Misplaced Pages

#941058

62-469: The Mount Somers Branch , sometimes known as the Springburn Branch , was a branch line railway in the region of Canterbury , New Zealand. The line was built in stages from 1878, reaching Mount Somers in 1885. A further section to Springburn was added in 1889; this closed in 1957, followed by the rest of the line in 1968. A portion has been preserved as the Plains Vintage Railway . Unlike many other rural branch lines in New Zealand, this line

124-482: A main line . A very short branch line may be called a spur line . Branch lines may serve one or more industries, or a city or town not located on a main line. Branch lines may also connect two or more main lines. An industrial spur is a type of secondary track used by railroads to allow customers at a location to load and unload railcars without interfering with other railroad operations. Industrial spurs can vary greatly in length and railcar capacity depending on

186-510: A common sight along railroads in industrial and rural cities alike. As automobile and roadway technology improved throughout the early and mid-20th century, most low volume industry spurs were abandoned in favor of the greater flexibility and economic savings of trucking. Today, railroads remain the most economical way to ship large quantities of material, a fact that is reflected in industrial spurs. Most modern day spurs serve very large industries that require hundreds, if not thousands, of carloads

248-490: A couple of loading banks, and at Valetta, where some ballast is still in place on the formation of a siding. The site of the Westerfield yard retains a couple of loading banks, there are bridge abutments at various points, and about a kilometre from Westerfield School a couple of sleepers can be found. Branch line A branch line is a secondary railway line which branches off a more important through route, usually

310-544: A further three-year order in 2015, but then Axion filed for bankruptcy in December 2015, though it continues to trade. These ties are developed by Dr. Nosker at Rutgers University. Composite sleepers, manufactured from various recycled plastics, were introduced in Wiltshire , United Kingdom, in 2021. They were installed as an alternative to wooden sleepers, on a bridge where concrete sleepers would have been too heavy. Although it

372-489: A greater acoustic sharpness on straight stretches of track. Concrete ties were however shown to be quieter than wooden ties almost universal across the audible frequency band on curves. This causes train noise when over concrete ties to potentially be subjectively perceived as louder than train noise over wooden ties. On the highest categories of line in the UK (those with the highest speeds and tonnages), pre-stressed concrete ties are

434-401: A joint may be 12 inches (305 mm) wide where the formation is soft or the traffic is heavy and fast. Sleepers are mostly spaced 2 ft 7 in (0.79 m) apart (centre-to-centre) but are closer adjacent to fishplated rail joints where the spacing sequences are as follows with the spacing at the fishplate highlighted . The fractional inch spacing at the fishplate corresponds to

496-494: A longer service life and require less maintenance than timber due to their greater weight, which helps them remain in the correct position longer. Concrete ties need to be installed on a well-prepared subgrade with an adequate depth on free-draining ballast to perform well. It is a common misconception that concrete ties amplify wheel noise. A study done as part of Euronoise 2018 proved this false, showing concrete sleepers to be an average of 2dB(A) quieter than wooden ones, however with

558-464: A mainline, they tend to have lower maintenance and signaling (train control) standards. Before the rise of the long-distance trucking in the early 1930s, railroads were the primary means of transportation around the world. Industries of the era were commonly built along railroad lines specifically to allow for easy access to shipping. Short (under a mile, oftentimes only several hundred yards) industrial spurs with very small (under ten car) capacities were

620-786: A section of the West Rail line . Discontinued services include the Sha Tau Kok Railway and the Wo Hop Shek Branch . A spur line to Siu Sai Wan has been proposed. Delhi On the Delhi Metro , the Blue Line has a Branch Line with 8 Stations, linking Yamuna Bank to Ghaziabad via Anand Vihar ISBT and terminating at Vaishali. The first section of the Branch opened on 8 January 2010 with Anand Vihar as its terminal with six stations. It

682-507: A service life longer than wooden ties with an expected lifetime in the range of 30–80 years, that the ties are impervious to rot and insect attack, and that they can be modified with a special relief on the bottom to provide additional lateral stability. In some main track applications the hybrid plastic tie has a recessed design to be completely surrounded by ballast. Aside from the environmental benefits of using recycled material, plastic ties usually replace timber ties soaked in creosote,

SECTION 10

#1732917710942

744-562: A single monolithic concrete casting. This system is in use in Austria ; in the Austrian system the track is fastened at the four corners of the frame, and is also supported midway along the frame. Adjacent frame ties are butted close to each other. Advantages of this system over conventional cross increased support of track. In addition, construction methods used for this type of track are similar to those used for conventional track. In ladder track,

806-523: A subsidy for grain transport, and instead allowed railways to absorb branch line subsidies freely without making effort to improve the profitability of the lines. The term "grain-dependent branch lines" began being used as early as 1978 to refer to the special case of these branch lines in agricultural areas whose viability depended on the economics of grain transport. The Western Grain Transportation Act of 1983 addressed this case specifically, but

868-461: A year. There is an international branch line between Italy and Vatican: the 300-metre Vatican Railway , connecting from the Pisa-Rome railway mainline at Roma San Pietro railway station , to Vatican City station . Many British railway branch lines were closed as a result of the " Beeching cuts " in the 1960s, although some have been re-opened as heritage railways . The smallest branch line that

930-483: Is 3,250 wooden crossties per mile (2,019 ties/km, or 40 ties per 65 feet) for wood ties or 2,640 ties per mile for concrete ties. The London, Midland and Scottish Railway specified 18 sleepers per 45-foot (13.72 m) rail and 24 sleepers per 60-foot (18.29 m) rail, both of which correspond to 2,112 sleepers per mile. Sleepers are 8 ft 6 in (2.59 m) long, 10 inches (254 mm) wide and 5 inches (127 mm) deep. The two sleepers adjacent to

992-464: Is a pair of two pre-stressed concrete ties longitudinally connected by four steel rods. The design is said to be suitable for track with sharp curves, track subject to temperature stress such as that operated by trains with eddy brakes , and bridges, and as transition track between traditional track and slab track or bridges. Concrete monoblock ties have also been produced in a wider form (e.g. 57 cm or 22 + 1 ⁄ 2  in) such that there

1054-415: Is being employed by major US railroads in a dual treatment process in order to extend the life of wood ties in wet areas. Some timbers (such as sal , mora , jarrah or azobé ) are durable enough that they can be used untreated. Problems with wooden ties include rot, splitting, insect infestation, plate-cutting, also known as chair shuffle in the UK (abrasive damage to the tie caused by lateral motion of

1116-589: Is no ballast between the ties; this wide tie increases lateral resistance and reduces ballast pressure. The system has been used in Germany where wide ties have also been used in conjunction with the GETRAC A3 ballastless track systems. Bi-block (or twinblock) ties consist of two concrete rail supports joined by a steel bar. Advantages include increased lateral resistance and lower weight than monobloc concrete ties, as well as elimination of damage from torsional forces on

1178-518: Is often limited due to rot. Some entrepreneurs sell new ties. Due to the presence of wood preservatives such as coal tar , creosote or salts of heavy metals , railroad ties introduce an extra element of soil pollution into gardens and are avoided by many property owners. In the UK, new oak or pine beams of the same length (2.4m) as standard railway sleepers, but not treated with dangerous chemicals, are available specifically for garden construction. In some places, railroad ties have been used in

1240-507: Is still in operation in the UK is the Stourbridge Town Branch Line from Stourbridge Junction going to Stourbridge Town . Operating on a single track, the journey is 0.8 miles (1.3 kilometres) long and the train takes around two and a half minutes to complete its journey. In North America, little-used branch lines are often sold by large railroads to become new common carrier short-line railroads of their own. Throughout

1302-529: The Bay of Plenty Region , lines were built inland to provide rail access to large logging operations. Today, many of the branch lines have been closed, including almost all of the general-purpose country lines. Those that remain serve ports or industries far from main lines such as coal mines, logging operations, large dairying factories, and steelworks . In Auckland and Wellington , two branch lines in each city exist solely for commuter passenger trains. For more, see

SECTION 20

#1732917710942

1364-717: The Gladstone Branch in New Jersey; as well as the New Canaan Branch , Danbury Branch , and Waterbury Branch in Connecticut . The Long Island Rail Road also refers to its services as "branches". In Chile, there are a lot of branch lines on its main line, of only a few remain operational. Most only operating in turistic services (like the Antilhue-Valdivia branch line), others have been taken over by other railways (like

1426-1013: The Grand Trunk , Canadian National , or Canadian Pacific ) which would acquire formerly independent short line railways for use as branch lines, with the short line often continuing to exist as a subsidiary. For example, when the Canadian Pacific acquired the Algoma Eastern Railway (a short line) in 1930, it soon after abandoned much of the Algoma Eastern mainline, but retained sections close to Algoma Eastern–Canadian Pacific junctions as short branch lines or spurs. The National Transportation Act of 1967 provided government subsidies for branch lines. Western railway development in Canada worked in concert with land settlement and cultivation, as pioneers were settled near railway lines, often on land

1488-565: The Hejaz railway in the Arabian Peninsula where the dry, hot climate made wood ties unsatisfactory. Modern steel ties handle heavy loads, have a proven record of performance in signalized track, and handle adverse track conditions. Of high importance to railroad companies is the fact that steel ties are more economical to install in new construction than creosote-treated wood ties and concrete ties. Steel ties are utilized in nearly all sectors of

1550-761: The North South Line between Jurong East and Choa Chu Kang stations was operated as a separate line, known as the Branch line . It was merged into the North–South Line with the opening of the Woodlands Extension in 1996. The future Jurong Region Line and Cross Island Line will also have branch lines. New Zealand once had a very extensive network of branch lines, especially in the South Island regions of Canterbury , Otago , and Southland . Many were built in

1612-672: The South Tseung Kwan O Spur Line to LOHAS Park station , opened in 2009. Earlier, a spur line was built in 1985 on the East Rail line to serve Racecourse station , bypassing Fo Tan station . Also, the Tsim Sha Tsui Extension  [ yue ] was built in 2004 on the East Rail line to serve East Tsim Sha Tsui station . However, after the Kowloon Southern Link was completed in 2009, this spur line turns into

1674-536: The list of New Zealand railway lines . Railroad tie Railroad ties are traditionally made of wood , but prestressed concrete is now also widely used, especially in Europe and Asia. Steel ties are common on secondary lines in the UK; plastic composite ties are also employed, although far less than wood or concrete. As of January 2008, the approximate market share in North America for traditional and wood ties

1736-666: The San Rosendo-Talcahuano branch line, which has been taken over by Biotrén and the Laja-Talcahuano train service) however, there is one branch line that still remains as fully operative. The Talca-Constitución branch line, which uses trains with bus motors. Two extensions to the MTR rapid transit network were built as branches of existing lines: the Lok Ma Chau Spur Line to Lok Ma Chau station , which opened in 2007; and

1798-599: The U.S. state of New Jersey . The line is a short branch of the Northeast Corridor Line , running from Princeton Junction northwest to Princeton with no intermediate stops. Also known as the "Dinky Line", at 2.9 mi (4.7 km) it is the shortest scheduled commuter rail line in the United States. The run takes 4 minutes, 47 seconds. Other than the Princeton Line, other surviving branch lines include

1860-469: The United States and Canada, branch lines link smaller towns too distant from the main line to be served efficiently, or to serve a certain industrial site such as a power station either because of a location away from the main line or to reduce congestion. They were typically built to lower standards, using lighter rail and shallow roadbeds when compared to main lines. Much of Canada's branch line history relates to large rail transport conglomerates (such as

1922-490: The advantage of accepting treatment more readily, they are more susceptible to wear but are cheaper, lighter (and therefore easier to handle) and more readily available. Softwood is treated, with creosote being the most common preservative for railway ties. Other preservatives used include pentachlorophenol and chromated copper arsenate . Sometimes non-toxic preservatives are used, such as copper azole or micronized copper . New boron -based wood preserving technology

Mount Somers Branch - Misplaced Pages Continue

1984-512: The ballast. This is due to better damping properties of hybrid plastic ties and composite ties, which will decrease the intensity of vibrations as well as the sound production. In 2009, Network Rail announced that it would begin replacing wooden ties with recycled plastic. but I-Plas became insolvent in October 2012. In 2012, New Zealand ordered a trial batch of "EcoTrax" brand recycled composite ties from Axion for use on turnouts and bridges, and

2046-524: The construction of homes, particularly among those with lower incomes, especially near railroad tracks, including railroad employees. They are also used as cribbing for docks and boathouses . The Spanish artist Agustín Ibarrola has used recycled ties from Renfe in several projects. In Germany, use of wooden railroad ties as building material (namely in gardens, houses and in all places where regular contact to human skin would be likely, in all areas frequented by children and in all areas associated with

2108-716: The existing ballast, unlike concrete ties which require a full depth of new ballast. Steel ties are 100% recyclable and require up to 60% less ballast than concrete ties and up to 45% less than wood ties. Historically, steel ties have suffered from poor design and increased traffic loads over their normally long service life. These aged and often obsolete designs limited load and speed capacity but can still be found in many locations globally and performing adequately despite decades of service. There are great numbers of steel ties with over 50 years of service and in some cases they can and have been rehabilitated and continue to perform well. Steel ties were also used in specialty situations, such as

2170-552: The first president of the Canadian National Railway , said that although most branch lines cannot pay for themselves, they are even essential to make main lines pay. In the United States, abandonment of unproductive branch lines was a byproduct of deregulation of the rail industry through the Staggers Act . The Princeton Branch is a commuter rail line and service owned and operated by New Jersey Transit (NJT) in

2232-543: The junction at Tinwald): For roughly half a century a daily mixed train operated on the line. Besides coal and limestone, important commodities on the line were grain, livestock, and silica sand that was railed to a glassworks in the Christchurch suburb of Hornby , served by the Southbridge Branch . At one point in the 19th century, as tractors displaced horses on farms in the area, substantial traffic came from

2294-534: The late 19th century to open up inland regions for farming and other economic activities. The branches in the South Island regions were often general-purpose lines that carried predominantly agricultural traffic, but lines elsewhere were often built to serve a specific resource: on the West Coast , an extensive network of branch lines was built in rugged terrain to serve coal mines, while in the central North Island and

2356-709: The latter being a toxic chemical, and are theoretically recyclable. However, plastics may shed microplastics and leach other possibly toxic chemicals such as ultraviolet inhibitors. Hybrid plastic railroad ties and composite ties are used in other rail applications such as underground mining operations, industrial zones, humid environments and densely populated areas. Hybrid railroad ties are also used to be partly exchanged with rotten wooden ties, which will result in continuous track stiffness. Hybrid plastic ties and composite ties also offer benefits on bridges and viaducts, because they lead to better distribution of forces and reduction of vibrations into respectively bridge girders or

2418-497: The line on 1 January 1968. Wheat was railed from Valetta until April 1968. The first 2.5 kilometres of the line from the junction at Tinwald to the Frasers Road crossing survive as The Plains Vintage Railway & Historical Museum . Some of the formation , including embankments and cuttings , survive, while in other places it has been obliterated, often by farming activity. Goods sheds survive at Mount Somers, along with

2480-469: The line, especially as there was a military camp located in Westerfield, but after the war ended conditions returned to their pre-war status. In 1951, the freight trains were reduced to twice a week and they now commenced in Ashburton rather than at the branch's terminus. Closure of the short section to Springburn had been suggested as early as 1930 and this finally occurred on 29 March 1957, with full closure of

2542-401: The only ones permitted by Network Rail standards. Most European railways also now use concrete bearers in switches and crossing layouts due to the longer life and lower cost of concrete bearers compared to timber, which is increasingly difficult and expensive to source in sufficient quantities and quality. Steel ties are formed from pressed steel and are trough-shaped in section. The ends of

Mount Somers Branch - Misplaced Pages Continue

2604-556: The railways had owned. However, by the mid-20th century, railways began neglecting lines in western agricultural regions. This was historically driven by factors such as the Crow Rate , which regulated the price railways could charge for shipping grain. Railways had little incentive to invest in rural Prairie branch lines, but were legally unable to abandon them under the National Transportation Act , which also did not provide

2666-507: The requirements of the customer the spur is serving. In heavily industrialized areas, it is not uncommon for one industrial spur to have multiple sidings to several different customers. Typically, spurs are serviced by local trains responsible for collecting small numbers of railcars and delivering them to a larger yard, where these railcars are sorted and dispatched in larger trains with other cars destined to similar locations. Because industrial spurs generally have less capacity and traffic than

2728-501: The resistance to track movement is very good. For curves the three-point contact of a Y steel tie means that an exact geometric fit cannot be observed with a fixed attachment point. The cross section of the ties is an I-beam . As of 2006, less than 1,000 km (621 mi) of Y-tie track had been built, of which approximately 90 percent is in Germany . The ZSX Twin tie is manufactured by Leonhard Moll Betonwerke GmbH & Co KG and

2790-430: The thermal expansion gap allowed between the rail ends. Interurban railways of the late 1800s and early 1900s generally ran lighter rolling stock than mainline steam railways, but roadbeds were built to similar standards. Wooden ties were placed at approximately 2-foot (0.61 m) intervals. Various methods exist for fixing the rail to the railroad ties. Historically spikes gave way to cast iron chairs fixed to

2852-410: The tie and secured to the rail by a proprietary fastening system such as a Vossloh or Pandrol which are commonly used in Europe. The type of railroad tie used on the predecessors of the first true railway ( Liverpool and Manchester Railway ) consisted of a pair of stone blocks laid into the ground, with the chairs holding the rails fixed to those blocks. One advantage of this method of construction

2914-507: The tie are shaped to form a "spade" which increases the lateral resistance of the tie. Housings to accommodate the fastening system are welded to the upper surface of the tie. Steel ties are now in widespread use on secondary or lower-speed lines in the UK where they have been found to be economical to install due their ability to be installed on the existing ballast bed. Steel ties are lighter in weight than concrete and able to stack in compact bundles unlike timber. Steel ties can be installed onto

2976-478: The tie plate) and spike-pull (where the spike is gradually loosened from the tie). Wooden ties can catch fire; as they age they develop cracks that allow sparks to lodge and more easily start fires. Concrete ties are cheaper and easier to obtain than timber and better able to carry higher axle-weights and sustain higher speeds. Their greater weight ensures improved retention of track geometry , especially when installed with continuous-welded rail. Concrete ties have

3038-440: The tie, more recently springs (such as Pandrol clips ) are used to fix the rail to the tie chair. In recent years, wooden railroad ties have also become popular for gardening and landscaping , both in creating retaining walls and raised-bed gardens, and sometimes for building steps as well. Traditionally, the ties sold for this purpose are decommissioned ties taken from rail lines when replaced with new ties, and their lifespan

3100-411: The ties are laid parallel to the rails and are several meters long. The structure is similar to Brunel's baulk track; these longitudinal ties can be used with ballast, or with elastomer supports on a solid non-ballasted support. The crosstie spacing of mainline railroad is approximately 19 to 19.5 inches (48 to 50 cm) for wood ties or 24 inches (61 cm) for concrete ties. The number of ties

3162-457: The ties center due to the more flexible steel connections. This tie type is in common use in France, and are used on the high-speed TGV lines. Bi-block ties are also used in ballastless track systems. They are gauge-convertible by cutting and welding the steel bar to the dimension that suits the new gauge. Frame ties ( German : Rahmenschwelle ) comprise both lateral and longitudinal members in

SECTION 50

#1732917710942

3224-454: The ties, steel ties may be used with track circuit based train detection and track integrity systems. Without insulation, steel ties may only be used on lines without block signaling and level crossings or on lines that use other forms of train detection such as axle counters . In more recent times, a number of companies are selling composite railroad ties manufactured from recycled plastic resins and recycled rubber. Manufacturers claim

3286-518: The transport of horses to the North Island , where the terrain was too steep for tractors of the era to handle. As road transportation improved in the 20th century, the line's importance slipped. Passenger traffic, in particular, had markedly declined from a peak of 18,000-25,000 passengers per annum in the late 19th century, and as it was no longer viable the passenger service was withdrawn on 9 January 1933. World War II generated increased traffic for

3348-419: The worldwide railroad systems including heavy-haul, class 1s, regional, shortlines, mining, electrified passenger lines (OHLE) and all manner of industries. Notably, steel ties (bearers) have proven themselves over the last few decades to be advantageous in turnouts (switches/points) and provide the solution to the ever-growing problem of long timber ties for such use. When insulated to prevent conduction through

3410-461: Was 91.5%, the remainder being concrete, steel, azobé (red ironwood) and plastic composite. Tie spacing may depend on the type of tie, traffic loads and other requirements, for example 2,640 concrete ties per mile on North American mainline railroads to 2,112 timber ties per mile on LMS jointed track. Rails in the US may be fastened to the tie by a railroad spike ; iron/steel baseplates screwed to

3472-530: Was built, it was progressively opened. The first 13.39 km to Westerfield were opened on 15 April 1880, followed by Anama , 30.9 km from the junction, on 3 October 1882, and then Cavendish on 1 March 1884, 35.02 km from Tinwald. Although it had been decided to terminate the line on the south bank of the South Ashburton River , another 2.58 km was built to Mount Somers, opening on 4 October 1885. An extension of 5.57 km to Springburn

3534-496: Was further extended to Vaishali in 2011. The line is planned to be extended from Vaishali to Mohan Nagar via Sahibabad Station to link with the main line. The East West Line of the MRT system in Singapore has a two-station branch to Changi Airport . The first station, Expo , opened in 2001. It was extended to Changi Airport station the next year. From 1990 to 1996, the section of

3596-605: Was not built for the sole purpose of opening up land for agriculture, as there were significant deposits of lignite coal and limestone in the hills behind the town of Mount Somers. Construction commenced in May 1878, with the line leaving the Main South Line at Tinwald , the southernmost suburb of Ashburton . With the onset of the Long Depression looming, the construction work on the line provided valuable employment, and as it

3658-463: Was opened on 9 September 1889, bringing the line to its full length to 43.17 km. In 1886, a privately owned narrow-gauge bush tramway was built into the hills behind Mount Somers to serve coal mines and a limeworks. This line operated until 1963, though after 1943 it was closed beyond the limeworks. The following stations were on the Mount Somers Branch (in brackets is the distance from

3720-488: Was repealed in 1994 in the wake of the North American Free Trade Agreement and budget-balancing initiatives in favour of a one-time payout by the federal government directly to farmers, to arrange transport of grain themselves. From the mid-1970s to the late 2010s, more than 9,300 kilometres (5,800 mi) of Prairie branch lines were abandoned or had a discontinuance of service. David Blyth Hanna ,

3782-758: Was that it allowed horses to tread the middle path without the risk of tripping. In railway use with ever heavier locomotives, it was found that it was hard to maintain the correct gauge . The stone blocks were in any case unsuitable on soft ground, such as at Chat Moss , where timber ties had to be used. Bi-block ties with a tie rod are somewhat similar. Historically wooden rail ties were made by hewing with an axe, called axe ties , or sawn to achieve at least two flat sides. A variety of softwood and hardwood timbers are used as ties, oak , jarrah and karri being popular hardwoods, although increasingly difficult to obtain, especially from sustainable sources. Some lines use softwoods , including Douglas fir ; while they have

SECTION 60

#1732917710942

3844-522: Was the first instance of plastic sleepers being installed on mainline track in the country, they have previously been used on narrow-gauge railways . Ties may also be made from fiberglass . An unusual form of tie is the Y-shaped tie, first developed in 1983. Compared to conventional ties, the volume of ballast required is reduced due to the load-spreading characteristics of the Y-tie. Noise levels are high but

#941058