It is so cold in Chicago that the railroad tracks have to be on fire to keep the trains running! Extreme low temperatures are potentially deadly for humans, and deforming for the long pieces of metal that trains ride on.
There are over 140,000 miles of privately-owned standard-gauge rail in the United States, vital to the transportation of billions of tons of freight and people.
Occasionally, it gets really cold where some of those train tracks sit. Like right now, in Chicago, where Wednesday’s high temperature is expected to be thirteen degrees below zero.
Those temperatures are potentially deadly for humans, and deforming for the long pieces of metal that trains ride on.
It’s so cold in Chicago, crews had to set fire to commuter rail tracks to keep the trains moving smoothly. https://t.co/YsCjTNIMhe pic.twitter.com/j0ej5C0PAl
— ABC News (@ABC) January 30, 2019
When it gets to be several degrees below freezing, the metal of the train tracks can contract to the point that it will pull up the bolts holding it in place, or even stress fracture. Crews will soak long pieces of rope in kerosene and burn it to warm up the tracks, expanding them back into place for repairs. Once the track is warmed, it’ll be re-bolted, or welding repairs can be affected on the broken tracks. This is vital to continued operation during cold temperatures.
Sometimes similar burning tactics will be taken at track switching points when the mechanisms stick from the cold. Usually the rail switches have devices to keep them from freezing shut, but perhaps the weather was too cold for them to operate properly, or they’d been otherwise rendered non-functional.
STREAM OF STEAM: Steam fog rises from the Chicago River and Lake Michigan as extreme low temperatures and wind chill warnings are recorded in the city. The phenomenon occurs when the temperature of the air is lower than that of the water or ice. https://t.co/VK0iPTQkue pic.twitter.com/FBR1dIXM3T
— ABC News (@ABC) January 30, 2019
This cold is amazing! And those medieval methods of re-warming metal train tracks too. Just stick with what works!
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[Jalopnik]
This happens every winter. It’s to keep the switches from freezing up.