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The New Zealand Railways Magazine, Volume 12, Issue 10 (January 1, 1938.)

Advantages of the Welded Track

Advantages of the Welded Track.

The employment of welding to secure extra long rails is growing in Europe. As was pointed out by Dr. Muller, of the German Railways, in a paper prepared for the International Railway Congress, the practice of welding rails together to secure longer lengths originated in 1906, when tramway rails were first welded. By degrees, railways took up the idea, and at present Germany has about 3,852 miles of track laid with welded rails, some being as long as 272 feet. It would seem that welded track stands up satisfactorily to heavy, high-speed working—a point about which some doubt was at first expressed. Welded track, too, is suitable for use on curves of even relatively small radius, while from the viewpoint of the passenger it is a valuable adjunct to travel comfort. As regards the expansion gap to be left between the ends of two welded rails, this necessarily largely depends upon local climatic conditions. Most railways, apparently, take no special steps to prevent rail creep, regarding as the best preventive of this and of track buckling the secure fastening of the rails to the sleepers and the employment of broken stone ballast.