Boatnerd Discussion Forum

Too bad they couldn't be bothered to build or flag her US

That's really interesting Mr Link. Continuous welded rail makes such a huge difference in a train's ride. I don't know what difference it makes in the carriage of freight but it's a great improvement for passenger movement.
I watched them lay the track for our light rail in Minneapolis and the rail cars were just as long and specialized as that ship. The most amazing thing to see was when they welded the pieces together, they energized both pieces and drove them together and about a foot was vaporized in the process. Far different than the steel welding that I see every day at work.

Article about the MV [i]Pacific Spike[/i], a ship specially built to carry 480 foot long railroad rails from Japan to Stockton CA for Union Pacific. Cuts down on the number of welds needed to create continuously welded rail.

[url]http://www.uprr.com/newsinfo/community_ties/2015/march/longrail.shtml[/url]

At least three companies roll rail in the US, but a lot of rail is imported. Price and supply may drive some imports, but foreign rail producers also have proprietary metallurgy and rolling processes that are in demand for heavy tonnage lines.

Another railroad ,CN imports a lot of rail from Germany through Halifax.