In a British track repair publication they recommend hitting rail with a sledge hammer on the side to Relieve stress before making new rail replacement. I never heard of this procedure. Is this protocol used in the U.S.?
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Tommy posted:In a British track repair publication they recommend hitting rail with a sledge hammer on the side to Relieve stress before making new rail replacement. I never heard of this procedure. Is this protocol used in the U.S.?
Never heard of such a thing. As high of grade of heavy, high-strength rail as we use in the U.S., say 127 pound per yard and higher, I can NOT imagine the Maintenance of Way workers banging on a long piece of CWR (Continuous Welded Rail). I have witnessed many a rail replacement, some more than a mile long, over the years, and NEVER saw an employee take a hammer to the side of the rail.
Thanks. I never heard of the practice either. It's also recommended on a training video for U.K. trackworkers. "To relieve stress". If I find it again I'll post the link.
Maybe it's to relieve stress on the hittor, instead of the hittee.
Ed
I was a trackman on the Erie Lackawanna, Conrail, Bessemer & Lake Erie, and some short lines.
In times of cold weather "pull aparts" sometimes occurred to both jointed or continuous welded rail. The procedure was to heat the rail and BUMP it on the side of the rail head (not sharp blows) to break the frictional resistance between the rail base and the tie plate. This allowed the heated rail to slide back to its original location. That defect could be failed bolts, broken joint bars, a defective weld, or a broken rail. Then the rails could be re-attached to each other and the rail anchors adjusted to prevent a re-occurrence of the pull-apart.
This was standard approved practice on all of these railroads. Rail weights were immaterial, and this procedure was used on all rails. I helped to work on pull-aparts from 90 lbs/yd. up to 155 lbs/yd. It was important to adjust the ballast to the standard profile as soon as the weather allowed as a further preventive measure, for ballast profile and proper rail anchoring work together to insure track stability year-round.
As far as striking the rail to relieve stress, I am skeptical, as the blows would be severely localized. In years of studying British and American maintenance of way methods, there were many conflicting methods. But we were bound by the procedures in force in our own railroad's rules.
If anyone has access to the Video Rails tape "Battle for Donner Pass", showing the derailment of a Southern Pacific Jordan Spreader, you can watch this process of heating and striking the rail to put it together again.
Not wanting to venture to far into technical language, hope this was helpful. Don
On a much smaller scale, welders use their chipping hammers to remove slag on the new weld AND relieve stress to the immediate area. Does this translate on a larger scale? My metalurgy training stopped too soon to know.
I was thinking there wasn't a lot of stress to relieve.
