2543 replies to this topic

[Mr King]

Stuart I was going to pm this too you but your inbox must be full because the site would not let it go through. This is one of the most bizarre safety productions I have ever seen. Seeing that it focuses on the British railroad I thought it might interest you.

[Mr King]

Thanks for sharing that Stuart. It was quite interesting.

[Mike Steele]

I love old machinery like that, I hope they preserved some part of that.

[Max H]

If you like that Mike this should be right up your street
http://www.amazon.co...D/dp/B0009VJY6Q

[Mr King]

[BansheeOne]

When you drive out to the Kummersdorf collection from Berlin, there are several railway crossings where the road rather than the tracks are gated off. Those are retired lines which are used for draisine tours. People pump up to the crossing, watch out for road traffic, lift the gates and pump across. Takes you a little aback when you first see it.

[Mike Steele]

You all may find this interesting, it was a BBC documentary from the late 60s called 'Engines must not enter the Potato Siding', the focus of which was Woodhead, then the main line between Sheffield and Manchester. It had been electrified as a flagship project by BR in 1954, closed to passengers in 1969, and closed to all traffic in 1981. The cost of building a new tunnel and electrifying it was astronomical.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ea52T1klf-Q

On the positive side, it was a very beautiful line and a tribute to the navvies (not a few of whom died) who constructed it. There are still regular campaigns to get it reopened.

I love hearing the old guys talk about their rail experiences....

[Max H]

The train track pretty much bisects the site between the hippy part of glasto (green fields, stone circle, stone dragon) and everything else. it's very useful for getting around, being semi-packed earth and less likely to turn to mush - if it was a running train line it would be a royal PITA for the festival.

BTW, are you guys aware of this? Perhaps one to add to the to-do list

[Mr King]

[Mr King]

I have seen a video of one that is worse but I cant find it.

Edit - spoke to soon, found it.

The section that is bad is smaller, but it looks like it has deteriorated to the point some of the rail is missing.

Edited by Mr King, 06 August 2012 - 0339 AM.

[Mr King]

I have always been more fascinated in the maintenance of the way end of railroading. I think it stems from the fact my great grandfather who basically raised me as a young child was a railroad MOW crew foreman and exposed me to a lot of it.

Here is one really neat piece of equipment. Has to by a hydraulic nightmare though.

[Mike Steele]

I presume these are freight only lines, but even during the nadir of rail maintainance in the UK (shortly after privatization) it didnt get this bad.

I note they also have alot of bolted rail, I know they used continuously welded track in the US, but is it common?

You only find welded rail on high usage/traffic lines the rails in question are not exactly high usage. More likely that sort of damage comes from frost heaves and the like.

[Mike Steele]

Hmm, not seen this one before. Track maintainance in a Chemical Warfare Environment. Does the voiceover on this remind anyone of Mr Chomondly-Warner?
https://www.youtube....ayer_detailpage

I see he has his Soviet style Protective gear handy!

[Mr King]

Thermite track welding.

http://www.liveleak....=034_1342023057

[Marek Tucan]

Well, for bizzare safety videos there is always this... (NSFW )

[Mr King]

Who says the Germans dont have a sense of humor.

[Ivanhoe]

Some rail-related vintage photos, hope the link works;

http://cnnphotos.blo...road/?hpt=hp_c2

For background, search for Winston Link on CNN's website; there was an intro page but I can't seem to find a direct link to it.

[sunday]

Well, for bizzare safety videos there is always this... (NSFW )

(...)

I don't know if that reveals a psycho streak, but this is one of the funnier videos I've ever seen. But it's also one of the scarier ones.

[rmgill]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lutNECOZFw

Ok, I guess that's an actual foamer.

[rmgill]

I presume these are freight only lines, but even during the nadir of rail maintainance in the UK (shortly after privatization) it didnt get this bad. I note they also have alot of bolted rail, I know they used continuously welded track in the US, but is it common?

You only find welded rail on high usage/traffic lines the rails in question are not exactly high usage. More likely that sort of damage comes from frost heaves and the like.

My understanding of CWR is that it's a lower cost item for the purposes of property tax values. (No bolts, fish plates which add up).

You also have no beating up of the rail ends from joint to joint BUT you have challenges with contraction/expansion in hot/cold weather.

It is intersting in that the British Rail folks are using panel track as standard track AND have the joints across from each other as a matter of course. US practice is to not have each track joint next to the other rail's track joint for very long durations, usually they're to be offset by 3-4 ties or more.