How might a broken rail be discovered?

This morning, 2.6.2015, Newsday reported that Montauk Division service was disrupted by a broken rail west of Islip. The implication was that the broken rail was on Track 1, but I am not positive. What are the ways in which a broken rail might be discovered? 1) A derailment, may it never happen. 2) Visual notice by an engineer? By a trackwalker? 3) An automatic notice because of signal circuit running through the rail and uncertain voltage being reported? 4) Track inspection car noticing it by ultrasound? 5) Other ways?
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Apparently, Train 2703 was late 111 minutes. That sounds to me as if they had to back up to single track and run to Babylon on Track 1. I'm guessing that that would require operation by train orders.
Thanks.
Joe

They're discovered sometimes by track personnel doing routine inspections. Broken rail will also drop the code in the rail so trains will be on a restricting, but there have been some exceptions. A rough ride in the area with the defect will also indicate a potential track condition.

Sometimes the sound of the rail is enough to raise suspicion.
Sometimes a train careening off the rails into a field or building will be enough.

bellstbarn wrote:Apparently, Train 2703 was late 111 minutes. That sounds to me as if they had to back up to single track and run to Babylon on Track 1. I'm guessing that that would require operation by train orders.
Thanks.
Joe

They ran everything west on 2, necessitating the use of train orders and only one train at a time from Y to BABYLON, plus the speed restrictions (if any) near the MofW crew.

2703 waited a few extra minutes in Patchogue after 2737 cleared Babylon for the track to be returned, and ran on 1. That said, I'm not sure why they even decided to run 2741, given that they knew the logjam would grow continuously with that one-train-at-a-time restriction.

This morning was another bad morning for the LIRR with five different broken rails (Westbury, Great Neck, Bay Shore, Babylon, and a second in Westbury) and almost 90 late or incomplete trains. The average delay was also very high--26 minutes for the AM peak.

I'm curious if anyone knows why broken rails--or at least the number of rails that break--seem to be something unique to the LIRR. It was just as cold in the Hudson Valley and in New Jersey this morning, yet Metro-North and NJTransit managed to get their passengers to work without extraordinary delays.

Amtrak7 wrote:They ran everything west on 2, necessitating the use of train orders and only one train at a time from Y to BABYLON, plus the speed restrictions (if any) near the MofW crew.

sounds like some good ol fashioned montauk mush

I'm wondering if its related to how the rr installed the continous welded rail? Do other rr's install it differently taking into account different expansion and contraction rates?

BobLI wrote:I'm wondering if its related to how the rr installed the continous welded rail? Do other rr's install it differently taking into account different expansion and contraction rates?

Every railroad may do it differently. Each railroad files a CWR plan with the FRA describing, among other things, the installation procedures (e.g., temperatures) and the threshold temperatures (upper and lower) at which specific inspections will begin for buckling (heat-related) and pull-aparts (cold-related).

S

lirr42 wrote:This morning was another bad morning for the LIRR with five different broken rails (Westbury, Great Neck, Bay Shore, Babylon, and a second in Westbury) and almost 90 late or incomplete trains. The average delay was also very high--26 minutes for the AM peak.

I'm curious if anyone knows why broken rails--or at least the number of rails that break--seem to be something unique to the LIRR. It was just as cold in the Hudson Valley and in New Jersey this morning, yet Metro-North and NJTransit managed to get their passengers to work without extraordinary delays.

This week MN had its fair share of setbacks with lots of downed circuits, switch failures, and equipment problems. On all three divisions might I add.

broken rails ... seem to be something unique to the LIRR.

Simply incorrect, but typical of an layman's view relying on Newsday for his facts.

FRA reportable incidence for broken rails in 2012 (latest figures) show LIRR to have a 62% lower incidence than MNRR. Tonnage is quite higher on most of the LIRR track as is the impact of civil restrictions on operations. The same FRA statistics show broken rails, and accidents caused by broken rails on the LIRR to be virtually nonexistant in comparison with other carriers.

Steamboat Willie wrote:This week MN had its fair share of setbacks with lots of downed circuits, switch failures, and equipment problems. On all three divisions might I add.

Oh, the LIRR has had those problems too.... 2 instances of signal problems, 4 instances of switch trouble, some 28 trains with equipment trouble (and then another 20-30 trains delayed due to other trains with equipment trouble added on top of that). And then all these broken rails on top of it...

Also the phrase "broken rail" is sometimes used as a catch-all for any "rail discontinuity including pull-aparts at insulated or temporary joints." That's from a track engineer with about forty years experience.

And don't forget, it was Friday the 13th!

IN MY BEST VOICE OF GOD

Topic cleaned up. I had to delete something like 20 posts on what was a good and informative topic because someone had a hissy fit. And everyone else responded.

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Number 15...
[quote="LIRR Service Advisory System"]4:34 Penn due Babylon at 5:39PM has been canceled due to broken rail west of Jamaica. Customers take 4:37PM to Wantagh, extended to Babylon.[/quote]