Yes, fire is used to keep Chicago trains running in the cold

[mahatmakanejeeves]

It’s so cold in Chicago, crews had to set fire to commuter rail tracks to keep the trains moving smoothly. https://abcn.ws/2DHw8Du

Link to tweet

Yes, fire is used to keep Chicago trains running in the cold

Mary Wisniewski
Chicago Tribune

January 30, 2019, 9:25 AM

If you see fire along Metra tracks on this frigid Wednesday, don't panic. The Chicago area’s commuter rail service is fighting the cold with fire to keep switches working, and help with track repairs. ... Winter weather can cause snow and ice to clog switches, which control which rail trains run on. Clogged switches can bring trains to a halt until the blockage is cleared. ... To combat the problem, Metra uses a gas-fed system that runs adjacent to the rail, generating heat in areas where switches are supposed to make contact. This system is used in normal winter weather, not just in the extreme cold seen Wednesday, explained spokesman Michael Gillis. The system is turned on when the temperature is between 40 and 32 and stays on when it’s below 32.

Extreme cold weather can cause steel to contract, causing breaks, said Metra spokeswoman Meg Thomas-Reile. While Metra uses continuously welded rail on most of the system, there are some locations near switches and some crossings where the rail is bolted together. Those areas are the most vulnerable to separating in frigid temperatures, although breaks can happen anywhere along the line.

To repair the breaks, Metra heats the rail, usually with a rope soaked in kerosene that is laid along the base of the rail and lit on fire, Thomas-Reile said. The fire heats up the rail and once it expands, workers pull the rails back together and rebolt them or weld them. ... Depending on the damage, workers also may need to cut and insert a short section of rail and weld it in place to bring the rails back together, Thomas-Reile said.

Broken tracks, switch problems and other mechanical issues have caused extensive delays on the Metra system Wednesday, especially on the Union Pacific Northwest from Harvard and McHenry, where delays can be more than an hour. Metra Electric District service has been suspended because of wire problems. ... Metra service overall is running on a modified schedule Wednesday and Thursday because of the cold. For updates on the agency’s service, check Metra’s website.

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Twitter @marywizchicago

You can find propane turnout (switch) heaters a lot farther south than Chicago. There is a propane-heated turnout in front of the Amtrak station in Charlottesville, Virginia, to cite one example. The heater makes a singing sound as it operates. I'll find a video.

These are forced air heaters. They don't sing. The one in Charlottesville has flames directly heating the turnout's switch (the part of the turnout that moves).

Boston, ten months ago:

Eastern Railroad Discussion > Special protocols for extreme cold?

[Wellstone ruled]

1. This system in Nation wide and in most Countries

Once a switch is frozen it can take hours with torches to thaw it out and make it operational. The posted switches are electronic controlled via Satalite .

[mahatmakanejeeves]

2. Here's another article, but the author doesn't know a lot about railroads.

It's a rewrite of the Chicago Tribune article, but he mashes the thoughts together.

TRANSPORTATION
Chicago Is So Ridiculously Cold That the Railroad Tracks Need to Be on Fire to Keep the Trains Moving

Bradley Brownell
Yesterday 10:00pm Filed to: TRAINLOPNIK

There are over 140,000 miles of privately-owned standard-gauge rail in the United States, vital to the transportation of billions of tons of freight and people. Occasionally, it gets really cold where some of those train tracks sit. Like right now, in Chicago, where Wednesday’s high temperature is expected to be thirteen degrees below zero. Those temperatures are potentially deadly for humans, and deforming for the long pieces of metal that trains ride on.

When it gets to be several degrees below freezing, the metal of the train tracks can contract to the point that it will pull up the bolts holding it in place, or even stress fracture. Crews will soak long pieces of rope in kerosene and burn it to warm up the tracks, expanding them back into place for repairs. Once the track is warmed, it’ll be re-bolted, or welding repairs can be affected on the broken tracks. This is vital to continued operation during cold temperatures.
....

Not quite....

This commenter threw in a nifty video:

Guacamoldy! > Bradley Brownell
1/29/19 10:20pm

For what it’s worth, those burns in the switchyards (in the ABC tweet) are gas burners, not kerosene ropes. Actually quite nifty (and if you’re a particularly daredevilish drifter-type, you can heat up your can of beans on them).

About that video:

Metra Commuter Rail
Published on Feb 23, 2018

Video of the gas-fed switch heaters at the A2 interlocking in Chicago.

[FailureToCommunicate]

3. Remarkable!

Thanks.