Murphy Siding rrnut282 Murph, The stringline method still lives. During the line construction project I was involved with twelve years ago, I helped the Track Foreman measure to one side of the centerline and pull a string on the ensuing marks. When the string was properly draped, he used spray paint to locate just one end of the ties as they were placed on the sub-grade stone. That makes sense as the easiest and therefore quickest way to do it. Of course, the *perfect* way to do it would have been to lay out the centerline of the track and then align the centerline of each tie to it.
rrnut282 Murph, The stringline method still lives. During the line construction project I was involved with twelve years ago, I helped the Track Foreman measure to one side of the centerline and pull a string on the ensuing marks. When the string was properly draped, he used spray paint to locate just one end of the ties as they were placed on the sub-grade stone.
Murph,
The stringline method still lives. During the line construction project I was involved with twelve years ago, I helped the Track Foreman measure to one side of the centerline and pull a string on the ensuing marks. When the string was properly draped, he used spray paint to locate just one end of the ties as they were placed on the sub-grade stone.
That makes sense as the easiest and therefore quickest way to do it. Of course, the *perfect* way to do it would have been to lay out the centerline of the track and then align the centerline of each tie to it.
mudchicken* 24 ties per rail length ( 19 1/2") spacing is the common standard out west.
Wish I could remember where I saw that it's something like 3200 ties per mile, which is a number I use to explain to folks the cost of rehabbing track.
Larry Resident Microferroequinologist (at least at my house) Everyone goes home; Safety begins with you My Opinion. Standard Disclaimers Apply. No Expiration Date Come ride the rails with me! There's one thing about humility - the moment you think you've got it, you've lost it...
Simple math tells us that for these tie spacings, the number of ties per mile would be about:
19-1/2" ==> 3,250
20 per 39' rail, about 23-3/8" ==> 2,707
20" ==> 3,170
Back in the day, for lightly used lines (such as yours) the tie spacing would tend to be farther apart.
ConRail specs for industrial spurs were something like 20/ 39' rail for curves up to and including 8 degrees, 24 per 39' rail for curves sharper than that. So most tracks would have a mix of spacings.
- PDN.
Murphy Siding Where did the tie spacing standard come from? I walked the length of our spur last week and it reminded me that tie spacing is about 3/4 of an average man's step, so that every other step is on ballast.
Aside from the standard specifications, where they were derived from is a combination of:
A solid mat of ties would spread the load the most, would be the most expensive (esp. when the tie plates and spikes are considered), and impossible to tamp = not very practical.
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