Technical Reports

A Comparative Risk Assessment of Remote Control Locomotive Operations versus Conventional Yard Switching Operations

This report presents a comparative risk assessment of U.S. remote control locomotive (RCL) and conventional yard switching operations. First, a hierarchical task analysis (HTA) was conducted to provide a detailed description of yard switching tasks. Based on the HTA results, a preliminary hazard...

Rail Crew Resource Management (CRM): Survey of Teams in the Railroad Operating Environment and Identification of Available CRM Training Methods

This report summarizes the work undertaken by the Texas Transportation Institute to document the common teams or crews that are present within the rail industry and to evaluate the existing crew resource management (CRM) training methods used in other industries for their applicability to those...

Survivability of Railroad Tank Car Top Fittings in Rollover Scenario Derailments

This project examined the structural susceptibility of tank car fittings during derailments. The report identified non-pressure cars as being the most susceptible to derailment damage. A DOT111A100W1 fuel service car was selected for analysis. Two derailment scenarios were modeled. The first...

Damage Assessment of Railroad Tank Cars Involved in Accidents: Phase I - Literature Search and Evaluation

Transportation Technology Center, Inc., a subsidiary of the Association of American Railroads, is conducting a research project titled, "Damage Assessment of Tank Cars Involved in Accidents." Phase I of the project evaluated the validity of guidelines currently used to assess the severity of...

Development of Gage Widening Projection Parameter for the Deployable Gage Restraint Measurement System

Recent gage restraint measurement system (GRMS) developments include the redesign of GRMS vehicles to conduct testing from a deployable axle instead of using freight truck mounted axle and GRMS on hi-rail vehicles. This new test configuration results in boundary condition changes in the applied...

Use of Dynamic Rail Deflection as a Means of Determining Changes in Top of Rail Friction

To determine if the use of dynamic rail deflection (RDG) data can be used to determine the effectiveness of top of rail (TOR) systems, Transportation Technology Center, Inc. and Kelsan Technologies Corporation, with funding from the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), engaged in a...

Fatigue Behavior of AAR Class A Railroad Wheel Steel at Ambient and Elevated Temperatures

This report documents a test program to determine the material properties (chemical composition, tensile, and fatigue) at ambient and elevated temperatures of a Class A wheel steel as designated by the Association of American Railroads. The 3 temperatures examined included ambient room temperature...

Impact Performance of Draft Gears in 263,000 Pound Gross Rail Load and 286,000 Pound Gross Rail Load Tank Car Service

This project quantified the impact performance of draft gears on tank cars for both the 263,000 and 286,000 gross rail load (GRL) conditions and the corresponding effect on the structural integrity of stub sills. Full-scale physical impact testing with an instrumented tank car for the 263,000 GRL...

Application of Ultrasonic Phased Arrays for Rail Flaw Inspection

The average number of Federal Railroad Administration’s (FRA) reportable broken rail-related derailments between 1995 and 2005 was approximately 28 annually. The annual property damage resulting from the accidents was approximately $35 million. Programs cosponsored by FRA and the Association of...

Design and Evaluation of Advanced Systems for Locomotive Crew Emergency Egress

This report presents the results of the second phase of a program to develop innovative concepts for locomotive crew egress following a crash that damages the cab. The roof-mounted hatch system was fabricated as a working prototype and installed in a full-scale mockup of a toppled locomotive....

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Technical Reports