knows you might have stopped a derailment or even worse. Thanks for the video, down to earth and no fluff. Take care - Regards.
Glad I could show you something you never seen before, thanks for
watching
Hello sunshine!! Nice to see your smiling face today!!! It's sad that you broke a rail, but it's also a nice time for it to break. No traffic on the rails, and now you can help fix it before the trains start again. If a train ran over that and it broke, then you may have another derailment. I know it's frustrating, but I'd rather see it break while there's no traffic running through. Keep up the great work, and never stop teaching us dummies what is done behind the scenes in the railroading industry. Most of us wouldn't have had a clue what happens after a derailment, as most media will only show the derailment itself, and the clean up, but not the fixing part. Thank you!!!!
Thank you Dana for the very nice comment and really great to
hear you are enjoying the videos. You are absolutely right in that
if a rail was going to break, this was the ideal time, and far better
for me to break it than have a passing train do it
Always look forward to your videos. I learn something new every time! Thanks for making these and bringing us along with you as you work. I hope that your AC got fixed.
Your welcome and very glad to hear you are enjoying them
Thank I am really enjoying watching your videos Old Rail .
Thank you very much and great to hear you enjoyed them Derrick.
We do appreciate your nice comment and for watching my friend
Better to break it while tamping than have it break under a moving train. You fellas do a wonderful job maintaining the right of way.
Your absolutely right in that Gary!, was a blessing in disguise
as you well know. Thanks my friend for writing in and watching.
Glad you found the weak rail and not the locomotive . There lucky to have you .
That is an excellent point there sir!
Glad you caught this before a train ran over it ! Hope they get your A/C fixed soon;99 degrees is too damned hot! Really enjoy watching these vids. Blessings to you and yours!
Thank you Patrick, AC is now fixed thankfully! Great to hear you
are enjoying sir
Looks good Dave!!!!
Thank you Ron, shame it had to happen, but that's railroadin LOL
Another great video Dave. 📹
Thank you Lester, good to hear you enjoyed it sir
Alan Dater says you are a teacher and he is 100% correct. Great stuff again Dave.
Thank you Bill, great to hear you enjoyed sir
Thanks again for the cool video. I had to chuckle when you were talking about the heat..I just got to a new overseas post and it was 126 the other day! I’ve never known this type of heat! Keep the videos coming though, they are a nice getaway!
Thank you Daniel great to hear you are enjoying sir and wow oh wow,
I can't imagine 126, open the door and melt
Knowing there is an issue and not being able to address it until it becomes an emergency is never fun.
Keep at it, those 12 hour days will pay off for you and the road bed!
Jerry, I wish I could shake your hand! You understand. Thank you
Thanks Dave for sharing. Great video.
Your welcome Brian, glad you enjoyed
Be grateful you found it and not the train
Absolutely Dan! Was a blessing that it happened on a down time
and didn't cause a derailment, appreciate your watching sir
Thank you for posting. I enjoy seeing how a railroad is really maintained. Excellent!
Thank you William, great to hear you are enjoying sir
Well that was an interesting story! Well narrated!
glad you enjoyed
Thank you Dave. I am really enjoying watching your videos. I have been learning so much that I never knew about track repair and maintenance.
Your welcome Lewis, really great to hear you are enjoying them sir
Dave Nice Video Thanks.
Thank you Derrick, great to hear you enjoyed sir
These poor wonderfull people, working hard so we can get to places and have food and supply’s delivered. I feel bad when I see he’s safety vest. I also subscribed to support what he is doing.
We thank you for the subscription and welcome you to our
channel here, hope you will continue to enjoy the videos
Another great one Dave. Keep up the good work. Keep safe.
Thank you Jon, great to hear you enjoyed my friend
I'll pray that your days will go better so you don't have to work 12 hour days. Get some rest my friend. Take care and thank you for sharing this. Great video.
Great to hear you enjoyed Valerie, thank you for the nice comment
and actually I'm really lucky and thankful I can still be out here,
just can't do physically what I used to do and that upsets me sometimes.
@@ccrx6700
I’m getting there too. It’s hard to keep up with the young guys anymore!
Also, 12 hour days are a fact of life on the railroad, “Because that’s railroadin!”
@@ccrx6700 I definitely understand that, I experience that too, your mind says that you can do whatever, but your physical body says no you don't. LOL Isn't getting older so fun. Have a great weekend my friend.
@@valeriebassett3107 😊 thank you
@@ralfie8801 👍
I'm new to your channel as of today and I think it's awesome you would make a great teacher. I'm looking forward to more vids Thank you for streaming
Welcome to our group here, great to have you with us, and thank you
for the kind compliment. Got a lot of RR videos on the channel already made and a whole lot more coming out so stay tuned!
Great video as always. Keep up the great work
Thank you, good to hear you enjoyed it
Great before and after video dave, keep after it, better days are ahead 👌
Thank you Jeff, great to hear you enjoyed my friend
Good thing that section of rail
broke with just the tamper, that
could have been ugly if an Engine
or coal hoppers would have crossed
that rail and it broke then especially
after just cleaning up a derailment!!!
Great video Dave as always!!!!
You are absolutely right my friend, much better for me to break it
during down time than a passing train and another derailment, we
lucked out again, thanks for watching
This video shows that:
Every job, is a big job.
Thanks
Your welcome Kevin, glad you enjoyed sir
Use to operate a Plasser & Theurer "Double bank "tamper. I feel your pain!
That rail head looks nearly totally worn. lol I was gonna say no ultrasonic inspection? Bed could do with a ballast clean to get the coal dust out to a minimum and avoid future what we call wet bed voids under the ties due to the train wheels create a pumping action compressing the dirt where ballast should be and lead to crippled rail later on
Interesting Bob, I've never been around one only other than
watch some in tube videos, i've heard they have a lot of computer
stuff controlling everything? But guess so do the new Harsco tampers, one guy told me he can actually be outside his tamper
while it goes down the track and does it's thing. And yep this whole
curve needs ballast rehab and we have started on the other end
and working our way down to this spot, never ending battle against
the coal fines and mud
Thanks for the update Dave, the section of rail that broke must have been on special offer, Buy one get one free!
Do you know why the ultra sonic didn't detect the flaw in the rail by any chance?
The air conditioning in my fuel tanker packed up the other week as well, I'll try your argument with my manager to get it fixed..... It might work although the weather is comfortable here at the moment so it's not switched on.
Take care and thank you again for your time to explain.
Rgds.
Thanks Peter, glad you enjoyed my friend. Hope you get your AC fixed soon! And, sometimes the ultrasonic testers do miss things,
it's not always 100% accurate. My guess is they just missed this one
this time
Doggone rail termites! I hate when that happens. Hey Dave, if it was easy, everyone would be doing it. Good job as always and thank you sir. Stay safe friend!
LOL! Thanks Rick, glad you enjoyed my friend
Thanks for showing another day. Love these videos. 👍
Thank you, great to hear you are enjoying them, we do appreciate
your watching
I feel your frustration! Good video and learned a lot. Be safe out there!
Thank you, really great to read your comment and glad you
enjoyed
Knowing nothing at all about railroad tracks, seeing that broken track rail looks like a whole lot of work.
Seems like everything on the RR is a whole lot of work...LOL
helps having good equipment and the right equipment, hydraulics
are much better than all that hand work! Appreciate your watching Brian
@@ccrx6700 A pleasure sir. It is a good video!
Alco the Railroad Dog approves of this video. I also enjoyed it, like usual. That curve has to be a real good mud pump when wet.
Yes it is a mess when it rains a lot, that why we are currently cribbing
on this curve Ken
The ultrasonic rail detector sometimes misses one. Odds are, this was weakened already, and add in a few heavy freights and a couple weeks wear and tear, and you found a broken rail. We used to follow a detector car twice a year, spring and fall, in central Wyoming. One winter in January, we requested a detector car. An eastbound had gone through about 4 AM, 40 below zero, with an overloaded car with flat spots on one axle. We picked up 120 broken rails in 100 miles, and for the next week averaged 2 or 3 per day between the track inspector and the section gang walking track. Luckily the weather warmed up.
You are correct, they are not 100% perfect all the time. Wow now
that's a story, appreciate your sharing it with us!
This is awesome dude. Thanks.
Thank you Tommy, great to hear you enjoyed, we appreciate
your watching
Wonder if installing vortex generators under the cars would help create an air flow that would blow the fines out the sides... create a horizontal wind funnel.
I installed them across the rear roof of my car to reduce drag at highway speeds... my car doesn't feel the buffet from large vehicles in opposing traffic.
Now that's an innovative idea I've never heard before! I love
a thinking man
@@ccrx6700
Speed is a factor for the vortex generator. Maybe rig a squirrel cage fan with a wide discharge to blow between the rails, on the end car and ratio powered from the axle to get a high volume at your track speeds.
I can tell that this a real annoyance for a person who loves what they do.
Look at it as a blessing in disguise Dave. Maybe you found a future major issue. 🤘🏻🇺🇸
Yes sir, excellent point! much better for me to find it than have a train break it and
possible derail
Thanks again for another informative video
Your welcome Al, great to know you are enjoying sir
That’s RAILROADING a never ending job. Again a very interesting video Dave. 🚂🚂🚂
Glad you enjoyed Tom, thank you
Neat video Dave! Really demonstrates how much coal dust is in the ballast.
Thank you Matt, glad you enjoyed sir, it's a never ending battle to
do ballast rehabilitation here, but we are making progress, limited
man power and track time, but that's railroadin!
You've done pretty well only to break so few rails in all those years. Surfacing gang is good at "finding" broken rails, joints and ties. I had my guys work the area the surfacing crew worked fixing all the newly broke stuff "that was there beforehand". 🤣😉
I understand that Zach LOL Metal fatigue over the years and things
break, but as you well know, that's railroadin
@@ccrx6700 yes, it is! It was a lot of fun. In many ways, I wish I was still out there swinging that maul. I loved every minute of being out there on the rail, keeping those trains rolling.
That mud looks like the gumbo soil we have in Southeast Texas. We have to drive piers a minimum of 15 feet to build foundations.
Oh dear, that's pretty wild
5:23 your 6th 12-hour shift in a row ...
so you really HAVE been workin' on the railroad, all the live-long day
I guess so, but I love it, at 67 years of age, actually am very thankful
that I can still be out here. Appreciate your watching
Wow, Pawn stars and railroads all in one.
I don't know about pawn star, but this is a reality show... LOL
i an a electrician by trade. Where I worked back in the 70's, we were hired to help an engineer and his company (Dowel) with their wiring. They were experimenting with a spray chemical for the tops of filled coal cars to mitigate coal dust. I never did find out the outcome. Seemed like a great idea at the time. There are still several coal generating power plants. One of the plants near by (500 mw) burned 100 coal cars a day.
I believe they had such a problem with coal blowing off the cars
in the Powder River Basin and tried that there too. The coal was
plugging up the track and they figured on every unit train, they
lost about 1 car of coal. I'm not sure how that spray worked out tho for them. Thanks for sharing your comment with us
You're doing a great job of showing us what it's like to maintain and work the rails. Your railroad is very interesting, is it possible to show us the loading of coal and the offloading of coal on to the barges or ships? Working for a large corporation may make that impossible and that is well understood.
Thank you Mack, great to hear your enjoying. I made a video long
time ago of them loading the cars, it was one of my way early ones and isn't real great but if you'd like to see it here is the link. I will
do a future on barge loading sometime
ua-cam.com/video/C6HdAzs5Tq0/v-deo.html
When you're down for Six days and working your butt off, you would think that someone would take some time and Wash Those Engine's take some Pride. Your Railroad has some Nice Engine's and the paint isn't that Bad yet, but if they would just Wash them what a HUGE difference it would make. NOW I'm not saying No one has Pride in your Railroad it's just a figure of speech. Awesome video as always
That's like washing the under coat off a dump truck... Its a coal train, not a show car...
Thank you Kenny, glad you are enjoying. Sure would be nice if
they did some some cleaning. They did buy a $7,000 pressure washer several years ago and did used to keep them half way clean, but the pressure washer broke and it hasn't gotten fixed, sadly....
I understand about taking pride in your work and what you work with, but again, not everyone thinks like you and me
@@ccrx6700 Yeah You are So correct that's what wrong with these Companies today year's ago they took Pride in there Companies and there employees not anymore Thank You for Replying Appreciate it Very Much Love your Video's
@@kennyspry5189 your so right Kenny, sure ain't like it used be. Some of our past owners did take good care of the employees and took pride in what they had here. Our last owners were pitiful. We were bought in January of this year by new guys who are putting much needed money in this track, after the derailment they realized they better keep transporation system in good order, and they are now doing it, very encouraging and a very welcome change
@@ccrx6700 Thank God that's really good to hear if You don't take care of your Employees and Company Equipment you will never succeed in business I'm glad you finally have people that care
In the 70s I worked at Colorado Fuel & iron, Pueblo, Colorado. One of the mills made 20' and 40' high test rail which was used on the switches. Interesting to watch the Charpy(??) test when they dropped a weight from about 20' and cutter onto a piece of rail to see if it would break. I liked working in that mill as the tonnage money was pretty good. Part of the rolling process was a 22,500 hp steam engine, largest west of the Mississippi.
Wow, that steam engine must have been awesome to see and
be around, I'm jealous! I've never heard of how they test rail, will have to do some research. Did that mill turn into Rocky Mountain steel?
@@ccrx6700 Don't know about the name change. I spent 7 months working in the steel mill as a motor inspector a/k/a maintenance electrician and worked in almost all the mills from ore prep to finished product as coat hanger wire. The rail was rolled between rollers and shaped. The rail was actually cut to length by a 100 HP DC motor-driven saw which sat on a carriage, clamped to the rail, and sawed the rail as it moved on a carriage. We could change out the motor in about an hour as I had to do that one night. One night I watched the transfer of an ingot between rolls move too far and the rolls took toq big a bite. The steam engine was caught at 90 degrees and sheared the mechanical fuse which is a steel spool about 2' in diameter. Lot of interesting stories. The rail was used to make the short pieces that made up the switches and took a beating due to the change in direction of the train.
@@ArnCital awesome story! Really enjoyed reading it 👍
Does your railroad have access to an undercutting machine, rather than cribbing ties with a backhoe???
Once in awhile Jon we get Hulcher to come in with their big undercutter,
Can't do that with a train running, here's a link to a vid I made
some time ago of Hulcher here undercutting
ua-cam.com/video/y8CJwHd6EwE/v-deo.html
@@ccrx6700 I figured as much. Is your railroad a single main situation? Glad to have found your video this week. Very infomrative!
@@frostgfx yes it is Jon
Thanks for sharing!!
Your welcome John, glad you enjoyed sir
Correcting a break in the rail probably involves attention to several details: excessive strain from stress - which inadequate support will exacerbate, and/or internal (structural) defect in the rail itself. As the system ages, these may become more froquent.
Yeah, *probably.*
Definitely Robin, metal fatigue over the years takes it's toll and
as you say will certainly increase in the future years, and again you are right, inadequate support has to be corrected or we will find
more of this happening. We are working on it, just takes time and
with limited track time, it's not always easy to get everything done that needs it, appreciate your comment and for watching good sir
Tuff break Dave… the 6700 has a strong jack beam…I believe it’s stronger then MKIV,,,
Dave if you ever need parts for your computer etc let me know I’ve got some here as well as connections for parts ,,great videos
Really? That surprises me to hear that Mike about the jack beam,
I do have a smaller engine than the Mark 4. We had an old
short cab 6700 in here as a rental bout 10 years ago and it actually
had more ass than my 6700, but that was before mine was rebuilt.
I have QNX Windows 6.10, it was put in 17 years ago. If you have
cards for that I will certainly remember that! Harsco doesn't want
to sell those old cards, they want you to upgrade to a Jupiter
@@ccrx6700 Dave most 6700 of that age that I know have 5.9 Cummins the MKIV has always had an 8.3 … it’s not the power it’s the geometry of the clamp frame I find,,,,, I may have to come for a visit once this COVID shit goes away😉😉
Another great video, thank you Sir, cheers!
Thank you Hector, glad to hear you enjoyed sir
Thanks Dave, you are right most of us have not seen a broken rail before close up. Thanks for the post, the finale result looked great, are the rail anchors going to be put back or no, is that something you do or someone else. Thanks again for another great post, you need to take ice water with you. Stay hydrated.
Your welcome Pappy, my pleasure. Got a lot to do on curve 14 but
we'll get er done eventually, appreciate your watching
Is there any way to get a basic route map for the Cumberland Mine R.R.? It would be great to be able to visualize where the numbered curves, bridges, sidings, etc. are. Thanks Again...
Great question Alan, and I have no idea hard copy, I have a track chart, but that is totally unhelpful for you. Google maps has a
views of the entire RR but they don't have curve numbers or
bridge numbers, if you happen to see a Donald Wittmas on the comments, he is really into charting the RR out and he will
be able to add more info on how to see all this online
I'am Your Newest Subscriber Great Videos
Thank you and welcome to our community here. Really glad you
are enjoying the videos, there's a lot more RR videos on my channel if
you happen to have time to watch some of them
Kinda scary that the ultrasonic testers did not find any defects on that section.
Yes to me too, but they are not always 100% perfect and do
miss one now and again, no doubt in my mind there was an
internal defect there, but I'm not Superman with x ray eyes either...LOL
Dave! I think we probably could have found that with a experienced operator. The only to know with more certainty is to see the ends of the rail where it broke.
Sorry it took couple days. I’ve been in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan with little to no signal. We took the old C&O Railroad Ferry the SS Badger across Lake Michigan then spent a couple days driving back home.
I almost said that in the video, If you had been here! There was a
round spot on top of the rail head, a bit off color of normal where it
broke, but guess when we get the "other guy" to test that what you get...LOL hope you had a good trip my friend
Very interesting Dave. I see why you like to lift track only a couple inches at a time. You used that term “relay rail” again. Why is it called that? I’m amazed at how powerful the tamper is and how flexible the rail is. All the curves the railroad has had me wondering about replacing rail in a curve. I had been meaning to ask if you had to order rail already bent to the correct degree. I’m now thinking it comes straight and is bent during installation. That would make a great video. I don’t remember how I stumbled upon your channel but I am hooked. All I know about railroading I’ve learned from you. Thanks Dave. Heh heh! I’m loving it!
Thank you Russ for the really nice comment. Relay rail is rail
that has been used but can be re laid. There are 4 grades of relay,
the FRA has specs on how much wear is allowed for each grade.
Also since we are a class 2 track, we can put relay in main lines
that a higher class RR would only be allowed to use for sidings or such.
All our rail comes straight and is bent by hand using lining bars.
We put joint bars on one end, then use the lining bars with a sharp
pointed end and stick that into a tie plate hole, then leverage the
rail into curved position. Then we spike it down as we go in
order to hold curvature. On sharper degree curves it usually
takes 2 guys on the bars to do it. Colder temps can have to use more muscle. On some transit track with
insane curvature the rails can come pre bent
Interesting. Both of my suppositions were correct depending on the degree of curvature. But I’m amazed again. I never thought you could bend it with hand tools. I figured some kind of a machine was used.
Dave , what is the purpose of the extra rails between the main rail on bridges.
Made a video all about them Larry Hope you enjoy it >>>
ua-cam.com/video/M9HZTKMyim8/v-deo.html
i give you love from belgium
Thank you! and we do give you much appreciation for watching the video Aksana
Learning so much
Great to hear you are enjoying Bruce, we do appreciate your
watching sir
Hey Dave !! Didn't see any ""Dandrol "" rail clamps on that "NEW"" rail ??? Saw they were still on the old rail that you took out & what was the age on the broke rail ?? Anyhows,, Yepper ,, gets pretty ""HOT"" in those machines when they are working !! Have a good week & Thanks for your time !! ""KEEP IT SAFE ""!!
Thanks K B, you know this was taken about a month ago and I
really forget what year the rail is, will look tomorrow if I get up
that way, and try and not get stopped on those bridges...LOL
@@ccrx6700 Right on with the bridges !! Can't trust ANY of them anymore !! Don't bother with the rail age as sure its properly in the 70's !!!
@@KB-gs8zi you got me curious now so i have to find out or it will drive me nuts 🤔
@@ccrx6700 OKS !! Will be waiting to see the answer for sure !!
@@KB-gs8zi it's original rail 1975, i looked today
I like how educational your videos are and I have some idea of the hours you have worked. The worst hours I ever worked were 8 on and 8 off and back for another 8. No real rest in between. Probably equal with that was 3rd shift and double over thru 1st shift and back on 3rd again. EXTRA BOARD. Later under FRA rules 8 on and 15 or 16 off guaranteed. Lots more rest. RR is great work but at times very difficult.
Oh wow Bennie, that would have been a killer schedule! Glad you
are enjoying sir and thanks for the nice comment
I taking a guess that those ties that have “moved” didn’t provide any support in that space and like you said the movement over time, the steel just loses its tensile strength… trying to pick up some knowledge
You are correct Kevin, the ties offered no support and were
moving up and down as the train passed. No doubt there was
also an internal defect that was just then at the point where it
didn't want to be kind to us anymore. Really appreciate
your visiting with us and writing in my friend.
Interesting coincidence, there is a big article in Trains magazine this month all about broken rails! Stay safe out there.
Really? Got my copy of Trains last week and haven't had time to
look at it yet, I will definitely check that out soon now
And...he looks so happy 🤣
I am happy, railroads, what not to love ... LOL appreciate your
watching
Dear Dave, it feels like you are spinning your wheels - tamping and cribbing ballast that is so muddy and contaminated. Looks great after you “do your thing”, but if the ballast got properly cleaned, the track would remain much more stable…the rails would stop breaking…and you could do fewer of those 12 hour shifts! Stay safe out there! 🚀🚀
Wow! great to see you again KC, hope all is well with you, miss
chatting with you
@@ccrx6700 I bet we both have been spending less time on VR …now that there’s much to do outdoors…plus you are pulling too many 12 hour shifts to get online much! I enjoyed your winter video on the hot bearing that got caught by the detector and then set out. I’m trying to find your territory on Google maps…what’s a couple towns your RR passes thru? (So I can locate)
@@la023711 RR goes from the mine near Kirby Pa. And goes to river barge loading facility at Alicia pa. Doesnt pass thru any town, although it parallels Garards Fort mid way. 17 miles of track.
I just found out there is electrical current running through those rails so a cracked rail can cause more than one problem right?
No electric current on our rails here Johnny. Some transit systems
do employ a 3rd rail which carries voltage to power the trains.
Some RR; have an overhead catenary which the locos have a
pantograph to collect the electricity from. A lot of trolley
systems in the past used the catenary and pantograph system.
Keep on making these good videos and hopefully sometime they will give you a day off so I’m sure that the overtime money is not bad so be safe
Thank you Clark, I do enjoy making them and really appreciate
you and everyone else watching them
@@ccrx6700 Yes buddy ,God Bless
Query: How's your inspection schedule? And who checks the quality of your rail and other metals before you install it? Finally, what's up with that BUC?
We get our rails from Steelton, they do the metallurgical checks on
every batch of rail they roll. Track inspections are done weekly per
CFR Title 49 regulations. BUC?
There goes the Holiday Bonus. You may wind up Owing your employer a Check for Damages.😬👍
Already wrote check out Ken... or could be like the old coal mine company stores, they take it out of my paycheck LOL
WOW! I had no idea coal dust would affect the strength of the ballast, interesting!
And now you know Eric, just plugs everything up and water can't
drain away, that is why we are constantly cribbing ties out here
to get rid of this garbage and put in good clean ballast
@@ccrx6700 It makes sense that that stuff would cause problems, especially with the ties.
I'm guessing that tampering puts a lot of stress on the rail when you lift it up? Metal fatigue?
Yes it does, I never get to be outside the tamper cause I'm the
only one that can run it or I would make a video of how it jacks
rail. We did get a contract tamper in here on our shutdown and was
able to film part of that, so when that video comes out you will
see how the rail gets lifted
Two broken rails in a year! Is that about par for the course, or is that excessive?
I've gone years and years without having a broken rail, then all of
a sudden we get a bunch of them, go figure. They all started
happening when I started making videos! Is that a coincidence?
Or, just the railroad's way of giving me more content.... ponder that ...LOL
@@ccrx6700 Now that would be funny - in a dangerous kind of way 😉
Yes fouled ballast, ng. I think a truck mounted rail vac would help, in front of that gang. then they do replacement. come back with fresh stone tamp, and sweep. I think it would make cribing faster but when you can get track time. nice video.
We've tried Hulcher vac truck for cribbing ties before, it works
fairly well as long as it's easy loose stuff, the harder stuff they
have to break up with an air wand and it takes forever, and Hulcher isn't cheap to have come out either...LOL
@@ccrx6700 ok true.
Corp can't put out that dime! Profits baby!
You got to take the mud out!
Yes sir! we are diligently working our way forward on this curve, the
whole curve is like this and we have started on the other end and
so far have done over 200 feet, good progress working live rail.
thanks for watching
That's got to be about the best way to break a rail, with no collateral damage. Is there any chance Sperry can get one of their hi-rail trucks in there for ultrasonic/magnetic sensing?
We were lucky, you are right, could have been far worse if a train
broke it Jacques
Dave, going to be building new switch on the mine railroad at National Pike Gas and steam show next weekend. Can you come?
Richard Bause.
Would love to, but have to work, it been 20 years since i beem there, great show tho, one of the best Richard, have fun!
@@ccrx6700 bring your tamper, we'll use it on the mine railroad.
Show gets bigger every year.
More track to build.
Sorry you'll miss a good time but try for the spring Show.
Take care. Let you know how things turned out.
@@richardbause2453 👌
Great video. Do you make the call for a geometry car based on your experience and your observation of the rail condition? Is it required periodically? That nasty mud. Is that wet coal dust? Seems like you have so much ballast above the ground that mud wouldn't be a problem. Thanks so much for your expertise.
Our new owners of the mine decided to spend the $10,000 on getting a geo truck in, it was a wise choice of dollars spent. That stuff will hold track surface for awhile, at least until we get a lot
of rain.... and ballast does look decent on top, but the rains have
washed the coal fines down into the ballast there. We have been
getting ultrasonic testing for the past 20 or so years as an
annual and often semi annual
Cant you thermite weld the track ?
Since the rail head was chipped out, best thing was just to replace
the rail Tony, and I'm not sure if since it broke that the welders
would guarantee their weld either