Search results

I thought the technique of splicing the rail occasionally with a diagonal cut was pretty neat. Sort of a slip-joint.

https://worldwiderails.com/how-do-railroads-deal-with-thermal-expansion/

UP's ribbons appear to be around a mile long, dispensed from a special consist paying them out as they go along. With 10 or so layers of rail on those special cars, there has to be a lot of cornering stresses bending all that as it rolls around corners... Automated machines pull up the old...

Like most modern RR's, the old "Clickety-clack" is no more, with very long ribbon rails and seamlessly welded together.

A bit of history: https://historyoftherails.com/sp-up-unmerger-1912-1913/ Scroll down to 1912 date. UP then bought SP in 1996. https://www.up.com/timeline/index.cfm/up-sp-merger

First get all the old-timer union guys to go. They then hire the "any job will do" crowd. Just what you want driving a mile-long consist thru towns...

When Union Pacific bought Sufferin' Pacific back (They sold it off many decades ago), a lot changed. I saw many things that happened, some good some bad: Using GPS to enable multiple engine locations in the consist is good. Continuing monetary support to keep big steam on the main lines is...

UP has been in the news lately.

My Dad worked SP from '39 to '80. Ran the baggage office in Yuma, AZ until passenger service died. Then he went to driving the crew bus. They treated him well, even counted his stint in the Navy during WW2 as RR time. Modern RR's are sure different from what I grew up with.