Fascinating Exothermic Track Welding Using Thermite

This awesome little clip is a great example of exothermic welding.

The workers team up and work work together to weld two ends of track in a process that takes anywhere from 45 minutes to a little over an hour depending on weather conditions and the surrounding temperature.

The basic materials used are as follows:

• Two clean ends of track
• Sand mold housing
• Blow torch
• Thermite
• Metal alloy
• Chisel and buffer

Once complete a train can almost immediately cross the newly welded joint so long as it has cooled to temperatures below about 700 degrees fahrenheit.