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| Surplus materials trackside 04/10/2013 at 21:33 #49787 | |
northroad
870 posts |
After a recent trip on the East Coast Main Line I am amazed at the amount of track lengths that are just sitting alongside the running tracks. Some but not all appear to have been there in the same places for months. I don't think all of it is in position ready to be laid but probably left for someone else to recover later and the later has been left and left. From what I remember this does not seem to be a recent thing but does seem to be getting bigger these days. Bags of clips and all other things just laying there. This must be costing Railtrack or whoever a small fortune besides being an obvious source for some sort of damage to infrastructure and stock. Does this ever get removed? You must have seen it on a line near you! Geoff Log in to reply |
| Surplus materials trackside 04/10/2013 at 21:49 #49788 | |
AndyG
1835 posts |
must need some policing sleepers instead of sleeping policemen to keep a eye on it? :whistle: where's my coat?
I can only help one person a day. Today's not your day. Tomorrow doesn't look too good either. Log in to reply The following user said thank you: CTCThiago |
| Surplus materials trackside 04/10/2013 at 23:34 #49791 | |
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UKTrainMan
1803 posts |
What about the various lengths of track left in the four foot - why do they leave them there, and not elsewhere?
Any views and / or opinions expressed by myself are from me personally and do not represent those of any company I either work for or am a consultant for. Log in to reply |
| Surplus materials trackside 05/10/2013 at 02:55 #49797 | |
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Danny252
1461 posts |
" said:What about the various lengths of track left in the four foot - why do they leave them there, and not elsewhere?Probably some combination of time and cost - I suppose loading the old rails back onto wagons is the easiest thing to ignore if you're pushed for time, as so many engineering possessions tend to be. As for cost, the scrap value for iron/steel is very, very low compared to copper - a bit of googling says that the former does something like 10p/kg (though maybe a bit more for something "pure" like rails, unlike mixed scrap), whilst copper is closer to £4.00/kg. Standard mainline rail weight seems to be 60kg/m, which for a standard 60ft rail length gives 1.1 tonnes - at 10p/kg, that rail is only worth about £100! That's assuming we're scrapping them, of course - if we're reusing them elsewhere, why move them now? We could just leave them where they are until the relaying project that needs them comes up, and then we can ship them direct. Stealing rails would certainly be a job in itself - finding a vehicle capable of holding a 60ft length of rail is quite a challenge, especially given that "The maximum individual truck length [in the UK] is 12 metres [39 ft]", so you probably have to start cutting the rail lengths - and woe betide should it be welded rail! You then need to back your overlength lorry up to the railway, and somehow load several tonnes of steel into it by hand (or maybe a winch of some sort, to make life a bit easier). Last edited: 05/10/2013 at 02:57 by Danny252 Log in to reply The following user said thank you: CTCThiago |
| Surplus materials trackside 05/10/2013 at 07:15 #49801 | |
DriverCurran
683 posts |
It is also possible that these are strategic off cuts, for use in emergency. For example if there hadn't been a bit of 'scrap' rail just lying around this morning I suspect that a rather major rail route in the south of England would still be shut with an over running engineers possesion of the line still in force owing to problems over night with a weld which would have resulted in the line possibly becoming unsafe.... But hey of course lets make sure that there are no spare bits of rail that could be used when needed at short notice Paul You have to get a red before you can get any other colour Log in to reply |
| Surplus materials trackside 05/10/2013 at 17:47 #49817 | |
postal
5190 posts |
" said:especially given that "The maximum individual truck length [in the UK] is 12 metres [39 ft]"Doesn't detract from the point, but the information in the link also allows that an artic may be up to 16.5m. long and a wagon-and-drag up to 18.5m which are both a bit longer than 12m. In addition, the article doesn't mention that artics primarily engaged in international traffic (even if the involvement only consists of taking goods to and from the point of import/export) may be longer again. I can't remember the overall length allowed but the semi-trailer may be a maximum of 13.65m rather than 12.2m (or as the haulage industry in this country calls them "44-footers" or "40-footers"). You do still see track panels and lengths of rail being moved by road from time to time but they have usually been cut on site so that they will fit onto a 40-foot trailer. That is how the villains stole about 2 miles of track from the disused Leamside line in County Durham a few years ago. The theft and damage was so significant that Network Rail decided that the line could not be re-opened and have now lifted (or are lifting) the rest of the redundant track removing what could potentially be a valuable relief route for the ECML. “In life, there is always someone out there, who won’t like you, for whatever reason, don’t let the insecurities in their lives affect yours.” – Rashida Rowe Last edited: 05/10/2013 at 20:03 by postal Log in to reply |
| Surplus materials trackside 05/10/2013 at 18:05 #49818 | |
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ledgero2
93 posts |
Lengths of rail in the 4 foot are usually there for upcoming replacement/ renewal jobs.
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