Vehicle/Track

Protected: Vehicle Design: Managing Wheel/Rail-Generated Noise and Vibration from the Ground Up (Part 2)

Protected: Vehicle Design: Managing Wheel/Rail-Generated Noise and Vibration from the Ground Up (Part 1)

Protected: Implementing Rail Grinding and Wheel/Rail Interface Optimization Programs on Heavy Haul and Transit Systems: Lessons Learned

Vehicle/Track Interaction from a Car Design Perspective

by Jeff Tuzik Wheel/rail interaction doesn’t end at the wheel and rail. Sometimes it doesn’t even begin there. The lateral and vertical forces that affect the wheel/rail interface owe much to the design of cars and couplers — design choices that might seem ancillary to the subject, but are in …

Examining the Role of Wheel/Rail Interaction in a Unit Train Derailment

by Jeff Tuzik Derailments happen. The minor ones cause damage and disruption; the big ones make the news. While there are derailments attributed to a single vehicle or track cause, often, the cause is the result of a combination of vehicle- and track-related contributing factors, underscoring that vehicle/track interaction is a …

Using Digital Twin Simulations of Automated In-Train & Vehicle/Track Dynamics to Reduce Derailment Risks

by Jeff Tuzik “Engineers predict things,” said Cory Hogan, Director of Vehicle Dynamics Studies at Ensco Rail Inc. As computing power and modelling have become more sophisticated, engineers have increasingly used digital-twins to model vehicle, track, and component behavior with incredible fidelity. Like engineers, digital twins can be great predictors. …

New Approaches to Dynamic Wheel Force Measurement – Part 1

by Jeff Tuzik The mechanics of wheel/rail interaction are in many ways at the core of railroading and the defining characteristic of how a train gets from here to there. Because rail typically represents a railroad’s largest financial asset, track-related issues are often front and center, even when it comes …

Measuring and Designing Rate of Change in Track Alignment

by Jeff Tuzik In order to solve a problem, you have to be able to measure it. And while there are generally no new problems in railroading, tools and techniques of measurement continue to evolve. Over the years, engineers at the Union Pacific Railroad have noticed a deficit in traditional …

Sound Transit Studies Wheel/Rail Interaction Differences Between Vehicle Types

by Jeff Tuzik Seattle’s Link Light Rail, operated by Sound Transit, is a fairly young system. And by most standards, a small system. But it’s also a sophisticated system, and it’s growing fast. The system currently operates 25 miles of track and is in the midst of expanding to 50 …

Running Longer Trains More Productively and Less Destructively

by David C. Lester Dave Peltz is literally a rocket scientist. Although he is now Chief of Global Technology for GE Transportation’s (now Wabtec’s) Intelligent Control Systems Division in Melbourne, Fla., he spent time with the U.S. Air Force as a satellite communications systems engineer for the Mill Star satellite …