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Technical Reports

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A Low Cost Catenary Design-Analysis: Final Report, Tasks 1 & 2

A new system of railroad electrification has been studied that requires only a single contact conductor as opposed to the conventional catenary system. Preliminary designs for the various components have been developed and are described. These include the traveller (that rides on the contact...

Wind Tunnel Tests of Trailer and Container Models to Determine the Independent Influence of Height and Gap Spacings and Trailer Undercarriage Shielding on Aerodynamic Forces Occurring During Railroad Transport

A series of wind tunnel tests have been run on scale model trains of 40 ft. containers and trailers. The models were 1/43 scale. A train of five models was used with forces and moments measured on the center model. A variety of spaces were used between the models. The height of the container models...

Truck Design Optimization Project (TDOP) Phase II: Interim Report

The overall objective of the TDOP Phase II project is to characterize the behavior of existing trucks (defined as Type I trucks) and to generate performance and test specifications for new truck designs (referred to as Type II trucks). The purpose of this document is to report on the progress to...

Truck Design Optimization Project (TDOP) Phase II: Analysis Plan

The purpose of this document is to set forth the Analysis Plan which will be followed in the Truck Design Optimization Project (TDOP) Phase II. The Analysis Plan defines the means by which Type I (standard) and Type II (premium) freight car trucks will be characterized and compared. The specific...

Track Rehabilitation Research and Development

The Federal Railroad Administration has established a Track Rehabilitation Research and Development program to better meet its obligations under the Railroad Revitalization and Regulatory Reform Act of 1976. In support of that effort, this report identifies and rank-orders track system problems,...

Track Rehabilitation and Maintenance Research Requests

The Federal Railroad Administration has established a research and development program aimed at improving railroad track safety and performance. As part of the support of that earlier effort, two planning studies were performed which identified track system rehabilitation and maintenance problems,...

Track and Bridge Maintenance Research Requirements

This report includes the design of seven research plans in the area of track and bridge maintenance. The railroad industry was surveyed to ascertain the maintenance problems of their greatest concern which lend themselves to resolution by research. The problems uncovered in the survey were ranked...