Being a old section worker on the Milwaukee Road around Perry back in the seventies, it's amazing how they do it now. Good job, Red that was very interesting.
Randy, spotted your comment and couldn’t resist a reply, I started with Holland in 1978 at the welding plant in Savanna, IL, welding for the Milwaukee. The technology back then was pretty crude to what it is today.
Remember a while back, you wished you could video the track gang.............you should have asked for that scrap piece of rail from cutting it for a doorstop/souvenir. And WOW!, that track crew is running circles around "John Henry"!! Awesome video, Red!! 👍👍😀😀😸😸❗❗
Great video! Electric Flash Butt Welds has become the standard in production rail replacement work. Production rail gangs can generate 6-10 joints per day. Due to the time difference that it takes to make a thermite weld (typically 45 to 60 minutes) versus a flash butt weld (10 to 20 minutes) means the rail can be installed, de-stressed (preferred rail laying temperature set, the rail is stretched to pre-tensioned) and the work is complete when the rail gang finishes at the end of day.
@@redsiowatrainvideos6645 The rail heater is supposed to expand the rail, and the mobile welder makes free welds until the end of the day when the puller is used to make the final closure weld, establishing the preferred rail laying temp. It is an excellent video and I hope you continue to produce more.
Wow! Thank you for finding this Canadian National track crew placing the welded rail that had been placed on the side of the Canadian National tracks through Cedar Falls, Iowa, Red! You were able to get close and see exactly what the track crew must do to install the welded rail. The welding of the rail using that Holland weld truck was interesting to watch. I have never seen rail welded using a Holland weld truck before your video. I was at Dolton Junction in Dolton, Illinois many years ago and I saw a CSX crew using Thermite to weld some rail just west of Park Avenue where Park Avenue crosses the CSX and the Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad tracks. When I saw the CSX track crew using the Thermite to weld the rails, I was on the south side of the Indiana Harbor Belt tracks. I have also seen TH-cam videos of track crews using Thermite to weld sections of welded rail.
You're welcome Thomas! I found out about the rail gang that morning and got out of work early. That ribbon rail layed next to the tracks for almost 4 months. It looks like flash butt welding is cleaner than thermite welding.
Glad you were able to catch them because their schedules are really not predictable. Lucky to find a spot so close to the track without being in the way or on their property. Thanks for the descriptions of the equipment and processes as this technology changes quickly. Holland used to run the welded rail plant in Savanna IL when Milwaukee Road had one located there. In another month or so equipment like this will roll back into Milwaukee to be serviced during the winter ironically in the old Nordberg plant that used to build track equipment and has since moved to a new facility in Oak Creek WI. A good change of pace for viewing
You're welcome Paul B! I got a heads up from a friend about laying the rail that week. Had a perfect day for it too. That flash butt welding seems to be quite a bit cleaner than the thermite welds. Holland used to run the CNW weld plant in Tama. My Dad worked for the CNW and worked with the weld company. I believe that was the only CNW weld plant at the time. .
Hey Paul, I started with Holland in 1978 at the Savanna plant. And in Red’s response, I helped put in the plant at Tama in 1984. The railroad has been a great career and working as a contractor I’ve had the opportunity to work for all the class 1s and meet some great people over the years.
@@richardmorris2328 thanks for the info. Redhead some Ariel video in Tama about half a year ago and you can make out where the plant was. As time and Technology progress that's interesting to see the changes in who manufactures the rail. The changes in rail cars to transport it and certainly the Machinery that works on it. What's in the last few weeks David Seidel of the Camerail Club Posted pictures of the UP set up at Laramie Circa late 1970s
@@paulbergen9114 From the hay day of welded rail in the US, and the de-regulation of the railroads, the number of rail suppliers and CWR welding plants has declined. At the turn of the century (man that makes me feel old) the number of domestic rail manufacturers had declined to less than a half dozen and welding plants down to a dozen. Currently there are three domestic manufacturers of rail in the USA. SDI Columbia City, IN the newest is rolling 320’ rails with an onsite welding plant welding 1600 strings. Cleveland Cliffs in Steelton, PA rolling 80’ rails, not sure if they’ve re-established a weld plant there lately, there have been several. EVRAZ NA Pueblo, CO is currently building a new 320’ rail rolling mill which i believe will start producing this year. EVRAZ did build an onsite welding plant which started production mid 2023. With significant volumes of rail being welded at the steel mills, the number of railroad specific locations will most likely decline even further.
Red love watching MOW in action. I was shocked CN uses 115lb and not 136lb on a main? That flash welder was something to see in action, I thought they’d use thermite, flash welds less messy I’m guessing. I never knew a rail heater existed either and that’s the first I’ve seen a rail anchor machine in action, anchors are so important for stopping rail creep. That’s interesting what you said about rail expanding up to an inch per 1/4 mile per 10 degrees. I didn’t realize MOW is actually owned by GE/Wabtech. Very interesting stuff Red, catch you in the next one👍🏼😁🇺🇸
Glad you liked the MOW stuff STRETCH LIMO! I was surprised about the light rail. Must not have enough traffic there for the heavy stuff. My Dad said the track anchors help keep the rail from moving with heat expansion. That was my first flash butt weld experience. I'd say it's definitely cleaner than thermite👍♨️🇺🇸
Awesome rail gang action, those MOW machines are just amazing. Thanks Red for documenting their work. Their work is essential to keep railroads moving.👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼just one question, what’s a flash butt welder?
Thanks Nancy! It was nice to be able to get that close. A lot of it was filmed by the flood wall right next to the tracks. A flash butt welder uses an electric arc and melts the rail together.
Never realized they had to Feed the Spikes in one (1) Spike at a Time. Maintenance of Way (MOW) Workers are in High Demand. Too Much Work, Not Enough Time. 👍
Being a old section worker on the Milwaukee Road around Perry back in the seventies, it's amazing how they do it now. Good job, Red that was very interesting.
Thanks Randy! Technology has made track maintenance a lot easier. I was impressed with the flash butt welder on this video.
Randy, spotted your comment and couldn’t resist a reply, I started with Holland in 1978 at the welding plant in Savanna, IL, welding for the Milwaukee. The technology back then was pretty crude to what it is today.
These Crews are so Well Choreographed with Every Move they make. High Efficiency is Big Money and these Crews Earn their Pay for Experience Levels. 👍
Very interesting Red. Thanks 👍
You're welcome olddog!
Remember a while back, you wished you could video the track gang.............you should have asked for that scrap piece of rail from cutting it for a doorstop/souvenir. And WOW!, that track crew is running circles around "John Henry"!! Awesome video, Red!! 👍👍😀😀😸😸❗❗
Thanks Paul S! Had a perfect day for shooting it too! Some of the equipment was new to me. Some pretty interesting stuff👍
That was cool Red! Learnt heaps! #LegendMate! 👍👍
Really interesting video.
Amazing video! Amazing crews!
Thanks BC!
Pretty cool stuff red I'll be down in Montour this weekend
One of the most interesting railroad vids I have ever seen.
Glad you liked it!
Excellent video Red. Fascinating watching how track is laid.
Thanks Michael! There was a lot going on at once.
Hey, that's my home town! Very cool. Excellent video. Thanks!
You're welcome Bryan!
Great video! Electric Flash Butt Welds has become the standard in production rail replacement work. Production rail gangs can generate 6-10 joints per day. Due to the time difference that it takes to make a thermite weld (typically 45 to 60 minutes) versus a flash butt weld (10 to 20 minutes) means the rail can be installed, de-stressed (preferred rail laying temperature set, the rail is stretched to pre-tensioned) and the work is complete when the rail gang finishes at the end of day.
Thanks Richard! I seem to remember them having a rail heater there that day too. I would think flash butt also leaves less of a mess.
@@redsiowatrainvideos6645 The rail heater is supposed to expand the rail, and the mobile welder makes free welds until the end of the day when the puller is used to make the final closure weld, establishing the preferred rail laying temp. It is an excellent video and I hope you continue to produce more.
Great Learning video Red will Done . 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻🇨🇦🇺🇸 Robin out be safe .
Very cool video Red lots of nice MOW action!
Thanks StormySky!
@@redsiowatrainvideos6645 you are welcome!
nice Mow action. surprised they didn't replace those ties too!!
Great video Red!
Thanks Wickerman!
Wow very interesting Red have never seen that done before thank you for documenting it.
You're welcome David!
I have some of the old Canadian National railroad spikes from Paducah kentucky
Wow! Thank you for finding this Canadian National track crew placing the welded rail that had been placed on the side of the Canadian National tracks through Cedar Falls, Iowa, Red! You were able to get close and see exactly what the track crew must do to install the welded rail. The welding of the rail using that Holland weld truck was interesting to watch. I have never seen rail welded using a Holland weld truck before your video. I was at Dolton Junction in Dolton, Illinois many years ago and I saw a CSX crew using Thermite to weld some rail just west of Park Avenue where Park Avenue crosses the CSX and the Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad tracks. When I saw the CSX track crew using the Thermite to weld the rails, I was on the south side of the Indiana Harbor Belt tracks. I have also seen TH-cam videos of track crews using Thermite to weld sections of welded rail.
You're welcome Thomas! I found out about the rail gang that morning and got out of work early. That ribbon rail layed next to the tracks for almost 4 months. It looks like flash butt welding is cleaner than thermite welding.
No way the anchor machine working!? Never seen that before 😂
Me either we call it a B.A.A.M for a reason
Being from Small Town Iowa you sure seem to be able to capture interesting and amazing content.
Some of it's planned but a lot of it is luck!
Great work!
Thanks VTR!
that is fun to watch on how it work
Glad you were able to catch them because their schedules are really not predictable. Lucky to find a spot so close to the track without being in the way or on their property. Thanks for the descriptions of the equipment and processes as this technology changes quickly. Holland used to run the welded rail plant in Savanna IL when Milwaukee Road had one located there. In another month or so equipment like this will roll back into Milwaukee to be serviced during the winter ironically in the old Nordberg plant that used to build track equipment and has since moved to a new facility in Oak Creek WI. A good change of pace for viewing
You're welcome Paul B! I got a heads up from a friend about laying the rail that week. Had a perfect day for it too. That flash butt welding seems to be quite a bit cleaner than the thermite welds. Holland used to run the CNW weld plant in Tama. My Dad worked for the CNW and worked with the weld company. I believe that was the only CNW weld plant at the time.
.
Hey Paul, I started with Holland in 1978 at the Savanna plant. And in Red’s response, I helped put in the plant at Tama in 1984. The railroad has been a great career and working as a contractor I’ve had the opportunity to work for all the class 1s and meet some great people over the years.
@@richardmorris2328 thanks for the info. Redhead some Ariel video in Tama about half a year ago and you can make out where the plant was. As time and Technology progress that's interesting to see the changes in who manufactures the rail. The changes in rail cars to transport it and certainly the Machinery that works on it. What's in the last few weeks David Seidel of the Camerail Club
Posted pictures of the UP set up at Laramie Circa late 1970s
@@paulbergen9114 From the hay day of welded rail in the US, and the de-regulation of the railroads, the number of rail suppliers and CWR welding plants has declined. At the turn of the century (man that makes me feel old) the number of domestic rail manufacturers had declined to less than a half dozen and welding plants down to a dozen. Currently there are three domestic manufacturers of rail in the USA. SDI Columbia City, IN the newest is rolling 320’ rails with an onsite welding plant welding 1600 strings. Cleveland Cliffs in Steelton, PA rolling 80’ rails, not sure if they’ve re-established a weld plant there lately, there have been several. EVRAZ NA Pueblo, CO is currently building a new 320’ rail rolling mill which i believe will start producing this year. EVRAZ did build an onsite welding plant which started production mid 2023. With significant volumes of rail being welded at the steel mills, the number of railroad specific locations will most likely decline even further.
Nice catches!
its a cribber/adzer,levels plate area ,steel strings layed out in spring,gang has schedule, old rail picked up after. STEEL GANG
That machine that looks like a ballast regulator is not a ballast regulator at all, but this machine is a Knox Kershaw Kribber Adzer.
Red love watching MOW in action. I was shocked CN uses 115lb and not 136lb on a main? That flash welder was something to see in action, I thought they’d use thermite, flash welds less messy I’m guessing. I never knew a rail heater existed either and that’s the first I’ve seen a rail anchor machine in action, anchors are so important for stopping rail creep. That’s interesting what you said about rail expanding up to an inch per 1/4 mile per 10 degrees. I didn’t realize MOW is actually owned by GE/Wabtech. Very interesting stuff Red, catch you in the next one👍🏼😁🇺🇸
Glad you liked the MOW stuff STRETCH LIMO! I was surprised about the light rail. Must not have enough traffic there for the heavy stuff. My Dad said the track anchors help keep the rail from moving with heat expansion. That was my first flash butt weld experience. I'd say it's definitely cleaner than thermite👍♨️🇺🇸
😎👍
I worked for cn 1989 rail gang
After welding sections of rail that were previously bolted how do they deal with thermal expansion?
Awesome rail gang action, those MOW machines are just amazing. Thanks Red for documenting their work. Their work is essential to keep railroads moving.👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼just one question, what’s a flash butt welder?
Thanks Nancy! It was nice to be able to get that close. A lot of it was filmed by the flood wall right next to the tracks. A flash butt welder uses an electric arc and melts the rail together.
@@redsiowatrainvideos6645 no problem Red. And thanks for the info.
my bil works that rail gang I'm sure he was there...
I knew one of the equipment mechanics there. 👍
@@redsiowatrainvideos6645 adzer machine
Never realized they had to Feed the Spikes in one (1) Spike at a Time. Maintenance of Way (MOW) Workers are in High Demand. Too Much Work, Not Enough Time. 👍
Running one of those machines all day has to be tough!
Are they installing new ties too? These look like crap.
Tie gang will come through later