railroad track weldability?

[ctrhenry]

The RR sells their scrap sections to them quite regularly

my point exactly.

[TerryL]

I saw a show on the TV. A site in Sudbury is using the rail tracks as rippers on their CATS to break up slag. Said the slag was wearing the rail tracks down within a day. Also said the railway tracks were the hardest perhaps best they could get. The CAT had many patches on the blade from where the slag abraded through. May have been Monster Machines???
The store bought rippers they were using would only last a few hours.

[Sandy]

Manganese work hardens. High manganese content makes railroad steel a good choice for ripping/plowing in cobbly rocky or abrasive soils. At least as far as the ripper surface is concerned. The maganese hardens with each impact to the point where it becomes brittle and flakes off (at whatever level be it visual to macro) and exposes new steel only to begin the hardening process over and over again. Not sure how the overall shank would hold up with extreme bending twisting and torsion. It might get progressively more brittle also, then snap before it wears out ?? Too many different operating conditions and soil types to make blanket statements.

Another unknown is the fact it's used railroad steel to begin with. You don't really know the age nor service duty it endured before you put it into use.

[WyoRoy]

my point exactly.

Yep, and gives away as much as you need if you ask. Union labor to load steel scrap in lengths that the scrap yard has to cut down for shipment and sale doesn't make the transaction worthwhile for the RRs. They would be just as happy if I came and carted all their excess rail away for free as to have to pay employees to load, drive to the scrap yard and get a pittance for the product.

[Sberry]

something made from it.

[nfinch86]

Sberry, HI; Looks Very Strong, BUT A MITE HEAVY !!!! ..... Norm :

[Mr Bigs]

I don't recall the process name but on the subways here we cadweld the third rail but it is a similar process on the actual running rails.

[Sberry]

I usually move them around with the forklift.

[Mr Bigs]

I usually move them around with the forklift.

I worked in the subways for a while an we loaded the work train with material we needed for our jobs. One day their was a small section of track in our way and I tried to move it with the Pettibone and almost broke the forks off. I had no idea that stuff was so heavy.

[welderman23]

Try this link. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermite

I'm a bit of a pyro and .....

of course you are. ant body that will buy an electric box that burns stuff together (or just burns it up) is a pyro