Bad Tracks Behind GE Plant
The tracks out back of the GE plant need a little attention!
A northbound New Hampshire Northcoast Railroad empty gravel train in Somersworth, NH, takes it real, real easy on this stretch of track!
Like so many short line railroads, track maintenance is very expensive compared to revenue. Often the upkeep and maintenance of the lines suffers until it no longer becomes viable to run revenue freights.
The northern winters are especially rough on the ballast and rails. The frost in the winter moves the rails and the then the spring thaws move them again. Ice can break anything!
New ballast of hard rock in needed here along with new ties in order to get this line back in top shape.
Yet, as treacherous as it seems to be for the engineer, these tracks are considered perfectly legal be the Federal Railroad Administration!
As long as the line has low tonnage from customers that ship and receive a couple of times per month, it is considered perfectly safe at slow speeds!
And, it gives us railfans a great time watching them pitch back and forth!
Let us know if you have “Bad tracks” around your town. We’d love to hear about it.
