Welding rail track to mild steel?

[pondy]

I have a old section of rail track I want to use as a small anvil. I have a 1" thick ms plate i with to weld onto the bottom of the track as a base. Anything to look out for when welding? I have mig or 6013,7018 or 316 rods

 

[Paul.]

Here is mine made from a bit of flat bottom rail, the horn and the supporting gusset underneath are made from a bit of 2" half round mild steel bar tapered to a point and 10mm mild steel plate, it was stick welded together using some flavour of low hydrogen electrode its been too long ago to remember exactly what i used, but its had a serious amount of use over the years without any problems, I would use your 7018s they are a stronger electrode than a 6013, (which would most likely also be ok)

 

[Richard.]

Depends entirely on what you’ve got.
Main line rail is a high carbon steel. A bit crack sensitive but a bit of pre heat and a few stitches should see it stuck down fine.
Crossing section rail is a high manganese stainless steel usually something like a 307 grade. In this case you’d probably be best using a stainless consumable 312 would be best but for slapping it on a bench your 316 would do. Again crack sensitive but to excess heat. Weld it as cool as possible.
High Mn rail was designed to work harden so if you’ve got a lump of that expect it to be very hard.

 

[Bobtail4x4]

Depends entirely on what you’ve got.
Main line rail is a high carbon steel. A bit crack sensitive but a bit of pre heat and a few stitches should see it stuck down fine.
Crossing section rail is a high manganese stainless steel usually something like a 307 grade. In this case you’d probably be best using a stainless consumable 312 would be best but for slapping it on a bench your 316 would do. Again crack sensitive but to excess heat. Weld it as cool as possible.
High Mn rail was designed to work harden so if you’ve got a lump of that expect it to be very hard.

I love this place.

 

[Richard.]

A magnet will confirm what it is.

 

[pondy]

I've no idea what it is to be honest. I've been after abit for ages locally.. Only bit that popped up what wasn't mental money. Its rough mind, been in the elements and top pitted and going to take some grinding to get it fairly flat. It's getting cut in half, sadly the bit that tappers off I don't want but the top is in better condition!

Anyways I easily managed to take a corner off with a hack saw, although it's magnetic it's not a strong a hold as the same magnet on mild steel. Some mild with magnet on vertical holds fine, on track it falls off

 

[Scadden]

Depends entirely on what you’ve got.
Main line rail is a high carbon steel. A bit crack sensitive but a bit of pre heat and a few stitches should see it stuck down fine.
Crossing section rail is a high manganese stainless steel usually something like a 307 grade. In this case you’d probably be best using a stainless consumable 312 would be best but for slapping it on a bench your 316 would do. Again crack sensitive but to excess heat. Weld it as cool as possible.
High Mn rail was designed to work harden so if you’ve got a lump of that expect it to be very hard.

Why do they use different materials for main line and crossing section?

 

[Richard.]

Why do they use different materials for main line and crossing section?

I’m gonna say cost but cannot be sure. Logically part of a crossing has a long tapered nose and long tapered switching blades. These areas are gonna be most vulnerable to wear so an expensive work hardening material makes sense. They are manufactured via a casting process and dropped into the line. Main line does wear and goes under regular repair but probably not to the same extreme as a crossing so expensive casting materials are probably not justified for miles and miles of mainline.
Wheel burns from trains wheel spinning at start up are really all the main line suffers from but crossings take a real battering and those blades can get pretty thin.
Two totally different welding/cladding procedures for addressing them as well. Main line is 400°c preheat and maintain through welding hot.
Crossing is zero preheat with a 100°c max inter pass temp. Both can quite easily crack if the temp isn’t monitored properly.
I only know this stuff through doing some work with companies that look after the rails. I’ve seen where they manufacture and where they repair the crossings in house and on the line.
Tram rails are all high manganese 307 stainless steel. Because the tram wheels hook over the rail and a lot of them are curves they wear the edges right out. I’ve seen those repaired too. That’s not fun. Because they are set in this rubber type stuff you really do have to watch your heat input. Bit of info there for ya.

 

[Brad93]

312 will be a good bet

 

[Bordfunker]

That looks like a lump of bullhead rail, which means it’s pretty old as they have been using flat bottomed rail since the late fifties.

It was designed to be flipped over once the top became too worn, so that you got double the use out of it.

Karl

 

[pondy]

312 will be a good bet

Good job it's 312 i have, for some reasons I thought 316

 

[Scadden]

I’m gonna say cost but cannot be sure. Logically part of a crossing has a long tapered nose and long tapered switching blades. These areas are gonna be most vulnerable to wear so an expensive work hardening material makes sense. They are manufactured via a casting process and dropped into the line. Main line does wear and goes under regular repair but probably not to the same extreme as a crossing so expensive casting materials are probably not justified for miles and miles of mainline.
Wheel burns from trains wheel spinning at start up are really all the main line suffers from but crossings take a real battering and those blades can get pretty thin.
Two totally different welding/cladding procedures for addressing them as well. Main line is 400°c preheat and maintain through welding hot.
Crossing is zero preheat with a 100°c max inter pass temp. Both can quite easily crack if the temp isn’t monitored properly.
I only know this stuff through doing some work with companies that look after the rails. I’ve seen where they manufacture and where they repair the crossings in house and on the line.
Tram rails are all high manganese 307 stainless steel. Because the tram wheels hook over the rail and a lot of them are curves they wear the edges right out. I’ve seen those repaired too. That’s not fun. Because they are set in this rubber type stuff you really do have to watch your heat input. Bit of info there for ya.

I love learning new things like this. cheers fella.