Talk:Rail stressing

Comments

I've done some work on this page. I'm tempted to drop the cleanup tag on it, but I actually think that the topic itself should be renamed "Rail Neutral Temperature" instead of "Stressing." It's more descriptive. The content could remain as is.

However, I do not know what the accepted procedure is for doing something like that.

This doesn't explain how the temperature is induced, is it blow torches, ice, what?. G-Man * 19:26, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

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G-Man, thanks for the comment. I thought that the section from the text that reads "There is a temperature where the length of the rail as fixed on the track is equal to the length the rail would be if it were not fixed. This is knows as the rail neutral temperature. When working with rail (laying new track, repairing track, changing out sleepers/ties), this rail neutral temperature can be induced even if the ambient temperature is different by adding stress to the rail." made it clear how it is induced. Can we further clarify that?

I agree,though, your implication is correct. The use of the term "temperature" to describe the amount of stress is very misleading to the layman, which is the audience of wikipedia. My thought on a subject change was because, typically, entries are nouns and while "stressing" can be a gerund, if this is going to remain the topic, then it might make more sense to call it "Rail stressing." That way it is distinct from the "teenage slang term" entry that is also here. My guess is that there are other fields where "stressing" is used in a technical meaning. By putting the rail related entry in its own specific section, we future proof the entry.

Do you think we need to make it more explicit that this "temperature" actually is a term used to describe stress and not really to describe temperature?Trainwatcher * 20:08, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

"Rail stressing" sounds like a good idea. I don't totally understand the topic myself, I have to admit. It could do with a better explanation for the layman. G-Man * 20:23, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

I've tried to further clarify the concept of "rail neutral temperature." I'm worried that I've gotten too wordy or too repetitive. I'm relatively new to wikipedia, so I have no idea what the procedure is for renaming a section and making cerain the links to it carry through. So, I'll agree that a rename may make sense, but for now, I'll leave that decision and action to someone else who understands the proper procedure.Trainwatcher * 17:13, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

I've moved the page now. As far as I can tell from what I've read the track is actually heated to exand it [1]. Which is kind of what I was asking in the first place. That's something wihich should be made clear. G-Man * 19:31, 22 May 2006 (UTC)

Very interesting link on the heating of the rail. I know that it is typically stretched using machines called Rail Pullers in the US. Here's a more detailed article on rail stressing technology [2]. You'll note that this was a test to simulate a cold weather break and then restoration of the rail neutral temperature. The test was performed in Colorado and both tests were done by pulling the rail. Then, there is this procedure manual from the Bay Area Rapid Transit which talks about the process to use when doing thermite weld repairs on CWR. It mentions the use of rail pullers to preserve the proper "gap," which is another way of talking about rail neutral temperature. [3] You'll note that the only mention of the word heater in the entire document is on the checklist on page 33 where it says "Rail Puller or Heater," but all the procedure talks about the use of a puller to induce stress not about the use of heating. This may be an area where the UK and the US procedures are different. I work for a company that does welding of CWR and we do some European and Asian work, but work mostly in North America. I will talk with some of our people that work internationally and find out how widespread the use of heaters vs. pullers are. From the link you had, it is obvious that the use of Rail Pullers is not universal. It is possible that in the UK, where the temperature extremes are not as great as inland North America that rail heating is viable, but I doubt that rail heating would work if you had a break in North Dakota in February that needed repairing in sub-zero (Farenheit) temps. My uneducated guess is that rail heating provides much more consistency and predictability but that it is impractical in many field repairs. But that is an uneducated guess. I work for a company that has a division that deals with CWR. I do not work in that division.Trainwatcher * 21:39, 01 Jun 2006 (UTC)

Just a note to thank everyone that's expanded this entry. I was the original creator of this entry, way back in 2004. It was a stub to clarify "stressing" in a Railroad entry. I was very green to the railway at the time so simply took what little information I could find from a Stressing Course handout. (since moved away from PWAY/trackwork). To clear trainwatchers query... In UK we use mechanical stressers/pullers (high tension pneumatics), on very rare occasions the rail may already be at neutral temperature when installing. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 157.203.254.2 (talk) 12:27, 31 March 2014 (UTC)

CWR section link.

I attempted to fix the CWR section link by removing the capital letters, but it doesn't work. Someone who knows the proper syntax should correct the problem so the link is to the section, not the whole article. --DThomsen8 (talk) 12:44, 15 June 2009 (UTC)