What did you do today?

[wtnhighlander]

That's weird. You'd think that if they were bent in place, a gap would open at the nearest joints.

[Chestnut]

9 hours ago, krtwood said:

The only thing I can think of is that they did it as a last disabling of the track to keep anything from rolling onto the bridge without having to pull it all up.

edit:  There was a fire in 1980 (arson) so I suppose the heat might have buckled the rails.  Seems too perfect for that though.

The fire probably did cause it. heat in combination with shifting of the bridge could bend those. I highly doubt that they were done by a human. I'm not sure i can't imagine a machine that would be able to be deployed on an unstable bridge that would be able to bend rails like that. Those things are sturdy. If the rail company was going to disable the bridge they'd just remove the track.... which is sort of interesting that they didn't

Love the spoon and the location for the pictures. Good work sir.

[Tpt life]

You can clearly see the one tie sticking way out the right side. Looks like an excavator just pushed one tie out. 

[Chestnut]

1 hour ago, C Shaffer said:

You can clearly see the one tie sticking way out the right side. Looks like an excavator just pushed one tie out. 

I highly doubt an excavator strong enough to bend 4 rails at once could find it's way in a position to do that work. Rail buckeling from head from the sun isn't uncommon. A fire could easily do this.

https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/is-it-real-photo-of-railway-track-bent-by-the-heat-looks-fake-but-isn-t-20180214-p4z0c2.html

Edit: Found an article on if not the exact bridge a similar bridge.

http://www.concordmonitor.com/Archive/2012/11/BentRailTracks-CM-112312

Edited May 15, 2018 by Chestnut
Research

[RichardA]

A right and a left, then another right do not make a straight.

[krtwood]

1 hour ago, Chestnut said:

Edit: Found an article on if not the exact bridge a similar bridge.

http://www.concordmonitor.com/Archive/2012/11/BentRailTracks-CM-112312

Yep, that's the one.  It seemed odd that they all bent in exactly the same spot but I suppose if what gave way first was the tie's anchoring to the bridge then they all would have went together with the tie.

[Tpt life]

Yeah, I stand by my claim. This was likely torched then pushed by a swing arm. A fire beneath that would soften that point would wreck the bridge. Heat further off runs a highly improbable chance of buckling so symmetricallly. Heated from above and then intentionally warped is the simplest answer in my view. 

[Coop]

Looks like a switch track to me. It definitely took a turn for the worse. It’s not an uncommon occurrence in Houston’s rail system. 

[Tom King]

I have a completely different theory.   If the bridge was built with a crown to it, and some of the structure deteriorated to the point that the crown dropped, the rails would have to get shorter.  Since the stakes are still in place in the ties, they would all have to move together, at the weakest point, and the ties along with the rails.

[wtnhighlander]

I like Carus' theory for intentional disablement, and Tom's for accidental. 

It's hard to imagine the RR using so much fuel and energy to disable the tracks when simply removing (and salvaging) a couple of rails would do the job with less or equal effort.

[krtwood]

Couple pics from google.  There was definitely a significant fire on the whole span.  The whole structure is charred.  Keep in mind it used to be covered on the sides so many of the boards were still in place at the time of the fire.  There was a lot of burning wood under there.  Built in 1896 and in service until 1973.  Fire happened in 1980.

[wtnhighlander]

I think I favor Tom's theory. That looks like buckling. Steel can move under temperature differential about as much as wood does with humidity.

[Tom King]

Probably a combination of both heat, and partial collapse.  Those ties look charred at that spot.   I wonder what put out the fire.  Maybe it started raining after the fire had been burning for a while.

[Catco]

Don't know how many people follow weather related news, but us here in Western CT got slammed hard yesterday evening with a crazy storm. Over 90,000 people don't have power(myself included), down from about 120,000, there were a few unfortunate and sad fatalities, and an unconfirmed tornado. So my afternoon/evening yesterday was spent going around and cutting logs, branches, and trees up, when safe to do so, and removing them from roadways.

2 Pictures from my 3.5 hour drive to get home. Normally a 30 minute drive. I hope anyone else up here in NE that was affected by the storm is safe.

Also, ice cold showers are a fantastic way to wake up real quick.

*Edit* 2 Tornado touchdowns were confirmed.

Edited May 16, 2018 by Catco
Added information

[Coop]

I saw this on the news this morning. Tremendous devastation! I hope you and your family are safe and that you guys get your power back on soon.

[RichardA]

My  sympathy goes out to you folks. I went through Katrina and know what your're going through. I was without power for 28 days.  And I was ready to pull my hair out after the first week.

[Chestnut]

I hope you guys get cleaned up and recover quickly.

[mat60]

Saw this on the news also.   Hope things get back to normal soon.   We lose power a lot up here in the winter and I don't no if you have a generator but this is a reminder for the wife and I to get one.  Even a 2000w would be better than nothing.

[Coop]

This makes 15 gal. so far. 

[wdwerker]

Crisp bacon, romaine lettuce, tangy mayo ,ripe tomato & sourdough bread !

[Mick S]

7 minutes ago, wdwerker said:

Crisp bacon, romaine lettuce, tangy mayo ,ripe tomato & sourdough bread !

No romaine until further notice.

 

Catco - stay safe.

 

[Tom King]

Catco, how are things going up there tonight?

One of my best trades ever:  I got my end of the trade today.   There was a grading company near us that was hauling loads of stumps, from clearing a lake lot, 25 miles one way.  They probably had 10 to 12 truck loads of stuff to dump.  I traded them a place to dump them 2 minutes away for three hours work with a large skid steer loader, and a dump truck.   They did in three hours what it would have taken me 3 or 4 days to do with a tractor.  They had to also do some work where they dumped the stumps, so that's better off too.  This picture was soon after they first started.  It all looks a lot better now, and I'll be able to cut the grass over the whole area with a lawn mower instead of a tractor.  The Water Willow in front of the beach will come out pretty soon.

They think they got the best end of the deal, but I'm very satisfied with my end too.

 

[wdwerker]

When both sides think they got a deal the world ends up a better place.

[Chestnut]

I got the in ground sprinklers up and running and checked all the heads. Fertilized the lawn. Delivered the chairs and leather to the upholstry. Bought 2 autumn blaze maple trees and found their new homes. I feel like i had a busy and sucessful day just no woodworking.

Tomorrow is planting the 2 maple trees. I also bought 10 walnut saplings that will be here tomorrow i'm going to plant a good 6 of those hoping that at least 3 take. My friend is getting the other 4. In 5-7 years i'm hoping to start getting a nut harvest.

[Coop]

12 minutes ago, Chestnut said:

Tomorrow is planting the 2 maple trees. I also bought 10 walnut saplings that will be here tomorrow i'm going to plant a good 6 of those hoping that at least 3 take. My friend is getting the other 4. In 5-7 years i'm hoping to start getting a nut harvest.

And as a legacy, y’alls grandkids will cut them down and make you an urn, 100 years from now. No Chestnut saplings? Drew, where did you order the walnut saplings from?