Extreme heat is an issue in modern railroading with the CWR I mentioned in the previous post. Not enough joint expansion can cause 'heat kinks', thus when temps become excessive speed restrictions are usually put in place. I would think a 2 hr drive in the direction of NYC would make much more scheduling sense. Thinking about expansion joints, the heat would cause major problems when it's near the tracks over a long span- localized, not such a big deal but when it starts trying to shove the sleepers into a curve or worse, a curved bridge, it gets ugly.
