Hi Ted: My appologies for being ten days behind. Haven't checked my email
for awhile. As an old structural engineer, I have an idea we could have
some interesting discussions. I was not a RR engineer, but did a lot of
bridge design, including a few RR bridges, and I worked a lot among civil
engineers. I loved structures! Also got quite involved in embankments on
many projects of various kinds. Roadbeds and bridges always fascinated me,
and I always marvelled at how they were designed, constructed, and kept in
safe condition under the tremendous, repeated pounding of heavy railroad
traffic.
One question I have never had answered is this: How is long, continuous
welded rail possible? I would think thermal expansion and contraction would
buckle the rail and wreak havoc with the entire roadbed construction. I'm
used to placing frequent expansion joints in any long steel members. I have
also been curious about how you avoid problems on curves due to tension in
the train. I once stood in the middle of the "Horseshoe" in PA and watched
long freights with the front-end heading 180 degrees off from the rear-end.
What resists the resultant of the tension it takes to pull the grades on the
"Horseshoe"? Dale Reeves
----- Original Message -----
From: "Ted Schnepf" <railsunl@foxvalley.net>
To: <CBQ@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Monday, May 07, 2007 9:41 PM
Subject: Re: [CBQ] Rail
> Hi Mark,
>
> I have not seen a reply, so will draw upon my 28 years as a railroad
> civil engineer.
>
> Your answer is in the CBQ "track charts" or "condensed profile books"
> the Q kept by division. There should be a line in the chart that
> shows the weight of the rail, the mill and the year rolled and maybe
> the year installed if second or third placement rail. All rails
> are stamped in raised letters with the mill name and the year rolled
> and other information. Also each rail basically has a serial number
> showing which bloom it originated from.
>
> As a general statement I would think the Q purchased new rail from US
> Steel South Works in Chicago and CF&I in Pueblo, Colo. Both are
> close to Q rails and transpiration costs could be kept lower. There
> may have also been times the Q purchased rail possibly outside its
> immediate area, such as Bethlehem Steel in Pa. or other mills.
>
> The history of Rail on the Q would certainly be interesting, but a
> dry topic for most fans.
>
> One note of caution. As the Q had only a small amount of welded rail
> at the time of the merger into BN, you can not generally look today
> for the mill marks on the former Q routes, as the rail, if not
> purchased new for the rail relay, may have come from the GN or the NP
> during the welding projects of the early BN years. Bolted rail on
> former Q routes is probably original Q rail.
>
>
>
> At 03:26 PM 5/2/2007, you wrote:
>
>>Dear Group,
>>
>>I understand the Q got it's ties from the company tie plant at
>>Galesburg, but where did the rail come from? Eastern steel mills or
>>somewhere a bit closer. I'm guessing the rail was not manufactured in-
>>house.
>>
>>Just wondering.
>>
>>Mark Bristow
>>UK
>
> Rails Unlimited
> Ted Schnepf
> railsunl@foxvalley.net
> 847-697-5353 or 5366
> 126 Will Scarlet
> Elgin, Ill. 60120
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