Tracklaying - The Real Thing

This forum is for all off-topic (ie. non-railway) discussion.

Moderators: 52D, Tom F, Rlangham, Atlantic 3279, Blink Bonny, Saint Johnstoun, richard

Post Reply
PGBerrie
GCR D11 4-4-0 'Improved Director'
Posts: 447
Joined: Mon Apr 05, 2010 5:04 pm

Tracklaying - The Real Thing

Post by PGBerrie »

The Basel tram company are relaying track all over the place at the moment, mostly for groundwater protection, but also for wear. I took these pictures on Friday night on the Steinenberg - one of the busiest sections of the network, where there are 2 - 3 trams a minute at peak times. The company are relaying all the pointwork due to wear - they have set themselves 21 days to do it.
A view up the hill:
Track Relaying Steinenberg Basel 1.jpg
Iron rodding under the crossing for later concrete reinforcement
Track Relaying Steinenberg Basel 2.jpg
Adding the prefabricated missing piece between two sets of points
Track Relaying Steinenberg Basel 4.jpg
Full size equivalent of the razor saw - an oxyacetylene cutter (they were only about 2 cm out!)
Track Relaying Steinenberg Basel 5.jpg
Peter
TraceHar
NER Y7 0-4-0T
Posts: 1
Joined: Sat Nov 18, 2017 11:33 am

Re: Tracklaying - The Real Thing

Post by TraceHar »

Good pics Peter, were they able to complete it in the 21 days?
PGBerrie
GCR D11 4-4-0 'Improved Director'
Posts: 447
Joined: Mon Apr 05, 2010 5:04 pm

Re: Tracklaying - The Real Thing

Post by PGBerrie »

Sorry, have not looked here for some time.

Yes, everything was completed on time and within budget. The Swiss are very good at this - see the Gotthard Tunnel, which was completed early.

On the other side of the Rhein, the DB are way behind schedule with the quadrupling of the Karlsruhe-Basel line which is part of the transalpine project. The Katzenberg Tunnel was opened on time, but the infrastructure to the south is far from complete, although they have been messing around for four or five years now. To the north they are still arguing about the route, and of course, just south of Rastatt a new tunnel under the line shifted and closed down all traffic between Karlsruhe and Baden-Baden for almost a month.

DB's major project "Stuttgart 21" - a new underground through station - won't be completed until 2023 (I don't believe this either) and is about 1/3 above budget already!

Peter
Post Reply