The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1898-11-02
RAILS TRAVEL WITH TRAINS.
The Wsll-Known Phsnomsnoa Usder In
v~estigatiou by E~uginesr.


vestigation BY Enginesrs.
The railroad men OF Albany are dis
cussing at present the subject Of creep
ing rails. They regard IL as q curious
fact about modern ~railroading. but %
far there In little knowledge obtainable
about II. The matter 10 one which
concerns practical railroad builders
quite as much as those interested only
In the theory OF the thing. 1t was up
for discussion at the recent convention
Of h New England Roadmasters' as
ISOLATION and IL In to be brought up be-
fore the Roadmasters' association of
America at its meeting in Denve this
month.
Engineer Irwin had some comments
to make upon the subject. 81 noticed
a writer In q recent issue of the Rail-
way Age, who discussed the matter at
some length. 1t appears that II has not
been determined whether the movement
Of the rails IL with or against the d.
rection Of heaviest travel. but there
Is NJ doubt hat there Is a movement
sometimes of considerable mount.
Well-authenticated instances are given
Of creeping in both directions and some
OF them are quite remarkable.
Reference Is made to a rail on a
pile trestle at Galveston. which trav-
eled nine feet per month One on the
st. Louis bridge In mentioned. The
bridge has a rise of nve feet In Its
length of 1.500 feet. and the railroad
tracks require constant attention. In
the latter half Of 1893 the creeping on
the east and west approaches averaged
go feet per month on each side and on
the bridge structure II varied from II
inches to IL feet three inches per
month for six months. The creeping
of the extreme south rail was only two
inches more In July than in Deem
Der, while on the north rail the differ
ence between the two months was IL
feet two inches in favor of July. The
direction Of the movement was with
the track, but this does not account for
the fact that In the ease of the one
track the outer rail n In the other the
inner rail does the most creeping" =
As to the general direction of rail
movement, aside from specific in
stances, Assistant Chatham Of the chief
office said: Heavy loads
pulling constantly i'm one direction have
a tendency to drive the rails in the op-
posite direction. The railway commits
sioners Of New South wales. after
making an investigation. reported three
cases. In one case II was stated that
the rails on a double track road trav-
eled both together in the direction of
h traffic. in another on a double road
the outer rail on the down line moved
In the direction of the traffic. while the
rail near the way between the double
tracks remained stationary: and in still
another case. also a double road, the
rail nearest the middle way moved
more than the outer rail. but in the
direction OF the traffic.
The committee of the New England
Roadmasters' association reported that
II was a w~ell-known fact that rails
move or creep In the direction trains
run on the track on double track, and
on single track rails move In the direc-
ton OF the heaviest traffic. In fact,
ah1Vf AhA A.Txr 49, "
drawn In the present state Of knowI-
edge II that rails do move"
The reasons for the creeping OF rails
have not been determined any more
definitely than the direction OF the ar
dent movements. Inquiries among the
engineers and section men resulted in
the gathering OF many suppositions. In
brief they come to these:
That rails have I'm many places a
decided tendency to creep or travel
along the track. owing to the wave mo-
tion; the unbalanced trafic In one d.
rection. he action of braked wheels.
the contraction n expansion due 10
the changes in the temperature. This
creeping In more especially trouble
some. as a rule, on steep grades on
bridges, and on swamp roadbeds, but
may develop at any place.
or the reasons given the udulatory
movement Of the rails given them by
''e'h hfo'tt ~ W w the DTinCf-
pal one. In a perfectly rigid track
there would be no creeping. During
the undulatory movement referred 10
the tracks are free to assume a new
position In the direction Of the great
est force. or in that Of the least resist
ance.
The momentum Of the train may car
ry the track along with II. resulting in
a movement OF the track in the direc-
ton OF traffc, or IL may be that
the freedom OF the rail during the un-
dulatory movement permits the opera
ton OF a stronger force than that set in
operation by the train. and his strong
er force. which might be gravity or
elasticity. might cause the track to
move In an opposite direction. ~
No satisfactory method has vet been
devised TO prevent the creeping of
tracks. other han the use Of heavier
rails n the general improvement Of
the tracks. Many years ago II was
customary TO cut out a piece about an
inch square from the nange of the rails.
about one pair of rails in every six be-
ing so treated. The spikes which fast
ened the rails to the sleepers were driv-
en- in these gaps. so that the rails could
not move without taking the sleepers
and ballast with them. A long list OF
broker rails. which were set down 10
the cut rails, soon led 10 the aba ndon-
ment OF this practice.
Later a semicircular hole was cut
with a milling tool. and every rail was
anchored through a hole cut In the
Mango at h Joint sleepers only. but
this method, which was stigmatized by
Sir Benjamin Baker as a 'barbarous
practice carried out only in Ireland"
Is a treatment of symptoms rather thar
OF causes, and most ~ the methods
since proposed are open to the same
objections. Models Of inventions de-
sfgne To overcome the difficulty are to
be seen In Engineer Irwin's ONCE. but
they do not strike at the source OF an
noyance
Any invention which becomes 10 be
generally adopted by railroads makes a
fortune for its contriver. and this fact
applies to the creeping rail problem.
II II not TO be solved by hackine at
the rails themselves or otherwise i'm
pairing the stability OF the roadbed. II
must be in line with as clearly defined
a scientific law as that which deter