Hi John,
Your first photo explains exactly how the grooves are cast. Another long winded slow and tedious method of creating concreted track, but fortunately there is little of that on this line.
I was mystified as to why it was concreted just there, and still none the wiser as to why unless it is to provide road access to the substation immediately to the right.
Surely they would not have concreted it just for fear that concrete sleepers would have allowed the thrust of the trams on a curve to dislodge the rail alignment??
I had intended to take a photo like your second one but only remembered after crossing the road, something I did not feel like doing again with the long-winded traffic light cycle.
The rail in that photo looks somewhat rusted and pitted. I wonder if it will be noisy to run over?
On that subject, rail corrugations on the line are getting quite noisy, especially on the long Nerang River bridge but I doubt if management has any idea what they noise is, even if they are aware of it at all. Nor how to easily lovercome it (borrow 11w from SPER).
I forgot to mention earlier that on Monday morning the eastbound overhead was over Napper Rd at Smith St. The final ears were already installed.
It is not really possible to see whether there is a shortworking crossover on the extension. If not, 7km is a very long way (present terminus to future terminus) with no way to overcome a delay on the line.
Regards,
Richard
> On 18 Jul 2017, at 8:40 pm, John Hudsonhuddo@... [TramsDownUnder] TramsDownUnder@...> wrote:
>
>
>
> -------- Forwarded Message --------
> Subject: Re: [TramsDownUnder] GCLR2 Photos around Olsen Ave [5
> Attachments]
> Date: Tue, 18 Jul 2017 20:35:01 +1000
> From: John Hudson huddo@...>
> To:TramsDownUnder@...
>
> Hi Richard,
>
> I think you're right about #1, I take a walk there every few days and
> thought that the junction would be completed by now. Here's a photo of
> how your #4 looked on Sunday last.
>
> The filler they use to pack the rail and insulation in the groove is
> like a hard rubber extrusion. In my 2nd pic you can see it sticking out
> past the end of the concrete slab. The insulation is a sleeve about 1/4
> " or 6mm thick and is held by the blue sealant, there is a narrower
> strip of rubber on the other side, not so obvious in this photo.
>
> regards, John H
>
> On 18-Jul-17 2:37 PM, Richard Youltressteleg@...
> [TramsDownUnder] wrote:
> > 1 shows the workmen piecing together the double track junction which
> > turns off to our left with room for a couple of trams in the sidings
> > there. That direction had originally been the planned direction for
> > the extension which now goes in the opposite direction. I think the
> > workmen must have been borrowed from Brussels as some later photos
> > will show. However with nobody disturbed by the time taken to put all
> > the little bits together on site, speed is not of the essence.
> >
> >
> > 4. The west side of Olsen Ave looking south towards the Smith St
> > Motorway. Note the grooved concrete ready for rail and insulating
> > blanket. The remaining gap after those are inserted will be filled
> > with some synthetic glue/filler.
> >
> >
> > Regards,
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
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