The Spring Hill Road railroad crossing on July 2, 2023.
For weeks, drivers have been warned that the railroad crossing on Spring Hill Drive in North Albany will be closed for three days so the Portland & Western can repair a “cracked track.”
Which made me wonder: What exactly is a cracked track?
A railroad track has at least four parts, the rails, the fasteners, the ties and the ballast. And at grade crossings, there are also the slabs between the rails.
So which part was cracked? With nothing better to do, on Sunday I thought I would take a look.
I rode the bike out Spring Hill to the crossing to see if there was anything to see. I assumed the most likely part that would necessitate a repair was a cracked rail.
And sure enough, there appeared to be a crack in the north rail just west of the road. Anyway, it looked like a crack to my untrained eyes, especially since it was marked with white paint.
This is one spot that looked like a crack in the rail.
And on the east side of the road, this section of rail looked like it could use some work too.
When the crossing is closed July 8 through 10, traffic will be detoured to North Albany Road, via Quarry Road north of the crossing and via Hickory Street south of it.
If that’s a problem for anybody, think of it as a problem for just there days. (hh)
If you don’t know the meaning of a ‘cracked track’, I suggest you buy the wonderful kid’s book…A Crack in the Track (Thomas & Friends).
A crack in the track is like a toad in the road or a fuss on the bus.
Eventually anything that can go wrong does go wrong. A valuable life lesson for us all.
gordon, LMAO. Since you mention a kid’s book, show, series and money maker I dropped the F.
repair method? perhaps they’ll place brackets on both sides like your last pic shows.