question about rails being tranported on special flat cars

[dt_rt40]

This is probably a really stupid question.
Riding MARC past Amtrak's rebuild of Track 1 (?) between Balto. & Washington has afforded an opportunity to scrutinize various pieces of equipment.
I've noticed that there are special flatcars designed to hold new rail. Here's where it gets weird: these give the illusion of holding pieces of rail that are several hundred feet long, crossing as many as 4 or 5 of those flat cars. The MARC train has never been going slow enough to confirm it with certainty, but that's sure what it looks like as we go by at 30-40 mph sometimes. I know that, to the super powerful cranes and lifts used to install rail, the steel is like a big wet noodle. It's very flexible. I've seen video on a PBS show years ago of an LGV being installed in France. I'm sure there are videos on youtube that show something like this. But is the rail so flexible that it could span 4-5 flat cars, as they are being moved on the railroad, through curves? The problem would seem to be that 20-30 of these rails, while individually flexible, would be way too stiff once aggregated. As I said, it could just be an illusion. If it were possible, it sure would save them a lot of on-site welding!

[litz]

Those are "ribbon rail" trains ... and yes, the rail does span multiple cars.

The cars are special ribbon rail carriers designed specifically for this purpose.

I don't know, however, if the rail itself is flexible enough to negotiate the curves, or if there is some kind of dampening mechanism built into the car itself to allow the rail to "move" on the car, reducing the tension. Someone more familiar will have to chime in.

And yes - the whole idea behind ribbon rail is to reduce install time by pre-welding long sections together thusly reducing the work required by the track crews.

It's fantastic stuff ... I've had the opportunity to run my Fairmont speeder on welded rail, and it's just wonderful stuff. Silky smooth.

- litz

[dt_rt40]

Thanks for the followup! If I'd known what they were called, I probably would have been able to google them haha.

[FarmallBob]

Those are "ribbon rail" trains ... and yes, the rail does span multiple cars

The cars are special ribbon rail carriers designed specifically for this purpose.

I don't know, however, if the rail itself is flexible enough to negotiate the curves, or if there is some kind of dampening mechanism built into the car itself to allow the rail to "move" on the car, reducing the tension. Someone more familiar will have to chime in.

The racks in ribbon rail cars are equipped with rollers to facilitate loading/unloading the rail. A car at the center of the train has clamps that anchor the loaded rails in place at their midpoints. Otherwise loaded rail is free to move lengthwise as required as the train negotiates curve, dips, etc. Thus flexibility of a loaded rail train is assured

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The rail trains I've spotted - along the CSX main in western NY - are typically about 1,500 feet long. From front to rear they consist of:

- Locomotive. Most I've seen use a 4-axle GPxx roadswitcher mated with a 4 axle slug.
- A tool car - usually an old box car with extra side doors/windows added.
- The rail pickup car. It's equipped with jib cranes, cable winches, guide ramps etc on both sides to begin the pickup of ribbon rail from the ground and feed it to the following car.
- The load/unload power car. Equipped with powered pinch rollers that push rail through the rest of the train as rail as loaded and to pull it back off during unloading.
- A guide car. Has a hydraulically-adjustable ramp to set the elevation (rack row location) for each rail as it is loaded into the first rack car.
- 10 or so rail storage (rack) cars
- The mid-train rail anchor car
- Another 10 or so rail storage cars
- A terminal rack car. Has roller racks same as the storage cars but is equipped with a bulkhead to positively prevent rails being loaded from being pushed off the end of the train.
- A caboose. Provides additional tool storage, also shelter for crewmen. It also provides a spot for a trainman to ride when the train makes reverse moves. (Not all the rail trains I've seen have used a caboose.)

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My apologies if the above are not the correct names for the various cars. The names I've assigned above are purely arbitrary!

...FB