Guest Wrote:
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> Concrete Ties haven't panned out so well in many
> locations. In the Powder River Basin the coal dust
> acted like an abrasive compound and as the ties
> moved underneath the loaded trains they ground
> away until they didn't have any holding ability.
> Resulted in a couple bad derailments before they
> realized what was going on.
> Then there was the matter of a large unity of
> defects ties that were discovered. They company
> that made them replaced the ties, but the RR's ate
> the labor. It's not like wooden ties where a
> couple of guys could pull out a wood ties and swap
> in another one. Concrete requires a Speed Swing or
> Front End loader as a minimum.
> UP also realized that you had to tamp the mainline
> more often on heavy traffic mains to keep the
> ballast tight against the ties. They were hung ho
> on concrete ties until all these issues start
> occurring. They're used much more selectively. I'm
> sure the other Class 1's have made similar
> discoveries.

Wow man, thanks for the insight.