By Robert Madderom Technology has changed the ways in which railroads plan most of their maintenance programs over the past 30 years. But one aspect of maintenance planning has remained static. Railways still select ties for replacement and plan a significant portion of their maintenance budgets based on visual inspections by …
By Jude Igwemezie, Ph.D., P.Eng. Over the years, rail grinding has become more the norm than the exception as the rail industry has recognized that damaged materials on the rail and wheel contact surfaces must be addressed before they become a bigger problem. The art of rail grinding has also progressed …
By Arthur Clouse Part 1 of this article examined the mechanisms that cause rail seat abrasion on concrete ties. Part 2 looks at existing standards for concrete ties and the systems that can be used to measure their performance. The Federal Track Safety Standards prescribe minimum track geometry and track structure requirements for specific track …
by Bob Tuzik, January, 2009 Rail seat abrasion on concrete ties has plagued railroads for nearly two decades, now. Abrasion ranging from less than 0.02 inches to more than 1 inch began appearing on curves on several of the major North American user railways in the early 1990s. The problem, which …
By Arthur Clouse • October, 2008 In response to accidents, unregulated causal factors and the National Transportation Safety Board’s recommendation (NTSB R-06-19), the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) Office of Safety together with the Office of Research and Development initiated a study to identify and evaluate the safety of concrete crossties. …
By Gary Wolf • January, 2006 Railroad engineering managers have been struggling with the problem of how much elevation to place in a curve since the first steam engines started turning a wheel. While the physics and calculus of the matter seem straightforward, the application of those formulas is where problems …
By Bob Tuzik • May 26, 2005 The Federal Railroad Administration’s Office of Research and Development is not the best known R&D organization in the industry, but it is one of the most important. It’s work figures prominently in rulemaking and the regulatory process for the industry. That role is …
By Gary Wolf • February 1, 2005 It’s said that “it takes two to tango,” but it takes three critical elements to induce harmonic rock and roll: Like many of the other legendary “rockers,” freight car rock and roll came to the forefront in the ‘70s. The introduction of high-center-of-gravity, 100-ton …
By Gary P. Wolf • January 1, 2005 Part 1 of “Effects of Wide Gauge on Derailment Potential” examined how wide gauge occurs, some of the symptoms and reasons why wide gauge is undesirable. Part 2 of this article explores how to correctly measure gauge and properly identify wide gauge …
By Gary P. Wolf • December 1, 2004 “Wide gauge” is one of the most often used FRA derailment codes. In 2003, 254 derailments were reported to have been caused by wide gauge (FRA code T110 or T111). This represents nearly 13% of all derailments reported to the FRA, and roughly …