The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1912-07-22
WHY RAILS CREEP AND CRAWL
IMPACT OF HEAVY TRAINS DRAGs THEM FORWARD AND GRE
ATES BIG PROBLEM.

son, has a tendency to push the rails
ahead. Railroad men call it ironing
t the rail, for the locomotive acts
in the same way as the flatiron which
the laundress pushes across the iron
ing board.
The results of these combined on
ditions are a source of constant anN-
iety to the track department. 1t has
been found that under heavy traffic
II rail has moved ahead eighteen in
ches in twenty-four hours by the play
allowed in the oblong bolt holes in
the jolt plates and by the moving of
the joint ties themselves. Ven the
by the rail-dragged joint ties. The
track men now find several kinds of
bad joints, all inimical to safe traffic
low joints; joints where the ends
of the rails have been pulled widely
apart, usually on top of a hill. and
joints where the distance between the
rails is less than the standard gauge
of ffty-siX and one-half inches.
When. by heavy traffic. or crawling.
the W. ties supporting a joint have
been thrown onto a new base, the
new foundation makes a low joint.
But this may not happen to the other
ends of the ties attached to the mid
die of the rail. and the result is an
inward kink or twist in the joint.
which shortens the gauge distance
between the rail and presents a fine
opportunity for derailment.
a not day ONE and the sun burns
like a furnace in the sky. The rails
that have been creeping and crawling
together at the curve at the bottom
of the grade begin to expand. a rail
that has been bent for use on a curve
has lost its power of resistance in
pushing along a straight line. But
an t,pu-ar> ic .~~..;ct,b1o {lor
he expansion of steel. Somewhere.
something has to give o. break, so
the whole track begins slipping to-
ward the outside of the curve. even
to a distance of several feet. Again,
if a tie should be without a firm
foundation. another thing may hap
pen-the rail will yield at its weakest
point and suddenly. the track kicks
to one side. both rails and ties some
times moving three or four feet. The
suns heat has caused it. This is a
lateral kick. Such kicks have oc-
CURED at the passing of a train.
Severa years ago a work train with
700 men aboard was running under
slow orders across a bridge over the
South Canadian river In Texas. Sixty
feet of track at the end of the bridge
Clicked" under the middle of the
train. Luckily, the train was stopped
in a moment. But it could not pull
past the kick. The train had to be
cut in two and the track repaired
in order that it might proceed. An
other time a kick on the same rail-
road threw a laborer and a handcar
loaded with ties from a bridge into
the river below.
On a strip of track through the
Rocky mountains. where the track
once was laid during the last DAYS of
winter. n not used again Ent' the
snow had disappeared. four EOS
Wee discovered where the y -. on
account of the expansion from heat,
had been thrown clear off from the
| bank.
What is known as a 'kick-up" may
be looked for on a long stretch of
down grade where the track-how-
ever straight and Well hallasted it NAV
he-passes over a slight elevation or
knoll. The creeping and sun eXpan-
siol has caused the rails to move
down hill and jam together at the
knoll. There the strain finally be-
comes too great n mp in the air
{; goes the track. sometimes as high as
two feet above the ballast.
In taking the creep out Of a track
the men start at the top of the grade
or incline. where h joints are the
farthest apart. The spikes are pulled
from the nlate slots and. with a
heavy section rail as a battering ram.
the rails are driven back until there
is no longer play for the bolts in the
oblong plate holes. In a short time.
as the work progresses. there may be
a four or five inch gap in the track.
The worknen now throw back into
line the curve at the bottom Of the
grade and the gap is closed.
Kicks are repaired by taking out a
rail, throwing the track into line and
then cutting the rail to fit the gap.
and nc matter how carefully engineers
nay study this problem there are nc
better judges as to how the expansion
and contraction should be guarded
asalnst IN LAYING the rails than the
old section forenlen with their Years
iof experience in the actual work.