Borders Railway - Now Open

[deltic08]

You can't be driving very fast.

Not as fast as I should have done. Just had to stop and take photos on the way down. Rail laying train was an unexpected bonus in that position. Delayed me by at least 40 minutes!!

Just been looking at photos. There were three spectators over the top of the north portal that I didn't spot at the time so others have recorded it also. I didn't have time to walk that far off the road. Had to rely on telephoto lens. New lineside fencing is making it harder to get to certain locations.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

He was on the A7 of course he wasn't going fast

I was waiting at the other end on Tuesday. No train emerged as the rails already in the tunnel were only temporary for alignment purpose and these been removed. They were re laying from the other end and never broke through until Wednesday.

Then obviously I didn't see what I thought I saw. When I arrived, the business end of the train was between the north portal and Gala bridge with the whole of the train visible. Very soon the train moved into the tunnel until only one loco cab was visble.

I assumed they had moved through the already laid rail on the slab but they must have run onto a length just laid in the tunnel by what you say. By the time I had driven round to the south side the business end plus orange gang were just visible.

I wanted to wait for a few more sections to be laid until they were adjacent to the A7 but time was short. I would have wasted my time as from my photos I noticed only one pair of rails was left on the rail wagons and would only have reached the bridge over the Gala. Time was 14.30ish.

There was a JCB type rail mounted machine, lit up like a Christmas tree, just inside the tunnel south end on the up line but soon disappeared to the north.

 

[fegguk]

Not as fast as I should have done. Just had to stop and take photos on the way down. Rail laying train was an unexpected bonus in that position. Delayed me by at least 40 minutes!!

Just been looking at photos. There were three spectators over the top of the north portal that I didn't spot at the time so others have recorded it also. I didn't have time to walk that far off the road. Had to rely on telephoto lens. New lineside fencing is making it harder to get to certain locations.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---


Then obviously I didn't see what I thought I saw. When I arrived, the business end of the train was between the north portal and Gala bridge with the whole of the train visible. Very soon the train moved into the tunnel until only one loco cab was visble.

I assumed they had moved through the already laid rail on the slab but they must have run onto a length just laid in the tunnel by what you say. By the time I had driven round to the south side the business end plus orange gang were just visible.

I wanted to wait for a few more sections to be laid until they were adjacent to the A7 but time was short. I would have wasted my time as from my photos I noticed only one pair of rails was left on the rail wagons and would only have reached the bridge over the Gala. Time was 14.30ish.

There was a JCB type rail mounted machine, lit up like a Christmas tree, just inside the tunnel south end on the up line but soon disappeared to the north.

Looks like you saw the same as me but the other line. On Tuesday they started north of the Ferniehirst bridge and had enough rail to get into the North end of the tunnel. On Wednesday they went from there to the points beyond Bowland. They seem to have had a day off on Thursday and repeated Tuesdays section on the other line on Friday. On Tuesday the first length of rail seemed to take much longer meaning it was dark before they finished. There are some photos on there twitter feed

https://twitter.com/BordersRailway

 

[L&Y Robert]

Nice Twitterpics in Bowshank tunnel, but what is the black metre diam. thing on the left-hand sleepers that looks like a yo-yo? It seems to have little wheels behind it as well.

 

[najaB]

Nice Twitterpics in Bowshank tunnel, but what is the black metre diam. thing on the left-hand sleepers that looks like a yo-yo? It seems to have little wheels behind it as well.

Looks like a short length of corrugated drainage pipe to me:

 

[fegguk]

Pictures tend to be better than words. This is the video referenced in the post above

http://youtu.be/eca7B-LT4Bc

 

[L&Y Robert]

I see in the pics and videos those yellow clunky fishplate clamps everywhere, and wondered if any of the rail joints had been welded yet.

 

[Fozzie49]

Yes many welds now done using flash butt welder.

 

[PaxVobiscum]

Yes many welds now done using flash butt welder.

While sure that I can understand what is actually involved in that method of joining rails, I'm still struggling to dismiss the bizarre mental picture that the phrase conjured up when first encountered.

 

[L&Y Robert]

While sure that I can understand what is actually involved in that method of joining rails, I'm still struggling to dismiss the bizarre mental picture that the phrase conjured up when first encountered.

Get outa here!

 

[steevp]

While sure that I can understand what is actually involved in that method of joining rails, I'm still struggling to dismiss the bizarre mental picture that the phrase conjured up when first encountered.

And I thought it was just me.....

 

[37038]

Something to do with charging the ions within the rails which effectively melts the end of the rail together. Gets to 1400+ celsius at the rail end and takes about 10mins for a weld to be completed. With grinding and such involved, they should be able to do 2000ft plus a day of welding?

 

[Murph]

Something which springs to mind, is that it's very cold right now, so the rails will have shrunk. Are they going to have problems with the rails buckling when summer rolls in, or will they still be able to put enough tension in prior to welding to avoid that?

 

[deltic08]

Something which springs to mind, is that it's very cold right now, so the rails will have shrunk. Are they going to have problems with the rails buckling when summer rolls in, or will they still be able to put enough tension in prior to welding to avoid that?

Each charge of Thermit weld is nearly £100. that is £200 per length of track. Rough estimate of £200,000 to Tweedbank?

Rails are usually stretched before welding to allow for expansion in Summer.

 

[edwin_m]

Each charge of Thermit weld is nearly £100. that is £200 per length of track. Rough estimate of £200,000 to Tweedbank?

Rails are usually stretched before welding to allow for expansion in Summer.

The track is being supplied in lengths of about 100m on a rail train and pulled off with special equipment. So there will be far fewer than 2000 welds, unless Borders is a lot longer than I thought!

 

[swt_passenger]

Each charge of Thermit weld is nearly £100. that is £200 per length of track. Rough estimate of £200,000 to Tweedbank?

They aren't using thermite though. 'Flash butt welding' as mentioned a few posts ago is an electric welding process and uses an RRV mounted welding head. It's all powered by a big diesel generating set towed by the same RRV...

 

[fgwrich]

They aren't using thermite though. 'Flash butt welding' as mentioned a few posts ago is an electric welding process and uses an RRV mounted welding head. It's all powered by a big diesel generating set towed by the same RRV...

A few photos of one in use.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/mr_sam/9478867136/in/set-72157632917012784

https://www.flickr.com/photos/dogfaceherman/7323355502/

The big bulky box on the back of the RRV is a generator to provide enough voltage to the Flash Butt Welder Head - Attached via the standard mount. Before these specialist bits of kit were recently introduced, Flash Butt welding was done with a trailer mounted Gen Set and an attached Flash Butt Head attachment.

 

[PaxVobiscum]

Some pedant (like me) will probably suggest that perhaps it should be "enough amperage - rather than voltage - to melt your butt, so to speak.

 

[Ploughman]

The actual process of Flash Butt welding takes about 15 - 20 minutes compared to a by the book time of 90 minutes for a Thermit type weld.

There are a number of different types of FB Welder.
From the one mentioned earlier to a Towed generator as also mentioned and a R/R conversion based on a 3 axle Lorry.

Stressing of the rails (rather than stretching) generally carried out separately as by rights the track needs to be fully ballasted and to design line and level whereas joint welding can be carried out any time.

 

[deltic08]

They aren't using thermite though. 'Flash butt welding' as mentioned a few posts ago is an electric welding process and uses an RRV mounted welding head. It's all powered by a big diesel generating set towed by the same RRV...

Thank you for putting me straight. One should never assume.

 

[L&Y Robert]

Some pedant (like me) will probably suggest that perhaps it should be "enough amperage - rather than voltage - to melt your butt, so to speak.

Voltage might be correct as well! I read " . . . jointing of anything from bike wheel rims to railway rails. The parts to be joined are clamped and brought together slowly while a flashing voltage is applied".

That raises the question of how the "bringing together" of long lengths of welded rail is managed. All those Pandrol clips!

 

[Ploughman]

For FB Welding the rail needs to be free as part of the process involves the clamps that grip the rails physically pushing one length of rail into the other during the weld process.
This normally involves a loss of 70mm of rail per weld. So the rail must be free to move and is usually supported on rollers to enable a free movement.
Once welded then the rail behind the welder can be clipped down.

Unless of course techniques have changed in the last few years since I worked alongside a FB Welder.

For a better illustration of this I think we should ask one of the Cameramen filming the works to take time out and film the weld process.
Could I also ask for coverage of the stone tipping, Regulating and Tamping operations?

 

[L&Y Robert]

For FB Welding the rail needs to be free as part of the process involves the clamps that grip the rails physically pushing one length of rail into the other during the weld process.
This normally involves a loss of 70mm of rail per weld. So the rail must be free to move and is usually supported on rollers to enable a free movement.
Once welded then the rail behind the welder can be clipped down.

Unless of course techniques have changed in the last few years since I worked alongside a FB Welder.

I can't believe that the rails have to be unclipped for the entire length of each one for the joint to be welded. There is also a cumulative loss of that 70mm of rail - 70mm here, 140 the next one, 210 after that - and so on. There must be a welding technique that welds the rails as they are.

 

[swt_passenger]

...There must be a welding technique that welds the rails as they are.

Thermite will do that. With the rails laid butted together they machine out an exact gap between them to clean the rail ends, the thermite process then adds the necessary metal to the gap from the material in the crucible.

At some stage the rails have to be unclipped anyway for the stressing process, this includes lifting the rail onto temporary rollers, so allowing the rails to move for the flash butt process may not actually cause any additional work overall.

 

[L&Y Robert]

Yes many welds now done using flash butt welder.

Fozzie says they aren't using Thermite, they're using a flash butt welder. So my query isn't really answered yet. It ocurred to me that the rail might be stretched a bit ("Strain") but even that would still require un-clipping it first. I noticed in several of the track-laying videos that sometimes they pull the ends of the new length back a wee bit with that winch thingy, and then cut off the remote end with the wizzer, presumably so that the remote cut end is central between sleepers - convenient (essential!) for jointing.

 

[swt_passenger]

Fozzie says they aren't using Thermite, they're using a flash butt welder...

I only explained that there IS a system that adds metal, I took it for granted that it wasn't being used here, as that was being discussed only a few posts ago...

 

[Jonny]

Some pedant (like me) will probably suggest that perhaps it should be "enough amperage - rather than voltage - to melt your butt, so to speak.

Actually it's both - voltage clears the way and once he's done that, he brings in (and drives) his friend amperage to do the heating.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Fozzie says they aren't using Thermite, they're using a flash butt welder. So my query isn't really answered yet. It ocurred to me that the rail might be stretched a bit ("Strain") but even that would still require un-clipping it first. I noticed in several of the track-laying videos that sometimes they pull the ends of the new length back a wee bit with that winch thingy, and then cut off the remote end with the wizzer, presumably so that the remote cut end is central between sleepers - convenient (essential!) for jointing.

I presume allowance is being made for heat/cold expansion/contraction; if the weld heating is expected to cause less total expansion than a hot summer day then there should be no need to unclip the rails.

 

[deltic08]

Not as fast as I should have done. Just had to stop and take photos on the way down. Rail laying train was an unexpected bonus in that position. Delayed me by at least 40 minutes!!

Just been looking at photos. There were three spectators over the top of the north portal that I didn't spot at the time so others have recorded it also. I didn't have time to walk that far off the road. Had to rely on telephoto lens. New lineside fencing is making it harder to get to certain locations.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---


Then obviously I didn't see what I thought I saw. When I arrived, the business end of the train was between the north portal and Gala bridge with the whole of the train visible. Very soon the train moved into the tunnel until only one loco cab was visble.

I assumed they had moved through the already laid rail on the slab but they must have run onto a length just laid in the tunnel by what you say. By the time I had driven round to the south side the business end plus orange gang were just visible.

I wanted to wait for a few more sections to be laid until they were adjacent to the A7 but time was short. I would have wasted my time as from my photos I noticed only one pair of rails was left on the rail wagons and would only have reached the bridge over the Gala. Time was 14.30ish.

There was a JCB type rail mounted machine, lit up like a Christmas tree, just inside the tunnel south end on the up line but soon disappeared to the north.

Just been watching From Start to Finish series 4 episode 2 and the spectators I saw over the north portal of Bowshank Tunnel was Paul Brownlee and his crew as he filmed exactly what I saw.

 

[edwin_m]

Actually it's both - voltage clears the way and once he's done that, he brings in (and drives) his friend amperage to do the heating.

True, although according to Wikipedia only about 4 volts is needed!

 

[dysonsphere]

Well lower the volts more amps for you buck

 

[L&Y Robert]

Found this pic. on Borders Rly site:

Borders Railway‏@BordersRailway·Nov 13
This machine, pictured at Shawfair, will weld the rails together at joints to create a smoother journey #tracklaying pic.twitter.com/fef7mfpXOU