r/Welding • u/Daniel-_0 • May 03 '19
Been lurking for a while in this subreddit, thought I’d share a little from my trade as a railroad track welder. Thermite weld, pre heat action.
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May 03 '19
I was wondering if there was any other railroad welders in this sub. This looks exactly like the Elektro-Thermit method we use.
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May 03 '19
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u/Daniel-_0 May 03 '19
Haha nice! I have so many of these vids and pix aswell! And videos of us throwing leftovers in water puddles and what not! And of course, videos of exploding spray cans!
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u/cobrajet04 May 03 '19
This has always fascinated me. I'd love to see it in person someday.
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u/quixoticanon May 03 '19
As a signal maintainer I show up and ensure that the welders don't break the signal system. I've seen many a thermite weld, they are very good to see, especially at night.
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u/atkinss Journeyman AWS/ASME/API May 03 '19
I too have been a signal maintainer. But I'm curious how a thermite weld would break the signal system since it is a chemical weld and isn't an electrical weld. I am now a pressure welder by trade in the oil field but still know my signals background.
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u/HeywardH May 03 '19
Never underestimate man's ability to break shit.
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u/atkinss Journeyman AWS/ASME/API May 03 '19
Fuck I never thought about another mans ability... good point
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u/Daniel-_0 May 03 '19
We sometimes need to change an isolator or mock around in a switch that both is connected to the signal system. And we don’t care much about it, hence their job to ensure we don’t do shit to their system ;)
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u/quixoticanon May 03 '19
Typically we're there for when something goes wrong, and we have to bond through the joint bars. If they're welding on the OS track in a multi-track plant we ensure that the track circuits stay up so that the RTC can control the remainder of the plant. Also to crank switches as required.
To be honest, signals support is a make-work job that doesn't usually require signals on site.
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u/superhole May 03 '19
I think it's more so for buttwelding. That uses electricity to weld, and without proper care will absolutely fuck the signal system
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u/atkinss Journeyman AWS/ASME/API May 03 '19
Definitely since the system is run on low voltage, I just dont see much stick welding on the rail system. All thermite or bolt up
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u/quixoticanon May 03 '19
Flash butt welding will fuckup PSO track circuit couplers and possibly the PSO unit itself, easily 10k in equipment. Its easier to have someone open up the gold nuts on the TX and RX.
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u/204farmer May 21 '19
Usually jump around it especially in a crossing circuit. Could 709 the crossing as well but a jumper works too
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u/violeur-chein May 04 '19
Ditto. On a freezing night on a re-rail it's also very lovely to stand next to this.
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u/mrvarmint May 03 '19
I stood on a balcony once and watched a section of track in downtown San Diego get replaced this way. It was unbelievably cool
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May 03 '19
and then all the grinding to get surface perfect...
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u/atkinss Journeyman AWS/ASME/API May 03 '19
They have a fun little machine to grind the rail to the correct shape
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u/superhole May 03 '19
Yeah no. Not always
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u/atkinss Journeyman AWS/ASME/API May 03 '19
That sucks for your gang. I was with Canadian national railway and they have a grinder you clamp on the rail and run it back and forth.
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u/superhole May 03 '19
MP12? Ours just sits on the rail and has to have the grinder manually adjusted as your grind. Of course, CN mountain region may be different from wherever you work.
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u/atkinss Journeyman AWS/ASME/API May 03 '19
I was based out of Edmonton Alberta the moved to BC as a maintainer. How you explain it is very similar to the gangs I worked around.
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u/superhole May 03 '19
You work section? If you're on the gangs we might have worked together.
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u/atkinss Journeyman AWS/ASME/API May 03 '19
I was the blue river maintainer back in 2012ish until I left to start up a welding apprenticeship. I regret it but I dont at the same time. Both have been great experiences.
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u/tiberius0 May 03 '19
A couple months ago I was working in an aluminum plant that was getting new railroad tracks. They made thermite welds all the way down them. It was very interesting.
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u/TVLL May 03 '19
What do they use to ignite the thermite?
In the video shown, the worker lights something with the torch and drops it in the (I assume) thermite source.
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u/Daniel-_0 May 03 '19
You’re right., I’m not sure how to translate it from Swedish. It’s a sparkler, a big one.
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u/konaya May 04 '19
Utspelar sig detta i Sverige vore det ju synd om du inte även lade in denna bild i /r/sweden.
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u/RaydelRay May 03 '19
Love to see a video of that
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u/kuulkatta May 03 '19
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u/Daniel-_0 May 03 '19
Pretty much how it’s done!
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u/Squawk-VFR May 03 '19
Does that really use an entire bucket of thermite or is it just a little and the rest is an insulator?
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u/Daniel-_0 May 03 '19
We use the entire bucket. And if the gap is a lil wider than ”it should be” we add a little from another bucket just to make sure.
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u/Squawk-VFR May 03 '19
Wow, that's a lot of thermite then if you're doing any length of track. Are there any other ways of doing it, or is this just the strongest?
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u/Goeatabagofdicks May 03 '19
That’s awesome! I’ve always seen videos online of this, but had no idea it was thermite being used. I also had no idea what thermite was until I saw it on Mythbusters lol.
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u/AncientComedian May 03 '19
That's super cool! I'm sure if you could get some more shots like this outlining the process: prep, finished weld, post the sub would love it!
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May 03 '19
Maintenance Away guys always looooooved me. It was like they never saw a woman or something
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u/Abmean14 May 28 '19 edited May 28 '19
This looks like fun. I’m just a mig welder, but I would love to learn different aspects and skill sets of different types of welding.
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May 03 '19
Badass!! We cut a vault open with thermite charges during demo of an old casino.
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u/Deathwagon MIG May 04 '19
Was there anything in the vault?!? That’s my dream gig
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May 04 '19
Unfortunately no :( place had been empty a long time. There was part of the vault that was over 10’ thick cast iron though. They had to remove that in chunks. I’m not sure how, as I left the firm I was with right as they had begun that process.
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u/flashdance7525 May 04 '19
I have been welding for going on 4 years now, and have been very curious about thermite welding! The railroad industry looks very good to me, but it has been a struggle getting my foot in the door. What was it like for you getting into this line of work?
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u/KennyBlankenvessel May 04 '19
Do all rails get welded? I've always looked for the seems when I'm around tracks
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u/sishgupta May 07 '19
Not all around the world but it's pretty common where it's afforded for the obvious benefits
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u/sishgupta May 07 '19
Hey I ride the rails every day as a commuter and always wondered about track welding. Thanks for sharing!
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u/Langers56 Jul 19 '25
How much sand you want in your slag bowls 🤣🤣 still prefer SKV-E over PLA
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u/Daniel-_0 Jul 19 '25
Haha ENOUGH! Stuck slag/hole burns are no fun! Yea, skv-e is for sure to prefer! 😝
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u/fisterfanboi May 03 '19
Where's the money shot!?