Video • How Train Rails are made • Do we still do this in the USA or Canada?

Google is our friend:

http://www.unitracrail.com/

http://www.lbfoster.com/

Rusty

Thank you for the link. It was an interesting video.

I think there are a couple of rail mills still in the US but not many.  Steel rails are made out of high quality metal and the rail  has different properties according to the part-such as the flange, web and rail head.

Steel Dynamics (SDI) just west of Fort Wayne. They make rail in 320-foot long lengths.

SDI is now the preeminent provider of quality rail for all cut or welded, premium or standard rail products in the United States.

One consideration is the shrinking of the railroad industry.  A lot of removed rail is used again.  Note that the recent rail spur to Westland, PA Marcellous shale Gas collection site was done with used continuous rail that dated to the 1960.  Old Montour Railroad/now Montour bike trail right of way.   New rail right-of-way is shared with the bike trail.  Note the fence.

Rail loaded for the trip to Westland via track mobiles. There was concern about the weight and grade down into Westland.

I reset my bike odometer, the continuous rail pieces are about 1/4 mile (1,320 ft./402.34 meters) long. Some serious weight for the 2% grade into Westland.    

Yes it seems like  a lot of weight for a track mobile.  I'm  assuming it went Ok.

There were two track mobiles, one front and one back.

SDI Columbia City is about 10 minutes from MY house too.

I work for SDI, but not at our Columbia City mill, but at our Butler, Indiana flat roll mill.

I am the Senior Network Engineer here at Butler, a professional nerd by trade.

I am very proud of SDI and products we can produce.

If there is anything in particular someone wants to see, I can ask a colleague to grab some pics

As I understand, the founder of SDI and now Chairman of the Board for SDI, Keith Busse has pledged to support the FWHRRS with steel.
(rails?)

Would love to see some in-plant pictures on how rail is made.

It is a hot roll mill like others, I imagine, but I understand different parts of the rail are heat treated differently.  That could be proprietary.  Most mills don't allow cameras. I wanted to get some rail photos in the ARMCO mill in Butler, Pa. and it was almost impossible.

That could be VERY important if Headwaters Junction comes into being, as rail would have to be re-laid from about Degroff Street eastward, never mind the trackage needed in the actual facility. Free rail would be a BIG help to the cause.

The standard length is 25m.  That's 20-22" in scale (1:43-1:48).  That means all our 10" sections are not actually to scale! 

I use 36" straights in both O and Standard gauge where I can so, I guess, that is more prototypical.  I thought stick rail came in 39 ft lengths in the old days ??

Trainroomgary,

That was a really nice and interesting video.  I kept thinking of how little parts and scenes had modeling potential. Did anyone else think that the spinning vertical rollers looked like Daleks from the Dr. Who TV show?  :-)

Good to hear that some track that's taken up for rail trails is being recycled into new track and not something else.  I hope to lobby an area rail trail project to preserve some lengths of rail that have the NY NH& H stamp on them.  Perhaps use it in the pedestrian bridge planned over the highway, in a bench or for a bike rack? After all these years, the track that's in a wooded area is amazingly shiny And it would be great to allow people to get up close to it.   Otherwise, people will think all former railroads were built on blacktop! Combined with this video there's great teaching potential.

Tomlinson Run Railroad

Part of the Montour experience is that the Montour Rail Trail group has exclusive rights to the right-of-way.  Part of the Westland rail spur was the rebuild of a single lane bridge.  One of the old bridge beams is on display at the Galati Rd. parking area.

The new railroad bridge.

One of the old bridge beams.

Displayed at the parking area.

Nice! Looks like they are trying to preserve the feel of the RR. The pedestrian bridge I mentioned will be in West Concord, MA. The RR bridges there went over water and I hope the replacements follow the originals (there were twin bridges) which I've photographed and posted elsewhere on this site. The former NYNHH/Penn Central track crossed the road originally, which just can't be done. Hence he planned new pedestrian bridge.  NYC did a nice job incorporating rails or at least their patterns in one of their skyway rAil trails. Lionel's Tracks website did a nice artcle on it.  What was cool about the W. Concord track is the V-shape that was used to transfer the wheels from the rail on the rail bed to the rail in the little River bridges.  it's these details I wish could be somehow incorporated into rail trails for the next generation, even if it's just a large sign with a graphic.  But incorporating the actual rails like they did in NYC, seems so much better.

Sorry, that's my rail trail rant for the day. Yiikes, I have a dissertation to write! And it's not about train track. :-)

TRRR

The Montour is very fortunate to have the Rail Trail Group and the Montour RR Historical Group.  Both contribute to the upkeep and preservation of the Trail/Railroad. It also helps, that the new found wealth of Southwestern PA has been channeled

toward the Rail Trail.  The Marcellous Shale Gas collection site, via the Wheeling & Lake Erie RR's new railroad spur, contributes a lot to the upkeep and constant remodel of one of Pittsburgh's best rail trails, IMO.  There are two major road crossing projects that are being funded as part of the new wealth.  One, very close to the W&LE spur to Westland, is the RT 50/ RT980 road crossing.  Existing Montour, Venice, Bridge was removed by the state, 1990's, after the railroad was abandoned/bankrupt in the 1980's.   It is really great to see all this happening.

 Mike CT  

RE CAP, of what we found to go with this video.

     A lot of excellent reading and videos put out by these companies.

I am ready to go full scale.   or build my layout like the pros.

Gary - Cheers from The Detroit and Mackianc Railway

Click on each header to enlarge.

http://www.unitracrail.com/

 http://www.lbfoster.com/

http://www.steeldynamics.com/Products/Rail.aspx

 http://www.mountsavagehistoric...ciety.org/index.html

http://www.evrazna.com/Locatio...tabid/72/Default.asp