On 8/12/2017 7:17 PM, 'Dudley Horscroft'transitconsult@... [TramsDownUnder] wrote:
>

> And 50 years old? from Google Streetview much of the track looks in good condition. Says something for the MMTB methods of track

> construction. Hope that all the new track being laid will last that long.

>


Hi Dudley and Richard,

The track to be replaced in Lygon St is (to put it coloquially) stuffed - or 'munted' as the Kiwis would say.

I have attached a couple of pics, one showing some of the track in mass concrete just south of Weston St and the other showing track with an asphalt surface looking north towards Park St.

In both cases, the joints are visibly 'dished' - and that's clearly audible when trams pass over it.
One factor that makes the noise a bit less than my local area is that the foundations are shot too - so there's a bit of flexibility and the noise is less.
In the second pic you can see how the foundation weakness has 'pumped out' the foundation material.
In some areas there is very little railhead left and some of the grooved rail has lost its checkrail.

The major problem with the newish track north of Weston St that Richard refers to is that Yarra were talked into doing the pre-welding in a side street then towing the long lengths of rail around the corner for laying.
This resulted in bends at the weld points that were hard to straighten out when laid.
They are avoiding that this time by doing the welding in Lygon St next to the cemetery - a long section with no intersections so they can do super long pre-welded sections.

Mal Rowe - hoping that tram track vouyerism is not an unacceptable behaviour