Great Western Coffee Shop

Hello everyone,

After many months enjoying read only access, I finally join, if only to get answered a couple of niggling questions I have which I'm sure some of you knowledgable will be able to help out with. I hope I've posted it in the right place.

A recent trip from Cornwall into London had me wondering this. What is with all the, assumed old, rails left along the line and sometimes between the tracks. There must be hundreds and hundreds of tonnes of it. Why is it left and not scrapped or used elsewhere ?

I saw an old photo recently captioned "line gang replacing worn out ballast". What does this mean; does ballast really "wear out" and if so what happens to it ?

Thanks all.

Welcome to the coffee shop, and thanks for asking an interesting question which I have always thought about asking but never got round to.

Welcome to the forum.

There is an awful lot of scrap rail left by the lineside. Most of the stuff left between the tracks is new rail waiting to be laid - it can sometimes be waiting for many months if a job has to be cancelled. Some of the scrap rail is eventually used on lower grade routes and sidings (along with sleepers), some is scrapped, but some shorter sections are sometimes left for years. Network Rail has attempted to take steps to improve the situation over recent years, but from my impressions they have had limited success. The main problem is that it's quite cumbersome stuff and organising a train to collect it, and an associated line possession costs NR money - more money that it's worth if there's only a few pieces. 

As for the ballast, over several years it becomes contaminated with oil, diesel and other stuff that builds up over time which prevents it from doing what it's supposed to do - i.e. allow water to drain through whilst providing a stable base. Also, over time the ballast under the sleepers gets slowly smashed into smaller pieces by the vibration and weight of the trains going over it, which makes it less of a stable base and therefore the ride quality of the track deteriorates.

There are occasions where the ballast can be cleaned by in effect sifting out the bad stuff and replacing it with fresh stone. On other occasions (major track renewals being most common) it's easier to replace the whole lot with fresh ballast, rails and sleepers.