General
GPS and Its Applications to Railroad Operations: A Federal Railroad Administration Office of Research and Development Technical Symposium
This document contains the papers presented at the GPS and Its Applications to Railroad Operations Technical Symposium put on by the Federal Railroad Administration Office of Research and Development, November 14-15, 1996, in Washington, DC.
Estimation of Elastic and Residual Stresses in Railroad Rails Subject to Service Loading
The subject of this report is the analysis of elastic and residual stresses in railroad rails working in service conditions. The report consists of two parts. The first part (section 2) covers the development of an elastic model for the analysis of contact stresses in railroad rails. The main goal...Economics of Increased Axle Loads: FAST/HAL Phase II Results
Based upon the cases analyzed to date, the use of heavier cars, with attendant increased axle loads, may be a viable tool for achieving significant total savings in cost for specific rail operations. The potential net benefits for operations with 286,000 gross vehicle weight (GVW) cars are in the...Crashworthiness of Passenger Trains: Safety of High-Speed Ground Transportation Systems
Studies were conducted evaluating the effectiveness of alternative strategies for providing crashworthiness of the vehicle structures and on the effectiveness of alternative strategies for protecting occupants in train collisions, including friendly interior arrangements and occupant restraints....Conceptual Designs of a Passenger Rail Car Brake Shoe to Enhance Heat Dissipation
[From the Preface] This report is the ninth in a series of engineering studies on rail vehicle wheel performance. The series was started in response to high rates of cracking observed in the wheels of certain multiple unit (MU) power cars used in commuter service. One of the MU fleets, owned by New...Technical Memorandum: Broken Rail/Open Switch Point Detection System
In the fall of 1993, an assessment was made of the existing conditions on the Railroad Test Track (RTT) at the Transportation Technology Center in Pueblo, Colorado with the objective of identifying modifications to the track structure, track geometry, catenary system and signal system to support...Revenue Track Gage Widening Tests Using the Track Loading Vehicle
ABSTRACT Gage widening tests were conducted using the TLV on portions of tracks of nine Class I railroads in North America. The measured unloaded gage and loaded gage, along with the computed delta gage (the difference between - loaded and unloaded gages) and track compliance (delta gage per...
Rail Operating Practices: NAFTA Report 1997
Following the coming into force of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in January, 1994, the Land Transportation Standards Subcommittee (LTSS) was established to consider, among other items, the compatibility of rail safety regulations relevant to cross-border operations. The LTSS...