Rail Welding

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Seen a few posts in the past asking about welding rail tracks.Took these pics from work.  Joining rail sections to switch sections with some mild steel brace and some fill work.  316L-16,  4mm rods, dont know amps, no pre heat but the multi passes would help keep heat in.The last 3 pics are of a sort of molten metal fusion weld.  They put a sand type form section around the rail then set a pot above.  They told me it has a lot of magnesium in it to keep it hot.  Light it with oxy, put lid on, wait a minute and open shoot.  1/2 hour or so later they crack the sand off and grind to shape.the last pic has only the groove gind, the tops still need done.i will try to get some pics of the process. Attached Images
Reply:As a fan of both welding and trains, thanks for posting!
Reply:thermite welding .......  iron oxide and aluminum powder lit off by a magnesium strip usually.... nice pictures.
Reply:Very Interesting.Lincoln 225 ACLincoln Mig Pak 15Lincoln Mig Pak 10Purox Oxy-Acet Outfit20 Ton PressHonda Generator
Reply:My father-in-law (God rest his soul) was a railroad welder for the CNR.  He told me about this process but the pics really give the story some substance.Thanks for posting the pics Gordie -- "I believe you understand what you think I said, but I'm not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant."
Reply:Show me more!
Reply:I'd love to see photos of the process, start to finish with some smoke.  I'm not complaining though, as most folks who describe this process have no photos at all.  Thanks for posting.ScottMiller XMT 350 CC/CV w/gas solenoid opt.Miller S-22A wirefeederBernard 400A "Q" gunMiller Spoolmatic 30A / WC-24C-K 200A torch/gas lensWeldcraft WC-18 watercooled torchHypertherm Powermax 30Victor O/A
Reply:I was in the railways years ago. I drove trains for Hamersley Iron (The longest trains in the world at just over 2 kms & 22,000 tons). Anyway, during my 8 year stint with that company I witnessed lots of thermite welding of broken tracks, and it is spectacular to say the least.If you can witness it at night, it will blow you away. The other thing worth seeing at night is our track maintenance machine called 'Speno' (Don't know why it's called that ?). Anyway, this machine is a multi purpose thing that x-rays the track, tells the operator what is wrong and where, grinds the head and put a bevel on the edge ETC....  At night the sparks fly out about 30 metres in all directions and you can see it coming for miles. Many a scrub fire is started this way and left to burn, as it's in the middle of nowhere and does no harm.
Reply:For anyone that hasn't seen it, here is a video of a rail thermite weld.http://www.metacafe.com/watch/yt-nR6...thermite_weld/
Reply:Yes the last shots at thermite.  Thermite is iron oxide (rust) powder with aluminum powder.  It requires a magnesium strip to ignite because of it's high ignition temperature (any souce of high heat can be used, doesn't have to be Mg)Do a YouTube search for thermite.. there's people burning through all sorts of things with it."A winner isn't someone who doesn't lose, a winner is someone who doesn't quit."
Reply:The thermite process was developed by a Chemist named Goldschmidt in about 1898, and the reaction type is named after him. It was used to reduce difficult metals like Chromium in the lab, and was used industrially for welding large structures like ship rudders and locomotive parts when no other method could do parts that large, or when the weld needed to be done in place.During WWII, we used incendiary bombs with magnesium casings filled with iron thermite; the molten iron would drip down from top floors in large buildings, igniting everything, while the burning magnesium was nearly impossible to extinguish.One company sells a thermite mix which produces cast iron rather than steel.BTW, the thermite mix uses Fe3O4 ("Smithy Scales") rather that 'rust' (Fe2O3)'  because the reaction it too energetic otherwise. Often some fine metal filings or turnings are added to 'cool' things down a bit more, even.
Reply:here are some more pic from today.1st and 2nd shots are of cast sand and slag bowls3rd is of pre heat4th is ignitionlast is molten metal droping into cast. Attached Images
Reply:one more........ cooling down Attached Images
Reply:AAWWEESSOOMMEE!  Thanks for the action series Larry.ScottMiller XMT 350 CC/CV w/gas solenoid opt.Miller S-22A wirefeederBernard 400A "Q" gunMiller Spoolmatic 30A / WC-24C-K 200A torch/gas lensWeldcraft WC-18 watercooled torchHypertherm Powermax 30Victor O/A