railroad iron makes a good leveler if you cut a hole in the thin part in each end and use chains to hook to your front bucket you can smooth and backdrag with it. We use it in the oilfield with a backhoe or under the frontblade of a dozer for fine finishing and leveling.
Railroad track weight ?
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In our area we were without phone service for about 3 days because some theive stole the telephone wire off of the telephone poles. There have been several other areas near here that have had similar incidents happen. They have also been stealing catylitic converters off of cars in parking lots at shopping centers and demolitioning air conditioner units for the coils. They caught one man cutting down telephone lines recently and on the local news chanel they said that he had about three hundred feet in his vehicle of phone line and when they went to his house he had a huge amount of metals there. I have heard that they have been stealing from scrap yardss also. If someone had of had an emergency during our phone outage and needed to get 911 they would have been out of luck. If it costs someone their life they ought to go after them for murder if they are caught. I heard also that they caught a pawn shop with a lot of stolen merchandise and have linked it to an apparent theft ring covering several states.bigdad said:
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MrJimi
Elite Member, Rest in Peace
jtlee said:
WoW!!! That is really impressive, I need to dig out tape measure again, I do know It's real heavy for an old guy like me
I want to thank you very much for that link, I will save it
Jim
Redbug
Veteran Member
cjcocn
Silver Member
Just look on the rail for a XXlbs mark. That will tell you the weight of the rail - if it is 100lb rail then each 3 foot section weighs 100lbs. If it is 85lb rail then each 3 foot section weighs 85lbs, ETC.
When I was still on the rail we used to change them by hand. A flat car would haul them out and a speed swing would unload them (speed swing - think of a wheel loader with bogeys that fit the gauge of the rail. The wheels would rest on and drive the bogeys, which rested on the rail and would roll the speed swing along. Oh yeah, the speed swing had quite a few cool attachments).
The rail was generally dropped as close as possible to the spot where we had to change the rail. We would then drag it into place using rail tongs. We didn't have CWR (Continuously Welded Rail) and our longest rails were 72' long, with a lot of 39' rail. 39' rail was the biggest that we would have to move around by hand. The lines that I worked were all 100lb rail so a 39' piece weighed 1,300lbs.
Because we didn't have CWR, our rails were bolted together with a bar on both sides of the web. A special drill clamped onto the rail and drilled out the holes for us on the new rail.
If we were doing an emergency replacement we would generally use 13' rails. If those were changed in the winter we would have to go back in the summer to make sure that the rail didn't expand enough to kink the track. Similarly, if we changed a rail when it was too hot we would have to go back in the winter and make sure that the rail did not contract too much and leave too much of a gap (otherwise the trains would "batter" the rail ends, creating more work).
HTH
EDITED TO ADD: PS .... we cut the rail with a chop saw.
When I was still on the rail we used to change them by hand. A flat car would haul them out and a speed swing would unload them (speed swing - think of a wheel loader with bogeys that fit the gauge of the rail. The wheels would rest on and drive the bogeys, which rested on the rail and would roll the speed swing along. Oh yeah, the speed swing had quite a few cool attachments).
The rail was generally dropped as close as possible to the spot where we had to change the rail. We would then drag it into place using rail tongs. We didn't have CWR (Continuously Welded Rail) and our longest rails were 72' long, with a lot of 39' rail. 39' rail was the biggest that we would have to move around by hand. The lines that I worked were all 100lb rail so a 39' piece weighed 1,300lbs.
Because we didn't have CWR, our rails were bolted together with a bar on both sides of the web. A special drill clamped onto the rail and drilled out the holes for us on the new rail.
If we were doing an emergency replacement we would generally use 13' rails. If those were changed in the winter we would have to go back in the summer to make sure that the rail didn't expand enough to kink the track. Similarly, if we changed a rail when it was too hot we would have to go back in the winter and make sure that the rail did not contract too much and leave too much of a gap (otherwise the trains would "batter" the rail ends, creating more work).
HTH
EDITED TO ADD: PS .... we cut the rail with a chop saw.
MossRoad
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Here's what you need to do with that rail...
Make weiner dog sculptures!
You'll need an 18" piece of track, 5 rail spikes and a large chain hook about 5" long, also found along rail lines.
Weld one spike at each corner of the rail with the point of the spike heads all facing the same way, so it looks like 4 legs holding up the rail.
Weld the 5th spike to the rear pointing up and angled back. That's the tail.
Turn the chain hook over and weld the small end to the face of the rail. Looks like a weiner dog head.
My uncle used to make these and sold them as door stops... very heavy door stops. I wish I had one.
Make weiner dog sculptures!
You'll need an 18" piece of track, 5 rail spikes and a large chain hook about 5" long, also found along rail lines.
Weld one spike at each corner of the rail with the point of the spike heads all facing the same way, so it looks like 4 legs holding up the rail.
Weld the 5th spike to the rear pointing up and angled back. That's the tail.
Turn the chain hook over and weld the small end to the face of the rail. Looks like a weiner dog head.
My uncle used to make these and sold them as door stops... very heavy door stops. I wish I had one.
OP
MrJimi
Elite Member, Rest in Peace
Do you have pictures? that sounds nice
Egon
Epic Contributor
Our basement drive in door has a piece of rail for a floor sill. The fellow who built the house in 1936 was a railway engineer.
JB4310
Super Member
Egon said:Our basement drive in door has a piece of rail for a floor sill. The fellow who built the house in 1936 was a railway engineer.
That's interesting, never have to worry about getting out of true. If it was a salvaged piece, just think of all the people that rode on it over the years. All this talk about rail road track makes me want to take up my neighbors offer to take that piece down, from up between her two trees, probably just throw a rope over it and pull it down.
Another thing that caught my eye in your post is that my house was built in 1936 also, not a big deal except that there was not a lot of new residential construction at that time due to the great depression here in the U.S., Canada was probably experiencing similar difficulties?
JB4310
Super Member
Well I said all this talk was gonna get me crazy for some RR track, just so happened my neighbor had some up in a tree, so now I'm the proud owner of 23 feet of RR track, my wife saw me dragging it back to my yard and just thought I was nuts, she asked what I was going to do with it. I really don't know, was thinking about maybe an 8 or 10 foot piece for a drag leveler, this one is 6" wide at the base and 6.5" high, anybody need any?
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RedNeckRacin
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not to thread jack, but I actually worked for Delta RailRoad Construction outta astabula(sp?) ohio one summer replacing worn out track. We would use a chainsaw with a cutting wheel to cut the track pieces to length. Quite the operation. IIRC our best day we did almost a mile of track in 10 or 11 hours. I wish I would have gotten some pictures but I didn't think of it at the time. The coolest part was how we welded the rails together. We would pack clay around the ends, heat both ends of the rail then set a crucible on top with steel and a pyrotechnic(read "not explosive") and light it off. Soon as the steel melted it would drop the charge and fill the clay mold to fuse the ends together.
JB4310
Super Member
RedNeckRacin said:not to thread jack, but I actually worked for Delta RailRoad Construction outta astabula(sp?) ohio one summer replacing worn out track. We would use a chainsaw with a cutting wheel to cut the track pieces to length. Quite the operation. IIRC our best day we did almost a mile of track in 10 or 11 hours. I wish I would have gotten some pictures but I didn't think of it at the time. The coolest part was how we welded the rails together. We would pack clay around the ends, heat both ends of the rail then set a crucible on top with steel and a pyrotechnic(read "not explosive") and light it off. Soon as the steel melted it would drop the charge and fill the clay mold to fuse the ends together.
I've seen them do that at night behind my old shop, quit the light show, with sparks flying every where, isn't that called cad welding or theramite?
JB4310
Super Member
mjarrels said:
Well my brother already has the cross beams for the pole, he collects insulators, so we got that covered, he's been to insulator collectors get togethers and said one guy had a few poles set up in his yard loaded with insulators.
OP
MrJimi
Elite Member, Rest in Peace
Where can I get trees that grow railroad track ??
That would be kool
That would be kool
JB4310
Super Member
MrJimi said:Where can I get trees that grow railroad track ??
That would be kool
I know it's odd, that's why I had to include the picture, if I just made the statement that "My neighbor just happened to have some RR track up in her tree" it would be hard to believe or imagine. Must have been there many years as both trees were dead, I heard some one used it to lift a camper out of their truck, before me or my neighbor lived here. got about 1/4 cord of seasoned (standing dead) white oak out of the free deal to.
LBrown59
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Several years ago.
My uncle built a house and used a rail road track rail for the center support beam
I'm guessing the house to be about 46 to 52 feet long.
My uncle built a house and used a rail road track rail for the center support beam
I'm guessing the house to be about 46 to 52 feet long.
JB4310 said:
CurlyDave
Elite Member
isn't that called cad welding or theramite?
I have always heard it called thermite.
Aluminum powder and iron oxide, in the right proportions. A strip of magnesium is used to ignite it, sort of like a fuse.
In high school chemistry we used to mix it up in a small clay flower pot, and then watch a blob of white hot iron drop out of the bottom hole in the pot.
If you drop it into a pail of water it will melt a hole in the pail and then set whatever is under it on fire. Do not ask how I know this.
I have always heard it called thermite.
Aluminum powder and iron oxide, in the right proportions. A strip of magnesium is used to ignite it, sort of like a fuse.
In high school chemistry we used to mix it up in a small clay flower pot, and then watch a blob of white hot iron drop out of the bottom hole in the pot.
If you drop it into a pail of water it will melt a hole in the pail and then set whatever is under it on fire. Do not ask how I know this.
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