Industrial History: MoW: Rail Pull

The title "Rail Pull" is a pun. It, or CWR (Continuous Welded Rail) pullaparts, means that a rail broke in two pieces because it contracted too much during cold weather. With the tension relieved, the contracted rails leave a gap at the break. It is also the modern way of fixing a break with hydraulic power (see below).

This is a post of my photos and videos of rail pull activity by BNSF in Downers Grove, IL. Fixing Rail Pulls is a general post about closing gaps in rails.

Joe Dockrill posted
-14C the most wonderful time of the year
[There are so many comments that I just looked at a few of them. There is consensus that it broke at a weld. But the comments debate between factory weld or field weld. You can't weld a broken weld. You have to cut at least 6" from either side and add a "plug." (Whatever a plug is.)]

DeBruler, general notes on rail pulls and the old technology for closing rail gaps.
These notes concentrate on a rail pull operation that I personally observed.

On my way home on Aug 8, 2020, while crossing Forest Avenue in Downers Grove, IL, I noticed a couple of Hi-Rail trucks parked to the west. (Satellite) So I found a parking spot, grabbed my camera and checked it out. It was a welding team that was going to pull the rail before the weld. This is a rare sight because the welding teams normally work at night in this area since it is on BNSF's Racetrack that handles over 100 trains a weekday. Track work such as replacing a crossover is done during the day and uses bolted rail joints. A worker explained the bolted joints would be replaced by welding teams that work during the night. Rail pulling is even more rare because they are normally just replacing joints.

The temperature was 89 degrees, so the gap they were closing was not caused by a rail pull because of cold weather. They must have cut the gap into the rail. Did they install the rail during cold weather so that now they had to remove some rail to avoid rail kinks when the weather stayed hot?

This shows the two trucks that were parked at the work site. They were working on the south, or M3, track. Unfortunately, I'll learn later, the truck on the right blocked my view of Amtrak trains that are inbound (eastbound).

Construction 20200811 2717

When I arrived, they were using the cutoff saw. Note the hydraulic hoses going to the saw. The truck provides the power.

After inspecting the gap, they did a diagonal cut.

Some video of this cut is the first clip in the first video below.

The final measurement before they set up the rail puller.

The truck has a small crane because some of the equipment is heavy. If you look on the left side of the above photos, you will see that someone had already hooked up the rail puller and got it off the truck and now it was just a matter of swinging it unto place.

I skipped my video of the first pull because it was out of frame. This gap is what happened after they released the puller. The gap had been down to about an inch before the puller was released. The metal pieces beyond the track between the legs are mold parts that have been unloaded to be handy after the pull is done and they start building the mold for the weld.

The worker with the sledge hammer started here and worked his way away from the puller. I think he was hitting the rail anchors to jar them to let the rail slip through them.

For the second pull, I skipped taking a video and alternated between shots of the gap and of the worker using the sledge hammer.

This is about as far as he went with the hammering on this pull because...

...he was soon walking back.

Note the tape measure laid across the gap. The gap is noticeably smaller in this photo.

He must have released the pull because the gap is now wider.

I took video of the third pull, and it is the second clip in the first video below.

Both workers used hammers during that pull and they went further down the track.

I also took video of the fourth pull and it is the third clip in the first video below.

This is the gap that they held while they welded the rail.

They started building the mold for the weld.

But first I took video of a westbound intermodal train. It is the first clip of the second video below. Note that it was honking early and often even though Downers Grove is a quiet zone. That is normal when they are approaching a work zone.

An inbound (eastbound) Amtrak train came by so fast that it took me by surprise because of the truck blocking my view of the track to the West. And because it must not have honked its horn. And because it must have been doing the track speed of 70mph. That train is the third clip in the second video below.

One of the jobs of the helper was to watch for a train when one was due by. I noticed sometimes that he would stand to the right of the work zone looking down the track. I didn't realize until too late that when I saw him looking I should get the camera in video mode and up to my face ready to go. They had a speaker on the truck that let them hear when the dispatcher was telling them when to expect a train. I assume the spotter is why I didn't hear the Amtrak trains honk. Here the helper is holding the torch that will be used to heat the mold.

They are clearing out their tools and have moved the thermite crucible closer to where it will be needed.

He has put the business end of the torch into the mold. I guess that was a test fit because...

...he takes it back out.

Here the torch is in the mold after it is lit. I've seen them do welds before so I know that they will have to let that torch burn for a while. That is why it is break time.

They will get the mold so hot that just putting the crucible on top of the mold will ignite it. I left because I did not want to wait during the torching even though a video of the thermite igniting and burning is always impressive.

As I left, I noticed the welders also do arc welding. I think they do that to add metal to switch points, diamond points, etc.

I also noticed that they had small outriggers deployed on the truck. I assume they did that because of the small crane that they use to unload and load their tools. They have to be careful when jacking the truck up to not get it so high that the flange clears the head of the track.