LONG-WELDED RAILS ON EAST COAST MAIN LINE

The first long-welded rails on the East Coast main line were laid on a section of line where a continuous stretch of almost a mile now exists. Normal 60-ft. rails were first flash butt welded into 300-ft. sections. On the site, the ends of the rails to be joined together were held in a mold and heated. A mixture of powered metal and magnesium was ignited and the powered metal melted into the gap between the rail-ends. The mold was knocked off as soon as possible and spare metal trimmed by cold chisel and grinder. Each weld took about 45 min. to complete.

• Corporate Authors:

  Temple Press Limited

  161-166 Fleet Street
  Longon EC4,   England 
• Publication Date: 1957-11-22

Media Info

• Features: Photos;
• Pagination: p. 594
• Serial:
  • RAILWAY GAZETTE
  • Volume: 107

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Construction; Railroad rails; Railroad tracks; Technology; Welded rail; Welding
• Geographic Terms: United Kingdom
• Old TRIS Terms: Rail welding
• Subject Areas: Construction; Railroads;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00037652
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Dec 4 1994 12:00AM