by Jeff Tuzik Part 1 of this article looked at the track, vehicle, and the contact patch — some of the core principles and components of wheel/rail interaction that were covered at the 2026 WRI Heavy Haul Principles Course. Part 2 continues with an introduction to vehicle/track interaction, wheel and …
by Jeff Tuzik (Click here for Part 2.) Your phone rings on a Tuesday morning. There are a couple of double-stack well cars on the ground. That’s the kind of wakeup call a derailment investigator typically gets when something has gone badly awry, and the search for what happened and …
by Jeff Tuzik Measurement is the foundation of design, optimization, and maintenance. No system functions without accurate measurement, and the railroad is no exception. But measurement systems used in the industry have a come a long way since the days of the string line and protractor; the contemporary array of …
by Jeff Tuzik Vehicle stability is of paramount concern in the rail transit environment. It affects safety, ride quality, and wear and damage on the track, wheels, trucks, and suspension. In turn, stability is largely defined by the interplay of track characteristics, wheel and rail profiles, and truck and suspension …
by Jeff Tuzik Understanding and improving wheel/rail interaction requires unwavering attention to the little details that can have a big effect. It’s what we do here at Interface Journal and what we talk about at the annual Wheel/Rail Interaction conferences that we participate in. But every now and then, it’s …
by Jeff Tuzik The L/V ratio is a ubiquitous measurement in the world of wheel/rail interaction. It is typically combined with the Nadal limit, functioning as shorthand for wheel climb derailment risk for a given set of conditions. But the L/V ratio and the various formulae used to set risk …