"Such rails could not be used again"

[USS ALASKA]

"Here in the Haupt "laboratory" simple effective tools to make rails unusable are being demonstrated. Put the horseshoe-like hooks under the rail base at each end and insert railroad ties ... now counter rotate ! Elsewhere in the yard, someone else is experimenting with simple techniques to fix deformed rails - and it's not easy ! Destroying Confederate rails was quite an effective tactic as most of America's industrial capacity to re-roll rails was in the north. "

http://members.kos.net/sdgagnon/mil.html

http://civilwardailygazette.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/aug30shermanrr.jpg

https://www.americanhistoryusa.com/static/images/unionarmy-destroying-railroad-1864.jpg

My guess is that these are staged photos to demonstrate the 'rail twisting' technique that @DaveBrt has mentioned as the best way to destroy rail.

Question - in none of these photos does there seem to be a fire. Did the rails need to be heated or could it be accomplished with leverage and brute force?

Thanks for the help,
USS ALASKA

 

[redbob]

I would believe that with the relatively low quality of the iron being used, that while heat would be helpful; brute strength and leverage would do the trick.

 

[jgoodguy]

I would believe that with the relatively low quality of the iron being used, that while heat would be helpful; brute strength and leverage would do the trick.

IMHO Type of rail also. Yes, enough men and leverage would do it.

 

[Southern Unionist]

Did the rails need to be heated or could it be accomplished with leverage and brute force?

We're talking about iron rather than steel, so an ordinary fire from crossties was adequate to make bending much easier and faster.

Radically twisted, spiral rails became known as a "Sherman's bow tie".

 

[USS ALASKA]

@redbob , @jgoodguy , @Southern Unionist

Understood gents - iron. And yes sirs, I get the whole "...give me a long enough lever and I'll lift the world..." physics.

Just in the pics the levers don't look that long and I guess I never realized that iron was that malleable while cold.

By the way, what type of iron? Not wrought was it?

Thanks again,
USS ALASKA

 

[USS ALASKA]

...known as a "Sherman's bow tie".

I thought a 'bowtie' was when it was wrapped around a tree...?

https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5534/12634984664_ac7f3d2f6e_b.jpg

Cheers,
USS ALASKA

 

[civilken]

as a retired railroad inspector I can promise you those rails will never be used again. You could however melt the steel down and start all over again.. But who knows I don't believe they had safety inspectors back then .

 

[jgoodguy]

as a retired railroad inspector I can promise you those rails will never be used again. You could however melt the steel down and start all over again.. But who knows I don't believe they had safety inspectors back then .

IMHO Wartime requirements might justify less than perfect rails.

 

[redbob]

The first railroad rails used in America were made of wood with a metal strap placed on top, then came rolled inverted U shaped rails and in 1844 or so the T shaped rails were developed and were rolled in 18 foot sections. The first steel rails were developed and rolled in 1864.

 

[jgoodguy]

The first railroad rails used in America were made of wood with a metal strap placed on top, then came rolled inverted U shaped rails and in 1844 or so the T shaped rails were developed and were rolled in 18 foot sections. The first steel rails were developed and rolled in 1864.

I believe the first T-rail was about a half of the weight of today's rails.

 

[DaveBrt]

as a retired railroad inspector I can promise you those rails will never be used again. You could however melt the steel down and start all over again.. But who knows I don't believe they had safety inspectors back then .

Those were iron, not steel rails, and I can assure you that, unless they were twisted (like the OP) they were heated, straightened and used again. Especially the Mississippi railroads got very good at repairing cavalry raid damage, using almost no newer rails.

 

[DaveBrt]

I believe the first T-rail was about a half of the weight of today's rails.

The first common ones in the US were 43#/yd iron. Today's steel are in the neighborhood of 150#/yd.

 

[Irishtom29]

The bottom two photos are of the destruction of the tracks and depot in Atlanta by Uncle Billy's boys.

 

[civilken]

Those were iron, not steel rails, and I can assure you that, unless they were twisted (like the OP) they were heated, straightened and used again. Especially the Mississippi railroads got very good at repairing cavalry raid damage, using almost no newer rails.

they probably did. This was long before x-rays stress factors and metal harness stress tests.

 

[civilken]

IMHO Wartime requirements might justify less than perfect rails.

I doubt they have the safety board back then. And forget x-rays to test stress factors in the metal.

 

[Southern Unionist]

Can't get the kinks out of bent iron rails, or restore the original cross-sectional shape, especially with the old inverted U or Omega rails.

Iron is easily weakened at low temperatures, obtainable from wood fires. Working with molten steel (or iron) requires much higher temperatures, generally requiring a coke fire. Coke is processed from ordinary coal through this process:


Cast iron woodstoves and fireboxes were sufficiently functional, because they were designed in such a way as to not require any substantial mechanical strength from the surfaces that were subject to direct flame. Iron frame buildings often collapse as a result of an ordinary interior fire; architectural frames made of steel usually survive.

 

[unicornforge]

...... Working with molten steel (or iron) requires much higher temperatures, generally requiring a coke fire.

Early Colonial iron furnaces used charcoal/wood, it just takes a lot more wood to melt iron than when using coal.
http://www.virginiaplaces.org/ggs380/11wood.html
Yes, to bend iron rails easily, only takes a wood fire at a rather low heat.
If as in the first picture, the rails are bent to about a 90 degree sharp bend, I don't see how that sort of bend could be easily straightened sufficiently to allow a train to use them.

 

[USS ALASKA]

https://images.metmuseum.org/CRDImages/ph/original/DP274779.jpg

Cheers,
USS ALASKA

 

[USS ALASKA]

Straightening bent, not twisted, rails.

http://www.geocities.ws/tommccready/images/rails.jpg

Cheers,
USS ALASKA

 

[wausaubob]

How fast would an engineer operate a train over rails fixed in the manner depicted above?
Slower than the speed of any train that had derailed on that section of railroad.