The humble rail has supported the weight of trains for over 200 years. It is an underappreciated but critical part of the railroad infrastructure. When it fails the results can be tragic. Let's learn more about the rail.
Defining a rail, as used on a railroad, can be pretty unromantic:
"Steel bar that, when joined end to end, and laid in parallel, creates a fixed guideway over which the wheels of trains can roll. Consists of three parts: the head, web, and base."
The weight of rail, measured as the number of pounds in a yard of rail, has increased over the years also from 40 pound rail being common in the 1800's to 131 pound rail being common on railroads today.
The standard rail length was once 39 feet (the length that would fit on a standard flatcar), and joined together with bolts and angle bars. Those connections were what made the familiar clicky-clack as the wheels rolled over the joints between the rails. Each joint also made another point for possible derailment and caused extra wear on the rail.
To improve the wear and reduce the cost of maintaining, welded rail was introduced. Over time, the length of sections of welded rail have lengthened until modern continuous welded rail segments can be as long as 1500 feet.
Welded rail is transported to the site on specialized railcars which have racks which allow the welded sections to bend around curves as it is moved to location and dropped into place.
However, standard length rail has not disappeared completely from the scene as it can still be found on many branchlines, sidings, and yards.
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