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Departmental Train
A work train (departmental train or engineering train/vehicles in the UK) is one or more rail cars intended for internal non-revenue use by the railroad's operator. Work trains serve functions such as track maintenance, maintenance of way, revenue collection, system cleanup and waste removal, heavy duty hauling, and crew member transport. Types of equipment Track inspection A number of railroad vehicles are used in the inspection of railroad tracks and infrastructure to identify flaws and areas in need of routine maintenance. * Rail inspection cars and Sperry rail cars - Inspects tracks for flaws and defects. * Rail bridge inspection - Rail vehicles that have specialized equipment, such as Aerial work platforms to enable access the bridge. * Dynamometer cars - Rail car that measure locomotive performance, such as traction effort, speed, etc. * Track geometry cars - Rail car that collects information on track properties, such as banking of curves, grade, etc. * Scale test ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ballast Cleaner
A ballast cleaner (also known as an undercutter, a shoulder ballast cleaning machine) is a machine that specialises in cleaning the railway track ballast (gravel, blue stone or other aggregate) of impurities. Background and development Over time, ballast becomes worn, and loses its angularity, becoming rounded. This hinders the tessellation of pieces of ballast with one another, and thus reduces its effectiveness. Fine pieces of granite, like sand, are also created by attrition, known simply as "fines". Combined with water in the ballast, these fines stick together, making the ballast like a lump of concrete. This hinders both track drainage and the flexibility of the ballast to constrain the track as it moves under traffic. Ballast cleaning removes this worn ballast, screens it and replaces the "dirty" worn ballast with fresh ballast. The advantage of ballast cleaning is that it can be done by an on-track machine without removing the rail and sleepers, and it is theref ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Slippery Rail
Slippery rail, or low railhead adhesion, is a condition of Rail transport, railways (railroads) where contamination of the railhead reduces the traction between the wheel and the rail. This can lead to Locomotive wheelslip, wheelslip when the train is taking power, and wheelslide when the train is braking. One common cause of contamination is fallen leaf, leaves that adhere to the railhead (top surface) of railway tracks. The condition results in significant reduction in friction between train wheels and rails, and in extreme cases can render the track temporarily unusable. In Britain, the situation is colloquially referred to as "leaves on the line". Low adhesion caused by weather Railhead contamination caused by weather conditions can occur at any time of year. The leaf fall season causes the most disruption to rail operations. In heavily deciduous forested areas like the American Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic states, New England, many parts of Europe including the UK, and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Track Renewal Train
A track renewal train (also known as a track renewal system or new track construction machine) is a work train that consists of many units of machinery and materials required for Track (rail transport), track renewal (rail and Railroad tie, sleeper replacement) projects. Rail preparation To minimize the time of track during a track renewal project, a track renewal train is used to automate most of the required process. Prior to the arrival of the track renewal train, preparation tasks must be completed. In some cases, the old rail needs to be cut into smaller segments and joined with fishplates. The rail fastening system may need to be released prior to its arrival. The new rails usually need to be prepared prior to the arrival of track renewal train. Rails are delivered to the center of the track. Those rail pieces are welded by track workers to form Track (rail transport)#Continuous welded rail, continuous welded rail (CWR) and left at the center of the track at the exact posit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Railway Track
Railway track ( and UIC terminology) or railroad track (), also known as permanent way () or "P way" ( and Indian English), is the structure on a railway or railroad consisting of the rails, fasteners, sleepers ( railroad ties in American English) and ballast (or slab track), plus the underlying subgrade. It enables trains to move by providing a dependable, low-friction surface on which steel wheels can roll. Early tracks were constructed with wooden or cast-iron rails, and wooden or stone sleepers. Since the 1870s, rails have almost universally been made from steel. Historical development The first railway in Britain was the Wollaton wagonway, built in 1603 between Wollaton and Strelley in Nottinghamshire. It used wooden rails and was the first of about 50 wooden-railed tramways built over the subsequent 164 years. These early wooden tramways typically used rails of oak or beech, attached to wooden sleepers with iron or wooden nails. Gravel or small stones were pa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Railroad Tie
A railroad tie, crosstie (American English), railway tie (Canadian English) or railway sleeper ( Australian and British English) is a rectangular support for the rails in railroad tracks. Generally laid perpendicular to the rails, ties transfer loads to the track ballast and subgrade, hold the rails upright and keep them spaced to the correct gauge. Railroad ties are traditionally made of wood, but prestressed concrete is now also widely used, especially in Europe and Asia. Steel ties are common on secondary lines in the UK; plastic composite ties are also employed, although far less than wood or concrete. As of January 2008, the approximate market share in North America for traditional and wood ties was 91.5%, the remainder being concrete, steel, azobé (red ironwood) and plastic composite. Tie spacing may depend on the type of tie, traffic loads and other requirements, for example on North American mainline railroads to on London, Midland and Scottish Railway joi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tie Exchanger
A tie exchanger (also known as a TKO for Tie Knock Out, or by various combinations of tie exchanger, extractor, replacer, or inserter) is a self-propelled railroad maintenance of way vehicle that removes old railroad ties (also known as sleepers) from tracks and inserts new ones. By using mechanical and hydraulic force, a tie extractor/inserter can replace ties much faster and with more precision than is possible by hand. The TKO is distinct from the track renewal train, a much more complex machine which replaces the entirety of the rails and ties at once. History While wooden railroad ties are treated with preservatives such as creosote to resist decay, they do not last forever and must be replaced every 20 to 40 years, depending on factors such as climate and the type of wood used. In particularly wet climates, replacement must occur more frequently as the ties rot faster. Ties may also need to be replaced regardless of age after derailments, washouts, or other events that c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spike Driver
A spike driver (also known as a spiker) is a piece of rail transport maintenance of way equipment. Its purpose is to drive rail spikes into the railroad tie, ties on a rail tracks, rail track to hold the rail in place. Many different sizes of spikers are manufactured and in use around the world. History Historically, spikers was the slang-name for the rail workers who drove in the spikes after the gandy dancers laid the track on the tie. Spikes are used to hold the rail in gauge and keep it connected to the ties. Before the development of automated spikers, this task was done entirely by hand using pickaxes to drive the spikes into the ties. This process was slow and not easy to learn (at the driving of the golden spike that marked the completion of the first transcontinental railroad in 1869, several executives of the companies building the railroad tried and failed to drive in the final spike, showing how difficult a task it was). To make the process of driving spikes faster an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rail Fastening System
A rail fastening system is a means of fixing Rail profile, rails to railroad ties (North America) or sleepers (British Isles, Australasia, and Africa). The terms ''rail anchors'', ''tie plates'', ''chairs'' and ''track fasteners'' are used to refer to parts or all of a rail fastening system. The components of a rail fastening system may also be known collectively as other track material, or OTM for short. Various types of fastening have been used over the years. History and overview The earliest wooden rails were fixed to wooden sleepers by pegs through holes in the rail, or by nails. By the 18th century, cast iron rails had come into use, and also had holes in the rail itself to allow them to be fixed to a support. 18th century developments such as the flanged rail and fish bellied rail also had holes in the rail itself; when stone block sleepers were used the nails were driven into a wooden block which had been inserted into a recess in the block. The first chair for a rail is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spike Puller
A spike puller is a railroad maintenance of way machine designed to remove rail spikes from ties. The spike puller automates the task of spike removal, allowing it to be done at a rate greater than can be achieved by hand. Spike pullers range from small hand operated hydraulic machines to self propelled machines controlled by an operator in an enclosed cab. History Traditionally, spikes were pulled by hand with Spike maul, spike mauls, which act similar to the claw on a claw hammer on a larger scale. This task was labor-intensive and slow, requiring multiple track workers to be done in a reasonable amount of time. For small-scale jobs, spikes may still be removed by hand today, but larger projects will instead use mechanized spike pullers. By using hydraulic force and pulling directly upwards, spike pullers are both faster and more powerful than a worker with a spike maul, and extract spikes vertically to avoid damaging them, to allow them to be reused. Spikes must be removed be ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gondola (rail)
In North American railroad terminology, a gondola car or gondola is typically an open-topped railroad car used for transporting loose bulk materials, although general freight was also carried in the pre-container era. Because of their low side walls, gondola cars are also suitable for the carriage of such high-density cargos as steel plates or coils, or of bulky items such as prefabricated sections of rail track. Gondola cars are distinct from hopper cars in that they do not have doors on their floor to empty cargo. History The first gondola cars in North America were developed in the 1830s and used primarily to carry coal. Early gondolas were little more than flatcars with wooden sides added, and were typically small – or less in length, and or less in weight. Those cars were not widely used at first, because they could only be unloaded by workers shoveling out the cargo by hand, a slow and labor-intensive process. A solution to the problem was developed around the 1860 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spreader (railroad)
A spreader is a type of maintenance equipment designed to spread or shape ballast profiles. The spreader spreads gravel along the railroad ties. The various ploughs, wings and blades of specific spreaders allow them to remove snow, build banks, clean and dig ditches, evenly distribute gravel, as well as trim embankments of brush along the side of the track. Spreaders quickly proved themselves as an extremely economical tool for maintaining trackside drainage ditches and spreading fill dumped beside the track. The operation of the wings was once performed by compressed air and later hydraulics. Besides the MoW-operation, spreaders are also used in open cast mines to clean the tracks from overburden tipped from dump cars. Jordan spreader history The Jordan spreader was the creation of Oswald F. Jordan, a Canadian road master who worked in the Niagara, Ontario area on the Canada Southern Railway, later a subsidiary of the New York Central Railroad. He supervised a crew ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
