It was so hot.
How hot was it?
It was so hot that the.......
Posted on 07/08/2012 7:02:58 PM PDT by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
Metro officials on Saturday said excessive heat was the probable cause for a train derailment Friday in Prince George’s County.
Investigators said a “heat kink” due to extreme high temperatures and direct exposure to sunlight likely caused the rails to expand, resulting in the derailment.
The derailment was reported on the inbound stretch of the Green Line near the West Hyattsville Station around 4:45 p.m.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
Maryland “Freak State” PING!
...since they first began laying tracks
How hot was it?
It was so hot that the.......
Investigators said a “heat kink” due to extreme high temperatures and direct exposure to sunlight likely caused the rails to expand, resulting in the derailment
Wow, there are probably thousands of derailments caused by rails being exposed to sunlight ... I can’t believe that the MSM investigative reporters haven’t spent weeks of national exposes on this looming national rail crisis. Should citizens go down to the nearest train tracks and shade them with umbrellas? Should the Dept. of Transportation institute new rail specifications?
Why can't a state agency?
/johnny
Should of made those rails shorter!
Yeah, I guess they haven’t seen those tracks in the Mojave Desert where it hits 115 every Summer. Railbed first laid down in 1880 and no derailments yet.
It is interesting. If the rails are the segmented kind, it’s smart to leave a small space between the rail ends for expansion.
These rails are probably the continuous kind, which are basically rolled out for miles on end, with only a few breaks.
Past history and my gut instinct says the engineer was either drunk, high or taking a nap.
If rail tracks were known to expand due heat, extreme or otherwise, wouldn’t they have expanded already?
So they built a system in Washington that couldn’t take 100 degree temperatures? Either stupidity before or lying now.
I searched on google for “heat kink” and all it returns are references to the Metro rail system. It seems like this would be a noticable problem in many other places, but it doesn’t seem to be a problem anywhere else. Perhaps they need new rail engineers that have dealt with the sun before.
Try googling warped rails, heat warping, derailments, etc.
Also sun kinks. I recall them as daily hazard on the Santa Fe but inspections and cautions increased.
I find this hard to believe. Do they use different track materials in the desert. Its going to be 118 F tomorrow and the trains will roll past just like they do every other day.
Maybe it has to endure a wider temp range there. Well below freezing to sweltering summer. The desert doesn’t usually get that cold.
I had not thought of that. It is not the heat, it is the range. It certainly does not get 20 below here. Range would be about 32 F to 120 F. Good point you raise.
Maybe they should rename the Metro to the
Train Heat Kink Link.
Apparently they are indeed continuous welded rails, and also apparently they weren’t laid correctly (there is a way to lay them that prevents heat kink). Jointed rails survive on only a few busy urban railways nowadays (NYC I think is one), and they always left expansion space.
Imagine the thought process that came up with the idea heat caused the rails to warp, and then consider the heat in the California desert where rails never seem to buckle.
This global warming thing better kill us quick before people go stark raving mad. They’ve got a good jump on that already.
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