Track with concrete ties

[tootnkumin]

Prototype questions first: Are concrete ties being used to a great degree in class1 mainline? When would they have been first introduced and by whom? Turnouts/crossings; are timber ties the norm regardless or are even they being/been replaced with concrete?

Modeling questions: I see Peco, Atlas and also ME make concrete tie code83 flextrack, Peco seemingly the dearest. Any observations about quality/faults or ease of use between the brands?

[PApat]

I travel the Northeast Corridor every week (mainline which runs from Washington DC to Boston). The entire track I see (from Trenton, NJ to Penn Station, NY is concrete - except - the track inside tunnels, over some older bridges, and inside Penn Station. Amtrak specifies concrete ties and welded rail in order to certify track for the 150 MPH Acela trains. The NS/Conrail lines that happen to crisscross the corridor are all wood ties. So this seems to be an Amtrak thing in the east. I just watched a show on Discovery yesterday that showed Union Pacific redoing the trans-continental line with concrete (with a MoW unit that lays 2 miles a day!)...

[Rico]

Up here the ties are mainly wood as concrete ties crack with the hot/cold cycle.
When water gets in the cracks and freezes it blows the ties apart.
They are still used in many places I've travelled but wood is predominant.
Switches and bridges are wood ties, I'm told this is because you get more adjustment with wood ties.
The concrete ties have been used overseas for some time, can't say just when they showed up here.
I have some track with concrete ties and am planning to model the rebar showing on the ends:

[NYSW F45]

NJ Transit uses concrete ties on a large portion of its system as does Metro North I Believe. CSX has used concrete ties in very small sections here on the CSX Riverline in Bergen County, NJ.

[NH Mike]

Originally Posted by PApat

I travel the Northeast Corridor every week (mainline which runs from Washington DC to Boston). The entire track I see (from Trenton, NJ to Penn Station, NY is concrete - except - the track inside tunnels, over some older bridges, and inside Penn Station. Amtrak specifies concrete ties and welded rail in order to certify track for the 150 MPH Acela trains. The NS/Conrail lines that happen to crisscross the corridor are all wood ties. So this seems to be an Amtrak thing in the east. I just watched a show on Discovery yesterday that showed Union Pacific redoing the trans-continental line with concrete (with a MoW unit that lays 2 miles a day!)...

Yes. I live southwest of Boston quite near the Northeast Corridor and as he says the main is predominantly concrete ties. The MBTA public transit system in the greater Boston area began using them in selected areas sometime in the 1980's, long before AMTRAK laid them in the NE Corridor.

Depending on the era you are modelling they can make an interesting scene of a freshly updated area with minimum weathering and weeds, etc.

[John P]

True that commuter rail around Boston has been using concrete ties for a long time, but it hasn't always been happy riding:
http://www.patriotledger.com/news/x1...porarily-ended

Maybe a scene where track crews are replacing concrete ties would be a good thing to model?

[Bamafan]

The SAL experimented with concrete ties near Omaha in rural Georgia as early as the 1960s. They are still there today and holding up well despite the line being out of service for nearly 20 years now.

[tootnkumin]

Thanks for all the replies, certainly sounds that it's been a bit of a mixed bag experience wise for the railroads especially in the colder climes, certainly not something they've had to deal with here in Queensland at least, where the conversion is well under way. Rico's pic is certainly a graphic example of what extreme cold can do.

Somewhere in a post on here I read a comments on ME flextrack being a bit fragile, anyone like to comment on the various brands?

[CNR Glen]

Up here the ties are mainly wood as concrete ties crack with the hot/cold cycle.
When water gets in the cracks and freezes it blows the ties apart.
They are still used in many places I've travelled but wood is predominant.
Switches and bridges are wood ties, I'm told this is because you get more adjustment with wood ties.
The concrete ties have been used overseas for some time, can't say just when they showed up here.

I remember the first major use of Concrete ties in Canada was the Mount MacDonald Project tunneling under the Rogers pass. My Father and I hiked up to the rail lines in 1988 and there were concrete ties all along the new line.

[Armchair]

Here in the South West Union Pacific is going to concrete for a lot of replacement. I see piles of ballast and concrete ties along a lot of the row between Yuma and Phoenix.

Armchair
http://armchairmodeling.blogspot.com
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