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Oldest track on national rail

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R G NOW.

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why replace something that doesn't need replacing?

Found out, That there are plans, that NR are now planning to relay the tracks through Gloucester. Some of the track done by Railtrack with steel sleepers, seem to have some cracks in. Also staff told me that they also affect axle counters, when the station is Resignalled, whether this is true, I do not know, have to wait and see what they do.
 
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hwl

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Which road exactly?
The seldom used (since they sorted the down sidings early in the southern tenure) loop between the up side shed and washer, just west of the Up line (but east of the subsiding steel mesh cleaners platform and the main washer / up shed access road)
 

Deepgreen

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The seldom used (since they sorted the down sidings early in the southern tenure) loop between the up side shed and washer, just west of the Up line (but east of the subsiding steel mesh cleaners platform and the main washer / up shed access road)
The OP excluded loops.
 

Ken H

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Tight curves are often bullhead, as it is much easier to ‘bend’ than flat bottom. When these curves are relaid with flat bottom rail, you have to buy ‘pre curved’ rail from the mill, which costs more.
isnt there a problem with jointed track on curves in that you tend to get a curve like a 50p edge??
 

Joseph_Locke

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Within earshot of trains passing the one and half
isnt there a problem with jointed track on curves in that you tend to get a curve like a 50p edge??

Only if installed and or maintained by amateurs. As to pre-curving, rare on the BR/RT/NR network but I have had to break a 'Crow* out of stores for sidings work. Pre-curving from the mill is the preserve of the tram boys ...

* The full term is politically incorrect so I have shortened it.
 

Bald Rick

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Only if installed and or maintained by amateurs. As to pre-curving, rare on the BR/RT/NR network but I have had to break a 'Crow* out of stores for sidings work. Pre-curving from the mill is the preserve of the tram boys ...

* The full term is politically incorrect so I have shortened it.

I’ve definitely put pre-curved rail in somewhere on NR, I think it was in Anglia, possibly Tottenham South Jn which is one hell of a curve.
 

alxndr

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Found out, That there are plans, that NR are now planning to relay the tracks through Gloucester. Some of the track done by Railtrack with steel sleepers, seem to have some cracks in. Also staff told me that they also affect axle counters, when the station is Resignalled, whether this is true, I do not know, have to wait and see what they do.

Cracks in steel sleepers? That's a new one to me, but then I'm not p-way.

Steels should be okay as long as they're insulated around the axle counter to prevent the potential of shorts causing magnetic interference. I can't say for certain whether there are any out there that are mounted with steel sleepers though, I have a feeling that there are but I'm not completely sure. It's not one of the circumstances that are specifically prohibited (like being too close to a joint).
 

Jozhua

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There's a bit of track in Piccadilly (Think it's platform 11) which has wooden sleepers and doesn't have much ballast underneath and bends quite a lot when a train passes overhead!
 

dubscottie

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Limpetness loop on the Rosyth Dockyard branch has flat bottom chairs marked LNE & a few LMS.

The loop itself has bullhead chairs marked CR 1911, NBR and NE (presume the NE is the 40s abbreviation of LNER). Would be interesting to know if the NBR chairs came from the North Queensferry branch as they could date from the late 1800s.
 

infobleep

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When they replace old chairs, what happens to them?

Would love to own a piece of history.
 

High Dyke

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When they replace old chairs, what happens to them?

Would love to own a piece of history.
I think most is sent for scrap recycling these days, but I may be wrong...

When I first started on the railways the manager showing me round thought he would explain a few 'technical terms' i.e. 4 ft, 6 ft etc... I completely bamboozled him when I asked if the route was predominantly Flat Bottomed or Bullhead Rail.
 

infobleep

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I think most is sent for scrap recycling these days, but I may be wrong...

When I first started on the railways the manager showing me round thought he would explain a few 'technical terms' i.e. 4 ft, 6 ft etc... I completely bamboozled him when I asked if the route was predominantly Flat Bottomed or Bullhead Rail.
I had to look up what they meant as I didn't know.

I seem to think Worpolesdon had wooden sleepers, which at the time surprised me, and if so then it must be Bullhead Rail. That was within last 3 years if I remember correctly.
 

swt_passenger

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I seem to think Worpolesdon had wooden sleepers, which at the time surprised me, and if so then it must be Bullhead Rail. That was within last 3 years if I remember correctly.
Wooden sleepers can be used with flat bottom rail too, as in the photo in the first post.

I expect all four combinations are possible, there was an older thread that mentioned a stretch of bullhead on concrete, which I suspect might be the rarest...
 
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infobleep

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Wooden sleepers can be used with flat bottom rail too, as in the photo in the first post.

I expect all four combinations are possible, there was an older thread that mentioned a stretch of bullhead on concrete, which I suspect might be the rarest...
Thanks for clarifying that. I didn't know that either. I was looking at the photos in the link someone provided.
 

scotraildriver

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There are chairs at at Taynuilt on the West Highland line dated 1937. Eastfield depot in Glasgow has chairs with similar dates although the track itself only dates from around 2005 so have clearly been reused from elsewhere.
 

driver_m

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Some of the track on Longsight Depot was pretty ancient. I do remember being gobsmacked when I first came across the dates on some of the track. 1948 rings a bell but I’m 90% certain there was older than that.
 

superkev

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Flat bottomed rail is not a guarantee of newness. I seem to remember the first use of FB was on the Settle Carlisle in the 1930's.
The FB I remember was secured by spring clips or spikes in 3s or 2s. Other types of fixings were used too before the modern Pandol clips.
I believe bulkhead rail is still attractive on curves due to its ease of replacement and easier to curve. Some of Blackpool tramway towards Fleetwood used BH when it was relayed a few years ago.
K
 

CEN60

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Strathcarron Station has bullhead chairs stamped 1938 - also Inverurie Station (not the town side) has 1943 BHead in regular use.
 

33017

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Wooden sleepers can be used with flat bottom rail too, as in the photo in the first post.

I expect all four combinations are possible, there was an older thread that mentioned a stretch of bullhead on concrete, which I suspect might be the rarest...
Although preservation, the line between Bewdley and Kidderminster is mostly bullhead on concrete sleepers. Rarest I’ve seen is a few hundred yards on the Gwili railway that was bullhead on steel sleepers with chairs cast or welded to the sleeper (no bolts). Was a GWR trial from the 1930s, as I recall.
 

duffield

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And the last time I bought one (for the Mid Norfolk Railway) it cost me £47 (although I don't know if that's exactly what they actually pay for them!)
 

CEN60

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OK. So do they still produce wooden sleepers for use on the railways?

Yes they do - in fact NR standards require 4 no. timber sleepers at the interface between steel & concrete sleepers. Occasionally S&C (ie junctions) are still supplied on timber bearers)
 

Elecman

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When they replace old chairs, what happens to them?

Would love to own a piece of history.

When BREL was still in existence the Iron Foundry at Horwich had a significant % of its scrap iron in the form of old chairs and baseplate. Saved buying scrap iron ( often contaminated) from scrapmen
 
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