I went to the Albuquerque station yesterday to watch the Southwest Chief depart for Chicago and saw something odd.

Although the track is all fused together these days, I noticed that each segment still bares the name of the foundry from which it came, as well as the date it was produced.

Some of these rails date back to the forties and fifties!

My question: Are the tracks that we ride upon really that old? And how long does a segment of track last before it is worn out?

Also, I noticed that on the engines, there is some sort of hose contraption that directs somes sort of fluid between the wheels and the track. Anybody have any idea what that's all about?

Thanks,

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Rail life is generally expressed in millions of gross tons -- the cumulative tonnage over a rail before its probability of failure is high enough to justify removing it from track.

A typical value for new rail in tangent track is one billion gross tons. Put another way, if annual tonnage is 100 MGT per track (say, the UP main across Nebraska), the rail will last 10 years. If annual traffic is 10 MGT (the CSX "S" line from Columbia to Savannah), the rail may last 100 years. So yes, there's lots of 40- and 50-year-old rail out there, and on short lines even some 100 year old rail.

The oldest rail I've personally seen in service was on a New Jersey short line. It was rolled in 1887, and was still in service in 1997 (don't know if it's been changed out since).

On Amtrak's NEC, most rail was replaced south of NYP in 1977 - 1985, so it's anywhere from 18 to 27 years old now, and generally in no need of immediate replacement.

i did not know it will last that long still being in good useable shape

quote:

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Originally posted by rresor:
[B A typical value for new rail in tangent track is one billion gross tons. [/B]

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The markings on the web (thin vertical part of the rail) give the rail section (designed shape), the place of manufacture and year and month of rolling. The month is indicated by vertical marks after the year, such as IIIII = May. If you were at Albuquerque, the section likely said 136RE or 136CF&I, unless over 45 years old. That means the section weighs 136 pounds per yard, approximately. CF&I stands for the Colorodo Fuel and Iron Company who designed the section sometime in the early 1950's. If it is the only word on there, then that is also the place of manufacture, the CF&I mill at Pueblo CO. If it says ILLINOIS, then it was rolled by the US Steel Mill in Chicago, which no longer produces rail. If the date was in the 1940's, the number was likely to be 131RE or 112RE, as they were the former sections used. The CF&I sections were later adopted as "recommended rail sections" by the American Railway Engineering Association, so in later years the same 136 lb/yd section could be marked as 136RE. About 10 years ago, the head shape of the section was revised, but the section name was not changed.

Rail shape, size, hardness, and metallurgy is a very complex subject. There have been literally hundreds of shapes produced and used in the United States alone, although current production is primarily in 141AB, 136RE, and 115RE sections. In addition to the "asssociation" sections there were a number of company designed sections. Since we are at Albuquerque, the AT&SF use a 90 pound per yard section of their own design which was slightly different from the three association designed 90 lb/yd sections, 90ARA-A, 90ARA-B, and 90ASCE, design dates of 1908 for the ARA sections and 1893 for the ASCE section. A recent company designed section was the 122CB used by C&O / B&O from 1963 up to the time of the CSX merger, at which point they changed to 136RE. Again, due to longevity, there will be 122CB rails in track for a long time to come.