Think you could??

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Fred in Skirts
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Think you could??

Post by Fred in Skirts »

L and WRR.jpg
Try driving this train over this track. I did and made it all the way from one end to the other without going off the rails. (0) The owner and regular driver did not make it all the way back and went on the ground about half way back.. Going on the ground was a regular occurrence on this line.
It is or was the Louisville and Wadley RR in Georgia USA. The owner has since died and the line abandoned. They did a good business with pulpwood and furniture. They connected with the Southern RR.

(0) Yes the track is as bad as it looks and in some areas it is worse.
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Re: Think you could??

Post by Coder »

Not to... derail this thread... but yesterday a train went by and it looked like it was carrying steel beams spanning two cars. Was this an optical illusion?

Also, WOW - those tracks are crazy.
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crfriend
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Re: Think you could??

Post by crfriend »

Coder wrote: Mon Apr 06, 2020 11:48 pmNot to... derail this thread... but yesterday a train went by and it looked like it was carrying steel beams spanning two cars. Was this an optical illusion?
Possibly not, depending on the dimensions of the beams. Note that "ribbon-rail" (welded rail) is transported in several-hundred-foot-long segments that span many several rail-cars. Steel is more flexible than most folks think.
Also, WOW - those tracks are crazy.
I took one look at that and got motion sickness from the thought of trying to take even a light locomotive over them nevermind a train.
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Coder
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Re: Think you could??

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crfriend wrote: Tue Apr 07, 2020 12:08 am
Coder wrote: Mon Apr 06, 2020 11:48 pmNot to... derail this thread... but yesterday a train went by and it looked like it was carrying steel beams spanning two cars. Was this an optical illusion?
Possibly not, depending on the dimensions of the beams. Note that "ribbon-rail" (welded rail) is transported in several-hundred-foot-long segments that span many several rail-cars. Steel is more flexible than most folks think.
Thanks! That was it - google images corresponded to what I saw.
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Re: Think you could??

Post by moonshadow »

We now have an active image we can call up whenever a thread...


.... runs off the rails... :lol:
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Kirbstone
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Re: Think you could??

Post by Kirbstone »

An amazing photo. Usually it would be extreme heat that could buckle tracks to that extent, but looking at the conifers in the landscape, It can't be all that hot there. Earth tremors! Subsidence?

I never drove a train, so I don't know what particular skills would be required. Luck, perhaps?

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trainspotter48
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Re: Think you could??

Post by trainspotter48 »

With the track looking like that, the only way to drive would be VERY slowly and with a lot of LUCK.
It's worth remembering that the sleepers (ties) are there to keep the rails together - the weight tends to push them apart. Once the track goes wide to gauge, then there is very little to stop the loco/rolling stock dropping to 'Mother Earth'!!
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Re: Think you could??

Post by Big and Bashful »

How to you drive bad trackage? very carefully, found a youtube clip or two, here is one (Note it starts of sped up, then drops to normal as the train gets close

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9X2A2f6E5DI
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partlyscot
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Re: Think you could??

Post by partlyscot »

Coder wrote: Tue Apr 07, 2020 12:19 am
crfriend wrote: Tue Apr 07, 2020 12:08 am
Coder wrote: Mon Apr 06, 2020 11:48 pmNot to... derail this thread... but yesterday a train went by and it looked like it was carrying steel beams spanning two cars. Was this an optical illusion?
Possibly not, depending on the dimensions of the beams. Note that "ribbon-rail" (welded rail) is transported in several-hundred-foot-long segments that span many several rail-cars. Steel is more flexible than most folks think.
Thanks! That was it - google images corresponded to what I saw.
The store I work at overlooks the rail line through the center of the city. A few times, they have had wind turbine blades parked there for a while. Those also span more than one rail car, but are NOT flexible! Big suckers, and I'm pretty sure they were not half as big as they can get.
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Re: Think you could??

Post by beachlion »

partlyscot wrote: Tue Apr 07, 2020 5:25 pm..... The store I work at overlooks the rail line through the center of the city. A few times, they have had wind turbine blades parked there for a while. Those also span more than one rail car, but are NOT flexible! Big suckers, and I'm pretty sure they were not half as big as they can get.
Easy peasy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-vlG7jRKSQ
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Fred in Skirts
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Re: Think you could??

Post by Fred in Skirts »

This line has had minimal maintenance for almost it's entire life. The cross ties (sleepers to you Brits) have rotted away in some areas and the only thing holding the rails up is the Georgia red clay. The ground in wet weather is very mushy. I have helped him to replace some of the ties. We would put them about 6 to 8 feet apart hoping that it would help. Most of the ties were used and had been donated by Southern Railway from their upgrades when he could get them. So most of them were already well used up. But it kept the line operating and gave employment to himself and two others. It was operational up until his death and there after it was abandoned altogether. :(

I really enjoyed going down there to have a day or two running the train and working on the railroad. In the summer it was very hot work with temps reaching in the upper 90s F. But when you are having fun it does not worry you.

I've been working on the railroad all the live long day. :lol: :lol: :lol:
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Re: Think you could??

Post by crfriend »

partlyscot wrote: Tue Apr 07, 2020 5:25 pmThe store I work at overlooks the rail line through the center of the city. A few times, they have had wind turbine blades parked there for a while. Those also span more than one rail car, but are NOT flexible! Big suckers, and I'm pretty sure they were not half as big as they can get.
They'd pretty much have to be at least slightly flexible else they'd be very vulnerable to bad weather. Too, so long as there's enough side-to-side motion available for one end or the other (and a pivot at the other end) that'll take care of the matter so long as the curvature of the track doesn't put part of a blade outside the loading gauge (and there's something there to interfere with it).

The blades in the video that BL posted were also oriented in the direction of that limited flex. Even aircraft propellors flex a bit under different amounts of load.
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Re: Think you could??

Post by beachlion »

crfriend wrote: Tue Apr 07, 2020 6:13 pm..... The blades in the video that BL posted were also oriented in the direction of that limited flex. ......
The windmill blades on the train are placed in a sort of cradle inside those steel constructions. It looks like there some amount of pivotting possible.

I have seen videos of road transport where one end was on a truck and the other end on a sort of dolly with steerable wheels. They had to take very wide turns and the middle of the blade was hanging over quite a lot. That transport went way below the max speed limit. ;)
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