Railroad welding contract

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Hope everyone is having a great day.I was wondering if there are any contractors who deal with maintenance and repair of railroads on here? I have a few questions I'm having issues with. I have a number of years of experience with rail welding frogs/thermite/butt processes from working on the tracks for years on a railroad. I just happened to get offered a sub-contrsct with a rail maintenance company for oding all the welding repairs on frogs, switches, rail ends. My problem is1- having always been an employee doing this type of work I'm not sure what I should charge. Should I charger more then my average rate being such specialized work?2- I've tried a competition cost analysis but I'm getting gatekept by any other company for their pricing.
Reply:I dont know about railroad stuff, but I can tell you about sanitary tube work like that. I have customers that say, so and so can do the work at $60 an hour when I'm charging $68. I have told some, great I'll pack my **** up now and leave at the end of I today. I have told some, ok, sure, you can try them, I'll stay here on my own time, so when they botch the job, I can fix it.Or there is the company full of drug addicts/drunks that will do week long jobs for $45 an hour.So you have to feel every customer out to see if it is BS or the real deal.Ask your potential customer, what issue do you have with your current contractor to make you think of switching so I can better serve you. Of they start saying the are BS and charge to much, and go off the handle, that means that company is the problem.
Reply:The customer asked me because I'm available. The company they usually use is too busy, from what I'm told anyways. From the communications I've had with a few people in the company they seem very accommodating.
Reply:i dont see welding railroad stuff as specialized. its just buildup on flat surfaces. nothing is xrayed , inspected or anything else. the only thing that makes it some what unique is youll need train detection if your welding in track. other wise its just mainly simple build up in the flat positioninvertig 221 water cooledhypertherm powermax 30xpfronius transpocket 180fronius transsteel 2200fronius iwave 230i water cooled
Reply:That's not true at all. Class 1 and 2 railroads both have x-ray on critical assets such as diamonds,crossovers, and frogs and tangent track. Heck, I didn't know the company HERZOG did anything besides RR x-rays until a couple years in the craft.  I can't speak for class 3 RR never worked on one. As for inspection, there is a whole government organization (FRA) Dedicated to inspection of the rail. Other then that you're correct it's a simple process flat position with a manganese (hard facing) rod. The process is delicate in the fact that you can't allow your pass temps to rise above 500°. So....simple yet not so simple haha. Plus the pre-heat and cool down procedures.Last edited by fuzzybunny4537; 6 Hours Ago at 09:46 PM.
Reply:

Originally Posted by fuzzybunny4537

The customer asked me because I'm available. The company they usually use is too busy, from what I'm told anyways. From the communications I've had with a few people in the company they seem very accommodating.
Reply:Do you know what a subcontractor is?  68 bucks seem low.  What do the require of you?  Just getting set up to begin working might require some type contract of financial commitment from them so you can get organized.  Good luck Hope you make real profit…. 68 bucks ain’t going to hit well when the thrill settles.
Reply:

Originally Posted by fuzzybunny4537

That's not true at all. Class 1 and 2 railroads both have x-ray on critical assets such as diamonds,crossovers, and frogs and tangent track. Heck, I didn't know the company HERZOG did anything besides RR x-rays until a couple years in the craft.  I can't speak for class 3 RR never worked on one. As for inspection, there is a whole government organization (FRA) Dedicated to inspection of the rail. Other then that you're correct it's a simple process flat position with a manganese (hard facing) rod. The process is delicate in the fact that you can't allow your pass temps to rise above 500°. So....simple yet not so simple haha. Plus the pre-heat and cool down procedures.
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Originally Posted by tapwelder

Do you know what a subcontractor is?  68 bucks seem low.  What do the require of you?  Just getting set up to begin working might require some type contract of financial commitment from them so you can get organized.  Good luck Hope you make real profit…. 68 bucks ain’t going to hit well when the thrill settles.
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Originally Posted by cornchip

i should of been more clear. they do run a evaluation car on the tracks looking for a number of different type of defects but they dont specifically examine your beads. you could have slag inclusions like no tomorow and it wouldnt matter.  i weld frogs ,switch points and rail ends everyday. its 500* or less on maganese steel components. rail steel components is preheat 700*. interpass just keep it hot as you can. no needle scaling. 1000* post heat
Reply:in answer to your question ....yes: