What Stones Along Railway Tracks Mean

[Music] all aboard one thing that's part of every train journey are those rocks you see under and alongside the track what are those for anyway and how does this bed of stones not fall apart under the weight of a moving train plenty of questions and I've got all the answers you need how is track ballast made to start with that bed of rocks has a name it's called the track ballast it has a very important job to do to trains transport around 40% of the world's cargo so they need a railroad that's in good condition and built to exact precision so you just can't throw a bunch of rocks into a pile lay some rail on it and call it a day the thickness of the track ballast layer will often depend on the conditions it's built in the terrain of that area and how much or what kind of traffic the railroad will get but it's usually laid about ten inches deep and then fill to the top of the cross ties that's those wooden or concrete slabs between the tracks that hold them in place if the ballast isn't deep enough the track might sink can you use any rocks for the ballast nope sorry if you take a closer look at the gravel you'll notice that there's not a single smooth stone in it each Rock has sharp jagged edges and that's not a coincidence if you use round pebbles they'll slide down and the ballast will spread out that's not good since the main idea is to provide support and solidarity to the track so to prevent that giant mess from happening the ballast is made from crushed gravel which allows the sharp edges to interlock with each other kind of like a puzzle also in sections of freshly laid ballast speed limits are always lowered this gives the rock some time to fully saddle okay but what's the ballast for well now you have an idea that this gravel provides support for the railroad but that's not all where roads are exposed to a lot of conditions that easily wear them down heavy rains may cause flooding over them vibrations can eventually destroy them and stress from heat and friction causes them to expand and contract they can also get overgrown with weeds and grass so the track ballast is a way to protect the railroad from all that stuff it facilitates drainage and prevents the track from getting flooded it absorbs vibrations keeps heat expansion at a safe minimum and doesn't let plants grow underneath just like the trains and tracks themselves the ballast also needs regular maintenance and cleaning if the rocks get covered in too much mud and grime they won't drain water as effectively okay now that you know all the basics of railroad ballast because it's what's on everyone's mind right let's look at some other fun railroad facts you can bring up at your next watercolor gathering why do railroads have gaps now I'm not talking about the spacing between those wooden or concrete slabs that have gaps between them remember what those are called cross ties bingo or sleepers if you're in Europe anyway I mean the gaps between two sections of track isn't there a risk of the train derailed of course not while laying the track engineers leave small gaps so there will be room for the tracks to expand steel does exactly that when the temperature rise it's like on hot summer days the expansion can also be caused by friction from the moving train if you don't leave any gap the rails will expand and buckle eventually becoming deformed and dangerous for use how a railway is protected from rusting rust on railroad tracks is caused by moisture humidity freezing temperatures and road salt those are the factors you can't avoid entirely when maintaining a rail but they do have ways of protecting lines from getting damaged by rust or at least slow down the process when the railroad is built they pick high-quality steel because it's less prone to corrosion also because of the constant friction the top and upper sides of a rail are kept polished and free of rust but what happens if the inner side corrodes over time well that's exactly why they have regular inspections they keep track of all of the rails and when it's time to replace part or all of one that's what they do you can see especially rusty tracks in a place where trains no longer pass or just come through very seldom so the more abandoned the railroad is the rust year it may be it turns out that the key to keeping rust off a track is to use it regularly is it dangerous to ride on a train during a thunderstorm well it's much safer on a train than in an open field during a storm that's for sure but it could also be safer than being inside a building and that comes as a surprise right after all a train is a big hunk of metal traveling on even more metal if you know why airplanes aren't damaged by lightning then you must be a regular here on the bright side you'll also know that aircraft act as a giant Faraday cage it's the same thing with trains and it works like this the cage protects the inside of the Train from electromagnetic fields also known as lightning by redirecting the current along the outside so even if lightning strikes a train you'll be safe inside even if you're holding a fork otherwise it could be a shocking experience why do trains change tracks while running well there's the obvious answer when the track splits and they need to go that way but here's what surprised me sometimes two trains operate on the same track and one needs to get over so the other can pass this switch allows traffic to move more efficiently the switch must be performed smoothly since the majority of train derailments happen when a train changes tracks most of the time the process is so careful and done so professionally that the passengers don't even notice what is a railroad frog a little amphibian that lives on every line not quite a railroad frog is the point where the left and right rails cross at a switch if you look at it from above you'll see that it looks exactly like a frog's leg those frogs will vary in size and styles depending on the degree of curve they're numbered according to the size of the switch with higher numbers corresponding to larger frogs and more gentle curves whitey trains blow their horn all the time it's obviously not for fun or to entertain the passengers trains honk for an array of safety reasons and they pretty much use a giant air horn to do it compressed air gets blown along a metal plate and this causes a vibration the vibration makes sound waves and they travel through and are often made louder by the horn all the sounds the Train makes have special meanings but the main purpose is to instruct or alert people or animals that a train is coming their way a long honk means a train is approaching a station this is made to attract the attention of everyone on the platform to long honks mean the brakes have been released and the train is starting to move several long whistles means the train is approaching the crossing in other words if you're at the junction don't cross the tracks a sequence of short toots is heard when vehicles are livestock or on the tracks and they need to get out of the way and just to give you an idea it takes an average freight train traveling 55 miles per hour more than the length of 18 football fields to make it to a complete stop so if you live close to a railroad maybe next time you're so rudely woken up by the sound of a train horn you'll remember that it's all for the sake of safety hey if you learn something new today about railroads then give this video a like and share it with a friend and here are some other cool videos I know you'll love just click to the left or right and remember stay on the bright side of life

Channel: BRIGHT SIDE

Views: 287,937

Rating: 4.8853688 out of 5

Keywords: railway track ballast, railway crushed stones, ballast railway track, ballast train track, facts about trains, facts about railroad, trains, train lovers, railway fans, traveling by train, railroad, train travel, rail transport, why railroads have gaps, why trains change tracks, railroad frog, why trains blow their horn, sounds the train makes, why trains can't go uphill, why trains make so much noise, why do trains honk so much

Id: IGd7Cawfqv8

Length: 8min 22sec (502 seconds)

Published: Wed Mar 18 2020