87-557: The Montauk Branch is a rail line owned and operated by the Long Island Rail Road in the U.S. state of New York . The line runs the length of Long Island , 115 miles (185 km) from Long Island City to Montauk . However, in LIRR maps and schedules for public use, the term Montauk Branch refers to the line east of Babylon ; service from Jamaica to Babylon is covered by separate Babylon Branch schedules, while
174-508: A slipformed (or pre-cast) concrete base (development 2000s). The 'embedded rail structure', used in the Netherlands since 1976, initially used a conventional UIC 54 rail embedded in concrete, and later developed (late 1990s) to use a 'mushroom' shaped SA42 rail profile; a version for light rail using a rail supported in an asphalt concrete –filled steel trough has also been developed (2002). Modern ladder track can be considered
261-599: A train track or permanent way (often " perway " in Australia or " P Way " in Britain and India), is the structure on a railway or railroad consisting of the rails , fasteners , railroad ties (sleepers, British English) and ballast (or slab track ), plus the underlying subgrade . It enables trains to move by providing a dependable surface for their wheels to roll upon. Early tracks were constructed with wooden or cast iron rails, and wooden or stone sleepers; since
348-440: A "clickety-clack" sound. Unless it is well-maintained, jointed track does not have the ride quality of welded rail and is less desirable for high speed trains . However, jointed track is still used in many countries on lower speed lines and sidings , and is used extensively in poorer countries due to the lower construction cost and the simpler equipment required for its installation and maintenance. A major problem of jointed track
435-415: A continuous reinforced concrete slab and the use of pre-cast pre-stressed concrete units laid on a base layer. Many permutations of design have been put forward. However, ballastless track has a high initial cost, and in the case of existing railroads the upgrade to such requires closure of the route for a long period. Its whole-life cost can be lower because of the reduction in maintenance. Ballastless track
522-481: A development of baulk road. Ladder track utilizes sleepers aligned along the same direction as the rails with rung-like gauge restraining cross members. Both ballasted and ballastless types exist. Modern track typically uses hot-rolled steel with a profile of an asymmetrical rounded I-beam . Unlike some other uses of iron and steel , railway rails are subject to very high stresses and have to be made of very high-quality steel alloy. It took many decades to improve
609-516: A pier in his unsuccessful effort to have trans-Atlantic ships dock there.) The Great Hurricane of 1938 devastated the terminus area and tore up sections of the roadbed. The population center then moved two miles (3 km) to the south, away from the station. In 1953, amid bankruptcy, the LIRR sought to abandon the Montauk branch east of Patchogue and operate bus service in its place. It cited low, predominantly non-commuter ridership and proximity to
696-740: A proposed connection to the IND 63rd Street Line in Long Island City. This proposal was unpopular in the communities surrounding the branch. In 2017, the Department studied a plan to operate light rail service on the Lower Montauk Branch. After Penn Station opened in 1910, the Lower Montauk became primarily a freight route, and when the present Jamaica station opened in 1913, the two Lower Montauk tracks continued past
783-417: A rapid transit line. The four tracks between Jamaica and Woodhaven Junction lent itself to this service with the "rapid transit" trains using the outer two tracks while commuter trains used the inner two tracks. In November 1925, 25 "local" trains left Brooklyn each weekday for Queens Village, 12 more ran to Hillside, and 16 more ran to Jamaica. All trains made all stops, 15 of them west of Queens Village. Fare
870-840: A separate service, the Babylon Branch . It is grade-separated on embankments or elevated structures. From Babylon east to Montauk, diesel-electric or dual-mode electric/diesel-electric locomotives haul trains of passenger coaches. The electrified portion of the Montauk Branch ends in the village of Babylon . Some of the diesel trains on the Montauk branch begin or end their runs at Babylon station, connecting with electric trains there. Other Montauk diesel trains operate into New York City, to Jamaica station; Hunterspoint Avenue or Long Island City stations in Long Island City ; or Penn Station. The Montauk Branch, along with
957-465: A temperature roughly midway between the extremes experienced at that location. (This is known as the "rail neutral temperature".) This installation procedure is intended to prevent tracks from buckling in summer heat or pulling apart in the winter cold. In North America, because broken rails are typically detected by interruption of the current in the signaling system, they are seen as less of a potential hazard than undetected heat kinks. Joints are used in
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#17327810886631044-492: A tunnel from Flatbush Avenue to Bedford Avenue, then placed on an elevated viaduct from Bedford Avenue to Ralph Avenue then depressed back into a tunnel until Manhattan Crossing located just west of East New York station. At East New York the line returned to grade level then rose onto another elevated viaduct until Atkins Ave. The rest of the line from Atkins Ave to Morris Park located just west of Jamaica remained at grade level along Atlantic Avenue with numerous grade crossings with
1131-471: Is 115 to 141 lb/yd (57 to 70 kg/m). In Europe, rail is graded in kilograms per metre and the usual range is 40 to 60 kg/m (81 to 121 lb/yd). The heaviest mass-produced rail was 155 pounds per yard (77 kg/m), rolled for the Pennsylvania Railroad . The rails used in rail transport are produced in sections of fixed length. Rail lengths are made as long as possible, as
1218-408: Is a manual process requiring a reaction crucible and form to contain the molten iron. North American practice is to weld 1 ⁄ 4 -mile-long (400 m) segments of rail at a rail facility and load it on a special train to carry it to the job site. This train is designed to carry many segments of rail which are placed so they can slide off their racks to the rear of the train and be attached to
1305-631: Is a short segment of single track) all the way through Babylon, becoming single track at Y Interlocking east of the Sayville station . Some Montauk Branch trains operate west to NYC via the diesel-only Central Branch , joining the Main Line east of Bethpage station . Only a few actually run via the Montauk Branch west of Babylon, under normal conditions on the Main Line. The Montauk Line has heavy ridership and frequent service as far as Patchogue station and commuter service as far as Speonk station . In
1392-494: Is cracking around the bolt holes, which can lead to breaking of the rail head (the running surface). This was the cause of the Hither Green rail crash which caused British Railways to begin converting much of its track to continuous welded rail. Where track circuits exist for signalling purposes, insulated block joints are required. These compound the weaknesses of ordinary joints. Specially-made glued joints, where all
1479-466: Is graded by its linear density , that is, its mass over a standard length. Heavier rail can support greater axle loads and higher train speeds without sustaining damage than lighter rail, but at a greater cost. In North America and the United Kingdom, rail is graded in pounds per yard (usually shown as pound or lb ), so 130-pound rail would weigh 130 lb/yd (64 kg/m). The usual range
1566-402: Is scarce and where tonnage or speeds are high. Steel is used in some applications. The track ballast is customarily crushed stone, and the purpose of this is to support the sleepers and allow some adjustment of their position, while allowing free drainage. A disadvantage of traditional track structures is the heavy demand for maintenance, particularly surfacing (tamping) and lining to restore
1653-456: Is starting to paint rails white to lower the peak temperatures reached in summer days. After new segments of rail are laid, or defective rails replaced (welded-in), the rails can be artificially stressed if the temperature of the rail during laying is cooler than what is desired. The stressing process involves either heating the rails, causing them to expand, or stretching the rails with hydraulic equipment. They are then fastened (clipped) to
1740-517: Is the transfer of instructions to the engineer and conductor by attaching the folded orders to the "hoop", a rod several feet long with a loop at the end that is passed from the ground to a moving train by catching the loop on one's arm. The last train to get hooped at PD was train 2730 on May 6, 2006. Currently, the Montauk Branch intersects with the Bushwick Branch , Bay Ridge Branch , West Hempstead Branch , and Central Branch , as well as
1827-767: Is to bolt them together using metal fishplates (jointbars in the US), producing jointed track . For more modern usage, particularly where higher speeds are required, the lengths of rail may be welded together to form continuous welded rail (CWR). Jointed track is made using lengths of rail, usually around 20 m (66 ft) long (in the UK) and 39 or 78 ft (12 or 24 m) long (in North America), bolted together using perforated steel plates known as fishplates (UK) or joint bars (North America). Fishplates are usually 600 mm (2 ft) long, used in pairs either side of
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#17327810886631914-435: Is usually considered for new very high speed or very high loading routes, in short extensions that require additional strength (e.g. railway stations), or for localised replacement where there are exceptional maintenance difficulties, for example in tunnels. Most rapid transit lines and rubber-tyred metro systems use ballastless track. Early railways (c. 1840s) experimented with continuous bearing railtrack, in which
2001-1025: The Broadway and Lexington Avenue els with a connection built at Chestnut Street in Brooklyn. This allowed BRT trains to access the Rockaways and Manhattan Beach, while affording the LIRR a connection into Manhattan to the BRT terminal located at Park Row over the Brooklyn Bridge (this service predated the opening of the East River Tunnels to Penn Station ). Nevertheless, the Interstate Commerce Commission ended this service in 1916 when they classified different operating standards between rapid transit trains (such as BRT trains) and regular heavy rail railroads (such as
2088-765: The Main Line at Long Island City and Jamaica and the Atlantic Branch at Jamaica and Valley Stream ; the Far Rockaway Branch and Long Beach Branch are connected via the Atlantic Branch at Valley Stream. In the past, junctions existed with the Rockaway Beach Branch (a quarter mile east of Woodhaven Boulevard ), Southern Hempstead Branch (Valley Stream to Hempstead ), Manorville Branch ( Eastport to Manorville on
2175-588: The 1870s, rails have almost universally been made from steel. The first railway in Britain was the Wollaton Wagonway , built in 1603 between Wollaton and Strelley in Nottinghamshire. It used wooden rails and was the first of around 50 wooden-railed tramways built over the next 164 years. These early wooden tramways typically used rails of oak or beech, attached to wooden sleepers with iron or wooden nails. Gravel or small stones were packed around
2262-662: The Atlantic Branch (then the Old Southern Road ) uses the old South Side to Springfield Junction. The line was soon reopened due to a lawsuit, but closed again by Austin Corbin as of January 6, 1881. Effective May 17, 1906, when an electrified third track opened alongside the Montauk Division from Springfield Junction to Valley Stream, the Old Southern Road and this new track became part of
2349-790: The Atlantic Division. Grade-crossing elimination work between Laurelton and Jamaica began in May 1958. East of Valley Stream, the Far Rockaway Branch continues to Far Rockaway and the Long Beach Branch continues to Long Beach . As of February 27, 2023 , the Atlantic Terminal, Nostrand Avenue, and East New York stations are primarily served by a shuttle running between Atlantic Terminal and Jamaica. These stations are also served by trains on
2436-632: The LIRR main line from Berlin Junction (west of Jamaica) to Rockaway Junction and the LIRR's Rockaway Branch to Springfield Junction , where it crossed the South Side. This change took effect June 25, 1876, and resulted in the closure of the South Side's Berlin, Beaver Street (Jamaica), Locust Avenue , and Springfield stations. This formed the current configuration, where the Montauk Branch follows this route, mostly ex-South Side, and
2523-543: The LIRR's Rockaway Branch to Springfield Junction , where it crossed the Southern. This change resulted in the closure of the Southern's Berlin , Beaver Street (Jamaica), Locust Avenue , and Springfield stations. The old line between Jamaica and Springfield, which became freight-only, was renamed the Old Southern Road . The Southern was reorganized as the Brooklyn and Montauk Railroad in 1879, and on March 14, 1880,
2610-740: The LIRR's request for the MTA's Twenty-Year Needs Assessment. West Hempstead Branch trains split off at VALLEY interlocking, just east of Valley Stream station . Babylon Branch trains terminate at Babylon, while Montauk Branch trains continue beyond. Many non-electric Montauk Branch trains that run express between Jamaica and Babylon run via the Main Line and Central Branch, with limited service to Mineola and Hicksville stations. [REDACTED] Media related to Montauk Branch (Long Island Rail Road) at Wikimedia Commons Track (rail transport) A railway track ( British English and UIC terminology ) or railroad track ( American English ), also known as
2697-518: The LIRR). By the late 1930s, it was clear that the rest of the line needed to be grade separated. Much of the surrounding area along Atlantic Avenue in Ozone Park and Richmond Hill began their suburban development leading to more traffic along Atlantic Avenue which was plagued by the line's many grade crossings. The City of New York along with the LIRR thus allocated the funds to depress the rest of
Montauk Branch - Misplaced Pages Continue
2784-525: The Lower Montauk. Soon after, full control of the Lower Montauk was transferred to the New York and Atlantic Railway for freight operations. The New York City Department of Transportation has periodically floated proposals to repurpose the Lower Montauk Branch for rapid transit operations. In 1984, the Department studied an option to connect the branch to the New York City Subway through
2871-656: The Main Line), and Sag Harbor Branch ( Bridgehampton to Sag Harbor ). In early times, the Scoot ran frequently between Greenport on the North Fork , "around the horn" on the Manorville Branch, and east to Sag Harbor. In their day, both of those villages were very busy, bustling ports. The South Side Railroad of Long Island built the line from Bushwick, Brooklyn to Patchogue in the 1860s, and completed
2958-411: The Main Line, and potential savings of $ 450,000 per year. The Town of East Hampton protested this proposed closure, highlighting the potential for increased vehicular traffic due to lack of alternative means of travel, and the line ultimately remained open. 1998 saw the closure of three lightly used stations: Center Moriches , Quogue , and Southampton College . Bellport was also due to be closed at
3045-549: The Montauk Branch rises to cross above the other tracks and turns southeast. At 40°40′01″N 73°44′49″W / 40.667°N 73.747°W / 40.667; -73.747 it swings parallel to the Atlantic Branch between its Laurelton and Rosedale stations. The Montauk Branch east of Jamaica is 0.7 mile longer than the Atlantic. The portion between Jamaica and Babylon stations has been electrified since 1925, and electric trains to Babylon are often identified as
3132-517: The Montauk Branch would likely be included in the 2019–2020 state budget. The funding would be used by the LIRR to design three passing sidings to be installed on the line in single-track territory between Speonk and Montauk. The installation of passing sidings would allow for increased service on the South Fork Commuter Connection. MTA President and CEO Pat Foye said that improvements to the Montauk Branch were identified in
3219-646: The Montauk Division – was extended east to the Sag Harbor Branch at Eastport. The Sag Harbor Branch east of Eastport became part of the Montauk Division, and the old line from Manor (Manorville) to Eastport became the Manor Branch . An extension to Montauk , splitting off the old Sag Harbor Branch at Bridgehampton, opened to Amagansett on June 1, 1895 and to Montauk by September, and the line between Bridgehampton and Sag Harbor reverted to
3306-455: The abandoned Montauk Cutoff merges with the branch, after both cross Dutch Kills. The Lower Montauk Branch had nine stations, four of which were closed by 1940. The remaining five stations ( Richmond Hill , Glendale , Fresh Pond , Haberman , and Penny Bridge ) were closed on March 13, 1998, due to low ridership and incompatibility with then-new C3 bi-level coach cars that can only use high platforms (only Richmond Hill had an actual platform;
3393-460: The anticipation of grade separating the line later on. Additionally a new terminal and yard was built at Flatbush and Atlantic Avenues. Electric service commenced in 1905 with the line consisting of two tracks between Flatbush Avenue and Woodhaven Junction and four tracks beyond that point to Jamaica. LIRR then ran two services along the line: the traditional commuter type services from points on eastern Long Island to Flatbush Avenue, along with what
3480-400: The bolt heads on the same side of the rail. Small gaps which function as expansion joints are deliberately left between the rail ends to allow for expansion of the rails in hot weather. European practice was to have the rail joints on both rails adjacent to each other, while North American practice is to stagger them. Because of these small gaps, when trains pass over jointed tracks they make
3567-723: The borough of Brooklyn . The line consists of two sections constructed separately. The portion of the line from Atlantic Terminal to Jamaica was constructed as part of the Brooklyn and Jamaica Railroad and opened in 1836, while the portion from Jamaica to Valley Stream was constructed as part of the South Side Railroad of Long Island in 1867. Partly underground and partly elevated, the Atlantic Branch runs from Atlantic Terminal in Downtown Brooklyn to Valley Stream , in Nassau County , where it becomes
Montauk Branch - Misplaced Pages Continue
3654-435: The canefields themselves. These tracks were narrow gauge (for example, 2 ft ( 610 mm )) and the portable track came in straights, curves, and turnouts, rather like on a model railway. Atlantic Branch The Atlantic Branch is an electrified rail line owned and operated by the Long Island Rail Road in the U.S. state of New York . It is the only LIRR line with revenue passenger service in
3741-465: The continuous welded rail when necessary, usually for signal circuit gaps. Instead of a joint that passes straight across the rail, the two rail ends are sometimes cut at an angle to give a smoother transition. In extreme cases, such as at the end of long bridges, a breather switch (referred to in North America and Britain as an expansion joint ) gives a smooth path for the wheels while allowing
3828-440: The desired track geometry and smoothness of vehicle running. Weakness of the subgrade and drainage deficiencies also lead to heavy maintenance costs. This can be overcome by using ballastless track. In its simplest form this consists of a continuous slab of concrete (like a highway structure) with the rails supported directly on its upper surface (using a resilient pad). There are a number of proprietary systems; variations include
3915-440: The end of one rail to expand relative to the next rail. A sleeper (tie or crosstie) is a rectangular object on which the rails are supported and fixed. The sleeper has two main roles: to transfer the loads from the rails to the track ballast and the ground underneath, and to hold the rails to the correct width apart (to maintain the rail gauge ). They are generally laid transversely to the rails. Various methods exist for fixing
4002-428: The gaps are filled with epoxy resin , increase the strength again. As an alternative to the insulated joint, audio frequency track circuits can be employed using a tuned loop formed in approximately 20 m (66 ft) of the rail as part of the blocking circuit. Some insulated joints are unavoidable within turnouts. Another alternative is an axle counter , which can reduce the number of track circuits and thus
4089-626: The intrinsic weakness in resisting vertical loading results in the ballast becoming depressed and a heavy maintenance workload is imposed to prevent unacceptable geometrical defects at the joints. The joints also needed to be lubricated, and wear at the fishplate (joint bar) mating surfaces needed to be rectified by shimming. For this reason jointed track is not financially appropriate for heavily operated railroads. Timber sleepers are of many available timbers, and are often treated with creosote , chromated copper arsenate , or other wood preservatives. Pre-stressed concrete sleepers are often used where timber
4176-480: The iron came loose, began to curl, and intruded into the floors of the coaches. The iron strap rail coming through the floors of the coaches came to be referred to as "snake heads" by early railroaders. The Deeside Tramway in North Wales used this form of rail. It opened around 1870 and closed in 1947, with long sections still using these rails. It was one of the last uses of iron-topped wooden rails. Rail
4263-402: The joints between rails are a source of weakness. Throughout the history of rail production, lengths have increased as manufacturing processes have improved. The following are lengths of single sections produced by steel mills , without any thermite welding . Shorter rails may be welded with flashbutt welding , but the following rail lengths are unwelded. Welding of rails into longer lengths
4350-515: The line from South Ferry to what is now 151st Street in Jamaica on April 18, 1836. Initially the line turned halfway between Classon and Franklin Avenues, running halfway between Herkimer Street and Schuyler Street (now Atlantic Avenue) along the line of the present Herkimer Place. It turned slightly to the southeast near Howard Avenue, crossing the centerline of Schuyler Street about one-third of
4437-420: The line from Morris Park to East New York in a tunnel. Building of the tunnel commenced in 1939 (although plans to build the tunnel date back to 1893) with two of the line's four tracks being pulled out of service and the rapid transit service being discontinued. On December 28, 1942, the tunnel was completed and opened with the two remaining at-grade tracks pulled out of service. Around this time Atlantic Avenue
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#17327810886634524-615: The line rises to street level to cross above the north-south, freight-only Bay Ridge Branch , then descends underground once more. Between East New York and Jamaica , the closed but intact station at Woodhaven Junction is visible. At 121st Street in Richmond Hill, Queens , the line rises to street level and passes the Morris Park Facility before joining the elevated Main Line at Jamaica. Immediately east of Jamaica,
4611-574: The line turns southeast, ducking beneath the eastward Main Line tracks. It curves parallel to the Montauk Branch after a few miles and continues next to it to Valley Interlocking in Valley Stream. The current Atlantic Branch is the successor to two separate lines: the Brooklyn and Jamaica Railroad (opened 1836) along Atlantic Avenue from Flatbush Avenue to Jamaica, and the South Side Railroad of Long Island (opened 1867) from Jamaica to Valley Stream. The Brooklyn and Jamaica Railroad opened
4698-463: The line west of Jamaica is currently unused for passenger service. A select number of Montauk Branch trains operate via the Main Line and Central Branch during peak hours. The westernmost portion of the Montauk Branch in Queens, known as the "Lower Montauk," runs between the Long Island City and Jamaica stations , mostly at street level with grade crossings . East of the Long Island City station,
4785-888: The mid- to late-20th century used rails 39 feet (11.9 m) long so they could be carried in gondola cars ( open wagons ), often 40 feet (12.2 m) long; as gondola sizes increased, so did rail lengths. According to the Railway Gazette International the planned-but-cancelled 150-kilometre rail line for the Baffinland Iron Mine , on Baffin Island , would have used older carbon steel alloys for its rails, instead of more modern, higher performance alloys, because modern alloy rails can become brittle at very low temperatures. Early North American railroads used iron on top of wooden rails as an economy measure but gave up this method of construction after
4872-535: The name was changed from the Southern Division to the Montauk Division . Thus the old South Side Railroad, except between Jamaica and Springfield Junction, was now the Montauk Division. The LIRR opened the Sag Harbor Branch , including the present Montauk Branch from Eastport to Bridgehampton , on June 8, 1870. On July 27, 1881, after the South Side became part of the LIRR, its line – then
4959-622: The new line to Long Island City in 1870. With the reorganization of the South Side as the Southern Railroad of Long Island in 1874 and its lease by the LIRR in 1876, this line became the Southern Railroad Division , Southern Railroad of Long Island Division , or simply Southern Division . Effective Sunday, June 25, 1876, all Southern Division passenger trains were rerouted to use the LIRR main line from Berlin Junction (west of Jamaica) to Rockaway Junction , and
5046-620: The number of insulated rail joints required. Most modern railways use continuous welded rail (CWR), sometimes referred to as ribbon rails or seamless rails . In this form of track, the rails are welded together by utilising flash butt welding to form one continuous rail that may be several kilometres long. Because there are few joints, this form of track is very strong, gives a smooth ride, and needs less maintenance; trains can travel on it at higher speeds and with less friction. Welded rails are more expensive to lay than jointed tracks, but have much lower maintenance costs. The first welded track
5133-434: The old Sag Harbor Branch name. Electrification of the Montauk Division from Jamaica to Babylon was completed on May 20, 1925, and normal operation began the next day. The Central Extension between Bethpage and Babylon was reopened for freight trains that had run via the Montauk Division. The Montauk station was initially near the center of a sleepy fishing village at the north end of Fort Pond (where Austin Corbin built
5220-516: The other four stations' platforms were just pavement strips beside the tracks). After these stations closed, the LIRR continued to use the Lower Montauk to operate non-stop trains between Jamaica and Long Island City rather than divert them to the Main Line; there were only two such trains at the time of the 1998 station closures, one westbound in the morning, and one eastbound in the evening. These two trains were re-routed north to Hunterspoint Avenue in 2012, effectively ceasing passenger train service on
5307-404: The outside of sharp curves compared to the rails on the inside. Rails can be supplied pre-drilled with boltholes for fishplates or without where they will be welded into place. There are usually two or three boltholes at each end. Rails are produced in fixed lengths and need to be joined end-to-end to make a continuous surface on which trains may run. The traditional method of joining the rails
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#17327810886635394-495: The parallel Atlantic Branch, spawns three subsidiary branches: the West Hempstead Branch , Far Rockaway Branch , and Long Beach Branch . The terminal stations in diesel territory, east of Babylon, are Patchogue, Speonk, Southampton, and Montauk; South Fork Commuter Connection shuttles may short-turn at Hampton Bays and Amagansett. The Montauk Branch is double-tracked from just east of Long Island City (where there
5481-423: The quality of the materials, including the change from iron to steel. The stronger the rails and the rest of the trackwork, the heavier and faster the trains the track can carry. Other profiles of rail include: bullhead rail ; grooved rail ; flat-bottomed rail (Vignoles rail or flanged T-rail); bridge rail (inverted U–shaped used in baulk road ); and Barlow rail (inverted V). North American railroads until
5568-682: The rail by special clips that resist longitudinal movement of the rail. There is no theoretical limit to how long a welded rail can be. However, if longitudinal and lateral restraint are insufficient, the track could become distorted in hot weather and cause a derailment. Distortion due to heat expansion is known in North America as sun kink , and elsewhere as buckling. In extreme hot weather special inspections are required to monitor sections of track known to be problematic. In North American practice, extreme temperature conditions will trigger slow orders to allow for crews to react to buckling or "sun kinks" if encountered. The German railway company Deutsche Bahn
5655-425: The rail ends and bolted together (usually four, but sometimes six bolts per joint). The bolts have alternating orientations so that in the event of a derailment and a wheel flange striking the joint, only some of the bolts will be sheared, reducing the likelihood of the rails misaligning with each other and exacerbating the derailment. This technique is not applied universally; European practice being to have all
5742-500: The rail to the sleeper. Historically, spikes gave way to cast iron chairs fixed to the sleeper. More recently, springs (such as Pandrol clips ) are used to fix the rail to the sleeper chair. Sometimes rail tracks are designed to be portable and moved from one place to another as required. During construction of the Panama Canal , tracks were moved around excavation works. These track gauge were 5 ft ( 1,524 mm ) and
5829-655: The rail was supported along its length, with examples including Brunel's baulk road on the Great Western Railway , as well as use on the Newcastle and North Shields Railway , on the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway to a design by John Hawkshaw , and elsewhere. Continuous-bearing designs were also promoted by other engineers. The system was tested on the Baltimore and Ohio railway in the 1840s, but
5916-562: The rolling stock full size. Portable tracks have often been used in open pit mines. In 1880 in New York City , sections of heavy portable track (along with much other improvised technology) helped in the move of the ancient obelisk in Central Park to its final location from the dock where it was unloaded from the cargo ship SS Dessoug . Cane railways often had permanent tracks for the main lines, with portable tracks serving
6003-485: The same time, but was kept open and upgraded following community opposition. Southampton College was temporarily reinstated for the 2004 and 2018 U.S. Open tournaments at the nearby Shinnecock Hills Golf Club , along with a steel walkway over Montauk Highway . At the conclusion of the tournament, the walkway was dismantled and the temporary platform was removed. On April 16, 2019, New York State Assemblyman Fred Thiele announced that funding to design improvements on
6090-426: The sleepers in their expanded form. This process ensures that the rail will not expand much further in subsequent hot weather. In cold weather the rails try to contract, but because they are firmly fastened, cannot do so. In effect, stressed rails are a bit like a piece of stretched elastic firmly fastened down. In extremely cold weather, rails are heated to prevent "pull aparts". CWR is laid (including fastening) at
6177-617: The sleepers to hold them in place and provide a walkway for the people or horses that moved wagons along the track. The rails were usually about 3 feet (0.91 m) long and were not joined - instead, adjacent rails were laid on a common sleeper. The straight rails could be angled at these joints to form primitive curved track. The first iron rails laid in Britain were at the Darby Ironworks in Coalbrookdale in 1767. When steam locomotives were introduced, starting in 1804,
6264-540: The sleepers with base plates that spread the load. When concrete sleepers are used, a plastic or rubber pad is usually placed between the rail and the tie plate. Rail is usually attached to the sleeper with resilient fastenings, although cut spikes are widely used in North America. For much of the 20th century, rail track used softwood timber sleepers and jointed rails, and a considerable amount of this track remains on secondary and tertiary routes. In North America and Australia, flat-bottomed rails were typically fastened to
6351-480: The sleepers with dog spikes through a flat tie plate. In Britain and Ireland, bullhead rails were carried in cast-iron chairs which were spiked to the sleepers. In 1936, the London, Midland and Scottish Railway pioneered the conversion to flat-bottomed rail in Britain, though earlier lines had made some use of it. Jointed rails were used at first because contemporary technology did not offer any alternative. However,
6438-660: The south side of the station, south of Hall tower and the south Union Hall Street platform and on to Holban Yard . Those two tracks now carry trains to/from the Hillside Facility that has replaced Holban Yard; they can also carry nonstop Main Line trains past Jamaica station. East from Jamaica the Montauk Branch runs between the Main Line tracks (with two usually westward Main Line tracks north of it and two eastward tracks south of it) until just west of Hillside Facility . At 40°42′21″N 73°47′04″W / 40.70585°N 73.7845°W / 40.70585; -73.7845
6525-661: The summer, with travelers going out to The Hamptons , Fire Island and other beaches, additional service is operated to the far eastern terminal at Montauk, such as the Cannonball , a Friday afternoon train departing from Penn Station (originally Hunterspoint Avenue) and running non-stop to Westhampton station in Westhampton . The Montauk Branch was home to the last tower in North America that regularly used "hooping" train operations: PD Tower , in Patchogue. "Hooping"
6612-511: The ties (sleepers) in a continuous operation. If not restrained, rails would lengthen in hot weather and shrink in cold weather. To provide this restraint, the rail is prevented from moving in relation to the sleeper by use of clips or anchors. Attention needs to be paid to compacting the ballast effectively, including under, between, and at the ends of the sleepers, to prevent the sleepers from moving. Anchors are more common for wooden sleepers, whereas most concrete or steel sleepers are fastened to
6699-406: The track then in use proved too weak to carry the additional weight. Richard Trevithick 's pioneering locomotive at Pen-y-darren broke the plateway track and had to be withdrawn. As locomotives became more widespread in the 1810s and 1820s, engineers built rigid track formations, with iron rails mounted on stone sleepers, and cast-iron chairs holding them in place. This proved to be a mistake, and
6786-467: The two-track Long Beach Branch with the two-track Far Rockaway Branch splitting southward just east of the Valley Stream station . The section between Atlantic Terminal and Bedford Avenue is underground along Atlantic Avenue . From there the line is elevated above the median of Atlantic Avenue to Dewey Place (with a stop at Nostrand Avenue ) before returning underground. At East New York
6873-405: The way between Hopkinson Avenue (Thomas Boyland Street) and Paca Avenue (Rockaway Avenue). It crossed into the town of New Lots just beyond Stone Avenue (Mother Gaston Boulevard). The Atlantic Branch was one of the first lines in the LIRR system slated to be electrified. In anticipation of this the entire line to Jamaica was to be grade separated. Between 1903 and 1905 the line was depressed into
6960-605: Was built just west of the Woodhaven Junction station to connect the two lines, but these closed after the abandonment of the Rockaway Beach Branch between 1955 and 1962. The portion east of Jamaica was opened by the South Side Railroad of Long Island on October 28, 1867, as part of its initial line from Jamaica to Babylon . With the consolidation of the South Side into the Long Island Rail Road system in 1876, all passenger trains were rerouted to use
7047-412: Was called the "local rapid transit " service, frequent elevated/subway like service at lower fare between Flatbush Ave and Queens Village . Although referred to as a rapid transit service, standard LIRR cars were used, and the service was operated by regular railroad rules. At this time the line from Jamaica to East New York had many more stations along Atlantic Avenue spaced at closer intervals, much like
7134-467: Was first introduced around 1893, making train rides quieter and safer. With the introduction of thermite welding after 1899, the process became less labour-intensive, and ubiquitous. Modern production techniques allowed the production of longer unwelded segments. Newer longer rails tend to be made as simple multiples of older shorter rails, so that old rails can be replaced without cutting. Some cutting would be needed as slightly longer rails are needed on
7221-432: Was found to be more expensive to maintain than rail with cross sleepers . This type of track still exists on some bridges on Network Rail where the timber baulks are called waybeams or longitudinal timbers. Generally the speed over such structures is low. Later applications of continuously supported track include Balfour Beatty 's 'embedded slab track', which uses a rounded rectangular rail profile (BB14072) embedded in
7308-542: Was probably 10 cents for 13 miles Queens Village to Brooklyn, compared to about 40 cents on "express" LIRR trains making six or seven stops (but a monthly ticket good on any train was $ 7.10). For a while the LIRR operated joint service along the Atlantic Branch with the Brooklyn Rapid Transit company (BRT) consisting of two connections, one with the Fifth Ave El at Flatbush Avenue, and another with
7395-466: Was raised over the East New York station via a viaduct that separated the road and the railroad. The elevated trestle from East New York to Atkins Avenue was also demolished as it had been included in the new tunnel to Jamaica. Only one station was included in the new tunnel: Woodhaven Junction, where the Atlantic Branch crossed under the Rockaway Beach Branch . An interlocking and track connection
7482-466: Was soon replaced with flexible track structures that allowed a degree of elastic movement as trains passed over them. Traditionally, tracks are constructed using flat-bottomed steel rails laid on and spiked or screwed into timber or pre-stressed concrete sleepers (known as ties in North America), with crushed stone ballast placed beneath and around the sleepers. Most modern railroads with heavy traffic use continuously welded rails that are attached to
7569-505: Was used in Germany in 1924. and has become common on main lines since the 1950s. The preferred process of flash butt welding involves an automated track-laying machine running a strong electric current through the touching ends of two unjoined rails. The ends become white hot due to electrical resistance and are then pressed together forming a strong weld. Thermite welding is used to repair or splice together existing CWR segments. This
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