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Technical Reports

Passenger Train Braking Model Development – Phase I

Transportation Technology Center, Inc., identified the requirements for developing a passenger train braking performance model, which herein results in submission of a stand-alone model requirements document, a summary of responses to an industry survey of passenger equipment and brake hardware,...

Rolling Contact Fatigue: A Comprehensive Review

Due to our recent website upgrade some of the links in legacy documents might point to the decommissioned site location.  We recommend that users take advantage of the search engine above to locate the material they seek on the current website.  Be assured that we are working...

On-Line High-Speed Rail Defect Detection, Part II

The objectives of this project were (1) to improve the defect detection reliability and (2) to improve the inspection speed of conventional rail defect detection methods. The prototype developed in this work uses noncontact transducers, ultrasonic guided waves, and real-time statistical pattern...

Cracking and Impact Performance Characteristics of Plastic Composite Ties

As followup to a workshop on Engineered Composite Ties sponsored by the American Railway Engineering and Maintenance-of-Way Association and the Federal Railroad Administration, the Transportation Technology Center, Inc., in Pueblo, CO, conducted a series of tests addressing material performance...

Assessment of Rail Seat Abrasion Patterns and Environment

Rail seat abrasion (RSA) of concrete ties is manifested by the loss of material under the rail seat area and, in extreme cases, results in loss of rail clip holding power, reverse rail cant, and gauge widening. RSA was measured in several curves on two railroads. The measurements encompass a range...