If rail ties were melted, would they be like any other type of steel?
Steel okorder ... If care is not taken in the method used to melt the steel that alloy will change because the carbon will burn in the process. Also part of a steels rating is a result of heat treatments used. When melted it will loose those properties. By the way rail road ties are either wood or concrete- not steel.
If you were to melt rail steel down and pour it into ingots, I doubt anyone would check to find it's source although a skilled metalurgist would know. While the steel was melted you could toss a handful of old horseshoes in and change the composition and no one would know. Good luck with your project, I would like to know how it turns out.
Hoghead has it top, it particularly is quite gentle steel, every time they war harder steel it does no longer arise to the stress and breaks greater with no difficulty. Rail, ordinary because it sort of feels can get corrugated and tough comparable as a dirt street and needs to be reground each so often to reshape the coolest part of the rail. Rust isn't a difficulty on a song in use so stainless could be a pointless cost. additionally, in extreme placed on places, terrific welding crews are available in in upload new cloth to the main worn areas, as in switches and then regrind it to the right profile, gentle steel accepts this plenty greater efficient than a harder steel could.
As so much about the railroad is variable, so is the steel used for the rail. For one thing, all rail is not the same size. It is classified by weight per yard. For example, most tangent (straight) track is 139 lbs rail, meaning three feet of it weighs this much. Secondary track, such as found on branch lines and in yards or used on sidings is not as heavy. Track used in curvature may be the same weight, but not always. The reason is there is much more stress imparted to the roadbed in curvature. Most steel on main tracks has a higher carbon content, but there is a point of diminishing returns, as this rail is more brittle as a result. Good luck trying to melt it. In the field, this rail is cut by a saw with diamond studded circular blades. The reason why is it takes a lot more time to try to cut it with an acetylene torch. In the US, certain areas, such as on some bridges, the cross-ties (sleepers) are indeed made of steel, in addition to concrete and wood. The potential for fire is too great for wood in these instances. In addition, if even a single wheel derails, concrete ties tend to explode when stressed this way. All of which makes steel cross-ties worth the extra cost.
