Turnouts with concrete sleepers in USA ?

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by mudchicken

There are a few left out west on BNSF (old BN)....not well liked

(1) no adjustment in frog area

(2) no adjustment under switch points

(3) allignment problems behind frog on long ties (wishbone effect, gage)

(4) you can't ship as a track panel

Weren't their them in teh Powder River Basin?

DOGGY

[mudchicken]

QUOTE: Originally posted by gsetter

QUOTE: Originally posted by mudchicken

Ask the average american trackman ....

Is that the same as "Ham fisted maintenance contractors" in the UK?

Nope: this is a guy who has been out there for years, knows his stuff and is not the victim of a devisive remark by a journalist that has no clue about what is going on under the transportation he takes for granted.[:(!]

geek: not the movable point, try the whole assembly, heel to toe, including the movable point you speak of. If the whole frog assembly is not kept in the proper position and gage for the life of the turnout, all kinds of expensive bad things happen. That assembly is spread out over 5-8 ties depending on the frog angle and how the thing is assembled. Track is a dynamic structure unlike the concrete slab in your driveway.

rock kickin' mud chicken[banghead][banghead][banghead]

[traingeek087]

QUOTE: Originally posted by mudchicken

There are a few left out west on BNSF (old BN)....not well liked

(1) no adjustment in frog area

(2) no adjustment under switch points

(3) allignment problems behind frog on long ties (wishbone effect, gage)

(4) you can't ship as a track panel

I've seen few on the old BN that have movable frogs.

[Anonymous]

I've never heard the term "sleeper" 'till I read this thread.....

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by mudchicken

Ask the average american trackman ....

Is that the same as "Ham fisted maintenance contractors" in the UK?

[mudchicken]

Ask the average american trackman about sleepers and fishplates - he's gonna look at you like you're from some other world or fresh out of the funny farm.....

Ties, crossties,switch ties, joints and angle-bars spoken here. Miners use the term fishplate. North american trackmen savvy terms like crib, dapp, pandrol (pretzel clip), anchors and cut spikes....

[BR60103]

I mentioned in gsetter's other thread that the Toronto subway uses wooden ties under its switches even in tunnels. They have concrete ties on ballast in open sections, full concrete paving with the rails bolted to it in tunnels, fancy layers of concrete slabs and rubber, but when they have crossovers they change to wood ties and ballast even in the tunnels.
By the by, they are slowly converting the fastenings to Pandrol clips.

[Hugh Jampton]

I must not drink so early in the morning,, I'm starting to see double.

In the UK, we're now moving towards hollow steel bearers (what we call sleepers (ties) in switches) it allows us to sta***he drive rods etc. out of the way of the ham fisted maintenance contractors.

[jeffhergert]

The Union Pacific here in Iowa uses concrete ties in their switches. All the new crossovers at control points seem to use concrete ties, even when the rest of the main line uses wooden ties in the same area.
Also, where concrete ties are used in the main track, switches to industry tracks have concrete ties. At a Arlington, Nebraska on the UP's Blair subdivision, the concrete ties for the business track switch are there waiting to be installed if and when the Blair track project begins.
Jeff

[jeffhergert]

The Union Pacific here in Iowa uses concrete ties in their switches. All the new crossovers at control points seem to use concrete ties, even when the rest of the main line uses wooden ties in the same area.
Also, where concrete ties are used in the main track, switches to industry tracks have concrete ties. At a Arlington, Nebraska on the UP's Blair subdivision, the concrete ties for the business track switch are there waiting to be installed if and when the Blair track project begins.
Jeff

[Anonymous]

Metro-North has been in the process of going to concrete sleepers on the Hudson Division for the last several years. Will look to see what they do with crossovers this summer. If anybody knows, I will be interested in advance.

Jerry

[Anonymous]

For those curios about the gauge in the picture South Africa uses a 3 foot 6 inch gauge.

[vsmith]

I beleive that most of the ROW for Metro-Link commuter trains here in L.A. are concrete sleepered and ALL of the light rail MetroRail tracks are concrete sleepers.

[Anonymous]

One big factor for not using concrete ties is COST! To custom make the ties needed for a turnout would be very expensive. Using wood ties is far more cost effective. That is the reason why we opted for wood at turnouts and concrete for the main lines.

*** Watkins PE, former board menber, DART

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by favuprailroadfan

This is going to sound dumb. But what exactly is a sleeper? Later, Dru

Not a dumb question. Here's a link to the mda Railway Object Name Thesaurus
A sleeper is a wood, concrete or steel object which holds the rails to the correct track gauge and supports the track on the ballast.
A.K.A. tie

[espeefoamer]

QUOTE: Originally posted by favuprailroadfan

This is going to sound dumb. But what exactly is a sleeper?

Later, Dru

A sleeper is the Briti***erm for a railroad tie.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by 440cuin

gsetter, what railroad / country is that picture of the switch from? is it even standard gauge?

The photo is of a South African contractor. I used what I could find quickly for illustration purposes. There are companies in the U.S. like Koppers that make pre-stressed concrete sleepers.
I don't know what gage but it does look kind of narrow.

[TH&B]

gsetter, what railroad / country is that picture of the switch from? is it even standard gauge?
I was thinking down in subway line tunnels there might be concrete switches, they seem to use alot of track with no wooden ties.

[favuprailroadfan]

This is going to sound dumb. But what exactly is a sleeper?

Later, Dru

[kenneo]

Mudchicken

All of those reasons are bummers.

[mudchicken]

There are a few left out west on BNSF (old BN)....not well liked

(1) no adjustment in frog area

(2) no adjustment under switch points

(3) allignment problems behind frog on long ties (wishbone effect, gage)

(4) you can't ship as a track panel

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by trainheartedguy

CSX recently installed one around here. I posted a topic (I think on trains.com here) about how citizens of the small community down the line from me where they installed it is complaining that it is shaking houses from their foundations.

Yes! I did read that, but I wasn't sure whether on not the the turnout had concrete sleepers under it. There is a disagreement in another forum over the existance of such a beast.
Thanks for the super quick responce.
The debate is over the durability of the sleepers being able to take shifting loads and movement. From what I've read in statments on various companies web sites, there are different load ratings. I'm sure the residents that are affected by the vibrations are hoping the sleepers will fail.

[Anonymous]

CSX recently installed one around here. I posted a topic (I think on trains.com here) about how citizens of the small community down the line from me where they installed it is complaining that it is shaking houses from their foundations.

[Anonymous]

Are there any class one railroads in Amercia that have concrete sleepers under a turnout or switch other than possibly the Northeast Corridor?



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