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eLibrary

Users' Manual for Asymmetric Wheel/Rail Contact Characterization Program

Wheel/rail geometric constraint relationships, such as the effective conicity and gravitational stiffness, strongly influence the lateral dynamics of railway vehicles. The principal curvatures of wheel and rail profiles are important parameters in the determination of creep coefficients used in...

Safety Appliance Standards and Power Break Requirements

This document outlines the FRA's standards and requirements for safety appliances and power brakes in 1977. It details the standards for different types of equipment and brakes, as well as rules for inspection, testing, and maintenance of equipment.

TLV Status Report

The worldwide status of Tracked Levitated Vehicle (TLV) technology and an assessment of its development, sponsored by the Advanced Technology Program within the Office of Research and Development in FRA, is presented here. This report along with a TLV Technology Workshop sponsored by the Office of...

The Impact of the 4-R Act Railroad Ratemaking Provisions

On February 5, 1976, Congress enacted Public Law 94-210, the Railroad Revitalization and Regulatory Reform Act of 1976 (4-R Act). Among the more important objectives of this Act were the implementation of the USRA Final System Plan, the continuation of local rail service, the Northeast Corridor...

Study of Federal Aid to Rail Transportation

[From the Introduction] This Report to the Congress was prepared in response to Section 902 of the Railroad Revitalization and Regulatory Reform (RRRR) Act of 1976 (P.L. 94-210). Section 902 directs the Secretary of Transportation to analyze the effects on the railroads of past and present...

Resistance of a Freight Train to Forward Motion

This interim report documents the results of the initial portion of an intensive investigation of the train resistance phenomenon. The history and development of prior investigations are discussed and the formulas for train resistance developed by investigators in the U.S. and abroad are analyzed...

Refurbishment of Railroad Crossties: a Technical and Economic Analysis

An analysis of the principal modes of failure for wooden railroad crossties was conducted and an evaluation of the technical and economic feasibility of refurbishing these ties was conducted. Among the principal modes of structural deterioration, only spike-killed tie repair was identified as...