I would imagine, that there are bigger machines, which make the process a lot more comfortable and faster, but they maybe too expensive for just „some“ joints.
When laying down new rail there will be several crews working on welded joints simultaneously. A dozen crews or more could complete several kilometers of rail per day.
I thermit weld now for almost 4 years and i can tell those guys are experienced even tho you dont see how they prepared the rail for the actual welding process. Like cutting the necessary gap with a flame torch and setting the rails even with almost zero tolerance. Hats off to anyone who survived this job for more than 1 year. Even tho you see the "actual" work done its also the easiest thing about the day. But carrying this heavy equipment to where the rails have to be welded is the hardest part for us. Sometimes we push it on a wagon that fits on the rail tracks miles since u cant reach it with the working car & if you have a bad day you have to push it uphill. To this day its always a challenge, for all of us. Guys who looked like the rock quit after 1 week saying its too hard for them. This job exposes men that thought they are the toughest. Having and finding the will every single day is what keeps you welding rails no matter how tough you are. So if anyone looks for challenge i can recommend to go for it. The treat you will get is good money and back pain really fast x)
@@HourTruth The temperature is changing throughout the year, therefore the rail has to be clamped to the sleepers really tightly so it doesn't move. When it is hotter the rail is under pressure, when it is colder, the rail is under tension.
everything we do is about transferring energy so it would make sense that the tool made to transfer energy to pretty much anything is pretty essential lol.
There must be a lot of sprained ankles and knees in this job. Moving heavy, awkward equipment around between rails and ties it's just a matter of time.
@@ratatad4944 I'm making an educated guess so take it or don't. I'd say with the physical labor, skill and risk added up... bout 50 an hour with a very decent retirement plan. (The skill and risk are the factors the labor doesn't command a high wage) I'd wager the Obama care scam fucked these guys out of about 15-20k per year in medical depending on how many children they have. I'd also be very surprised if these particular folks didn't get in big trouble for not wearing their safety glasses properly. I'm not judging them mind you, but if their supervisor sees this he will be. That's why you never post videos like this of people you like. A family posted a few pics of my co- workers doing a great job for them on social media(Facebook) and the business manager saw it and they got 3 weeks no pay. The family felt awful but you gotta wear your bs or work for yourself. Do your yoga boys, your backs will thank me No joke. That yoga is hard and it's pure therapy Slow slow therapy.
@@richardpatterson4312 This video is in Sweden. They have universal healthcare (which obamacare was fundamentally trying to implement in the US) therefore rendering this comment about obamacare invalid. As it is in Sweden they will likely get paid very well and the public pension plan itself is great - Sweden is a world leader in social care and social services. I agree about the safety glasses comment and it does look like they will be in dire need of yoga to avoid health issues.
Fantastic, I studied this process 50 years ago as a welding apprentice but never saw it before, this joining of railway lines was the only application it was used for then. For those that do not understand welding, it is still done today as before because while the set up is slower the overall process is faster than a manual process, the rail contour would be a pain to manually weld and dam. Thermite welding deposits a very high quality weld and not to forget this is a "Hatfield Steel" an 11 - 14% Manganese steel, not so easy, except of course to you experts out there.
Howard Glen Flashbutt welding is used in the manufacture of long lengths of welded rail, but when it comes to joining those lengths up in situ it's usually thermite welded
David Richards Not so, there is mobile rail flash butt welding machinery available, it doesn't tend to get used much because difficulties with track access, availability and cost all tend to favour aluminothermic welding currently.
David Richards Thanks David, you saved a non-welder (that would be me obviously) from asking what might have been a silly question. My first thought was stick weld it, apparently that would be completely wrong.
Yep they know what they are doing. Its a old video and lots of things could be done "smarter" like the hammering afterwards. We did that years ago to get the excess stell off before grinding. Now you just lift the yellow cutting machine (what you see in the video after they welded it) and rip the steal off without damaging the weld. It saves lots of energy and time for everyone. Its a tough job but very well paid.
Thank you for your knowledgeable reply Simon. Many decades ago, when I was a teen, I spoke with a chemist who told me that decades earlier this method was used to weld trolley tracks.
When I was a little kid, I actually wondered... "How do they transport and install such massively long metal rails? It never occurred to my kid brain they were welded from smaller pieces. I thought rails must be installed from small pieces. But I never saw any seams so I ruled that out. So I thought to myself, "How the F do they do it?" HAHA! In my defense, not many 10-year-old kids have a concept for welding. C'mon.
Watching this and seeing all the specialized tools and machines that have to be manufactured specifically to do a particular job, is just amazing. Never seen anything done like this before . I'm assuming it has definite advantages over conventional welding which is why they're doing it? Stronger weld?
Which requires 16,000 more welds, or 32,000 if you count both sides. They weld just every 200 meter or so, which means a true professional team like this can cover many kilometers in a day's work.
I commend you on going to med school--- and watching videos like this---, but I ask you to please study WHY western medicine does not cure disease, but only treats it. Be one of those rebel doctors who does not just write popular prescription, but actually tells people to eat right, exercise, take iodine, supplements, and things like colloidal silver and liver gallstone cleanses when needed...
I will explain. 1) There is a clamp in place to hold the ends together as he heat treats them. This clamp also acts as a guide/holder for the thermite. 2) They use the thermite to bond the two ends together using the heat and pressure generated. 3) They remove the apparatus and clamps then proceed to knock off the slag (waste material) on the outside while it is still hot and brittle. 4) All that's left is for it to cool (which takes a while) then polish out any rough spots and check the quality of the weld. You can see a finished weld behind them if you look closely enough. Hope that clarifies things for you. :-)
Wolfgang Lendner even with more ballast in b/w there, those ties seem a lot larger then what i normally see here. is the track gauge any different too?
sik59rt The track gauge is mostly 1435 millimeters here in sweden, but we have a couple of active tracks (Roslagsbanan, for instance) with the older gauge of 891 millimeters. On Inlandsbanan shown here (which is not part of the regular railroad network) they mostly have tourists and residents travelling. I'm not sure what the max speed is because it differs due to location, but the trains can make it up to 130 km/h.
Isn't this before the ballast ? You have to surround ties whether concrete or wooden to prevent shifting I would think. Unless the concrete ties are so heavy they require no ballast, but I doubt that is the case. Interesting video.
@@davidthedustyhampton690 iirc thermite gives off a lot of UV, so UV blocking glasses may be what the safety folks are asking for. Also if your thermite goes crazy you can get sparks and little bits of metal flying around, which they probably would help with, just not the molten stuff.
good question, the rail can take contraction much more than expansion, at worst it will break and leave a small gap, the rail will still be fastened to the sleepers with no misalignment and derailment very unlikely, a buckle would almost certainly derail the train.
Thermite welding is done if there is a crack in railroad, and to compensate expansion and contraction of rails there will be gaps left b/w adjacent rails
Well only some of the gaps are welded there still needs to be some gaps left cause of thermal expansion so that the steel would have space to expand uninterrupted
First it doesn't cause stress on the train only the rails Secondly when tracks are bolted together a gap is still left between the tracks and the bolt holes are wider So that's how you avoid stress just leave some gaps once every few dozen meters of track
since I read this comment and watched the video again it really shows a super human with flaming gorilla arms trying his chance in welding industry. I cannot stop laughing, thank you.
brett248vista No, that wasnt it. I am a railroad worker and i recently worked with the team welding the rails together in exactly the same way, and it never made that sound. The sound either came from someone hitting the rail nearby (You can hear someone hitting it with a hammer from quite a distance if you are standing close to the rail) or from someone splitting a rail in two (We had this happen, because we were removing a 5m long piece of rail, and then welding a new one in its place, and when it separated, it was under big stresses, it would snap out of place slightly, making that sound.)
brett248vista You can see the guy in the back, he hit the rail with the hammer, if you look closely. Rails are finely aligned on two ends, with hammers. You can only get them so aligned by placing them and pushing them around (Takes A LOT of people to do this) and to move them such small amounts you hit them with a hammer/sledgehammer.
I'm new to learning of this reaction. From a typical weld like such, what are you using and how much of it is waste once the reaction is finished? Great idea for welding and very cool!
where im from they dont weld railroad, it gets hot in summer and cold in winter so it needs to expand and retract alot more.. they just leave a small gap inbetween each section..
All new tracks laid in both Norway and Sweden are thermite welded, there's tracks going via Kiruna and up to Narvik in norway, Kiruna sees average temperatures as low as -22 in the winter and average highs as high as 17.9(acording to wikipedia). To acomodate for thermal expantion/retraction they are using Pandrol e-clip and fastclip to fasten the rails rather than bolting them down as more traditional with jointed tracks.
Zphyra Ryuu if your "hot" means 40-50 C , then i'd agree these welds will work just fine in regions with a large range of temperature difference in winters and summers.
Israel Ayala Could you explain why? I like to see people working with impressive skills and using advanced technology. A tad better than seeing all those smartphone zombies staring at their screens with blank eyes while sleepwalking through red lights.
Thank you so much for this tutorial. My buddy and I are trying to build a railroad track through are back yard and couldn’t figure it it how to do this part. We went through so many termites😂
+Monel Funkawitz Someone else hitting the rail with a hammer further up the track, probably one of the other team of welders you can see in the distance.
That sound is created by vibrations traveling down the rail. The rail is shaped like an H, and the two "high points" (in relation to the H) act like a tuning fork. A really long tuning fork. So, instead of the vibration just getting passed back and forth between the two tongs of a tuning fork, it gets passed back and forth, and down along the track, making the sound travel away. I know it's not the simplest, or clearest explanation, (or punctual) but I hope it helps answer that question.
Chill Bro Main reason to use the thermite, if i remember correctly is because it sets in a way that makes the top extremely hard and durable, and the bottom, quite flexible. Don't ask me how it happens, but i think that's why they still do it this way.
I was told they had to leave the 1cm or however big it is gap between the two rails and only have the connectors on the side keeping them aligned, so that when the rail expands from heat during the summer, it wouldn't bend the track. Did they solve that somehow in the past 20-30 years?
The sound effect for the laser blasters in the original Star Wars movie was created by hitting the steel cables of the Severn Bridge (a suspension bridge in the United Kingdom, across the River Severn) with big wrenches (or spanners if you're British). So I guess twatting a train track with a hammer makes a similar noise.
Great respect to their job. Hardly to imagine what forces act at the welding points during summer and winter (push and pulling forces, hot sun and cold froze). The welding must last for a long time.
@@SgtStickyTits the welding itself isnt much labor. But preparing and moving heavy equipment is what is killing you. Trust me its tough and most men dont survive 2 weeks as rail welders
The extremely specialized equipment (this ain't your body and fender spot welder) and the procedures that have become second nature to these rail workers is what is impressive to me. Curious what the dollar per hour wage would be for this type of work. Thanks Mr Lendner for the clip.
I Thermite Welded for the CNR back in 1981-82 (then Joint Welding and Magnesium Frogs). It was very similar to this video except for the crucible. Ours were much more antiquated ! But the Molds, Shields, Slag Pots and Packing Paste appear "almost" identical. We used Hot Cut and Sledge for knocking the over-welds off but eventually were rewarded and equipped with (what appear to be the very same) hand-powered Sheers and ultimately Powered Sheers.
Tyler Garrett I work as a "rallare" as it's called in Sweden and I take out about 32-35k Swedish Crowns ( about 4000-4200 US dollars ) after my 33% tax every month.
Tyler Garrett Well that depends. Minimum is a 4-5 year education as a railway technician or at least in the same category ( Heavy Construction/electricity/welding ) and then before you have any hope of getting a job in the field you are gonna need an internship. In my case it was two years working lines with shit pay for a sub contractor doing "greenwork" which is cleaning tools and driving the vehicles from locations and watching the "grown ups" do their job. Then you have to do a field test when your supervisor thinks you are ready. If you pass you get a railway technician certification (proving you have some experince in the field ) and you can start looking for a job. But even then you'll be considered a rookie and hard work is the only cure. A few years in the field and the big money starts rolling in. And if you work nights or winter shifts ( -30 Celsius soemtimes) you gonna be swimming in cash in no time :) I'm only 33 and I haul cargo in the weekends ( semitrucks ) and hunt & sell meat during my vacation and in 6-7 years time I will be able to retire and live a good life on my savings. But I love it and will probably continue as long as I have the body for it.
I'm always amazed at the number of construction workers who won't wear protective gear for their own safety. Why do they even have to be told? Don't they value their sight/hearing/body enough on their own to want to protect it without needing to be told to do so? Stupid...
Maybe the lack of forward thinking is partly why many of them are in construction. I'm in construction and I see a lot of not so bright guys who fell into the trade since other opportunities were wasted. not always the case but it's more common than you would see in an engineering office.
gearsNtools Oh, I see it all the time. Mostly the young guys, need to prove they're macho or something. Usually they get smarter as they put in some years. The older fellow here, the one doing the work, definitely should know better.
Here’s what I don’t understand about welding the rails...when rails are bolted together with connector plates, the rails are gapped about 12mm apart to allow for heat expansion (otherwise the rails will distort)...so what method is used to allow for expansion in welded rails?
12mm would be a wide rail gap, it's usually much smaller than that. Heat expansion is taken care of in continuous welded rail by stressing it using hydraulic tensors to local weather conditions so that it can withstand the tension in the winter and pressure in the summer. In the UK expansion joints are installed IIRC at least once every five miles on plain line and around points and crossing layouts.
They're putting in a new rail beside my building right now. I was wondering after seeing the separate rails that all appear to be one long rail now, how they fused them so perfectly.. I came across this video randomly without searching so that was a nice coincidence. Anyway, very interesting!
Spihk heart bust!? spihk heart bust can you tell Sarah from the Bible to tell Jonah from the Bible to explain that Zumo's brother's bathroom doorway dad's brother's look alike's brother hated seeing and hearing two employees at Family dollar kissing near the Jamaican meat Patties!!!!!¡!!!!¡!!!!!!
Here in Sweden they last a lot longer than wood. Wood ties are usually replaced every 8-10 years here thanks to the winters and such. The concrete ones last 35-40 years.
I'm a Union Irinworker in Ct, and we rehabbed a railroad bridge in South Norwalk, gotta be almost 20 years now! I watched this up close and personal. It was pretty cool shit!
Thermite sure does a great job of melting steel when that energy is controlled and focused on a particular point. I wonder what else it's been used for...🤔
Lot of work to weld two pieces of steel together, but very interesting project. Any reason that they can't be MIG welded instead? Much faster and much less work.
Arc welding a gap like that to be able to stand the same stresses and reliably pass ultrasonic testing would be no quicker and if anything probably longer. Thermite welds are pretty quick and perhaps more importantly reliable.
Yes, I worked with the aliens and the NSA putting thermite in to cause downfall of US America, thermite everywhere in building, lifts, carpets, sandwiches. How you discover?
so many steps, tools, and time to do just one, cant even imagine doing an entire road, mad respect
I would imagine, that there are bigger machines, which make the process a lot more comfortable and faster, but they maybe too expensive for just „some“ joints.
I guess that's why railroad construction usually takes such a long time
When laying down new rail there will be several crews working on welded joints simultaneously. A dozen crews or more could complete several kilometers of rail per day.
This is the appropriate amount of talking on the job.
Yeah, when the cameras on
Bruh go watch the Indian version 😂
@@unphazd5137 I'm guessing they were a bit more chatty lol!
This is a introverts dream job
Let me guess, you are in the middle management? Supervisor maybe?
I thermit weld now for almost 4 years and i can tell those guys are experienced even tho you dont see how they prepared the rail for the actual welding process. Like cutting the necessary gap with a flame torch and setting the rails even with almost zero tolerance. Hats off to anyone who survived this job for more than 1 year. Even tho you see the "actual" work done its also the easiest thing about the day. But carrying this heavy equipment to where the rails have to be welded is the hardest part for us. Sometimes we push it on a wagon that fits on the rail tracks miles since u cant reach it with the working car & if you have a bad day you have to push it uphill. To this day its always a challenge, for all of us.
Guys who looked like the rock quit after 1 week saying its too hard for them. This job exposes men that thought they are the toughest. Having and finding the will every single day is what keeps you welding rails no matter how tough you are. So if anyone looks for challenge i can recommend to go for it. The treat you will get is good money and back pain really fast x)
И как это устраняет факт температурного расширения рельса? Или там температура не меняется во времени?
What’s average pay for this job?
@@HourTruth The temperature is changing throughout the year, therefore the rail has to be clamped to the sleepers really tightly so it doesn't move. When it is hotter the rail is under pressure, when it is colder, the rail is under tension.
No matter how advanced or ingenious the tools are, seems like the 'hammer' is always essential.
It's Hammer Time !!!!!!
One of mankind’s oldest tools.
For Hand Levers!
i was told if you cant fix it with a hammer get a bigger hammer
everything we do is about transferring energy so it would make sense that the tool made to transfer energy to pretty much anything is pretty essential lol.
Would've been nice to see the finished job.
Go look at a railroad and you'll see the finished job.
@@garettjohnson2234 Nonsense. If you show as much as they did, you show the finished job.
@@electronicsNmore i know i was just kidding
Why didn't they just use some jet fuel? As the twin towers 200.000 tons of steel melted so easy.
Youll have your chance in 2030. Hunger Games.
Over 140 years later and we're still using thermite-it really has stood the test of time.
Using steel since the Asians taught you
@@thatdude3977not right. Europe has invented the process of making steel and also the first train.
@@yisakii8397that's what *they taught* you
@@unphazd5137 "They" also taught us that the Earth was round. What's your point?
I use it everyday in call of duty
The ending is so unsatisfying. Show us the damn result!
Look at the right rail... the silver part is what the finaly looks like
yeah no.
this is finished
very unsatisfaction, didnt melt the rail metal
look dude.the vidio is ended.
There must be a lot of sprained ankles and knees in this job. Moving heavy, awkward equipment around between rails and ties it's just a matter of time.
@CMDR BouncyStickman what would someone expect to be paid in this profession though?
@@ratatad4944 I'm making an educated guess so take it or don't. I'd say with the physical labor, skill and risk added up... bout 50 an hour with a very decent retirement plan. (The skill and risk are the factors the labor doesn't command a high wage)
I'd wager the Obama care scam fucked these guys out of about 15-20k per year in medical depending on how many children they have.
I'd also be very surprised if these particular folks didn't get in big trouble for not wearing their safety glasses properly. I'm not judging them mind you, but if their supervisor sees this he will be.
That's why you never post videos like this of people you like.
A family posted a few pics of my co- workers doing a great job for them on social media(Facebook) and the business manager saw it and they got 3 weeks no pay. The family felt awful but you gotta wear your bs or work for yourself.
Do your yoga boys, your backs will thank me
No joke. That yoga is hard and it's pure therapy
Slow slow therapy.
@@richardpatterson4312 This video is in Sweden. They have universal healthcare (which obamacare was fundamentally trying to implement in the US) therefore rendering this comment about obamacare invalid. As it is in Sweden they will likely get paid very well and the public pension plan itself is great - Sweden is a world leader in social care and social services.
I agree about the safety glasses comment and it does look like they will be in dire need of yoga to avoid health issues.
Alex Ross thanks for that
@@richardpatterson4312 only douchebags do yoga
Fantastic, I studied this process 50 years ago as a welding apprentice but never saw it before, this joining of railway lines was the only application it was used for then.
For those that do not understand welding, it is still done today as before because while the set up is slower the overall process is faster than a manual process, the rail contour would be a pain to manually weld and dam. Thermite welding deposits a very high quality weld and not to forget this is a "Hatfield Steel" an 11 - 14% Manganese steel, not so easy, except of course to you experts out there.
David Richards I thought that they used flash butt welding for rails.
Howard Glen Flashbutt welding is used in the manufacture of long lengths of welded rail, but when it comes to joining those lengths up in situ it's usually thermite welded
***** To flash butt weld these rails on site would require them to have their own electrical sub station, the KVA requirements would be enormous.
David Richards Not so, there is mobile rail flash butt welding machinery available, it doesn't tend to get used much because difficulties with track access, availability and cost all tend to favour aluminothermic welding currently.
David Richards Thanks David, you saved a non-welder (that would be me obviously) from asking what might have been a silly question. My first thought was stick weld it, apparently that would be completely wrong.
Watched years ago and here I am again.. Great video.
Imagine 5 years later someone randomly brought you back for a random comment 🤷♂️
@@gavinoliver8074 lol
Same
Yes
Why didn't they just use some jet fuel? As the twin towers 200.000 tons of steel melted so easy.
Best thermite weld video on the “Tube.” Unlike some others, these guys know what they’re doing!
Yep they know what they are doing. Its a old video and lots of things could be done "smarter" like the hammering afterwards. We did that years ago to get the excess stell off before grinding. Now you just lift the yellow cutting machine (what you see in the video after they welded it) and rip the steal off without damaging the weld. It saves lots of energy and time for everyone. Its a tough job but very well paid.
@@yisakii8397why don't they just use jet fuel?
@@anthonybaiocchi3028 what you mean by that? Welding with jet fuel?
@@yisakii8397 I thought jet fuel could melt steel beams?
@@anthonybaiocchi3028 i guess in america its possible but not here in europe
Thank you for your knowledgeable reply Simon. Many decades ago, when I was a teen, I spoke with a chemist who told me that decades earlier this method was used to weld trolley tracks.
When I was a little kid, I actually wondered... "How do they transport and install such massively long metal rails? It never occurred to my kid brain they were welded from smaller pieces. I thought rails must be installed from small pieces. But I never saw any seams so I ruled that out. So I thought to myself, "How the F do they do it?" HAHA! In my defense, not many 10-year-old kids have a concept for welding. C'mon.
Did you wear a special helmet when you were a kid?
+Mick Obrien OOOH GET YOU!!! Bet you wear a special helmet!!!😂
jeremy western Go away, dorkboy!
+Mick Obrien HA HA OBRIENS UPSET!!!!
THATLL LEARN YA!!!
u stupid piece of shit
Where are the termites?
+WarthDader74 Thermite not termite, idiot
Bryce Dabney There actually is something called termite welding, where they use termites. So no, I am not an idiot.
+WarthDader74 I guarantee you there is no such thing as termite welding
12345Unicornio That's strange, I have seen it myself.
+WarthDader74 OK, explain to me how it works
I don't know how, but I always find my way back to this video.
At least now, I know I'm not the only one!
MrKabDrivr And yet I still watch it through start to finish, every time :-\
What the hell is this a reunion? #4 . I'll be back !
Dadodaw jajaja me too
Dadodaw Anything done Thermite, is worth watching over and over ;)
Watching this and seeing all the specialized tools and machines that have to be manufactured specifically to do a particular job, is just amazing. Never seen anything done like this before . I'm assuming it has definite advantages over conventional welding which is why they're doing it? Stronger weld?
Speed
only 2,000 more miles to go.
Which requires 16,000 more welds, or 32,000 if you count both sides. They weld just every 200 meter or so, which means a true professional team like this can cover many kilometers in a day's work.
Not all rails are welded together tho
Easy money
😂😂😂 These are the real MVPs.
Lmao
Too bad we cant see an upclose view of the finish weld.
you are urinary.
demo2382 it's not finnish it's Swedish.
almost7891 you're dumb. he meant the finish weld, not Finnish, he means the weld after they are done with everything
@@Someone-cb3zx relaxxxxxx..😃..
@@lorditsprobingtime6668 OUCH !! ..🌟..👍
Soo I have to study for my admission at med school and yet I'm here watching railroad welding.
I commend you on going to med school--- and watching videos like this---, but I ask you to please study WHY western medicine does not cure disease, but only treats it. Be one of those rebel doctors who does not just write popular prescription, but actually tells people to eat right, exercise, take iodine, supplements, and things like colloidal silver and liver gallstone cleanses when needed...
***** Exactly. I heard they did away with the Hippocratic Oath in the USA--- about right--- now they wouldn't be breaking an oath to harm patients.
Educate yourself. Don't end up working in jobs like these.
And what is wrong with their job?
They are paid well and enjoy it.
Are u a sissy who is afraid to get dirt under your nails?
Chill out. I've been in a worst job than this (shipyard). These jobs are for losers. Educating yourself is hard too.
Now that is a complete joint penetration weld! Love the precast rail ties too.
Pff, thermite.. They never heard about FLEXTAPE
A. Good. One. LOL.
.. or Bisonkit !
I feel that material would had been most suitable
boris_fps
Lol
What man on earth. would pick an office job over this?
a man who wants to live past 65 probably
My Dad is 70 years old and still busting this shit idk what your saying....
King Koopa 70 isnt really that old lmfao
Ook smarty pants im done here.. so what is live past 65? Idk i cant deal..
Anyone intelligent and wants to earn a top salary?
I wonder if the Concrete Ties they use are better than the Wooden Creosote ones we use here in the States?
What happened at 0:48? Whats that pop, the track moving from the heat?
Why didnt you show the track after the finish?? what was being done? No one said a word?
I will explain.
1) There is a clamp in place to hold the ends together as he heat treats them. This clamp also acts as a guide/holder for the thermite.
2) They use the thermite to bond the two ends together using the heat and pressure generated.
3) They remove the apparatus and clamps then proceed to knock off the slag (waste material) on the outside while it is still hot and brittle.
4) All that's left is for it to cool (which takes a while) then polish out any rough spots and check the quality of the weld.
You can see a finished weld behind them if you look closely enough. Hope that clarifies things for you. :-)
Zeb Cheek thank you! Very kind!😉
Welcome
this is just wrong...a civilized conversation in youtube!!!
just kidding of course :)
-Thank You.
0:45 good sound effect dayum
Look for the sound of frozen lakes... Sound very creepy 😉
Adam Jeziorski Yes when you ice skate on it. Was about to mention the same till i saw your comment
What made that sound i cant tell?
It might be related to the rails themselves. When one of the workers smashes the weld with a hammer, u can hear a bit that sound
Interesting to see the ties so high up compared to what we see here in the States
The finished rails will be filled with gravel.
Wolfgang Lendner even with more ballast in b/w there, those ties seem a lot larger then what i normally see here. is the track gauge any different too?
Maybe because this particular rail road is meant for heavier and faster moving trains ? Idk just a guess.
sik59rt The track gauge is mostly 1435 millimeters here in sweden, but we have a couple of active tracks (Roslagsbanan, for instance) with the older gauge of 891 millimeters. On Inlandsbanan shown here (which is not part of the regular railroad network) they mostly have tourists and residents travelling. I'm not sure what the max speed is because it differs due to location, but the trains can make it up to 130 km/h.
Isn't this before the ballast ? You have to surround ties whether concrete or wooden to prevent shifting I would think. Unless the concrete ties are so heavy they require no ballast, but I doubt that is the case. Interesting video.
can someone explain to me as to why they use those concrete beams instead of wood?
3:30 That's what I need for my toenails.
Brad Cozine
Are you Notorious Big Foot?
Yeah, I'm getting there too
0:48 is when bigfoot whom was hiding behind a tree shot his phaser at them
tweevers2 omg yes
da hell is wrong with you
Michael Chapman huh?
AH, I didn't see it ...
+tweevers2 He's like "crap I missed"
"they told me I had to wear safety glasses, they said NOTHING about them having to be over my eyes"
OttovonEarth work for a class 1 freight railroad in the USA. US Railroad companies are notorious safety Nazis.
Do you think they would help? Thermite can be a bit warm
..OttovonEarth...you are crazy mon....
@@davidthedustyhampton690 iirc thermite gives off a lot of UV, so UV blocking glasses may be what the safety folks are asking for.
Also if your thermite goes crazy you can get sparks and little bits of metal flying around, which they probably would help with, just not the molten stuff.
Any protection is better than none
How long would an experienced crew like this take to do one weld, including prep? Always appreciate seeing experts do what they do.
If there is no small gap between the ties, how do they compensate for the shrinkage and expansion with temperature differences??
+Scott Huddas Essentially, the tracks are so firmly anchored once the railway is done that this isn't an issue in modern railway building.
the rail is stressed then welded, (not shown here) it artificially puts the temperature in the rail to stop it expanding.
+pandrol7 How about shrinking during cold?
good question, the rail can take contraction much more than expansion, at worst it will break and leave a small gap, the rail will still be fastened to the sleepers with no misalignment and derailment very unlikely, a buckle would almost certainly derail the train.
Thermite welding is done if there is a crack in railroad, and to compensate expansion and contraction of rails there will be gaps left b/w adjacent rails
2 things comes to mind.. what a beautiful Railroad journey this would be and truly hardworking people these are!! 🙏🙏🙏
Where are all the feminists?
I always wondered how rail track gaps are filled in when they are nailed in place. Very cool indeed.
Well only some of the gaps are welded there still needs to be some gaps left cause of thermal expansion so that the steel would have space to expand uninterrupted
@@themidnightbanshee5927 does gaps cause stress to the axile especially if it’s nit welded and just bolted using a plate?
If there isn't room for the track to expand it will press against each other and cause stress
@@themidnightbanshee5927 so if the rail is not welded, only bolted using a plate, does it not create stress to the axile of the train?
First it doesn't cause stress on the train only the rails
Secondly when tracks are bolted together a gap is still left between the tracks and the bolt holes are wider
So that's how you avoid stress just leave some gaps once every few dozen meters of track
I am back to this video for the 3rd time in 10 years because of Veratasiums. This video is still the best on internet.
For the opening twelve seconds I was tempted to think that dude's arms were made of flames and the video was about HIM thermite welding.
What are you smoking?
i thought the same and im pretty fucking retarded rn
since I read this comment and watched the video again it really shows a super human with flaming gorilla arms trying his chance in welding industry. I cannot stop laughing, thank you.
William Austin يلوال
i dead man kkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk
no way this is in the states, this video is missing the 5 union workers watching the two guys work
+NelsonianB think it's Sweden. it sounds like they are talking in Swedish. or Denmark. or Norway.
They are behind the camera filming lol
looool
+NelsonianB Iam 100% sure that this is Sweden. Ive worked with Mats and Igor who is doing all the work in this weld.
+Jakob Gustavsson they should come here and teach us how to work
What was the 'twang' sound at 0:47? Was it due to a piece expanding or what?
The molten metal dropping from the bucket hitting the much colder rail, the rail amplifies the sound because it's so long it acts like a tuning fork.
brett248vista wow thats a great answer. thumbs up
fakhre alam
Thnx :)
brett248vista
No, that wasnt it. I am a railroad worker and i recently worked with the team welding the rails together in exactly the same way, and it never made that sound. The sound either came from someone hitting the rail nearby (You can hear someone hitting it with a hammer from quite a distance if you are standing close to the rail) or from someone splitting a rail in two (We had this happen, because we were removing a 5m long piece of rail, and then welding a new one in its place, and when it separated, it was under big stresses, it would snap out of place slightly, making that sound.)
brett248vista
You can see the guy in the back, he hit the rail with the hammer, if you look closely.
Rails are finely aligned on two ends, with hammers. You can only get them so aligned by placing them and pushing them around (Takes A LOT of people to do this) and to move them such small amounts you hit them with a hammer/sledgehammer.
I'm new to learning of this reaction. From a typical weld like such, what are you using and how much of it is waste once the reaction is finished? Great idea for welding and very cool!
But does it melt jet fuel?
MikeAvenger08 Considering jet fuel is a liquid...
+MikeAvenger08 probably make it vaporize. With that iron oxide it could burn the fuel but i'm not sure.
+MoonEyes2k Do you even 9/11?
apparently he doesnt
MikeAvenger08 Well, I have to say that I never 9/11'd. Since you seem to know what it is, you tell me. How DOES one 9/11?
where im from they dont weld railroad, it gets hot in summer and cold in winter so it needs to expand and retract alot more.. they just leave a small gap inbetween each section..
Where I'm from, sweden, its gets hot in the summer, and very cold in the winter. The railroads work either way.
All new tracks laid in both Norway and Sweden are thermite welded, there's tracks going via Kiruna and up to Narvik in norway, Kiruna sees average temperatures as low as -22 in the winter and average highs as high as 17.9(acording to wikipedia). To acomodate for thermal expantion/retraction they are using Pandrol e-clip and fastclip to fasten the rails rather than bolting them down as more traditional with jointed tracks.
Sounds like you have some shitty railroad...
ChargedTTq yeah they wrap barbed wire around the gap REALLY tight and call it a day lol
Zphyra Ryuu if your "hot" means 40-50 C , then i'd agree these welds will work just fine in regions with a large range of temperature difference in winters and summers.
For some reason I've become addicted to this video. I watch this every day.
You need to se a psychiatrist
Israel Ayala Could you explain why? I like to see people working with impressive skills and using advanced technology. A tad better than seeing all those smartphone zombies staring at their screens with blank eyes while sleepwalking through red lights.
Robert .G
some times sleep driving!
Thank you for sharing this about replacing and repairing Railroad tracks. I understand a lot about this work.
Thank you so much for this tutorial. My buddy and I are trying to build a railroad track through are back yard and couldn’t figure it it how to do this part.
We went through so many termites😂
You need to use Fire Ants.
You really need to train, or you will quickly go off the rails
Andrew Glinski you're adorable,
You made my day! :))
maybe an Ant eater in the backyard would help..
Today, I watched two guys welding a railroad.
congratulations! you are now fully qualified to be a railroad worker! :D
This made me appreciate railways a lot more
That track was glowing like the steel beams they recovered from WTC 1 & WTC 2. Could thermite have been involved then too?
Must not have known anyone in either tower. From those who can't speak and myself, fuck off.
i like the PFIEUW! sound the rail makes
Tamahagane I absolutely love your choice of onomatopoeia 😊 PFIEUW
0:48 = PFIEUW sound
ryan nixon they just hit the rail with a sledge in the background
yeah!!
I like anything that makes a PFIEUW! sound
All that and not one shot of the nicely ground and cleaned weld afterwards ? Come on now you missed the best part !
It didn't look like they filled the weld. There's like 1 cm missing at the top.
You can see the end result from afar on the right, though.
What the hell be that "Chwonk" sound at 0:47?
+Monel Funkawitz Check the guy in the background. Hes hitting the rail with his hammer =)
+Monel Funkawitz Someone else hitting the rail with a hammer further up the track, probably one of the other team of welders you can see in the distance.
That sound is created by vibrations traveling down the rail. The rail is shaped like an H, and the two "high points" (in relation to the H) act like a tuning fork. A really long tuning fork. So, instead of the vibration just getting passed back and forth between the two tongs of a tuning fork, it gets passed back and forth, and down along the track, making the sound travel away. I know it's not the simplest, or clearest explanation, (or punctual) but I hope it helps answer that question.
Monel Funkawitz it sounded like a laser
Your mom
Why weld ? What about room for heat expansion?
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Track_(rail_transport)#Continuous_welded_rail
less wear and tear on wheels, track, equipment--and the signals are passed down these rails, too.
Pretty funny how people in the comments thinks they know a better way to do that.
Have you worked on the railroad before?
***** I haven't, thats why i don't trying to act in the comments i know better
David V Yea im sure a random guy that knows nothing of welding know a better way
Majman 94055116990002797128819405511699000279712881
Chill Bro Main reason to use the thermite, if i remember correctly is because it sets in a way that makes the top extremely hard and durable, and the bottom, quite flexible. Don't ask me how it happens, but i think that's why they still do it this way.
What about expansion and cooling won't the tracks warp
Welding also needs expansion joints over a certain distance.
its so relaxing to watch other people work :D
simas zaidimas didn't
My dad used to work know guys that would go to the site, and take a nap in the crawlspace of the structure being built. That's all they did... Lol
No wonder people like you never get shit done and blame the guy who is actually doing something
@@xxP1ST0LER0xx It was a joke.
simas zaidimas lol
I was told they had to leave the 1cm or however big it is gap between the two rails and only have the connectors on the side keeping them aligned, so that when the rail expands from heat during the summer, it wouldn't bend the track. Did they solve that somehow in the past 20-30 years?
(0:48) ray gun.
The sound effect for the laser blasters in the original Star Wars movie was created by hitting the steel cables of the Severn Bridge (a suspension bridge in the United Kingdom, across the River Severn) with big wrenches (or spanners if you're British). So I guess twatting a train track with a hammer makes a similar noise.
@@timdickson5531
Thank you mr. Google
LMAO! What a sound!
Great respect to their job. Hardly to imagine what forces act at the welding points during summer and winter (push and pulling forces, hot sun and cold froze). The welding must last for a long time.
Hey, how come they don't have on flip flops and combustible clothing, like in India? :)
...this is pretty close...no protective gear hammering away at hot metal like that....
Hitting red hot slag with no glasses. Your boss will be impressed when he sees this
Christians do not blow up that easily.
I can watch this a thousand times and not get bored. Hypnotising
ruclips.net/video/Om_whERfdUc/видео.html
Guy in the thumbnail shot looking up the track: "Did I just hear a whistle?"
I was thinking the same 😆
@@johnnymnemonic69
I thought I heard the clickety, clicks of a train on the track.....🤷♀️
The older man is “old man tough”.
He just looks like a guy in his 40's doing his job to me. There really isn't that much labor shown in the video.
@@SgtStickyTits the welding itself isnt much labor. But preparing and moving heavy equipment is what is killing you. Trust me its tough and most men dont survive 2 weeks as rail welders
The extremely specialized equipment (this ain't your body and fender spot welder) and the procedures that have become second nature to these rail workers is what is impressive to me. Curious what the dollar per hour wage would be for this type of work. Thanks Mr Lendner for the clip.
how the finished product looks like??
I Thermite Welded for the CNR back in 1981-82 (then Joint Welding and Magnesium Frogs).
It was very similar to this video except for the crucible. Ours were much more antiquated ! But the Molds, Shields, Slag Pots and Packing Paste appear "almost" identical.
We used Hot Cut and Sledge for knocking the over-welds off but eventually were rewarded and equipped with (what appear to be the very same) hand-powered Sheers and ultimately Powered Sheers.
How much money do railroad workers earn in Swedeistan?
Tyler Garrett Dunno. When you find the place, ask them, and then let the rest of the world know.
Tyler Garrett i know my welders charge around a 130$ an hour and some charge way way more than that... they make way more than doctors hear do
Tyler Garrett I work as a "rallare" as it's called in Sweden and I take out about 32-35k Swedish Crowns ( about 4000-4200 US dollars ) after my 33% tax every month.
Viking88 what kind of experience and skills do you need to hop in to rallare work?
Tyler Garrett Well that depends. Minimum is a 4-5 year education as a railway technician or at least in the same category ( Heavy Construction/electricity/welding ) and then before you have any hope of getting a job in the field you are gonna need an internship. In my case it was two years working lines with shit pay for a sub contractor doing "greenwork" which is cleaning tools and driving the vehicles from locations and watching the "grown ups" do their job. Then you have to do a field test when your supervisor thinks you are ready. If you pass you get a railway technician certification (proving you have some experince in the field ) and you can start looking for a job. But even then you'll be considered a rookie and hard work is the only cure. A few years in the field and the big money starts rolling in. And if you work nights or winter shifts ( -30 Celsius soemtimes) you gonna be swimming in cash in no time :)
I'm only 33 and I haul cargo in the weekends ( semitrucks ) and hunt & sell meat during my vacation and in 6-7 years time I will be able to retire and live a good life on my savings. But I love it and will probably continue as long as I have the body for it.
Really cool video!!
@ 1:55 what does this yellow machine do?
No safety glasses. Tsk tsk.
It's the rail road... they play by their own rules.
Tell that to OSHA.
I'm always amazed at the number of construction workers who won't wear protective gear for their own safety. Why do they even have to be told? Don't they value their sight/hearing/body enough on their own to want to protect it without needing to be told to do so? Stupid...
Maybe the lack of forward thinking is partly why many of them are in construction. I'm in construction and I see a lot of not so bright guys who fell into the trade since other opportunities were wasted. not always the case but it's more common than you would see in an engineering office.
gearsNtools Oh, I see it all the time. Mostly the young guys, need to prove they're macho or something. Usually they get smarter as they put in some years. The older fellow here, the one doing the work, definitely should know better.
Interesting that a sound goes off when the plug at the bottom of the crucible has melted.
Yes.....it is interesting. Wonder if they will add more crushed rock later ?
I think it's a hammer hit down the line
Actually, looking at the bucket, it has to be some kind of a contraction or thermal shock, considering that there's a splash just as the ting comes
That's the sound of the men working on the chain gang.
Here’s what I don’t understand about welding the rails...when rails are bolted together with connector plates, the rails are gapped about 12mm apart to allow for heat expansion (otherwise the rails will distort)...so what method is used to allow for expansion in welded rails?
12mm would be a wide rail gap, it's usually much smaller than that. Heat expansion is taken care of in continuous welded rail by stressing it using hydraulic tensors to local weather conditions so that it can withstand the tension in the winter and pressure in the summer. In the UK expansion joints are installed IIRC at least once every five miles on plain line and around points and crossing layouts.
They're putting in a new rail beside my building right now. I was wondering after seeing the separate rails that all appear to be one long rail now, how they fused them so perfectly.. I came across this video randomly without searching so that was a nice coincidence. Anyway, very interesting!
Some pretty specialized equipment there, very neat.
Spihk heart bust!? spihk heart bust can you tell Sarah from the Bible to tell Jonah from the Bible to explain that Zumo's brother's bathroom doorway dad's brother's look alike's brother hated seeing and hearing two employees at Family dollar kissing near the Jamaican meat Patties!!!!!¡!!!!¡!!!!!!
I thank all the workers all over the world over thousands of years for building things that ease our lives but get no token of appreciation.
Are the concrete ties as flexible and durable as the wooden ones? They surely save on trees but do they last?
Here in Sweden they last a lot longer than wood. Wood ties are usually replaced every 8-10 years here thanks to the winters and such. The concrete ones last 35-40 years.
think maybe they have done that a few times?
holy beans ... this was intense work!... and these folks have such skill .. make it look easy 🤙🤙🤙
Intense????? You can’t be serious.
I'm a Union Irinworker in Ct, and we rehabbed a railroad bridge in South Norwalk, gotta be almost 20 years now! I watched this up close and personal. It was pretty cool shit!
Lake
@@ramcespjtramces5627 River
@@teamseshmason stream 😱😱😱😱😱
Go unions!
Thats friggin awesome
so is this welded with thermite instead of electrical for penetration purposes?
There has to be a much easier way to snap those tracks together. Just ask Thomas the train railway
Those incompetent bastards should be shut down for all their safety violations and track accidents. Put TopMHat in the clink! LOCK HIM UP,
😁
ㅏ
I totally thought those flames at the beginning were the dudes arms and I was trippin out.
Fe2O3+Al-Al2O3+Fe
Highly exothermic reaction 😱😱
*Fe2O3 + 2 Al ---> Al2O3 + 2 Fe
@@masonatkinson2682 perfectly balanced equation
Why do they weld termites onto railroad tracks?
Would welding ants onto tracks work just as well?
Thermite sure does a great job of melting steel when that energy is controlled and focused on a particular point. I wonder what else it's been used for...🤔
9/11
bet you could use it to bring down three towers quick..
@@mbgeloam Maybe Canada should use it on Trudeau?
Yeah, go figure.
For the last damn time! Thermite is an incendiary, not an explosive!
It should be a crime to not show a detail shot of the work at the end.
I didn't know that termites could do anything constructive, so good for them.
It's thermite, not termite.
LoL 😂
Are the concrete ties really good? Do they last longer than wood?
wheres the jet fuel?
DiablousEu yawn
Anyone here after Veratasiums video?
Sweden,German,Holland,Denmark,Switzerland,and Austria are Europeans leading innovators.
Only Germany, maybe Sweden.
Lot of work to weld two pieces of steel together, but very interesting project. Any reason that they can't be MIG welded instead? Much faster and much less work.
Arc welding a gap like that to be able to stand the same stresses and reliably pass ultrasonic testing would be no quicker and if anything probably longer. Thermite welds are pretty quick and perhaps more importantly reliable.
Love the gas powered grinder!
Yes, I worked with the aliens and the NSA putting thermite in to cause downfall of US America, thermite everywhere in building, lifts, carpets, sandwiches. How you discover?
Very interesting. I didn't know that the rails were welded together.
Now THIS is a manly job
Why do they weld rails today? I thought to whole point was the rails needed a gap to allow for expansion on hot days, or rails would buckle?
No, please see my numerous other comments on this subject.
that's two down and 300 more to go.bless there hearts.
For some reason I love the complexity of that yellow small thing they put on the rail. Looks fun to play with.
What's wrong with conventional welding it it doesn't take this long
To get a strong enough weld that would reliably pass ultrasonic testing would take just as long if not longer.
Welding will only be on outside of rail this welds it all.
I have not a clue how I finished here. This method seems to me very slow and inneficient are today better faster ways to do it ??