Frozen Train Tracks? Set 'Em on Fire

The Atlantic (Feb. 1) -- When cold weather wreaks havoc on railroads, lighting fires on train tracks can serve a couple of uses, including thawing switches. “When these types of open-flame heaters are used, part of the protocol is to notify local fire departments that these heaters have been deployed,” says Christopher Barkan, the director of the Rail Transportation and Engineering Center at Illinois. “That way firefighters don’t respond to fire reports and come out and douse the fire in water, which in cold weather would produce a lot of ice that would exacerbate the problem of freezing up the switches.”