Text 3c Rail Joints

Read and translate the text.

Where the ends of the rails meet in the track, they are held together with heavy plates of steel, which fit closely to the web and base of the rail, on both sides, and are fastened together with large steel bolts passing through holes in the web of the rails. There are several types of rail joints, all of then designed to hold up the weight of passing trains and keep the ends of the rails from breaking and wearing out.

Rail joints cannot be made entirely stiff, and even with the strongest joints the ends of the rails give a little as trains pass over them. As you stand by a moving train, or even when you are riding in a passenger car, you can hear the sharp, regular "click – click, click – click" made by the wheels as they move over the rail joints. The pounding of the wheels causes the ends of the rails to become battered and to split as time passes. Nearly all rails wear out first at the ends) the rail joint is the weakest part of the track.

When rails are placed in the track, the ends of adjacent rails are not laid closely together. Like any other piece of iron or steel, a railroad rail expands and gets a bit longer when it be­comes hot, and contracts and gets shorter when it is cold. If not held firmly in place a rail will change in length with a change of temperature. If you look at a railroad track on a hot summer day, you will see that the ends of the rails fit snugly together. On a cold day in winter the ends are s small distance apart. It was formerly necessary for railroad builders, when they were laying track, to make allowance for the expansion and contraction »f the rails, because they were not held to the ties firmly enough to prevent their lengthening and shortening with the change of temperature be­tween winter and summer. Modern methods of track building are such that rails can be held In place and the force of internal expansion I and contraction, almost entirely overcome.

Notes

1 Fit – пригонять, прилаживать, монтировать; пригнанный.

2 Stiff – плотны? *, тугой, тугонатянутый, жесткий, крепкий.

3 Pounding – удары; тряска.

4 Wear out – изнашиваться.

5 Batter –^;плющить, долбить, ломать.

Battering оf rails – сбитие концов рельсов на стыках.

Battered – с откосом, наклоненный, конической формы.

6 snugly – плотно, удобно.

7 to fit snugly – плотно пригнать, подогнать, посадить.

8 prevent – предупреждать, предохранять.

9 allowance – допуск, припуск, отступление от размеров.

Exercise 1. Answer the following questions:

1 What are the ends of the rails held together with?

2 How are the ends of the rails fastened together?

3 How are rail joints designed?

4 What does the pounding of the wheels cause?

5 Where do rails wear out first?

6 What is the weakest part of the track?

7 How are the ends of adjacent rails laid?

8 When does a railroad expand and contract?

9 What is it necessary to make for the expansion and contraction of the rails?

Exercise 2. Write a short summary of the text.