Mysterious bend in railway track alarms locals

I thought this was a neat story today. Put this in the alien forum cause you know, it was most probably aliens that did this. Thoughts?

A mysterious bend has appeared in the railway route under construction in the Jharkhand state of India which has left locals puzzled

vid here:

ca.screen.yahoo.com...

a reply to: canucks555

It looks like a sun kink which happens with continuously welded rail which the rail in the video appears to be.

Not quite sure what this has to do with aliens or UFOs.

a reply to: AugustusMasonicus

If you read the story you will see that the locals think it was supernatural.
Jeez...tough crowd around here these dayz..

a reply to: canucks555
There's nothing even in the article that says anything about UFOs? Where did you come up this has anything to do with aliens?

originally posted by: canucks555
Thoughts?

I think someone forgot to put in expansion joints.

If you're using welded track, you have to have concrete sleepers designed to constrain the track sections from lengthening.

a reply to: canucks555

Supernatural does not equal UFO

a reply to: AugustusMasonicus

I agree, they are extreme bends though, they may have laid too long a length without fastening it down as they go.

With the temperatures here in Australia, that would happen here too, but will build proper.

originally posted by: canucks555
If you read the story you will see that the locals think it was supernatural.

Well, they would be wrong then as this is a fairly common occurence with continuously welded rail.

a reply to: canucks555

I can post this story pretty much where I please.
-If I think that some UFO fans here may find it interesting then so be it.
If people are sensitive to it I really couldn't give a crap.

originally posted by: scubagravy
With the temperatures here in Australia, that would happen here too, but will build proper.

The Alice Springs track is continuous weld, but they laid it down in summer with the track sections at equilibrium and it has heavy concrete sleepers with major clips.

that seems like alot of expansion to be caused just by heat.
and it will return when it cools off?

a reply to: autopat51

Depends on how far past the kink the end of rail is located. Most times the railroad will cut out the kinks and, depending on the ambient temperature, either fasten in a repair section or weld it in place.

originally posted by: autopat51
that seems like alot of expansion to be caused just by heat.
and it will return when it cools off?

Good rail track can expand something like 2/100 in summer heat from room temp. So if you've got 100 meters of track secured at the ends, it'll lengthen 2 meters between going from spring to summer.

If this is made out of crap steel it can be a lot worse. So, yeah, it doesn't look impossible.

It may not return when it gets cool if it's bowed this much. You get work hardening at the flex points.

eta: the moral of the story: if you're using bad steel or wooden sleepers or you're not securing the track well, use expansion joints.

originally posted by: canucks555
a reply to: AugustusMasonicus

If you read the story you will see that the locals think it was supernatural.
Jeez...tough crowd around here these dayz..

That's because a good many people in India, in the rural parts especially, still believe in all manner of superstitious nonsense - they regularly kill people over suspected cases of "witchcraft"

Between 2001 and 2006, an estimated 300 people were killed in the state of Assam. Between 2005 and 2010, about 35 witchcraft related murders reportedly took place in Odisha's Sundergarh district. In October 2003, three women were branded as witch and humiliated, afterwards they all committed suicide in Kamalpura village in Muzaffarpur district in Bihar. In August 2013, a couple were hacked to death by a group of people in Kokrajhar district in Assam. In September 2013, in the Jashpur district of Chhattisgarh, a women was murdered and her daughter was raped on the allegation that they were practising black magic.

Witchhunts in India

However, for the rest of us who know that metal will expand when heated, this is of no shock. In fact, even here in the UK we get this problem in the Summer months - I remember being on a train in 2003 from London (hottest ever Summer with temps of 37c) and having speed restrictions put on because of track warping.

originally posted by: AugustusMasonicus
a reply to: autopat51

Depends on how far past the kink the end of rail is located. Most times the railroad will cut out the kinks and, depending on the ambient temperature, either fasten in a repair section or weld it in place.

these people need to go to railroad school.
ive never seen rails buckle like this from a hot day.

originally posted by: autopat51
these people need to go to railroad school.
ive never seen rails buckle like this from a hot day.

If you search for 'sun kinks' or 'heat kinks' plus 'cwr' you can see some similar images from around the world. It happens due to varying circumstances.

a reply to: autopat51

And yet the Victorian era railways built by the British still work! You'd think they would have taken some notes...

originally posted by: stumason
And yet the Victorian era railways built by the British still work! You'd think they would have taken some notes...

I know where you were going but you get a whole host of other problems from jointed rail.

If I've told them once, I've told them a thousand times... Stop using play-doh when making railroad tracks!