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Predictions and evaluations of settlement were made for revenue and the Facility for Accelerated Service Testing (FAST) track, both containing concrete and wood tie sections. The ballast physical state were investigated by field tests done before and after track maintenance. Borings were also taken...
This report is the first of three volumes which describe a comparative study of concrete tie track in U.S. revenue service and at the Facility for Accelerated Service Testing (FAST). The work was undertaken to develop an understanding of the degree to which FAST represents the "real world" of...
This report describes analyses performed to examine the growth rate of a particular transverse defect that forms in the rail head. The most common transverse defect found in rail, known as the detail fracture, has been studied in previous work. The present analyses, however, focuses on another...
Thermal buckling of railroad tracks in the lateral plane is an important problem in the design and maintenance of continuous welded rails (CWR). The severity of the problem is manifested through the increasing number of derailments which are attributable to track buckling, indicating a need for...
This report describes a three-phase program to devlop and evaluate an on-board, track stiffness measurment system. High correlation has been established between observed variations in track stiffness signatures and the actual conditions of track strcutrues and subgrade. Track stiffness and track...
Ride-quality models for city buses and intercity trains are presented and discussed in terms of their ability to predict passenger comfort and ride acceptability. This, the second of three volumes, contains a technical discussion of the ride-quality models developed during the research effort using...
Transportation Technology Center (TTCI) conducted vertical track modulus tests on existing plastic composite tie test zones on the High Tonnage Loop (HTL) at the Federal Railroad Administration's (FRA) Facility for Accelerated Service Testing (FAST), Pueblo, Colorado. Warm and cold weather tests...
This report is a catalog of 'common use' rail corridors. These are defined as corridors where non-Federal Railroad Administration (FRA)-compliant light rail or rail rapid transit vehicles operate adjacent to, or on track shared with, rail freight or passenger operations coming under FRA safety...
The report documents the test objective, procedure, and equipment used during the execution of the New Jersey Transit Operational Field Test conducted under the FRA Cracked Wheel Investigation. The report also includes a presentation of all data gathered during the test procedure and illustrates...
Macrostructure, microstructure, and quantitative metallographic analysis is conducted on Association of American Railroads Class L wheel steel specimens tested in a Gleeble 1500 under combined mechanical compression and resistance heating to temperatures above and below the austenite transformation...