Why can't they just assimilate pavement with the rails at all railroad crossings?

Question

I have seen some older abandoned crossings where the rails are assimilated with the pavement thus not causing annoying jumps and bangs to your car when going across it and having to worry if the eggs broke. so why not make all the crossing like this?

Answer 1

What Hog said.

Answer 2

The bounce isn't caused by the rails or the flangeway, it's caused by a bad highway.

The flangeway is too narrow for your wheels to even NOTICE you went over it, it's only 2" wide.  Look at where your tire contacts the road and you see it's 6-10" long.

In a proper crossing the rails shouldn't stick up above the road, they should be flush with the pavement.  

The problem is that the highway department has done a poor job of surfacing the approaching road even with the rails.  It's the same as bad surfacing anywhere else.   And it's the highway department's problem, and their job to fix it.

Of course if the railroad or highway is on a curve, things get tougher.  Both "bank" into curves kinda like a Nascar track but not as pronounced.  The bankings probably don't line up right with each other, in a case like that, the bounce may be unavoidable.  

Anyway, you should be slowing down a lot to look both ways for trains.  NEVER rely on the flashers or whatever.

Answer 3

There are a number of different types of at-grade railway crossings.  The simplest, and less expensive, is with wooden "guard timbers" and asphalt.  These timbers are placed on each side of the rail and are 10x10.  The timber guards between the rails are spaced off of the rail to allow the flange of the rail wheel to pass cleanly.  If the gap was not provided for, the rail car would derail.  With this type of crossing, the area between the guards between the tracks is filled with asphalt.  Asphalt, being a bituminous material, will expand and contract with heat and eventually slump.  The roughness that you feel when you cross, is the uneven edge at the timber and asphalt.

There are also concrete panel and full-depth rubber crossings which provide a smoother ride.  The rubber crossings are being phased-out due to cost and a shorter life.  However, both of these crossings are substantaly more expensive that the standard timber/asphalt crossing in initial cost.  One longterm advantage to a concrete crossing is that you can install concrete or steel ties and the crossing may not need maintenance for a long time.

An additional reason that you don't want to just fill crossings is because the railway must maintain the gage distance (4'-8 1/2") between the inside vertical faces of the rail to keep the cars from derailing.

Answer 4

You should suggest it to the government, maybe by the time your great great grandchildren are born they might do something about it.  Of course we probably won't have land based trains, or cars by then.

But seriously, I think the rails are set high so that when the ground underneath settles, and it always does, there won't be problem with the train derailing.

I am not an expert, just a guess

Answer 5

They use them.

These days, many consist of pre-formed concrete pads that lie between the rails and concrete pads on both sides.  They are bolted in place.  But the trains tear the road up anyway.

Next time you see a loaded train pass, look under each truck as it passes over a fixed point on the rail.  You will see the entire rail, tie and ballast structure 'pumping' up and down.  

Over time, the concrete slabs endure, because they are part of the stricture, bolted to it.  But, the pavement, asphalt or concrete aprons that abut the concrete slabs cannot take all the pounding for extended periods, so that is what actually breaks down over time, creating the rough crossings.

The same was true for crossings that used to, or still do, provide a crossing utilizing railroad ties or other materials.

Good question...

Answer 6

You can't, the flange of the wheel has to have a clear path to follow, if not it will derail. As to why crossings become rough, I think the lateral cross traffic, ie.cars and semi's, do more than their fair share of adding to the deterioration of a railroad crossing, more so than the trains do.

As matter of fact I've watched this on occasion and noticed that the actual crossing doesn't flex usually but then watch semi's and cars that never slow down at a "bad" crossing and watched the rails bounce up and down sometimes, wonder what causes that to happen? hmmmmmm

I figure these are the people complaining all the time and always wondering why their front end is out of alignment or something "broke" or fell off their car or truck, like their muffler. lol

Stop complaining and slow the h**l down, you know it's rough, deal with it already. The railroad will eventually get around to fixing it, just probably not in your life time. heh

I was doing some reading here a while back and found this article and it said some railroads have been hiring in their track maintenance departments the last few years.

But they are still grossly undermanned, so guess what, I take it they have more than enough work to do and can't be everywhere to fix everything Joe Public complains about, like un-assimilated pavement in railroad crossings.

Have a nice day.

Answer 7

They do. Because vehicles go across them all the time, they wear down just like any road that must be repaved from time to time. Old crossings with less traffic stay aligned longer.

Answer 8

Railroad tracks move up and down a LOT with the passage of trains, they are heavy!! A track that is gets a lot of train traffic moves much more than the pavemant and if they were assimilated the pavement would just break up ina very short time.

Also, if water gets into RR tracks and is not allowed to drain, the ties would rot away in half the time.

Sorry about your eggs but for the most part, it is just not practical.

BTW, the part of the wheel that extends below the wheel (called the "flange") is on the inside of the wheel, not the outside and only extends a short ways, 3/4" or so.

Answer 9

if the pavement gets into the rails it would disrail the train cuasing  a major accident

Answer 10

The train needs the outside edge of the rail to be clear for the folded down side of the wheel to move through. This is what holds the train on the tracks. (If you cut the wheel in half and looked at the cut edge it would have an L shape)

If you paved up to the track the side of the wheel would ride up onto the pavement and the train would go off the track.