Practical Engineering already explained the correct solution to this problem:

https://youtu.be/zqmOSMAtadc?si=UUlmnk9sI-leq0SV

But of course, American infrastructure was built on the cheap, and is not maintained correctly. This is why we can't have nice things.

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anonymars 8 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Why couldn't this also help with continuous-welded rail?

Your own video points out that it's still prone to trade-offs: rail breaks in the cold are better than buckling in the heat, but what if you could reduce the high point with white paint so you could expand the practical temperature range?

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kylehotchkiss 8 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

We have like 220,000 miles of railroad. We do have nice things: a working freight railroad system that helps reduce transit costs.

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AlotOfReading 7 hours ago | parent [-]

If the freight rail system were as good as it should be, long distance trucking would be a rounding error instead of the dominant freight mode.

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anonymars 7 hours ago | parent [-]

Trucks and trains serve different purposes. My understanding is the US has a higher percentage than most of freight carried by rail. Indeed at the expense of its passenger rail

	▲	TylerE 6 hours ago \| parent [-]
		Airlines killed passenger rail, not freight. Prior to it all being rolled into Amtrak virtually every railroad was losing money on passenger service.