ION - Waterloo Region's Light Rail Transit

[Markster]

I can tell you they have "USA" printed on the side.

[isUsername]

200m rails? Is that right? How did they transport them? The individual train cars are only a fraction of that length. They would have to bend with the train cars around turns. Are rails terribly flexible horizontally? The rails in that photo look all warped, but I imagine warming them up and applying some industrial level force would straighten them out.

If they really are that long, it sounds nice. The clickity-clack of trains is a classic sound, but not as fun for passengers. Are they 200m only in certain parts? Some of those rails in the picture look very short.

[isUsername]

A picture from the Twitterverse:



Source.

[jamincan]

They do flex quite a bit. In the first part of this video you can see a train go by carrying continuous welded rail that is pretty much the entire length of the train. It just flexes around corners.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EaGgaTGAwO4

[ookpik]

200m rails? Is that right?

I'm guessing it's a typo for 20m long sections. 

A picture from the Twitterverse: Source.

1,600 feet is about 500 metres. If 1,600 feet is correct it's possible the rails are shipped in shorter sections, then welded in position with provision for thermal expansion every 1,600 feet. Heavy rail uses continuously welded tracks that run much longer than that. 

The "clickety-clack" sound is probably less of an issue with LRT due to the slower speeds and shorter distances. In any case, based on my ride on the new Spadina cars, the experience is quieter and smoother than any bus I've ridden.

[isUsername]

Ah, I found a video that really shows the flexibility. Like wet noodle.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=huBiCqoBVPg

[Canard]

The sections are carried across multiple cars, just as you describe.

Rail sections are welded together, not bolted. No click-clack.

This video explains all:

[Markster]

I'm guessing it's a typo for 20m long sections.

No, I meant 200m. Walking next to them, I saw no breaks in the sections of rail extending from Columbia Ave down to the first access road across the tracks to Ring Road. They were just short of that full distance, which would make them about 200m long.

Should be a real smooth ride.

[Markster]

I just took a look, and saw the previously mentioned 500m rails. They're lined up north of Columbia. I've taken a panoramic photo from BlackBerry 10 (the building, not the OS... but also the OS), though it will likely not have enough detail to see much of the rails themselves.

I'll edit the photo into this post shortly.

[clasher]

I've seen rail get welded together, it's a pretty quick process... I think it was a friction welding machine of some sort, we just were lifting the machine up for the welding company that was doing it, they were out of Chicago. The the olden days they used to use stick welding to do it and it required diligent pre and post heating to ensure a good bond. Nowadays the machines do it very quickly and make a better weld.

I think there's only a couple steel mills in the states that roll rail in North America right now, one of them is in steelton, pennsylvania and is owned by the same company that owns Dofasco in Hamilton. Rail steel is a bit different than regular mild steel so that's why they do it in special mills. Another place, EVRAZ Pueblo in Colorado makes rail too but I've only worked at Dofasco so I'm not familar with their operations. I dunno if any other mills in the USA make rail anymore.

[Canard]

It's called thermite welding:



The device you might have thought was friction welding is actually a grinder to smooth out the weld.

[BuildingScout]

I dunno if any other mills in the USA make rail anymore.

There's a steel mill in Indiana that still produces railtrack.

[Markster]

Looooonnnnnnng rails!

(click for full size)

[clasher]

It's called thermite welding

Naw, it wasn't thermite welding. I think the machine was a flash-butt welder because it got hooked up to some really big electrical and it milled the weld afterward all in one quick operation. IIRC the company was Holland & Co 'cos the guys running the machine all spoke with a strong Midwest/Chicago accent. If you click on the transit system link there's a picture of the machine we lifted up to weld the crane rail on this job I was on.

[nms]

Another local event is struggling with an unpredictable GrandLinq schedule.

“We are huge supporters [of LRT], we think it’s fabulous for the region, but we’d like to clearly understand if our course would be available,” Malcolm Steven said.


Hopefully various local events, especially those that rely on volunteer goodwill and efforts, will be able to survive the disruption over the next few years.